Saviour that lives for ever and hee is able to save for ever He hath not onely beene a Saviour in times past but hee is still you may haply live many daies and therefore goe to Christ which liveth for ever to pardon and to intercede for the comfort of the soule The wise man saith Proverbs 28.13 He that confesseth and forsaketh shall finde mercy the originall runs thus confessing and forsaking findeth mercy the best of Gods people have their sinnes their pride and other distempers therefore labour to see thy sinnes and to see thy need of Christ that thou maist finde pardon for them Fourthly thus farre the Saints of God ought to goe in charging their owne soules with their sinnes so farre see them and bee affected with them as to bring thy heart to be truly carried with hatred against them and with resolution to get power and strength against them lay thy burthen upon thy owne soule that thou maist be affected with it and be carried with a hatred to it and a resolution to get more strength and power against it Famous is that example of David herein and this was the cause of his practice it is a conceit of the Familists that if he had once gotten the assurance of Gods love he might have gone away cheared but though the Lord had pardoned his sinne yet he would not pardon sinne in himselfe the Lord shewed mercy to his soule but yet he would not shew any pittie to his sinne but shewed all the hatred and revenge against it that possibly he could As the Apostle said concerning the incestuous Corinth Ye should rather have sorrowed that the sinne might have beene removed had you sorrowed for your sinnes then you would have resisted them And when hee had shewed them their transgressions and convinced them of their sinnes see what fruit it wrought in them in 2 Cor. 7.10 For this thing that yee have had godly sorrow what great care it hath wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what feare what zeale what revenge c The Familists scornfully and sinfully inquire and say why should a beleever goe drooping and mourning under his sinnes and corruptions and have his eyes full of tears and his heart full of griefe seeing Christ hath pardoned all as though a man did become a Mediatour to himselfe their demand is weake and their scorne is hellish and therefore I answer them thus If there be a daily need that every beleever see a necessitie of Christ then there is a daily need to repent and sorrow for sinne for if he must be more sanctified then he must bee more mortified therefore he must daily see his sinnes or else hee will never see a need of Christ nor repent nor bee more sanctified nor mortified Againe if every beleever must expresse his love unto God daily then he must hate every thing that is evill I hope you will confesse that every beleever is bound to love Jesus Christ therefore he must hate sinne and if hee must hate sinne that hee may not commit it then hee must mourne for it when it is committed If a man have any good nature it will worke trouble in his heart to thinke that hee should sinne against so good a God thus farre a Christian ought to goe and must goe in the charging himselfe with his sinne Quest. 2 Now in the second place the question is this how far may not a beleever charge himselfe with his sinne this is that which hath bred all these vaine conceits in the spirits of those Familists I say no more therefore but this they make Christ not a King of Saints but of sinne there is great weight in it and admirable comfort if Christians would but be perswaded to make conscience of the word of God You that are weake not onely be perswaded to listen to the word but also make conscience of what is revealed out of the word now how farre hee may not charge himselfe with his sinne may bee conceived of in these conclusions First a beleever should not in his judgement conceive nor in his heart be perswaded that any sinne nor all his sinnes shall ever be able to fasten the guilt of sinne upon him so as to cause revenging justice to proceed against him to his condemnation if he seriously repent and amend and forsake his old wayes for hee must not in his judgement conceive nor in his heart thinke that ever sinne repented of shall be able to fasten guilt upon him so as to draw out the execution of justice against him It is one thing to be worthie of condemnation and it is another thing to fasten guilt and condemnation upon him as many poore creatures will say I shall be condemned and I shall one day perish by the hands of Saul and these sinnes will bee my everlasting destruction take heed what you doe for if you are beleevers true penitents you sinne highly in so doing and saying walke as humbly as thou wilt and lay thy mouth in the dust and speake not a word more and say it is mercy that thou art not in hell yet know this also that all thy sinnes and all thy pride shall never bee able so to fasten guilt upon thee as to draw out Gods justice against thee sinne hath a power to make us guiltie and to condemne us but it shall never fasten its worke upon thy penitent soule remember that story of Saint Paul Acts 5.28 He went and gathered up sticks with the rest of the company to make a fire for hee tooke no great state upon himselfe being but a poore tent-maker and there came a viper out of the heat and leapt on his hand by and by the Heathens they proclaimed him to be some notorious malefactor some murtherer whom though he had escaped the Sea yet vengeance hath not suffered him to liue but marke what the Text saith Hee shooke off the viper into the fire and had no hurt this viper would have slaine him being a deadly venomous creature but Paul had a promise before that if he touched any poysonfull thing it should not hurt him This is the admirable happinesse of the Saints and servants of God oh that they were perswaded of it All thy pride and envie and malice and covetousnesse all thy sinnes are of a poysonous viperous nature but if thou art a beleever if a true penitent and convert thou hast the promise that the sting of the Serpent sinne shall not hurt thee it is taken off from thee and laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore shake off the guilt of all thy abominations and goe on cheerfully and comfortably to Christ and yet humbly too and praise his Name that hee hath beene pleased to take that guilt of sinne upon him which thou wert never able to beare therefore though all thy pride thy rebellion and other sins should come in against thee as the sinnes of Manasses if thou repentest and forsakest
