my Earthliness the hardness of my heart the corruption of my nature the innumerable evils of my life that brought him down to the dust of death He was made sin for us who knew no sin 2 Cor. 5. 21. Who can believingly eye Christ as suffering such pains such wrath such a curse in the room of such a Sinner such a Rebel so undeserving and so ill-deserving a Creature and not mourn as for an only Son and be in bitterness as for a first-born Fourthly Faith melts the heart by considering the effects and fruits of the sufferings of Christ what great things he hath purchased by his Stripes and Blood for poor Sinners a full and final pardon of sin a well-settled peace with God a sure title and right to the eternal Inheritance and all this for thee a Law-condemned a Self-condemned Sinner Lord what am I that such mercies as these should be purchased by such a price for me for me when thousands and ten thousands of sweeter dispositions must burn in Hell for ever Oh what manner of love is this Fifthly Faith melts the heart by exerting a three-fold act upon Christ Crucified First A realizing act representing all this in the greatest certainty and evidence that can be These are no devised fables but the sure and infallireports of the Gospel Secondly An appying act he loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. He loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood Rev. 1. 5. Thirdly and lastly By an inferring or reasoning act If Christ died for me then I shall never die If his Blood were paid down for me then my sins which are many are forgiven me If he was Condemned in my room I am acquitted and shall be saved from wrath to come through him O how weighty do these thoughts prove to believing souls 1. Use for information 1. Then sure there is but little faith because there is so much deadness and unaffectedness among Professors A believing sight of Christ will work upon a gracious heart as a dead Son a beloved and only Son uses to do upon a tender Fathers heart Reader was it ever thy sad lot to look upon such an heart-rending object Did'st thou ever feel the pangs and commotions in thy bowels that some have felt upon such a sight Why so will thy heart work towards Christ if ever thou believingly lookest on him whom thou hast pierced 2. Infer Then the acting and exercising of faith is the best expedient to get a tender heart and raise the dead affections We are generally full of complaints how hard how dead and stupid our hearts are we are often putting such cases as these How shall I get a broken heart for sin How shall I raise my dead heart in duty Why this is the way no expedient in all the world like this Look upon him whom thou hast pierced 'T is the melting Argument 2. Use of Examination But that which I especially aim at in this point is for the tryal and examination of thy heart Reader in the point of true Evangelical Repentance which is thy proper business at this time And I will go no further than the Text for rules to examine and try it by 1. Rule All Evangelical Repentance hath a supernatural spring I will pour out the spirit of grace and they shall mourn Till the spirit be poured out upon us it is as easie to press water out of a Rock as to make our hearts relent and mourn There are indeed natural meltings the effects of an ingenuous Temper but these differ in kind and nature from Godly sorrow 2. Rule Godly sorrows are real sincere and undissembled They shall mourn as for an only Son Parents need not the help of an Onion to draw tears on such accounts O! their very hearts are pierced they could even die with them Sighs groans and tears are not hang'd out as false signs of what is not to be found in their hearts 3. Rule Evangelical sorrow is very deep so much the mourning for an only Son a first-born must import These waters how still soever they be run deep very deep in the bottom channel of the soul. See Act. 2. 27. They were cut to the heart 4. Rule Faith is the instrument employed in breaking the heart They shall look and mourn This is the Burning glass that contracts the beams and fires the affections 5. Rule Lastly The Wrong sin hath done to God and the sufferings it hath brought Christ under are the piercing and heart-wounding considerations They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn The piercing of Christ by our sin is that must pierce thy soul with sorrow THE TENTH MEDITATION UPON John 6. ver 55. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed IN this context our Lord Jesus Christ makes a most spiritual and excellent discourse to the Jews about the nature and necessity of faith in him taking the occasion thereof from the Bread which a little before he had so miraculously multiplied and fed them with raising up their minds to more sublime and spiritual things and letting them know that Bread how sweet soever it was was but a shaddow of himself infinitely more sweet and necessary These words are a proposition in which are these three things observable First The subject my Flesh and my Blood Secondly The Predicate it is Meat and Drink Thirdly The manner of Predication it 's Meat indeed and Drink indeed First The subject my Flesh and my Blood i. e. my Humanity this is meat and drink true spiritual food If it be demanded why he had not said I am meat and drink indeed but rather chuses to say my flesh and blood is so the reason is evident saith Learned Camero because if you take away Flesh and Blood from Christ he cannot be Food or Life to us For in order to his being so he must satisfie God for us and obtain the Remission of our sins but without shedding of Blood there is no Remission Now for as much as by the offering up of his Body and shedding of his Blood he hath obtained pardon and life for us therefore his Flesh and Blood is call'd our Meat and our Drink that by which our souls live Which brings us to the second thing Secondly The Predicate it is meat and drink i. e. it is to our souls of the same Use and necessity that meat and drink is to our natural life which cannot be sustained or continued without them The life of our souls as necessarily depends upon the Flesh and Blood of Christ as our natural life doth upon meat and drink Yet beware of a mistake here the Flesh and Blood or the Humanity of Christ is not the Fountain of our spiritual life but the Channel rather through which it flows to us from his Divinity By reason of his Incarnation and Death Righteousness and Life comes to us Thirdly The manner of
mend every day I am now in Christ and it is but a little while before I shall be with Christ and arrive at the full satisfaction of my very heart O what pleasure doth every glance backward or forward give to the sealed soul 4. It is a Cordial in death and there is none like it This will make the soul triumph over the grave take death chearfully by the cold hand welcome its grim Messengers and long to be gone and be with Christ. Dark and doubting Christians may indeed shrink back from it and be affraid of the exchange but the assured soul longs to be gone and needs patience to live as other men do to die When one was asked if he were willing to die his answer was Illius est nolle mori qui nolit ire ad Christum Let him be loth to die that is loath to go to Christ. The sugar of assurance sweetens the bitter cup of death and makes it delectable to a Believers rellish 5. In a word it is a sweet support in all the troubles and afflictions on this side the grave Let the assured soul be cast into what condition the Lord pleases be it upon a bed of sickness yet this gives his soul such support and comfort that he shall not say I am sick sin being forgiven the soul is well when the body is in pain Isa. 33. 24. Let him be cast in to a Prison here 's that will turn a Prison into a Paradise Act. 5. 41. Let him be pincht with any outward want this will supply all As having nothing and yet possessing all things 2 Cor. 6. 10. Thus you see how desirable it is for its own excellency And as it is desirable for the sweetness of its own enjoyment so also from the difficulty of its attainment all excellencies are lockt up under many difficulties but none like this it is indeed easie to presume an interest in Christ and cheat a mans own soul with a dream and fancy of our own Creation but sure it 's hard to get a sealed clear title to Christ and his benefits and there be among others three things that make it difficult 1. The corruptions that remain and daily work in the best hearts these are evermore puzling and scaring the poor soul with fears and doubts about its condition Grace teacheth men due severity to themselves and fear of their own deceitfulness makes them think no hearts are like their hearts especially whilst they compare other mens outside with their own inside as generally they do O how do our own corruptions every moment raise mists and clouds that it is a wonder we ever should have one clear beam of assurance shining into such hearts as our hearts are 2. The multitudes of mistakes and cheats that are frequently committed and found in this matter makes upright hearts the more suspicious and doubtful of their own conditions O when they read Matth. 7. 22. that many will say to Christ in that day Lord Lord we have Prophesied in thy Name c. It scares them lest they also be deceived 3. The grand importance of the matter makes poor souls fearful of concluding certainly about it O when a man considers that the whole weight of his eternal happiness or misery depends upon the resolution of these Questions Am I in Christ or am I not It will makâ—… him tremble to determine In a word assurance is not in our power or at our command There be many holy humble diligent and longing souls to whom it is denied It is arbitrarily dispensed by the pleasure of the spirit to whom he will and such favours are rare even among true believers the more therefore it is to be valued and desired by all as the Spouse doth in this place And so much to the first thing Upon what account the assurance of Christs love is so desirable in the eyes of Chrians In the last place let us consider how this mercy which is so desirable may be obtained and this is our proper work and business at this time You are now come to a sealing Ordinance instituted on purpose for this noble end and Use. O that we could pray and plead for it as the Spouse here doth Set me as a seal upon thine heart as a seal upon thine arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave c. Now in order to the attainment of this most desirable mercy take a few necessary hints of your present work and duty in the following directions 1. Direction Would you be well secured of Christs love to you and that you are set as a seal upon his heart then exercise and manifest more love to Christ and let him be much upon your hearts If it be clear to you that you have true love to Jesus Christ you need not at all to doubt but you are in his heart and in his love I love them that love me Prov. 8. 17. And surely you have now before you the greatest motive in the world to inflame your love to Jesus Christ. Behold him as he here represented to you wounded for your iniquities yea sacrificed to the wrath of God for your Peace Pardon and Salvation O what manner of love is this Behold how he loved thee If Christ's love draw forth thine it will so far clear thy interest in his love as it shall engage thy heart in love to him 2. Direction But seeing the activity of your love will be according to the activity of your faith therefore in the next place I advise you to make it the main work and business of this hour to exercise your faith upon Jesus Christ set your selves this day to believe the more strong the direct acts of your faith shall be the more clear and comfortable its reflex acts are like to be There are three distinct offices or imployments for your faith at this Table viz. 1. To realize 2. To apply 3. To infer from the sufferings of Jesus Christ. 1. Realize the sufferings of Christ for you and behold them here represented in a true glass to the eye of faith See you that Bread broken and that Wine poured out As sure as this is so Jesus Christ endured the Cross suffered the Wrath of the great and terrible God in his Soul and in his Body upon the cursed Tree for and in the room of poor Condemned Sinners Your faith for the one hath as much yea more certainty than your sense hath for the other This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. and without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the flesh c. 2. Apply the sufferings of Christ this day to thine own soul. Believe all this to be done suffered in thy room and for thy sake He offered not this Sacrifice for his own sins but ours Isa. 53. 9. Heb. 7. 27. He
the cup of the New Testament in my Blood which was shed for many for the remission of sin And what footing could thy Faith find for Pardon and Salvation any where else 'T is Christ Crucified that Faith claspes as the last and only hope and refuge of a poor Sinner Here all Believers drop Anchor This is that blessed object on whom they take the dead gripe or last grasp when their eye-strings and heart-strings are breaking When you see the Blood of Christ flowing forth how can Faith be silent in thy soul When he bids thee as it were to put thy finger into his side shews thee his hands and his feet there it will cry out in thy soul my Lord and my God Secondly The flowing spring of Repentance is here if there be any fire that can melt or hammer that can break a hard heart here it is Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn Nothing laies a gracious soul lower in it self than to see how low Christ was laid in his Humiliation for it Here the evil of sin is also represented in the clearest glass that ever the eye of man saw it in The sufferings of the Son of God discover the evil of sin more than the everlasting torments of the Damned can do So that if there be but one drop of Spiritual sorrow in the heart of a Christian here me-thinks it should be seen dropping from the eye of Faith Thirdly The most attractive object of love is here Put all Created Beauties Excellencies and Perfections together and what are they but blackness and deformity compared with lovely Jesus My Beloved saith the enamour'd Spouse is white and ruddy Cant. 5. 10. Behold him at the Table in his perfect Innocency and unparallel'd sufferings This is he who was rich but for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. This is he that parted with his honour first and his life next yea he parted with his honour in his Incarnation that he might be capable to part with his life for our Redemption Behold here the degrees of his Sufferings and by them measure the degrees of his Love Behold in his death as in the Deluge all the Fountains beneath and the Windows of Heaven above opened the Wrath of God the Cruelty of Men the fury of Hell breaking in together upon him and his soul surrounded with sorrow And how can this be represented and thy soul not astonished at this amazing matchless love of Christ Surely one flame doth not more naturally produce another than the love of Christ thus represented to a gracious soul doth produce love to Christ and that in the most intense degree Use 1. How naturally doth this Doctrine shame and humble the best hearts for their sinful discomposures vanity and deadness for the rovings and wanderings of their hearts even when they come near the Lord in such a solemn Ordinance as this is The Holiest man upon Earth may lay his hand upon his breast and say Lord how unsultable is this heart of mine to such an object of Faith as is here presented to me Doth such a temper of spirit suit thine awful presence Should the represented Agonies and sufferings of Christ for me be beheld with a spirit no more concerned pierced and wounded for sin O how can I look upon him whom I have pierced and not mourn and be in bitterness for him as for an only Son a First-born O the stupifying and benumming power of sin Oh the efficacy of Unbelief It was charged upon the Israelites as the great aggravation of their sin that they provoked God at the Sea even at the red Sea the place where their miraculous Salvation was wrought But Lord Jesus my hard heart provokes thee in an higher degree even at the red Sea of thy precious invaluable Blood by which my eternal Salvation was wrought O my God what a heart have I Did the Blood of Christ run out so freely and abundantly for me and cannot I shed one tear for my sins that pierced him O let me never be Friends with my own heart till it love Christ better and hate sin more Use 2. This Scripture hath also an awaking voice to all that come nigh to God in any of his Ordinances especially in this Ordinance O Christians bethink your selves where you are and what you are doing Know you not that the King comes in to see the Guests Yea you do know that God is in this place an awful Majesty beholds you All the Churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the heart and the reins and will give to every one as his work shall be Rev. 2. 23. Thy business Christian is not with Men but with God and the solemnest business that ever thy thoughts were versant about Thou art here to recognize the sufferings of thy Redeemer to take the seals and pledges of thy Salvation from the hand of his spirit imagine the same thing which is now to be done spiritually and by the ministry of Faith were but to be performed visibly and audibly by the ministry of thy sense Suppose Jesus Christ did personally shew himself at this Table and were pleas'd to make himself known in breaking of Bread as once he did to the Disciples Suppose thou sawest him appear at this Table as he now doth appear in Heaven as a Lamb that had been slain Imagine thou heardest him say Believer this precious Blood of mine was shed for thee there be Millions of Men and Women in the world naturally as good as thee that shall have no interest in it or benefit by it But for thee it was shed and for the remission of thy sins my Blood was the only thing in the world that was equal to the demerit of thy sins and it hath made full satisfaction to God for them all Thy sins which are many are therefore forgiven thee my Blood hath purchased the eternal Inheritance of glory for thee and this day I am come to delâ—…er the seals and pledges thereof into thine hand Take then the seals of eternal Salvation this day Take thine own Christ with all that he is and hath in thine arms Whatever I have suffered done or procured for any of my Saints I have suffered done and procured the same for thee Why all this is here to be done as really and truly though in a more spiritual way at this Table and shall not such business as this is fully fix and engage thy heart What then shall do it Awake Faith awake Repentance awake Love yea let all the powers of my soul be throughly awakened this day to attend the Lord. THE SECOND MEDITATION UPON Jer. 12. 2. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins THIS Scripture gives us the Character and description of an Hypocrite and he is here described two ways viz. 1. By what he hath 2. By what he hath not
First The Hypocrite is described by what he hath he hath God in his mouth Thou art near in their mouth i. e. they profess with a full mouth that they are thy People saith Piscator or they speak much about the Law as another senses it God and his Temple Religion with its rites are much talked of among them they have him in their prayers and duties and this is all that the Hypocrite hath of God Religion only sanctifies his tongue that seems to be dedicated to God but it penetrates no farther and therefore Secondly He is described by that he hath not or by what he wants And or but thou art far from their reins i. e. they feel not the powers and influences of that name which they so often invocate and talk of going down to their very reins and affecting their very hearts so we must understand this Metaphorical expression here as the opposition directs For the reins having so great and sensible a sympathy with the heart which is the seat of affections and passions upon that account it is usual in Scripture to put the reins for those intimate and secret affections thoughts and passions of the heart with which they have so near cognation and so sensible a sympathy When the heart is under great consternation the loins or reins are seiz'd also as Dan. 5. 6. Then that Kings Countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him and the joynts of his loins were loosed On the contrary when the heart is fill'd with delight and gladness the reins are said to rejoyce Prov. 23. 16. Yea my reins shall rejoyce when thy lips speak right things totus laetitiâ dissiliam I shall even leap for joy So then when the Prophet saith God is far from the reins of the Hypocrite the meaning is he feels not the heart-affecting influence and power of Religion upon his heart and affections as Gods People do And hence the Note will be That God comes nearer to the hearts and reins of his People in their duties than he doth to any Hypocritical or formal Professor By Gods nearness we understand not his Omnipresence that neither comes nor goes nor his love to his People that abides but the sensible sweet manifestations and out-lets of it to their souls So in Psal. 145. 18. The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him unto all that call upon him in truth Note the restriction and limitation of this glorious priviledge 't is the peculiar enjoyment of sincere and upright-hearted Worshippers Others may have Communion with duties but not with God in them But that God comes nigh very nigh to upright hearts in their duties is a truth as sensibly manifest to spiritual persons as that they are nigh the fire when they feel the comfortable heat of it refreshing them in a cold season when they are almost starved and benumed with cold Three things make this evident First Sincere souls are sensible of Gods accesses to them in their duties they feel his approaches to their spirits Lam. 3. 57. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee thou saidst fear not And what a surprize was that to the Church Cant. 2. 