the suit against the partie offending our Saviour steps into our roome and submits himselfe to the censure of the Father and as we were accounted so he was content to bee accounted and as we were to suffer so he was content to suffer for us God the Father loved him as he was God and holy and innocent yet he condemnes him and lets in his wrath upon him as he was to beare our sins for God the Father might love Jesus Christ and yet give his body to death naturall so God the Father might love the soule of our Saviour and yet give it over to paine supernaturall all the world confesseth that it was without anger that Christ died and yet the Father slew him this conclusion helps us to the interpretation of that place Matthew 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee He was a Father to our Saviour and our Saviour a Son to him Fourthly whatsoever punishment proceeded from the Father our Saviour tooke it upon himselfe yet so as neither his sins deserved it neither did he sinne in bearing of it nor yet was hee overwhelmed in bearing of it as the wicked are which are damned but hee wrestled with it and overcame it hee first tooke upon himselfe that should have come upon a beleever when the wrath of God comes out like a Lion to take the sinfull sons of men from off the earth and the sea of his indignation flowes in amain then the Lord Jesus Christ steps in between the wrath of the Father and the soule of a beleever and hee bears all Iohn 18.11 when Peter would have rescued our Saviour from the high Priests Our Saviour said suffer it to bee so put up thy sword into its place shall I not drinke of the cup which my Father giveth me to drinke of hee doth not say shall I not sip or taste of the cup but shall I not drinke of it that is he drinkes the cup of wrath which was prepared for poore sinners cleane off therefore Esay 63.3 hee is said to tread the wine-presse of the Fathers wrath alone he did squeese it all out observe these explications in this kinde and know thus much that the want of the sense and feeling and operation of Gods love and the feeling of the indignation of Gods wrath in it selfe considered it is not a sinne but so far as our sinnes deserve this wrath of God and deserve this separation and so far as we out of our infidelitie dash the sweetnesse of Gods love we sin in this kinde but none of all this befell our Saviour the bare want of the one and the sense of the other is not a sinne but we sin in bearing it It is a sweet observation of the Schoolmen that our Saviour cried my God my God even in the losse of the sweetnesse of Gods favour and when Christ complaines and sweat water and blood yea clods of blood so that his heart broke within him under the fierce indignation of the Lord this fierce indignation may be attended two wayes or there are two things in it I say in the separation of God from the soule there are these two things to be attended First a want of that grace and holinesse and confidence whereby the soule should close with God that howsoever God goes away yet the soule should follow him as Iacob did after the Lord when hee said I will not let thee goe unlesse thou blesse mee Now it is one thing when God goes away and it is another thing when we push him away therefore that want of grace and holinesse and confidence whereby the soule should cleave to and close with God this is one thing which causeth the separation of God from us this is on our part Secondly there is another worke on Gods part that howsoever the soule stands Godward and Christward and it cleaves to him as Iob did that would trust in him though he kild him yet God may withdraw the sweet refreshing operation and the sensible conveyance of his mercy and compassion from his soule and he frownes upon him and plucks away the hold and lets in his indignation upon him the first of these two can never bee without sinne and it is a hainous sinne when our soules sit loose from God and when we shall separate our selves from the mercy and goodnesse of God and are weary of Gods presence in his ordinances as many wicked men are and are weary of the promises and say as those in Iob did Depart from us for wee desire not the knowledge of thy wayes this is a cursed sinne and this never was nor could not be in our Saviour but now that the Lord may plucke away the sense of his love and favour and take away the operation and conveyance of his mercy this God may justly doe as he seeth good this was not a sinne in Iob that God did take away the sense of his love and mercy and seemed to be his enemy but if Iob had gone away from God as God did from him then he had sinned but hee held God still this was not a sinne in Iob that God did thus forsake him though haply it was through his sinne deserving it all this did befall our Saviour Christ and yet he was full of holinesse and hangs upon God and said My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And God was angry with him because he had our sinnes upon him but the first of these was not in Christ hee did not depart from God the second was inflicted upon our Saviour and that might be justly this ads much light to those passages those two ardent petitions of those two worthy lights Moses and Saint Paul Exodus 32.32 Moses perceiving that the Lord was ready to destroy the Israelites for their sinne he saith Now if thou pardon this sinne thy mercy shall appeare but if thou will not then rase mee out of the booke of life which thou hast written and in Rom. 9.3 Saint Paul foreseeing the rejection of the Jewes and that God would throw them away for sixteen hundred yeeres together the good man seeing the dishonour that was like to come to God the utter destruction of the people of the Jewes he saith I could even desire to be separated from Christ to be cut off from the Nation of the Iewes that they might not be forsaken of God Now should a man pray to be removed out of Gods presence and to be separated from God for ever and to be cut off from God and to be separated from Christ Jesus no for this were sinfull either it signifies that Paul should have his heart loosened and sit loose in his affections to God and to Jesus Christ this Paul did not pray for for it is a horrible sinne and it is an argument he hated Christ and himselfe too Now so farre as it implies our want of love to God and our want of depending upon God it is a fearfull sinne and these holy