8. It is the Voice of my Beloved behold he cometh c. Certainly there is a felt presence of God which no words can make another to understand they feel the Fountain flowing abundantly into the dry pits the heart fills apace the empty thoughts swell with a fulness of spiritual things which strive for vent Secondly They are sensible of Gods recesses and withdrawments from their spirits they feel how the ebb follows the flood and how the waters abate So you find it in Cant. 5. 6. I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called but he gave me no answer The Hebrew is very Pathetical He was gone he was gone A sad change of the frame of her heart quickly followed Thirdly The Lords nearness to the hearts and reins of his People in their duties is evident to them from the effects that it leaves upon their spirits For look as it is with the Earth and Plants with respect to the approach or remove of the Sun in the Spring and Autumn So it is here as Christ speaks Luk. 21. 29. When ye see the Figg-tree and all the Trees shoot forth we know that Summer is nigh at hand An appoaching Sun renews the face of the Earth and makes Nature smile The Trees bud and blossom the Fishes rise the Birds sing it 's a kind of Resurrection to Nature from the dead So is it when the Lord comes near the hearts and reins of men in duty For then they find that First A real taste of the joy of the Lord is here given to men the fulness whereof is in Heaven hence call'd 2 Cor. 1. 22. The earnest of his Spirit And 1 Pet. 1. 8. Glorified Joy or a short Salvation O what is this What is this Certainly it is something that hath no Affinity with flesh or gross corporeal pleasures but is of another nature something which transcends all that ever was felt or tasted in this world since we were first conversant among sensible objects Secondly A mighty strength and power coming into their souls and actuating all its faculties and graces When God comes near new powers enter the soul the feeble is as David Psal. 138. 3. In the day that I cried thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul Hope was low and Faith was weak little strength in any grace except desires but when the Lord comes strength comes with him Then as it is Neh. 8. 10. The joy of the Lord is your strength O the vigorous sallies of the heart to God! Psal. 63. 8. O the strength of Love Cant. 8. 6. Duties are other manner of things than they were wont to be Did not our hearts burn within us Luk. 24. 32. Thirdly A remarkable transformation and change of spirit follows it These things are found to be marvelously assimilating The sights of God the felt presence of God is as fire which quickly assimilates what is put into it to its own likeness So 2 Cor. 3. 18. They are said to be changed from glory to glory It always leaves the mind more refined and abstracted from gross material things and changed into the same Image They have a similitude of God upon them who have God near unto their hearts and reins Fourthly A vigorous working of the heart Heaven-ward A mounting of the soul upwards Now the soul shews that it hath not forgot its way home again It is with such a soul as sensibly embraces Christ in the arms of Faith as it was with Simeon when he took him bodily into his Arm. Now saith he let thy Servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation O! it would
any thing put into any promise of greater value than the Blood of the Lamb that was shed to purchase it Or is not the giving of Christ to die for us the accomplishment of the greatest promise that ever God made to us And after the fulfilling thereof what ground remains for any to doubt the fulfiling of lesser promises Lastly Is there any among you that desire to get up your affections at this Table to have your hearts in a melting temper to awaken and rouze up all the powers of your souls in so great an occasion for it as this Behold the Lamb of God and this will do it Christ calls off your eyes and thoughts from all other objects to himself Isa. 65. 11. I said behold me behold me Fix the eye of Faith here and you will feel a pang quickly coming upon your hearts like that Cant. 2. 5. Stay me with Flaggons comfort me with Apples I am sick with love Your eye will affect your hearts Whilst you behold your hearts will melt within you THE SIXTH MEDITATION UPON Rom. 8. ver 32. He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things THIS Scripture contains a most weighty argument to encourage and confirm the Faith of Christians in the expectation of all spiritual and temporal mercies It proceeds from the greater to the lesser affirmatively He that delivered his Son for us what can he deny us after such a gift every word hath its weight Did not God spare i. e. abate any thing which his justice could inflict upon his Son his own Son opposed here to his adopted Sons as being infinitly more excellent than they and most dear to him above and beyond all others but on the contrary delivered him up how dear soever he was unto him to Humiliation contradiction of Sinners to all sorrows and temptations yea to death and that of the Cross and all this for us for us Sinners for us Enemies to God for us unlovely Wretches How shall he not with him also freely give us all things How is it imaginable that God should with-hold after this spirituals or temporals from his people How shall he not call them effectually justifie them freely sanctifie them throughly and glorifie them eternally How shall he not cloath them feed them protect and deliver them Surely if he would not spare or abate to his own Son one stroke one tear one groan one sigh one circumstance of misery it can never be imagined that ever he should after this deny or withhold from his people for whose sakes all this was suffered any mercies any comforts any priviledge spiritual or temporal which is good for them and needful to them So that in the words we find 1. A Proposition 2. An Inference from it The Proposition opens the severity of Gods justice to Christ the Inference declares the riches of his mercy to us in Christ. First We have here before us a Proposition containing the severity of Divine Justice towards Christ And this is expressed two ways Viz. 1. Negatively he spared him not 2. Aâ—…irmatively he delivered him up for us First Negatively He spared not his own Son There is a three-fold mercy in God viz. Preventing mercy which steps between us and trouble Delivering mercy which takes us out of the hand of trouble And Sparing mercy which though it do not prevent nor deliver yet it mitigates allays and graciously moderates our troubles and though sparing mercy be desirable and sweet yet it is the least and lowest sort of mercy that God exercises towards any Though it be mercy to have the time of sufferings shortned or one degree of suffering abated yet these are the lowest and least effects of mercy and yet these were denied to Jesus Christ when he stood in our room to satisfie for us God spared not one drop he abated not one degree of that wrath which Christ was to suffer for us Secondly Affirmatively But on the contrary he delivered him up for us all He delivered him as a Judge by sentence of Law delivers up the Prisoner to be Executed 'T is true Pilate delivered him to be Crucified and he also gave himself for us but betwixt Gods delivering Pilates delivering and his own there is this difference to be observed In God it was an Act of highest Justice In Pilate an Act of greatest wickedness In himself an Act of wonderful obedience God as by an act of highest Justice delivered him up for us For us notes the Vicegerency of his sufferings not only for our good as the final cause nor only for our sins as the meritorious cause but for us i. e. in our room place or stead according to 1 Pet. 3. 18. and 2 Cor. 5. 14. Secondly We have also here before us a most sweet and comfortable inference and conclusion from this proposition If God have so delivered him how shall he not with him freely give us all things For Christ comprehends all other mercies in himself therefore in giving him for us all other mercies are necessarily with him given to us And these mercies the poorest weakest Believer in the world may warrantably expect from God For as God delivered him for us all so the treasures of all spiritual and temporal mercies are thereby freely opened to us all to the weak as well as to the strong He saith not Christ was delivered for all absolutely but for us all i. e. all that Believe all that are Elected and called in whose person it is manifest the Apostle here speaks as Pareus on the place well observed Hence these two doctrinal conclusions fairly offer themselves 1. Doct. That the rigor and severity of Divine Justice was executed upon Jesus Christ when he suffered for us 2. Doct. That Believers may strongly infer the greatest of mercies to themselves from the severity of Gods Justice to Jesus Christ. I would willingly speak to both these points at this time each affording such proper matter of meditation to us in such a season as this To begin therefore with the first observation 1. Doct. That the rigor and severity of Divine Justice was executed upon Jesus Christ when he suffered for us God did not spare him In Zach. 13. 7. you have Gods Commission given to the Sword of Justice to smiâ—… his own Son and that without pitty Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the man that is my fellow smite the Shepherd c. And when this Commission came to be executed upon Christ the Text tells us God did not spare him All the Vials of his wrath were poured out to the last drop Two things require our attention in this point 1. Wherein the severity of Justice to Christ appeared 2. Why must Justice be executed on him in such rigor and severity Why there could be no abatement mitigation or sparing mercy shewn him in that day First Wherein the severity of
Christians that know how chearfully Christ came from the bosom of the Father to die for them What have we to leave or lose in comparison with him What are our sufferings to Christs Alas there is no compare there was more bitterness in one drop of his sufferings than in a sea of ours To conclude your delight and readiness in the paths of obedience is the very measure of your sanctification THE NINETH MEDITATION UPON Zech. 22. part of ver 10. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born THIS promise is confessed to have a special respect to the Jews Conversion to Christ. It was in part accomplished in the Apostles days Acts 2. 37. yet that was but a specimen or handsel of what shall be when the body of that Nation shall be called But yet it cannot be denied that all Christians find the same pierceing sorrows and wounding sense of sin when God awakens them by convictions and brings them to see the evil of sin and the grace of Christ that is here exprest concerning them at their conversion The words present us with three very remarkable particulars in Evangelical repentance viz. First The spring and principle of it Secondly The effects and fruits of it Thirdly The depth and measure of it First The spring and principle of Repentance exprest in these words They shall look upon me whom they have pierced This looking upon Christ is an act of faith for so it is described in Scripture Joh. 6. 40. Isa. 45. 22. and it respects Christ crucified as its proper object yea and that by them not only as their Progenitors involved them in that guilt by entailing it on them but as their own sins were the meritorious cause of his death and sufferings They shall look upon me whom they have pierced Secondly The effects and fruits of such an aspect of faith upon Christ is here also noted They shall mourn and be in bitterness i. e. it shall melt and thaw them into Godly sorrow it shall break their hard and stony hearts to pieces The eye of faith shall affect their hearts for indeed Evangelical sorrows are hearty and undissembled tears dropping out of the eye of faith Thirdly and lastly The depth and measure of their sorrow is here likewise noted And it is compared with the greatest and most piercing sorrows men are acquainted with in this world even the sorrow of a tender-hearted Father mourning over a dead Son yea an only Son and his first born than which no earthly sorrow is more penetrating and sharp Jer. 6. 26. Hence the Note will be Doct. That the sufferings of Christ are exceeding prwerful to melt Believers hearts into Godly sorrow The eye of faith is a precious eye and according to its various Aspects upon Christ it produceth various effects upon the hearts of men Eying Christ as our compleat Righteousness so it pacifies and quiets the heart eying him as our pattern so it directs and regulates our actions eying him as our sacrifice offer'd up to divine Justice for our sins so it powerfully thaws the heart and melts the affections By meltings I do not only understand tears as if they only were expressive of all spiritual sorrow for it is possible the waters of sorrow may run deep in the heart when the eye cannot yield a drop There be two things in Repentance Trouble and Tears The first is Essential the last Contingent The first flows from the influence of faith upon the soul the last much depends upon the temper and constitution of the body It is a mercy when our tears can flow from an heart fill'd with sorrow sor sin and love to Christ and yet it often falls out that there is an heavy heart where the eyes are dry But that there is efficacy in faith to melt the heart by looklng upon the sufferings of Christ for sin is undoubted and how it becomes so powerful an instrument to this end I will shew you in the following particulars First Faith eyes the dignity of the Person of Christ who was pierced for us how excellent and glorious a Person he is In the Captivity it was for a lamentation that Princes were hanged up by the hands and the faces of Elders were not reverenced Lam. 5. 12. We read also the Lamentation of David 2 Sam. 3. 38. as he followed Abners Herse A Prince and a great man is fallen in Israel to day But what was Abner and what were the Princes of Israel to the Son of God Loe here by faith the Believer sees the Prince of the Kings of the Earth the only begotten of the Father equal to God in nature and dignity he whom all the Angels worship hanging dead upon the cursed Tree Faith sees Royal Blood the Blood of God poured out by the Sword of Justice for satisfaction and reconciliation and this cannot but deeply affect the believing soul. Secondly Faith represents the severity of Divine Justice to Jesus Christ and the extremity of his sufferings and this sight is a melting sight The Apostle tells us Gal. 3. 13. he was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Curse and Execration for us It relates to the kind and manner of his death upon the Cross which was the death of a Slave servile supplicium a free man was priviledg'd from that punishment It looks upon and well considers the sad plight and condition Christ was in in the days of his Humiliation for us It 's said of him Matth. 26. 38. he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 undequaque tristis surrounded with griefs exactly answerable to his name Isa. 53. 3. a man of sorrows Let him look which way he would outward or inward upward or downward to Friends or Enemies he could behold nothing but sorrow and what might increase his misery Another Evangelist saith he was sore amazed Mark 14. 33. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It notes such a consternation as makes the hair of the head stand upright horripilatio A third tells us his sâ—…ul was troubled Joh. 12. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Unde Tartarus a word from whence Hell is derived and denoting the anguish and troubles of them that are in that place of torments And the fourth tells us he was in an Agony Luk. 24. 44. all expressing in several emphatical notions and metaphors the extremity of Christs anguish and torment This cannot but greatly affect and break the Believers heart Thirdly But then that which most affects the heart is Christs Undergoing all this not only in love to us but in our room and stead He suffered not for any evil he had done for there was no guile found in his mouth Isa. 53. 4 5. but the Just suffered for the Unjust 1 Pet. 3. 18. It was for me a vile wretched worthless Sinner It was my Pride
was Incarnate for you Isa. 9. 6. For us a Child is born to us a Son is given His death was for you and in your stead Gal. 3. 13. He was made a Curse for us and when he rose from the dead he rose for our justification Rom. 4. 25. and now he is in glory at the right hand of God he is there for us Heb. 7. 25. He ever lives to make Intercession for us It was the pride passion earthliness and unbelief of thy heart which Jesus Christ groaned bled and died to procure a pardon for 3. Infer from the sufferings of Christ those conclusions of faith that tend to assurance As thus Did Christ die for me when I was an Enemy then surely being reconciled I shall be saved by his life Rom. 5. 10. Again Is Christ dead for me then I shall never die eternally Nothing shall separate me from the love of God it is Christ that died Rom. 8. 34. 3. Direction Mourn over all those sins that cause the Lord to hide his Face from your souls Have you grieved the Spirit by your sin O be grieved for it this day at your very hearts cover the Table of the Lord with tears Look upon him whom you have pierced and mourn as for an only Son Though there be no merit yet there is much mercy in a broken heart for sin and there is no such advantage to get your hearts broken as this is which is now before you When the showeth of Repentance is fallen the Heavens over thee may be clear and the Sun shine out in its brightness upon thy soul. 4. Direction In a word pour out thy soul to God in hearty desires for a sealed and clear interest in his love this day tell him it is a mercy thou valuest above life Thy favour is better than life Psal. 63. 3. Tell him thou art not able to live with the jealousies and suspicions of his love thou art but a torment to thy self whilst thy interest in his love abides under a cloud Beseech him to pity thy poor afflicted soul which hath lain down and risen so long with these fears and tremblings and been a stranger to comfort for so many days Tell him how weak thy hands have been and still are in duties of obedience for want of this strength and encouragement Engage thy soul to him this day to be more active chearful and fruitful in his service iâ—… it will please him now to free thee from those fears and doubts that have clogg'd thee in all thy former duties O cry unto him in the words and with the deep sense of the Spouse in this Text. Set me as a seal upon thy heart as a seal upon thine arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave the coals thereof are coals of fire c. THE TWELFTH MEDITATION UPON Eph. 3. 19. And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge THE knowledge of Christ and of his love is deservedly in this place set down among the desiderata Christianorum the most desirable enjoyments of Believers in this world This love of Christ had centred the Apostles heart he was swallowed up in the meditation and admiration of it and would have all hearts inflamed and affected with it as his was Some think the Apostle speaks Extatically in this place and know not how to make the parts of his discourse consistent with each other when he puts them upon endeavours to know that love of Christ which himself confesses to pass knowledge But though his heart was ravished with the love of Christ yet there is no contradiction or inconsistency in his discourse He doth earnestly desire for the Ephesians that they may know the love of Christ i. e. that they might experimentally know his love which passeth knowledge that is as some expound it all other sorts and kinds of knowledge yea and all knowledge of Christ which is not practical and experimental Or thus Labour to get the clearest and fullest apprehensive knowledge of Christ and his love that is attainable in this world though you cannot arrive to a perfect comprehensive knowledge of either Mens humana hoc capit non capit atque in eo capit quod rapitur in admirationem as others reconcile it The note from it is Doct. That the love of Christ surpasses and â—…anscends the knowledge of the most illuâ—…inated Believers The love of Christ is too deep for â—…y created understanding to fathom â—…is unsearchable love and it is so in â—…ivers respects It is unsearchable in respect of its â—…tiquity No Understanding of man â—…an trace it back to its first spring it â—…ows from one Eternity to another â—…e receive the fruits and effects of it â—…ow but O how ancient is that root â—…at bears them He loved us before â—…is world was made and will contiâ—…ue so to do when it shall be reduced â—…to ashes It is said Prov. 8. 30 31. â—…hen he gave the Sea his decree when he â—…ppointed the foundations of the Earth â—…en was I by him as one brought up with â—…im and I was daily his delight rejoycing â—…lways before him rejoycing in the habitaâ—…le parts of his Earth and my delights â—…ere with the Sons of men The freeness of the love of Christ passes knowledge No man knows nor can any words express how free the love of Christ to his people is It is said Isa. 55. 8. My thoughts are not your thoughts The meaning is My Grace Mercy and Love to you is one thing as it is in my thoughts and quite another thing when it comes into your thoughts In my thoughts it is like it self free rich and unchangeable but in your thoughts it is limitted and narrowed pincht in within your straight and narrow conceptions that it is not like it self but altered according to the model and platform of Creatures according to which you draw it in your minds Alas we do but alter and spoil his love when we think there is any thing in us or done by us that can be a motive inducement or recompence to it His love is so free that it pitched it self upon us before we had any loveliness in us at all When we were in our blood he said unto us live and that was the time of love It did not stay till we had our Ornaments upon us but embraced us in our blood in our most loathsome state and of all seasons that is the season of love the chosen time of love Ezek. 16. 7 8. Christ loved us not upon the account of any fore-seen excellency in us or upon any expectation of recompence from us Nay he loved us not only without but against our deserts Nothing in nature is found so free as the love of Christ is our thoughts therefore of this love going beyond all examples and instances that are found among men quickly lose themselves in an immense Ocean of free grace where they can find neither bank