agreeable to the exactnesse of the Law and for which a man may be condemned that cannot justifie a man but it is so here therefore they cannot be justified p. 119 Use 1. It is a ground of confutation of the Church of Rome that holds the formall cause of the justication of a sinner it is the frame of holinesse wrought in him not imputed to him p. 122 Use 2. It is a word of consolation and it is a Cordiall to cheere up a mans heart and to carry him through all troubles whatsoever can betide him or shall befall him ibid. Use 3. It is an use of exhortation will nothing doe the deed but a Christ why then above all labour for a Christ more than all labour to prize a Christ p. 127 A TABLE OF THE Soules Iustification out of these words 2 COR. 5.22 For hee hath made him to be sinne for us which knew no sinne that wee might bee made the righteousnesse of God in him OVt of these words two things are to bee opened First the discription of justification Secondly opening of the discription p. 132 Iustification it is an act of God the Father upon the beleever whereby the debt and sinnes of the beleever are charged upon the Lord Iesus Christ and by the merits and satisfaction of Christ imputed to the beleever hee is accounted just and so is acquitted before God as righteous ibid. Doctrine 1. Iustification is an act of God the Father upon the beleever p. 133 For the clearing of the doctrine 2. particulars are to be opened Particular 1. The first particular is this why is it called an act of God the Father Answ First because the Father was the party that was properly offended p. 135. Secondly because the Father is the Fountaine in the Deitie p. 137 Particular 2. Why it is an act of God the Father upon the beleever Answer Because it is a transient action that passeth from God upon the creature and so doth worke thereby a change and alteration upon the creature p. 139 The charge that is wrought upon the creatures is two wayes Particular 1. The Lord is said to passe a worke or an action upon the creature when hee puts some kinde of abilitie upon the creature either spirituall or naturall as when the Lord makes a wicked man a good man an adulterous man a chaste man and this wee call a naturall change because there is a gratious frame put into the heart p. 140 Secondly the Lord is said to make a change upon the creature when he takes off some relations and respects which the creature had and puts upon it other respects and this is called a morall change p. 140 Use 1. It is a ground of admirable comfort to beare up the heart of a poore sinner above all the accusations of sinne Satan or the envy of the world p. 143 Use 2. It is a word of direction to all the Saints to appeale to the Iudge of the Court in their judgement p. 148 Use 3. It is a groung of terrour to the wicked and to all unbeleevers that they have no share in this point of justification p. 154 Doctrine Christ Iesus never yeelded the least improvement of heart to sinne neither did he ever commit the least sinne in his life p. 159 Reason 1. Looke into the nature of our Saviour and it was pure p. 159 Reason 2. Looke into the Office of our Saviour and hee was without sinne p. 160 Use 1. It is a word of exhortation to the faithfull to conforme their hearts and conversations answerable to Christ p. 161 Doctrine God the Father did impute all the sinnes of all the world to the charge of our Saviour p. 166 When God the Father doth charge the sinnes of the faithfull upon Christ it doth appeare in these three particular acts Particular 1. God the Father and the Lord Iesus Christ made a mutuall decree and purpose that so many as should beleeve should be saved and this was left to the care of Christ that he should make them beleeve p. 170 Particular 2. Our Saviour having undertaken to keepe these he therefore put himselfe into the roome and place of all those lost sheepe p. 173 Particular 3. Our Saviour having put himselfe into the room of a sinner the Law now proceeds with full scope against him p. 175 Reason 1. That which the Lord Iesus Christ did willingly submit himselfe to without sinne that God the Father might justly charge upon him p. 176 Reason 2. Because the justice of God requireth this at the hands of Iesus Christ that hee should take the guilt of sinners upon himselfe p. 177 Reason 3. Because herein is abundantly magnified the love and mercy of Christ p. 179 Use 1. It is a word of instruction to the Saints if God the Father hath laid thy sinnes upon Christ then doe not thou take them from him to thy selfe p. 180 How farre a beleever may charge himselfe with his sinne doth appeare in these foure conclusions Conclusion 1. Every beleever is bound to see and examine the sinfull carriage of his soule and to judge that it hath power to make him guiltie and also to condemne him p. 182 Conclusion 2. Every beleeving soule justified ought to acknowledge that it were righteous with the Lord to let out his wrath against him though not to condemne him yet to distract him p. 185 Conclusion 3. Every beleever accepted and justified in and through Christ by the Father yet hee is thus farre bound to charge his sins upon himselfe as to maintain in his owne heart a sense of the need that he hath of Christ as well to continue his respect and acceptation with God as to bring him at first into the love and favour of God p. 187 Conclusion 4. Thus farre the Saints of God ought to goe in charging their owne soules with their sinnes so far to see them and to bee affected with them as to bring their hearts to be truly carried with hatred against them and with resolution to get power and strength against them p. 189 How farre a beleever may not charge himselfe with his sin may bee conceived in these two conclusions Conclusion 1. A beleever should not in his judgement conceive nor in his heart be perswaded that any sinne nor all his sinnes shall ever bee able to fasten the guilt of sinne upon him so as to cause revenging justice to proceed against him to his condemnation p. 192 Use 2. It is a word of terrour to all unbeleevers they are destitute of all hope of the pardon of their sinnes p. 197 Use 3. It is a word of exhortation to the Saints was Christ made sin for thee then be thou content to bee made shame for him p. 200 Use 4. It is a word of comfort to all the faithfull learne to cast all thy sins on the Lord Iesus Christ Doctrine 4. The Lord Iesus Christ suffered fully whatsoever punishments divine justice required or were deserved by the sinnes
the world make their maine prize and they thinke thereby to procure praise unto themselves and great preferment in their owne eyes this way let me speake a little to these you that are guilty of this sinne see the compasse of it take notice of the reach how farre this rebellion goeth I would wish these men that persecute the Saints I would have them underst the compasse of their course how farre their wicked practice extendeth it is not against a despised Christian no let them know it their rage and malice ascends up to Heaven and offers violence to the Lord Iesus Christ and the labour what they can to plucke Christ from the right hand of his Father and they endevour what in them lies to shed his blood and take away his life let all know that have beene professed opposers and dead haters of the Saints of God let them know they are melted of light treason and that in a most hainous manner against the Lord of Heaven and Earth against the Lord Iesus Christ the Redeemer of the world I would that these men would not cozen themselves for God will not bee mocked they professe they love Christ with all their hearts and they will doe any thing for him but those nice fellowes those spruce fellowes it is those that they hate to the death doe you so indeed thou hast said enough then for thou hatest Christ in hating them and thou persecutest Christ in persecuting them Esay 37.23.28 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed saith the text and against whom hast thou exalted thy voyce and lifted up thine eyes on high even against the Holy one of Israel and in the 28. verse I know thy abode and thy going out and thy comming in and thy rage against me so that how ever Senacherib aymed at Hezekia onely and those that professe the truth yet the Lord takes it at done to himselfe he that knew their hearts and their malice hee saith I know thy rage against me it was against the holy One of Israel that they rayled Wicked men persecute the lives of beleevers now Christ lives in them and thou hatest the life of Christ and persecutest the life of Christ Acts 9. Paul had gotten letters from the Synagogue and hee would have haled to prison all the Saints of God that professed the Name of Christ now if a man had come to Paul and asked him Paul why doe you persecute Christ hee would have beene in great indignation what reverenced Paul learned Paul zealous Paul what hee persecute the Lord of life why Christ proclaimes it he doth so and hee puts it to an upshot and ends the controversie and puts the question out of doubt I am Iesus saith he whom thou persecutest as if he had said Poore foole thou knowest not and I perceive thou thinkest it not but I receive the wound the foot is prickt and the head complaines I would have a man make the case his owne and be his owne Judge If any man should pretend friendship to you and professe hee loves you and tells you hee tenders your person but yet hee will torment your body and hee loves your head but yet he will cut off your arme there is no man so weake but he would loath such cursed kinde of dissimulation a man cannot love the head and hate the member love the person and torment the body just so these men deale with the Lord Iesus Christ Gods faithfull beleeving servants are his eyes Zacharie 2.8 He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye they are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone thou that pretendest to love Christ and to tender the head and in the mean time loathest his members and his poore Saints know that thou dost not persecute the Saints so much but thou persecutest Christ much more but haply thou wilt say I am no drunkard nor no whore-monger I tell thee this sinne is worse than drunkennesse or whoredome the text saith Luke 13. that Herod was an incestuous person and married his brother Philips wife but he added this sinne above all the rest hee put Iohn in prison therefore all that heare the Word of God if a man did see an incestuous wretch in the congregation whom humanity and reason and nature doth loath we would abhorre and detest him nay every man knowes that it deserves death Looke upon thy owne soule and lay thy hand upon thy heart thou that persecutest the Saints thy sinne is greater and thy condemnation shall be farre sorer than such a mans hence it is that God threatens such men with the heaviest judgements Psalme 82.5 it is spoken there concerning Doeg we may see the story 1 Samuel 22. When Abimelech gave David shew-bread and Goliahs sword Doeg saw it and told Saul and afterwards slew eighty five persons of the Priests now this Psalmist made this Psalme against this man and he saith Thy tongue deviseth mischiefe lik a sharp razor working deceitfully and God shall likewise destroy thee for ever He shal take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and out of the land of the living because he did oppose himselfe against Abimelech therefore the Lord would not let him go without a punishment nay as God threatens the sorest punishment against such person so the Saints of God by their prayers set themselves most against them Psalme 129.5 Let them all he confounded and turned backe that have ill will at Sion neither doe they that goe by say The blessing of the Lord bee upon you the poorest man that lives that is in the meanest place if he walkes in an honest calling the Saints wish a blessing to him but they that oppose the Saints of God the Saints curse them in the name of the Lord it is true I confesse wee must bee wary and wise but being wise and wary it is a thing wee may and should doe David by way of Revelation knew who were implacable and obdurate though wee know not this yet aiming at none in particular but onely in the generall at those who bee incorragible the Saints of God curse them and that bitterly in all their desires that they put up to God nay the greatest indirement at the day of judgement proceeds against sinners because of the persecution of his Saints because in them they persecute Christ himselfe they teare out the very eyes of Christ and rend his heart in peeces Iud. 14. The Lord commeth with thousands of his Angels to execute judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly amongst them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him Matthew 25. the latter end Depart from mee ye cursed I know ye not I was in prison and ye visited mee not I was naked and ye cloathed me not why Jesus Christ is gone to Heaven and haply they never saw him bâ—â— faith hee in that you did it not