nor bottom The bounty and liberality of the love of Christ to his People passeth knowledge Who can number or value the fruits of his love They are more than the Sands upon the Sea-shore It would weary the arm of an Angel to write down the thousandth part of the effects of his love which come to the share of any particular Christian in this World Who can tell how many sins it pardons The free gift is of many offences unto justification Rom. 5. 16. How many dangers it prevents or how many wants it supplies This we know that of all his fulness we all receive grace for grace Joh. 1. 16. But how full of grace Christ is and how many mercies have and shall flow to us out of that Fountain of love this is unknown to men to the best wisest and most observant men O! if the records of the mercies of our lives were or could be gather'd and kept what vast volumns would they swell to 'T is true indeed you have the total sum given you in 1 Cor. 3. 22. All are yours but it is such a number as no man can number The Constancy of Christ's love to his People passeth knowledge No length of time no distance of place no change of condition either with him or us can possibly make any alteration of his affections towards us He is the same yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13. 8. It is noted also by the Evangelist Joh. 13. 1. That having loved his own which were in the world he loved them to the end 'T is true his condition is altered he is no more in this world conversing with his People as he did once in the days of his Flesh He is now at the right hand of God in the highest glory but yet his heart is the same that ever it was for love and tenderness to his People Our conditions also are often altered in this world but his love suffers no alteration Yea which is much more admirable we do many things daily that grieve him and offend him yet he takes not away his loving kindness from us nor suffers his faithfulness to fail We pour out so much cold water of unkindness and provocation as is enough to coole and quench any love in the world except His love but notwithstanding all he continues unchangable in love to us This Peter found notwithstanding that great offence of his No sooner was the Lord risen from the dead but he greets him in the style of his former love and ancient respect Go tell the Disciples and tell Peter So then the love of Christ is a love transcending all Creature-love and humane Understanding We read in Rom. 5. 7 8. That peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die But we never find where any beside Jesus Christ would lay down his life for Enemies It is recorded as an unparallel'd instance of love in Damon and Pithias the two Sicilian Philosophers that each had courage enough to die for his friend for one of them being Condemned to die by the Tyrant and desiring to give the last farewell to his Family his Friend went into Prison for him as his Surety to die for him if he returned not at the appointed time but he did not die yea he had such a confidence in his Friend that he would not suffer him by default to die for him and if he had yet he had died for his Friend But such was the love of Christ that it did not only put him into danger of death but put him actually unto death yea the worst of deaths and that for his Enemies O what manner of love is this We read of the love that Jacob had for Rachel and how he endured both the cold of Winter and heat of Summer for her sake But what is this to the love of Jesus who for us endured the heat of God's Wrath Beside she was Beautiful but we unlovely David wish'd for Absolom his Son Would God I had died for thee But it was but a wish and had it come to the proof David would have shrinkt from death for all the affection he bare his beautiful Son But Christ actually gave his life for us and did not only wish he had done it O love transcending the love of Creatures yea and surmounting all Creature-knowledge The Uses follow If the love of Christ pass knowledge O! then admire it yea live and die in the wonder and admiration of the love of Christ. As it is a sign of great weakness to admire small and common things so it speaks great stupidity not to be affected with great and unusual things O Christian if thou be one that conversest with the thoughts of this love thou canst not but admire it and the more thou studiest the more still wilt thou be astonished at it And among the many Wonders that will appear in the love of Christ these two will most of all affect thee viz. 1. That ever it pitcht at first on thee 2. That it is not by so many sins quencht towards thee 1. 'T is admirable that ever the love of Christ pitcht at first upon thee for are there not millions in the world of sweeter tempers and better constitutions than thy self whom it hath past by and yet imbraced thee Lord said the Disciples how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the world Joh. 14. 22. Surely he did not set his love upon thee nor chuse thee because thou wast better than others but because he loved thee 2. It is admirable that his love to thee is not extinguished by so many sins as thou hast committed against him Lay thy hand Christian this day upon thy heart and be think thy self how many have been the provocations wrongs and dishonours thou hast been guilty of against thy God and that since he called thee by his grace and set his love upon thee What! and yet love thee still Yea notwithstanding all he is still thy God and loves thee with an unchangeable love O! with how many notwithstandings is his love continued to thy soul All this is just matter of admiration and wonder for ever Is the love of Christ past knowledge an unsearchable love then learn whence and why it is that thâ—… souls of Believers never are not can be tired in beholding and enjoying Jesus Christ. We use to say one thing is tiresome and it is very true if it be an earthly thing it will be so how sweet or excellent soever it seems at first and the reason is because the bâ—…t Creature-enjoyment is but a shallow thing and a few thoughts will sound it to the bottom and there being no supply of new matter to feed the hungry soul upon it is quickly sated and cloyed with the repetition of the same thing over and over but it is far otherwise in Christ for though he be but one yet in that one thing all things are virtually and eminently
contained so that every day he seems a new Christ for sweetness and yet is the same Christ still And in Heaven the Redeemed shall view him with as much wonder and love him with as much ardour after millions of years as they did at their first sight of him O! there is no bottom in the love of Christ it passeth knowledge 3. In a word bestow your best and chiefest love upon Christ whose love to you passeth all knowledge Let no creature be loved equally with Christ but as his love to you passeth all creature-Creature-love so let yours to him be a matchless love Believer Christ loves thee with an unsearchable love he loves thee more than the dearest friend that is as thine own soul loves thee He loves thee more than thou lovest thy Child or the Wife of thy bosom more than thy soul loves thy body with which it is so intimately united And wilt thou content thy self with such poor narrow remiss affections to Jesus Christ. O look upon him this day in his red Garments behold him in the strength of his love breaking through the Curse of the Law the Wrath of God the Agonies of Death to bring home the fruits of his eternal love to thy soul. And whilst thou art beholding and musing upon it let thy heart melt thy eyes drop and thy very soul cry out Behold how he loved me Blessed be God for Jesus Christ. FINIS A HYMN UPON Rom. 5. ver 6 7 8 9 10 11. Verse 6. WHen we were destitute of strength our selves to help or save Christ for ungodliness at length his Life a Ransom gave 7. For one that 's Righteous we would grutch to lay our life to stake And for a good man it were much such an exchange to make 8. But God his matchless love commends in that Christ Jesus dies For us when we were not his friends but wretched Enemies 9. Much more being justified and free through his own Blood from sin From wrath to come we sav'd shall be even by the life of him 10. For if when Enemies for us Christs death did end the strife Much more when reconciled thus He 'l save us by his life 11. Yea more than so we triumph now in God with one Accord Having receiv'd Attonement through Christ Jesus our own Lord. Wherefore to him who is the first begotten of the dead Who over earthly Princes must be supream Lord and Head Evâ—… to him who lov'd us so to wash us in his Blood And make us Kings and Priests unto his Father and his God To him Dominion therefore by us be given when This present world shall be no more To which we say Amen ERRATA PAge 6. line 17. for dead read death-bed p. 36. l. 4. for wrapt r. rapt p. 46. l. 14. for effect r. affect p. 55. l. 15. add is the spoile p. 64. l. 16. for grounded r. ungrounded p. 99. l. 26. for hollowed r. hallowed p. 128. l. 24. for arâ—… r. is p. 135. l. 29. for and made r. that make p. 140. l. 11. for your r. their p. 141. l. 6. for any r. my p. 152. l. 3. blot out might p. 171. l. 25. r. applying p. 185. l. 26. r. fâ—…ast p. 206. l. 19. r. shower p. 214. l. 2. blot out all p. 216. l. 19. for unto r. under Concil Carthag Can. 6. Placuit â—…t defunctorum corporibus non detur Eucharistia c. Non putabam me tibi tam familiarem Tunc pessime dispositus quando aptisimé 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Inennarabile glorificata Montan 1. 2. 3. Chrysost. lib. 3. de Sacerdot Reas. 1. 2. Reas. Mr. Tho. Goodwins Epistle to Mr. Fenners Sermon 4. Reas. 1. 2. 3. 1. Use. Psal. 106. 7. Use 2. 1. 2. Doct. 1. 2. 3. Dr. Preston when dying said I shall change my place not my Compány Cant. 1. 12. Whilst the King siteth at his Table my Spikenard â—…c 1. Infer 2. Infer 3. Infer 4. Infer 5. Infer Ob. Sol. 6. Infer 1. 2. Cum ad optima quaeque contendo experio aliam legem tunc maximi in surgit percipitar lex carnis Tolletus Doct. 1. 1. 2. 2. 1. 2. 3. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. Rule 2. Rule 3. Rule 5. Rule 3. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. Doct. 1 Query 2. Query 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 3. Query 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Query 1. 2. Durham in Loc. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. De Dieu Grotius 1. 2. 3. 1. 3. 4. 5. 6. Use. 1. 2. 4. 5. â—… 7. 1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 2. Caryl on Job 3. 4. 5. 1 Use. 9. 4. 4. 5. 2. 3. Doct. 1. Doct. 2. 1. 2. 4. 2. Use. 2. Doct. Use. 1. 1. Sympt 2. Sympt 3. Sympt 5. Sympt Use 2. 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 1. 2. 1 Use. 2. Use. 1. 2. 3. Doct. 1. 1. Use. 2. Use. 1. Rule 2. Rule 3. Rule 4. Rule 5. Rule 1. Query 2. Query 1. Use. Amos 6. 4 5 6. 2. Use. 1. 2. 1. 1. 2. 2. 1. 1 Tim. 3. 16. 1. 2. 4. 1.