that Christ charged them upon himselfe they both make a compact that poore lost man shall be saved and Christ submits and is contented to beare their sinnes and to have the Law proceed against him Now I come to the reasons why God the Father doth charge the sinnes of all the faithfull upon Christ the reasons are three and I reason from the explication thus Reason 1 First that which the Lord Jesus Christ did willingly yeeld and submâ—â—imselfe to without sinne that God the Father might lay upon him without any wrong and might charge it upon him as due debt I say what the Lord Jesus Christ did willingly submit himselfe to without any dishonour to himselfe that God the Father might justly charge upon him but our Saviour did willingly submit himselfe to the divine Justice of God the Father to take their sinnes and to beare their sorrowes and to bee in the roome of a sinner he came voluntarily in our roome and therefore being under the Law and being our scapegoat the Father might justly lay and charge our debts upon him because hee had taken them upon himselfe he that will enter into bond with the creditor and free the debtor it is very equall that the creditor proceed against him as against the debtor Reason 2 Secondly the justice of God requires this at the hands of Jesus Christ to wit that he should not onely suffer for sinners but also take the very guilt of sinners upon himselfe by imputation and bee in their roome And that the justice of God doth require this at the hands of Christ may thus be conceived The anger justice and severitie of God were manifested in the fall of man for when man back sinned and fallen then anger and justice began to worke and now Adam saw God to bee an angry and a just God now the glory of those attributes appeared and now all the complaint stands upon mercies side and therefore mercy appeals to the great Court in Heaven and then it saith wisedome and power and goodnesse have all beene manifested in the Creatâ—on and anger and justice they have beene glorified in the fall of Adam but I have not yet beene manifested Oh let some poore soules bee comforted and saved that they may know there is a mercifull God and then the case is debated onely justice steps in and takes it selfe as wronged It is true saith justice it is fit that mercy should bee honoured yet it is not fit that I should bee wronged must my glory be injured would you have a company of sinfull rebels pardoned and forgiven when they have thus abused holinesse and goodnesse and resisted the Will of God nay except they be punished I cannot have my due mercy must be honoured but yet justice must not be wronged Now God is a just God and hee must give every one their due glory to whom glory belongs and justice to whom justice belongs justice must not be offended but must bee appaid and have its right this is the controversie therefore the Lord Jesus Christ steps in and makes up all even on both sides and there is a way devised whereby justice may bee fully satisfied and yet mercy magnified and so much the more is mercy magnified by how much justice was wronged Then Christ comes in and saith that justice shall punish all unbeleevers and so it shall be satisfied for all the wrong done to it and mercy shall bee magnified upon the beleeving soules because the beleever is not able to beare divine justice himselfe therefore Christ Jesus is contented to bee accounted guiltie that justice may inflict punishment upon him as deserving it for otherwise to punish the innocent and to acquit the guiltie will not stand with justice Now therefore that justice may have his due from him and yet doe him no wrong therefore he was content to be accounted guiltie and though hee were innocent yet he was contented to bee accounted noceâ— Now if God in justice require punishment of our Saviour then the same justice must account our Saviour as guiltie otherwise hee should punish the innocent which he cannot in justice doe but God the Father did punish Christ Jesus for justice is satisfied by the punishment therefore it is requisite that he should bee under the Law also God in justice must account him guiltie that in justice he may be punished so the issue is this If God the Father doe in iustice punish Christ then it is required that heâ— should bee accounted as guiltie and under the Law but the Father did doe it therefore he did account him as a sinner and as guiltie and did lay their sinnes unto his charge Reason 3 Thirdly the third argument is taken from the love and mercy of Jesus Christ which abundantly is magnified herein in taking upon him the roome of a sinner for whatsoever the Lord Jesus Christ could doe for a poore sinner without sinne that he did doe in the pardon of sinne but this Christ might doe without sinne and is doing thereof might expresse abundance of love not onely to lay downe his life for us but to vaile his innocencie for us hee was accounted a malefactor and a sinner for us this is the highest pitch of admirable love that can bee for the lower the degree of his abasement was the greater was his love for it is one thing to die and it is another thing to vaile his honour and holinesse and he that was God equall with the Father to be accounted as guilty of sin this argues marvellous mercy and love therefore it was fit that it should be taken Vse 1 The first use is a word of instruction to all the faithfull of God they are to learne this point of wisedome Is it so that God the Father hath laid thy sinnes upon Jesus Christ doth the guilt of them lie there and hath Christ taken them and the guilt of them upon himselfe and the condemnation due unto the same then doe thou not take them from him to thy selfe Therefore what the Jewes did with the sacrifice so doe you with a Saviour Leviticus 16.21 When Aaron came to offer up the scapegoat he laid both his hands upon him with all his might and he put all the sinnes of Israel upon the head of the live goat The Hebrew Writers observe three things in the words First hee laid on both his hands with all his might Secondly there was nothing betweene the hand of the offerer and the sacrifice which was made Thirdly he must confesse his sinnes and the sinnes of all the Israelites over the goat and say Lord I have transgressed and have committed this and that iniquitie but now Lord I returne to thee and bring an offering of attonement and I beseech thee good Lord to accept it So let this bee the guise of the heart of every faithfull Christian when hee would have quiet and ease if ever you would have acceptance with Christ then carry him with thee to the Father