the representation of it But loe here is more than a representation Christ is set forth in this Ordinance as Crucified for you as suffering and enduring all this in your room and stead Now Suppose Reader thy self to be justly Condemned to the torture of the Rack or Strappado and that thy Father Brother or dearest Friend preferring thy life to his own would become thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ransomer by undergoing the torment for thee and all that is left for thee to suffer were only by way of Sympathy with him Suppose now thy self standing by that Engine of Torture and beholding the members of thy dear Friend distorted and all out of joynt hearing the doleful groans extorted by the extremity of anguish and under all these torments still maintaining a constant love to thee not once repenting his torments for thee couldst thou stand there with dry eyes could thy heart be unaffected and stupid at such a sight Write him rather a Beast a Stone than a Man that could do so But this is not all The Believers interest in Christ is Sealed as well as the sufferings of Christ represented in this Ordinance And is a Sealed Interest in Christ so cheap or common a thing as that it should not engage yea swallow up all the powers of thy soul O what is this What is this The Seal of God set to the Soul of a poor Sinner to confirm and ratifie its title to the Person of Christ and the inestimable treasures of his Blood Surely as the Sealing up of a man to Damnation is the sum of all misery and that poor Creature that is so Sealed hath cause enough to mourn and wail to Eternity So the sealing up of a soul to Salvation is the sum of all mercy and happiness and the Soul that is so sealed hath cause enough to lie at the feet of God over-whelmed with the sense of so invaluable a mercy Secondly As the nature and ends of the Ordinance call for the greatest composedness of spirit so the danger of unworthy receiving should work our hearts to the most serious frames For if a man be here without his Wedding-garment if he eat and drink unworthily it is at the greatest peril of his soul that he doth so 1 Cor. 11. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. To prophane and undervalue that Body and Blood of the Lord is a sin above measure sinful and the punishments of such sins will be most dreadful for still the more excellent the Blessings are that come by any Ordinance the more dreadful the Curses are that avenge the abuse of such mercies How soon may a man draw fearful guilt upon his soul and dreadful judgments upon his body by an heedless management of such sacred mysteries For this cause many are weak and fickly among you and many sleep ver 30. It is a most weighty Note that a worthy Pen sets upon this Scripture they discerned not the Body of his Son Jesus Christ in his Ordinances but instead of that holy reverend and deep-dyed behaviour which was due to it both from their inner and outward man as being a Creature of the highest and deepest Sanctification that ever God Sanctified Sanctified not only to a more excellent and glorious condition but also to many ends and purposes of far higher and dearer concernment both for the glory of God and benefit of men themselves than all other Creatures whatsoever whether in Heaven or Earth they handled and dealt by it in both kinds as if it had been a common or unsanctified thing Thus they discerned not the Lords Body And as they discerned not his Body so neither did God in some sense discern theirs but in those sore Strokes and heavy Judgments which he inflicted on them had them in no other regard or consideration than as if they had been the bodies of his Enemies the bodies of wicked and sinful men Thus drawing the model and plat-form of their punishment as usually he doth from the structure and proportion of their sin Thus the Just and Righteous God builds up the breaches that we make upon the honour belonging to the body of his Son with the ruins of that honour which he had given unto ours in health strength life and many other outward comforts and supports O then what need is there of a most awful and composed spirit when we approach the Lord in this Ordinance Thirdly As the danger of unworthy receiving should compose us to the greatest seriousness so the remembrance of that frame and temper Christs spirit was in when he actually suffered those things for us should compose our spirits into a frame more suitable and agreeable to his when we see his death as it were acted over again before our eyes was his heart roving and wandering in that day Did he not sense and mind the work he was going about Was his heart like thine stupid and unaffected with these things Look but upon that Text Luke 22. 44. and you shall see whether it were so or no. It 's said when this Tragedy drew nigh and his Enemies were ready to seize him in the Garden That being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of Blood falling down to the ground And Matth. 26. 38. he saith My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death His soul was full of sorrow and is thine full of stupâ—…y God forbid If thy heart be cold Christ's was hot If thou canst not shed a tear he poured out clods of blood from every part Oh! how unsuitable is a dry eye and an hard heart to such an Ordinance as this Fourthly As the frame Christs spirit was in at his death should command the most solemn frame upon our spirits at the recognizing of it so the things here represented require and call for the highest exercise of every grace of the spirit in our souls for we come not thither as idle Spectators but as active Instruments to glorifie God by exercising every grace upon Christ as Crucified for us Behold here among the rest 1. The proper object of Faith 2. The flowing spring of Repentance 3. The powerful attractive of Love First The proper object of Faith is here This Ordinance as a glass represents to thine eye that glorious Person of whom the Father said This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Matth. 17. 5. Of whom he said I have laid help upon one that is mighty This was he that was made Sin for us who had no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. 21. Who trod the Wine-press alone and is here to be seen in his red Garments Every drop of his precious Blood hath a tongue calling for Faith to behold it poured forth as a Sacrifice to God for sin This saith he is
and Angels in any work of God since the beginning of time as it hath done in the designation of Christ to be the Lamb of God a Sacrifice for sin Behold the Lamb of God and in him behold the unsearchable Wisdom of God in recovering the Elect perfectly from all the danger of sin and yet making sin more dreadful to them by the way of their recovery from it than ever it could be made by any other consideration Infinite Wisdom in suiting the Sinners remedy to the cause of his disease The Disease was the Pride of Man the Remedy was the Humiliation of the Son of God Man affected to be as God that ruin'd him God comes down assumes flesh and will be found in fashion as a man that saved him O profound Wisdom which from the loss and ruine of our Primitive glory which was the undoing of us soul and body takes the occasion of raising us to a far better state and settles us in it with a much better security than the former Who but Jesus Christ the Wisdom of God as he is called 1 Cor. 1. 24. could ever have ordered and over-ruled the worst of evils so as by occasion of the breach of the Law to raise more glory to God than ever could have been given to him by the most punctual observation of its commands or by the most rigorous execution of its penalties O the astonishing depth of Wisdom Thirdly The love of God is in Christ. Behold the Lamb of God! and in him behold the love of God in the highest and most triumphant discovery that ever was or can be made of it in this world 1 Joh. 4. 10. Herein is love not that we loved him but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins O here here is the love of God to Sinners he manifests love to us in our daily provisions protections deliverances and comforts That we have health when others groan under pains therein is love That we have bread to eat when others are ready to perish therein is love O but to have Christ to be a Propitiation for us when the Angels that fell were left desperate therein was love indeed All the love that breaks out in the variety of providences for us in this world in our Health and Estates in our Relations and Comforts is nothing compar'd with this love Herein is love indeed Fourthly The tender mercies of God over poor Sinners are in Christ as Christ is the mercy promised Luk. 1. 72. the capital mercy so he is the Chanel through which all the streams of Gods mercy flow freely to the Sons of men Jude 21. the mercy of God to Eternal life or his saving mercies are only dispenced to us through Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God! A Lamb prepared by the astonishing mercy of God a Sacrifice for us when no Sacrifice is laid out for fallen Angels Mercy alone hath made this difference mercy opened its tender eye and looked through Christ upon us in the depth of our misery In Christ it is that the milder attribute of mercy is exercised upon us whilst severe Justice punishes them Fifthly All the hopes of poor Sinners are in Christ Col. 1. 27. Take away Christ and where is the hope of our souls 1 Tim. 1. 1. 'T is by the Blood of the Lamb that we have hope towards God In his Oblation and no where else our hope of Salvation finds footing On him it is the Anchor of hope is fixed and the soul stayed when the storms of fear and inward trouble do arise and beat violently upon it Sixthly The Salvation of our souls to Eternity is in Christ Acts 4. 12. Neither is there any other name given under Heaven by which we must be saved He is the Ark in whom we are preserved Jude ver 1. Look as the sprinkling of the Blood of the Paschal Lamb upon the Door-posts of the Israelites was that which preserved them from the destroying Angel so the Blood of Christ the Lamb of God Typified by that Blood saves Believers from the wrath to come But who can open the unsearchable riches or recount the ravishing excellencies found in Christ Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect behold and admire for ever-more the incomparable excellencies of Christ. Heaven would be no Heaven to them if they could not behold Christ there Psal. 73. 