against him and to take all the advantages against him and howsoever the Lord will not condemne him yet to let out his wrath against him though not to condemne him yet to distract him This is that which Iob makes to be the ground of that bitter complaint of his and made him sit downe in distractednesse of heart under the heavy displeasure of the Lords wrath that though God would not damne him yet when the Lord takes away his loving countenance and lets in his indignation into his soule to his humiliation terrour and vexation this sunke him infinitely and this God might doe to every beleever under Heaven Iob 13.24 26. Why hidest thou away thy face and takest mee for thine enemie God seemed to bee displeased with him and to frowne upon him and carried himselfe to Iob as an enemy and in the 26. verse Thou writest bitter things against me and makest mee to inherit the sinnes of my youth The old lusts and the old bruses of his youth whereby he had dishonoured God though these were pardoned before yet God renewes them and puts in the suit against him the second time and makes the sinnes of his youth to bee inherited by him that looke as the land descends to the heire so the Lord made the sinnes and vanities of his soule to be possessed by him and brought out all his abominations out of record Thou writest bitter things against me that is the Lord tooke all the advantages against him that might be and said Remember the old lusts of thy heart and the vanities of thy youth and this made him like a drie leafe tossed too and fro as verse 25. Oh how easie were it for God if hee should but report to a mans conscience any little sinne that was committed the night before and set it on and seale it to the heart it would drive the stoutest heart under heaven to despaire Psalme 88.15 Thy terrours have I suffered from my youth upwards and I have beene distracted with them Lord why castest thou off my soule I am afflicted and ready to die It is certaine and I have knowne it that the most stoutest heart and rebellious lion-like disposition that sets himselfe against God and his grace if God let him but see his sinne and say this is thy pride and thy stubbornnesse and rebellion it would drive the stoutest heart under heaven beyond it selfe nay to utter distraction of minde Psalme 40.12 Innumerable troubles have taken hold upon me they have so compassed me about that I am not able to looke up Every sinne is like a great bandog that is muzzeld and if hee bee once let loose he will teare all in peeces so the Lord sometimes muzzels a mans corruptions and keeps them under and if the Lord doe but now and then let them loose then they pull a man downe and hence comes all those pale lookes and discouragements of soule these are they that will thus worry a man Thus every beleever must acknowledge that it were just with the Lord to let loose his sinne howsoever not to condemne him yet to make him live at little peace or quiet and hence it is that the Prophet David praies so against it Psalme 51.9 when he had committed those two great sins of adultery and murther though God after his confession had sealed to his soule the pardon of them yet hee went with broken bones and therefore he saith Hide away thy face from my sinnes and put away all mine iniquities as if he had said looke not upon my sinnes as a judge doe not follow the Law against me let not my sinnes or my person bee once brought into the Court or bee once named but looke upon the Lord Jesus Christ for mee and for his sake blot out all mine iniquities Thirdly every beleever accepted and justified in and through Christ by the Father yet hee is bound thus farre to charge his sinne upon his owne soule and lay them so much upon himselfe as to maintain in his owne heart a sense of the need that he hath of Christ as well as to continue our respect and acceptation with God as to bring us at first into the love and favour of God Indeed if we could quit our selves and cleare our hands of any sin committed by us it were something then we would be ready to say as the people to Ieremie We are holy we are lords we will come no more at thee No it is necessary seeing Christ is yet in the worke of the mediatourship that we should see a dayly need of him this is the reason of that great complaint of David Psal 51.1.2 a man would thinke that hee would have beene comforted and gone away cheerfully having the pardon of his sinnes but marke how hee cries Have mercy upon me oh God according to the multitude of thy compassions wash away all my transgressons wash mee throughly from all my transgressions and purge mee from my sinne Hee had not onely need of Christ before his conversion to justifie him but he had need of Christ now to continue the assurance of his justification it is not a drop but a bucket full of mercy not a little mercy but a whole ocean Lord I have had a great deale of mercy for the sinnes of my youth and I have need of a great deale of mercy still to wash away the guilt of my sinnes this the Law required of every man that did offer sacrifice as they were to offer their dayly sacrifice so wee have dayly need of Christ and therefore wee must have a dayly recourse to Christ therefore the sacrificer was to lay his hands upon the head of the sacrifice Even so doe thou lay thine hands upon the Lord Jesus Christ and rest upon him and thou shalt finde acceptance with him this is that which sometimes chears up the drooping heart and bears it up in the midst of all the waves of wickednesse when he sees the vanitie of his mind and the deadnesse of his heart and frothinesse of his speech and now sinne and then sinne and in every thing sinne as you cannot but see and confesse it this stands the poore sinner in stead when hee considers this and saith though I am dayly sinning yet there is a Saviour in Heaven and mercy and grace in him that I may be comforted therein for ever Hebrewes 7.25 Hee is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him It implies these two things not onely from all sinne but also at all times not onely from the sinnes of your youth but also to the uttermost of your dayes the reason is hee lives for ever to doe it this is the chearing of a poore sinner and this wee should labour to maintain and to keepe the sight and sense of our sinne though our sinnes endure for ever our living and sinning goe together and we still continue to be as sinfull and lazy and idle as ever yet see a need of a
men did not desire it but this is the meaning they were willing to have suffered the want of the sense and feeling of Gods love and favour for the present though they would have loved and closed with God still yet they would have beene content to want the sense of Gods love that Gods glory might have beene advanced and the salvation of the Jewes furthered so it was here with our Saviour Christ for howsoever according to his humane nature hee did feare the death naturall and the wrath which hee saw comming upon his nature and therefore he said if it be possible let this cup passe from me he might doe it and God by reason required it that a man be sensible of misery yet according to the holinesse of the will of the Father hee did not pray against these but prayed for these and for the beaâ—ing of the punishment for he was sent for this end and it was a part of the Mediatourship this is the meaning of that place Iohn 12.27 What shall I say Father save me from this houre no but therefore came I unto this houre that is the houre of death He came into the world for this end and therefore he submits himselfe Thus much for the opening of the first part of this conclusion that whatsoever wrath should have come forth from the Father upon the faithfull Christ did beare it all Now the second part is this Christ so bears it that his owne sinne never deserved this wrath of God nor hee never sinned in bearing it neither was he overwhelmed in bearing it but he wrestled against it and overcame it it implies two things and it prevents another cavill First the paine of the soule comes either from a cause without or a cause within or from both If a man were to goe to hell it came either from his owne sinne deserving it or from Gods wrath inflicting it or from both now Christ did suffer punishments in his soule but not so farreâ— they came for his owne sinne the cause from within is sinfull and detestable but the cause from without is holy and righteous therefore all that which came from Gods wrath inflicting punishment all that Christ did suffer was so but the wicked have a cause of sinne within them and that Christ having not hee needed not to suffer and because he had no sinne in him he did not suffer all pains of hell hee suffered the displeasure of Gods wrath but yet so much of the punishment as came from sin committed that our Saviour did not suffer Secondly a poore creature bearing Gods anger he hath not onely Gods anger seâ—ing upon him but also it overwhelms him because hee is not able to beare it the plague prevails against him not onely the wrath of God lies upon a sinner in hell but it crusheth him there that he can never goe from it and this Divines call the absolute damnation such a damnation as overturnâ— a sinner in hell and crusheth him there for evermore The reason why a sinnes never comes out of hell is this because his sufferings are not infinitely satisfiable according as his sinnes have beene infinite to provoke God for as Adams sin was infinite and provoking because it was against his Godhead so the sufferings must bee infinite now the sufferings of Christ were of infinite value but Adams sufferings were not of an infinite nature Christ bore the wrath of God and wrestled with it and overcame it and came out from under the 〈◊〉 displeasure of God and why because theâ— were able to satisfie an infinite God who was thus infinitely wronged by the sinne of man therefore the sufferings must be of an infinite satisfying nature as you shall conceive thus a finite sinne of Adam committed against God was infinitely provoking but the sufferings of Christ were infinitely satisfying and so answerable in proportion to what divine justice required this was the meaning of that place iâ— Acts 2.24 Whom God raised up and loosed the sorrowes of death because it was not possible that hee should bee holden downe of death and it is the meaning of that place 1 Cor. â—5 54 Death is swallowed up in victorie Christ endures 〈◊〉 and overcomes it and Iohn 1â— 20 Christ will convince the world of sinne and of righteousnesse why of righteousnesse for I goe unto the Father and why doth hee goe to the Father because hee hath paid the debt to the uttermost hee did satisfie justice to the full for had he not satisfied justice he had beene kept in the graâ—e till this day and wee had beene condemned but now hee hath borne and satisfied all therefore hee must come forth to immortalitie and glory Remember these conclusions and think thus hath my Saviour done all this for me well I will remember it and thinke upon it and I will lay it by mee for ever The fift conclusion followes and that is this The desperation of a damned soule in hell and the eternitie of torments they are no essentials of the second death and therefore they could not nor ought not to be suffered by our Saviour this I say to stop the mouths of all Popish Jesuites and especially of Bellarmine who thinke to east a great scandall upon Calvin and others in this kinde let me open both he parts of it first the damned in hell despaire therefore saith Bellarmine if Christ suffered the pains of the second death he did despaire and did suffer the paines of hell for â—vermore Oh foolish creature who will be so wicked as to say thus Therefore that you may see this cursed opinion consider two particulars in this desperation First the nature of desperation what it is Secondly I will shew that this desperation is no part of the second death First of all for the nature of it what it is desperation as the word carries iâ— is to cast away all hope and expectation of any good this is properly to despaire For if there be any good things with us then we are said to have them in possession and fruition but if good things are absent from us then we are said to expect them and to hope and wait for them and hope saith it may be otherwise this is that which beares up the soules in the most heavie brunt But for hope the heart would breake saith the Proverb and it is true indeed in the greatest miseries that can befall â—â— and when we feele nothing nor finde nothing nor have nothing in sense yeâ— hope saith it may be otherwise and though now I am sinfull and miserable yet I may bee pardoned and though now in the gall of bitternesse yet I may be purged and sanctified and though now I am a damned creature yet I may bee succoured and delivered This is that which sometimes bears up the heart and it is that also which beares up the hearts of the wicked many times here upon the earth when the Lord lets in the horrour of heart and fils