25. But my business rather lies in improving this point than endeavouring farther to unfold it for new wonders will appear in Christ if we behold him to Eternity And all the improvement I shall make of it shall be in one use of Exhortation bespeaking every one of you what ever your present condition and estate be to behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world And First If there be found among you any that are sensible of a stony hard heart which cannot relent and mourn for all the wrong done to Jesus Christ by sin whose affections are benum'd and stupified by sin so that no considerations they can urge upon their own hearts are able to thaw them cause a relenting pang for sin To such I would direct the words of this Text as the most effectual means to melt such hearts Look hither hard heart Behold the Lamb of God Consider believe and apply what is here sensibly represented and thy heart is hard indeed if it relent not upon such a view of Christ. It 's said Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn Behold the Son of God brought as a Lamb to the Slaughter for thee a vile polluted Sinner Behold the invaluable Blood of this Sacrifice shed for thee Bring thy thoughts close to this subject think who it is that was made a Lamb for Sacrifice for whom he endured all his unspeakable sufferings how meekly and willingly he endured all the wrath of God and men standing in his perfect Innocency to be slain for thee Behold he was made sin for thee who had no sin that thou who hadst no Righteousness mightst be made the Righteousness of God in him O who ever loved thee at that rate Christ hath done Who would endure that misery that Christ did endure for thy sake Would thy Father or the Wife of thy bosom or thy Friend that is as thy own soul be content to feel that for thee though but one hour which Christ felt when his sweat was as it had been great drops of Blood falling down to the ground Nay thou wouldst never taste such a cup for the saving of thine own Child as Christ drank off when he cried My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Behold how he loved thee Surely if the Rocks rent asunder at his passion thy heart is harder than a Rock if it thaw not at such a sight as this Fix thine eyes a while here and thine eye will affect thy heart Secondly Is there any among
work to the heart of Christ. I delight to do it it is in my heart Loe I come The Hebrew words note not simple consent or willingness but the highest pleasure and complacency that can be a work which ravishes his soul with the delights of it I delight to do thy will And that other expression Thy Law is within my heart or bowels hath as deep a sense and signification as the former It notes the greatest care solicitude and intention of mind in keeping the most precious treasure that was committed to him for so the phrase is used in Prov. 4. 21. And so did our Redeemer esteem and reckon this work which was by the Father demandated and committed to him Hence the note is Doct. That the will of God to redeem Sinners by the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ was most grateful and pleasing to the very heart of Christ. It is said Prov. 8. 31. when he was sollacing himself in the sweetest enjoyment of his Father whilst he lay in that blessed bosom of delights yet the very prospect of this work gave him pleasure Then were his delights with the Sons of men And when he was come into the world and had endured many abasures and injuries and was even now come to the most difficult part of the work yet how am I straightned or pained saith he till it be accomplished Luk. 12. 50. Two things might call our thoughts to stay upon them in this point First The decency of it why it ought to be so Secondly The reasons of it whence it came to be so First Why it ought to be a pleasant and grateful thing to Christ to take a body of flesh and lay it down by death again for the redemption of Sinners First It became Christ to go about this work with chearfulness and delight that thereby he might give his death the nature and formality of a sacrifice In all Sacrifices you shall find that God had still a regard a special respect to the will of the offerer See Exod. 35. 5. 21. Levit. 1. 3. the voluntariness and chearfulness with which it is given is of great regard with God Secondly It ought to be so in regard of the unity of Christs will with the Fathers The work of our redemption is call'd the pleasure of the Lord Isa. 53. 10. And what was the Fathers pleasure could not be displeasing to him who is one with the Father It 's impossible their wills can clash whose nature is one Thirdly This was necessary to magnifie and commend the love of Jesus Christ to us for whom he gave himself That he came into the world to die for us is a mercy of the first magnitude but that he came in love to our souls and underwent all his sufferings with such willingness for our sakes this heightens it above all apprehension O this is the most taking the most ravishing the most astonishing consideration of all He loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. He loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood Rev. 1. 5. Here love is in its highest exaltation Fourthly It was necessary to be so for the regulating of all our obedience to God according to this pattern That seeing and setting this great example of obedience before us we might never grutch nor grumble at any duty or suffering that God should call us to You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ how that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor Saith the Apostle when he would press the Corinthians to their duty 2 Cor. 8. 9. and when he would effectually urge the Philippians to their duty this is the argument Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus Phil. 2. 5. So that it became and behooved Christ thus to undertake this great service Secondly Next let us consider and examine whence it came to be so pleasant and acceptable to Jesus Christ to come into the world and die for poor Sinners And we shall find that although the sufferings of Christ were exceeding sharp and the cup of Gods wrath unspeakably bitter yet that which made it pleasant and desirable to Jesus Christ was the prospect he had of the sweet results and issues of his sufferings Isa. 53. 10 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied i. e. he shall have great content and pleasure from the issues and fruits of his sufferings as Psal. 128. 2. Thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands i. e. the fruit of thy labours So here He shall see the travail of his soul i. e. the fruit and effects of his travail and to see this shall be to him the reward and recompence of all his sufferings Now among the sweet results of the sufferings of Christ there are especially these three which he fore-saw with singular content and delectation First That in his sufferings there would be made a glorious display and manifestation of the divine Attributes yea such a glorious display of them as never was made before to Angels or to men nor ever shall be any more in this world For though First The Wisdom of God had made it self visible to men in the Creation of the world yet there it shone but in a faint and languishing beam compared with this Here divine Wisdom put it self as it were into a visible form and represented it self to the life See 1 Cor. 1. 24. and Eph. 30. 10. Behold in the death of Christ the Wisdom of God in its highest exaltation and glory O the manifold Wisdom of God! O the depth of his unsearchable wisdom Which I touched in some particulars before p. 102. Behold here the Wisdom of God raising more glory to himself by occasion of the breach of the Law than could ever have risen to him from the most punctual observation of its commands or the most rigorous execution of its threatenings from the occasion of the fall which was our undoing raising us to a far better estate and with a much better security to enjoy it than that from which we fell Yea behold and wonder God by the death of Christ recovering his Elect from all the danger and mischief of sin and yet making the way and manner of their recovery the fairest glass to represent the horror and evil of sin to them that ever was shewn them in this world Oh the tryumph of divine Wisdom Secondly Though the love of God had appeared before in our Creation Protection and Provision yet nothing to what it doth in our Redemption by the death of Christ Loe here is the love of God in its strength and glory 1 Joh. 4. 10. Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins Herein is love i. e. here is the highest expression of Gods love to the Creature not only that ever was but that ever can be made
for in love only God acteth to the uttermost What ever his power hath done it can do more but for his love it can go no higher he hath no greater thing to give than his Christ. 'T is true in giving us a being and that in the noblest rank and order of Creatures on Earth herein was love In feeding us all our life long by his assiduous tender providence herein is love In protecting us under his wings from innumerable dangers and mischiefs herein is love much love And yet set all this by his Redeeming love in Christ and it seems nothing When we have said all Herein is the love of God that he sent his Son c. This was free love to undeserving to ill deserving Sinners Preventing love not that we loved him but that he loved us Just as an Image in the glass saith Ficinus that is imprinted there by the face looking into it the Image does not look back upon the face except the face look forward upon the Image and in that the Image does seem to see the face it s nothing else but that the face does see the Image O the unexpressable glory of the love of God in Christ Thirdly Though God had given several sad marks of his Justice before both upon the Angels that fell clapping upon them the chains of darkness in the overthrow of Sodom and the neighbouring Cities turning them to Ashes as you may read in Jud. ver 6 7. yet never was the exactness and severity of Justice so manifested before nor ever shall be any more as it was at the death of Christ. Christ did not only satisfie it fully but he also honoured it highly making that Attribute which was once a bar now to be a bottom of our peace Rom. 3. 25. Never did such a Person as Christ stand at the Bar of Justice before The Blood of God was poured out to appease and satisfie it When Christ suffered he did both give and take satisfaction he gave it to the justice of God in dying he took it in seeing Justice so honoured in his death Secondly Another delightful prospect Christ had of the fruit of his sufferings was the recovery and salvation of all the Elect by his death And though his sufferings were exceeding bitter yet such fruit of them as this was exceeding sweet Upon this account he assumed his Name Jesus Matth. 1. 21. yea and his humane Nature also Gal. 4. 4 5. Souls are of great value in his eyes One soul is of more worth in his account than all the world Mark 8. 36. What a pleasure then must it be to him to save so many souls from the everlasting wrath of the great and terrible God Add to this Thirdly The glory which would redound to him from his redeemed ones to all Eternity For it will be the everlasting pleasant imployment of the Saints in Heaven to be ascribing glory praise and honour to the Redeemer To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests to God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Rev. 1. 5 6. The improvement of all this will be in a word or two 1. Use for Conviction This truth then in the first place may convince shame and humble the very best of Christians who find so little delight in the most easie sweet and spiritual duties of obedience when Christ undertook and went through the most difficult task for them with such chearfulness and readiness Loe I come thy Law is in my heart I delight to do thy will And yet the work he so applied himself to was a work full of difficulty attended with reproach and shame as well as anguish and pain Did Christ find pleasure in abasement and torment in suffering and dying for me and can I find no pleasure in Praying Hearing Meditating and enjoying the sweet duties of Communion with him Did he come so chearfully to Die for me and do I go so dead heartedly to Prayers and Sacraments to enjoy fellowship with him Was it a pleasure to him to shed his Blood and is it none to me to apply it and reap the benefits of it Oh Lord what an heart have I How unsuitable is this frame of heart to the Nature of God whose essential excellencies make him the supream delight the sweet repose solace and rest of souls Psal. 16. 11. How unsuitable to the principles of regeneration and holiness purposely planted in the soul to make spiritual performances a pleasure to it How unsuitable to the future expected state of glory which brings the sanctified soul to a sweet complacential rest and satisfaction in God! In a word how unsuitable is this temper of spirit to the heart of Jesus Christ O me thinks I hear Christ thus expostulating with me this day Is this thy zeal and thy delight in the duties of obedience Is it rather the awe of Conscience than the pleasure of Communion that brings thee to this duty Doth thy heart need so many arguments to perswade it even to the sweetest easiest and most pleasant duties in Religion Well I did not love thee at that rate my heart readily eccho'd to the Fathers call to die for thee to drink the very dregs of the cup of trembling for thee I come I come I delight to do thy will thy Law is in the midst of my bowels 2. Use for Exhortation If it be so how great a motive have the People of God before them to make them apply themselves with all chearfulness and readiness of mind to all the duties of active and passive obedience O let there be no more grumblings lazy excuses shiftings off duty or dead-hearted and listless performances of them after such an example as this Be ready to do the will of God yea be you also ready to suffer it Let the same mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus The more pleasure and delight you find in doing or suffering the will of God the more of Christs spirit is in you and the more of his Image is upon you Are not all holy duties expressed in Scripture by the Saints walking with God Gen. 17 1. and is not this an Angelical life Can it be a burden to the ear to hear sweet ravishing strains of melody or to the eye to behold variety of pleasant and lively colours or to the palate to rellish the delicious sweetness of meats and drinks Oh Reader were thy heart more spiritual more deeply sanctified and Heavenly it would be no more pain to thee to Pray Hear or Meditate on the things of God than it is to a Bird to carry and use his own wings or to a Man to eat the most pleasant food when he is an hungry I have rejoyced saith David in the way of thy Commandements as much as in all riches Psal. 119. 14. And as to sufferings for Christ they should not be grievous to
perpetual We shall be ever with the Lord 1 Thes. 4. 7. Long therefore to drink that new Wine in the Fathers Kingdom The Spirit and the Bride say came and let him that heareth say come even so come Lord Jesus come quickly THE ELEVENTH MEDITATION UPON Cant. 8. v. 6. Set me as a Seal upon thy heart as a Seal upon thine arm for love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave the coals thereof are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame THIS Book is a sacred Allegory the sense thereof is deep and spiritual Our unacquaintedness with such Schemes and figures of speech together with the want of spiritual light and experience makes it difficult to be understood but the Allegory being once unfolded by reason of its affinity with the fancy truth is more easily and affectingly transmitted both to the mind and heart St. Augustine assignes this reason why we are so much delighted with Metaphors and Allegories because they are so much proportioned to our sences with which our reason hath contracted an intimacy and familiarity And therefore God to accommodate his truth to our capacity doth as it were embody it in earthly expressions according to that of the ancient Gaballists lumen supremum nunquam descendit sine in dumentâ—… Heavenly truth never discendeth to us without its vail and covering The words before us are the request of the Spouse to Jesus Christ and consist of two parts viz. 1. Her Suit which is earnest 2. Her Argument which is weighty Her earnest suite or request to Jesus Christ Set me as a Seal upon thy heart as a Seal upon thine arm The heart of Christ notes his most dear inward and tender affection his Arm notes his protecting and preserving care and power The last naturally follows the first what men dearly affect they tenderly and carefully protect And by setting her as a Seal upon his heart and arm she means a sure and a well-confirmed interest both in his love and power This she would have firmly sealed and ratified and that this is her meaning will plainly appear from The Argument with which she enforces her request For love is strong as death jealousie is cruel as the grave c. By Jealousie we must understand her fears and suspicions of coming short of Christ and his love q. d. What if after all I should be deceived What if Jesus Christ do not love me with a special love O these fears and suspicions are intolerable torments to her she cannot bear them they are cruel as the grave insufferable as coales of fire which have a most vehement flame q. d. Lord if thou leave me in the midst of these jealousies of thy love I shall be but a torment to my self I shall live as one upon the rack or in the flames Hence the note is Doct. That there is nothing in this world which true Christians more earnestly desire than to be well assured and satisfied of the love of Jesus Christ to their souls In the meditation of this point two things must be inquired into 1. Why this assurance is so desirable 2. How it may be obtained Why the assurance of the love of Christ is so desirables in the eyes of true Christians And among others there are two things that especially make it so viz. 1. The sweetness of its enjoyment 2. The difficulty of its attainment The sweetness of its enjoyment which is unexpressable and inconceivable for it is a mercy above all estimation It is 1. The riches of faith 2. The rest and ease of the heart 3. The pleasure of life 4. A Cordial in death 5. A sweet support in all troubles 1. It is the very riches of faith the most pleasant fruit which grows upon the top branches of faith The Scripture tells us of an assurance of Understanding hope and faith All these graces are precious in themselvcs but the assurance of each of them is the most sweet and pleasant part Knowledge above knowledge is the full assurance of knowledge Hope above hope is the full assurance of hope and faith above faith is the full assurance of faith The least and lowest act of saving faith is precious above all value what then must the highest and most excellent acts of faith be Certainly there is a sweetness in the assurance of faith that few men have the privilege to taste and they that do can find no words able to express it to anothers Understanding The weakest Christian is exalted above other men but the assured Christian hath a preference before all other Christians 2. It is hearts ease the very Sabbath and sweet repose of the soul. Thousands of poor Christians would part with all they possess in this world to enjoy it but it flies from them The life that most of them live is a life betwixt hopes and fears their interest in Christ is very doubtful to them Sometimes they are encouraged from sensible workingâ—… of grace then all is dashed again by the contrary stirrings and workings of their own corruptions Now the Sun shines out clear by and by the Heavens are over-cast and clouded again But the assured Christian is at rest from those tormenting fears and jealousies which my Text speaks of that are as cruel as the grave and as insufferable as coals of fire in a mans bosom He can take Christ into the arms of his faith and say My Beloved is mine and I am his Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 3. It is the pleasure of life yea the most rational pure and transporting pleasure What is life without pleasure And what pleasure is there in the world comparable to this pleasure For let the sealed and assured Believer consider and compare and he must needs find a joy and pleasure beyond the joy of the whole Earth If he consider well what he is assured of it is no common mercy but Christ himself and his love a mercy incomprehensible by Men or Angels Eph. 3. 19. Put Christ into the sensible possession of a Believer and joy is no more under his command for that time he can no more refuse to rejoyce than he that is tickled can forbear to laugh and especially when his thoughts are exercised in comparing states and conditions either his own with other mens or his own now with what it was and what it shall be To think with thy self thus I am assured of Christ and his love my interest in him is sealed but this is a mercy few enjoy besides me There be millions of souls of equal value with mine by nature that shall never enjoy such a mercy as this Yea the time was when I my self was far from it in my unregenerate estate Lord how is it I had not then been sealed to Damnation O 't is well with me for present that I can call Christ my own and yet it will be better and better My condition will