his body then doe can it bee possible that men should harbour sinne in them if they did but know what it hath done to them can you see it and not haâ—e it Oh behold that sinne which hath caused God the Father to be angry with thy Saviour and doe thou hate it and let thy soule for ever loath thy sinne which hath caused Christ thus to doe to come downe from heaven and to bee tortured by wicked miscreants and to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and as sin hath caused God the Father to punish thy Saviour so goe thou and be revenged upon thy sin and say Oh my pride and my stubbornnesse and my loosenesse and uncleannesse and base drunkennesse these were the nailes that pierced his hands aâ—â— his feet they pierced his sacred body and 〈◊〉 the wrath of God the Father upon his soule therefore let mee bee for ever revenged of this proud stubborne and rebellious heart of mine and let mee for ever loath my sinne because it brought all this sorrow upon my Saviour To presse this use a little more I charge you brethren as ever you had any tender love unto Jesus Christ or any regard of your owne comfort goe your wayes and bee for ever cast downe and humbled for those evill waies of yours which have brought our Saviour to such a gulfe of misery and to be angry with those sinnes that have made God the Father angry with the Lord Jesus Christ and take thou revenge upon that proud stubborne heart that brought all this misery upon thy Saviour This is the course of humanitie amongst men if a man knew of any one which had murthered his father or his friend whom he highly regarded and honoured nature shewes us thus much that our hearts would rise against the man and you would not bee able to brooke the sight of him and you cannot endure to see him in your companies and if law and conscience did not forbid it you could be contented to give him his deaths wound and to bee his bane and you would cry out against him Oh he hath murthered my father or my deere friend and though you would not run upon him and kil him yet this every one would doe he would follow the Law to the uttermost and if all the law in the land will do it he will have him hanged and if he might have it put to his choyce what death hee should die hee would chuse him a death as bad as hee could devise and if he might be his Executioner how would he mangle him and say thou wast the death of my father and then hee would give him one blow for this and another blow for that and say thou wretch thou hast taken away the life of my father and I will have thy life Now is a man thus inraged and is the heart of a man carried with such violence unto him that hath murthered his father or his friend and that for the losse of the naturall life Oh then how should your hearts bee transported with infinite indignation not against the man but even against the sinne which is the cause of all this and which is wholly opposite against God and not onely because it hath taken away the life of the body of our Saviour but also made him undergoe the wrath of an everlasting father your sinnes are they that have thus slaine the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life Therefore follow thou the law against these sins and raise hue and crie after them and bring them to the Sessions and set them before the tribunall of God and crie justice Lord justice against these sins of mine these slew my Saviour Lord slay them they have crucified my Saviour Lord crucifie them let me have life for life body for body and soule for soule these are the sins that have taken away the life from the body of our Saviour and tooke away all comfort from his soule Lord take away their life thus pursue thy sins and never leave them untill thou seest them bleed their last never thinke that thou hast power enough against corruption nor never thinke that thou dost enough against them but give thy corruptions one hacke more and confesse thy sinnes once more and say Lord his pride and this stubbornnesse Lord and this loosenesse of heart Lord these are they that kild my Saviour and I will be revenged of them and herein consider this when your hearts are inclining to any corruption or to any temptation of Satan and when thou findest thy soule drawne aside to any sin and when thou findest some temptings unto corruptions and stirrings of cursed lusts it is good then to have an actuall consideration of what sin hath done to the Lord Jesus Christ and reason thus with thy selfe and say these sins were the death of my Saviour and shall they be my delight these sins did pierce his hands and wounded his soule and shall they give contentment to my soule the Lord forbid did these sinnes plucke teares from his eyes and blood from his heart and shall I make them the delight of my heart the good Lord in mercy forbid it were it so that our hearts were fully and throughly perswaded that all the vanities of our mindes and all the lusts of our hearts and all the distempers of our affections were those that stabd the Lord Jesus Christ and wounded him to the heart it could not be that we should so delight in them and lavish out our soules and affections thereupon nay not onely Christianitie will doe it but nature and reason will even compell a man to doe the contrary could hee but reason thus with himselfe when corruptions tempt him and occasions call him and say thus with himselfe was it not enough and more than enough that the Son of God came downe from Heaven and suffered such grievous pains but shall I againe crucifie the Lord of life and shall I againe pierce those blessed hands of his and pierce that blessed side of his and all goare his sacred body with my uncleane sins and force him to crie out againe by reason of my sinnes which I have committed this is more than brutish and more than savage I beseech you in the bowels of the Lord to consider well of it you know what Christ said when Saul persecuted the poore Saints at Damascus Saul Saul why persecurest thou mee It pierced the Lord Christ when any of his members were pierced Acts 9.4 but now for such as beleeve in Christ and looke for mercy from Christ consider how neerly it will touch him and trouble him not onely to have his members pierced and persecuted but also to have his good Spirit grieved and himselfe to be wounded Imagine you heard the Lord speaking as the Church did in Lamentations 1.12 Is it nothing to you all oh yee that passe by is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow have you no compassion at all upon a Saviour
seized upon his soule and unlesse they doe grant this then this absurditie must needs follow upon it that Christ was not at all forsaken of God for he that was constantly assisted and refreshed by the sense of the love and favour of God he was no way forsaken Ioseph was in prison but God was with him and Daniel was in the Lions den but God was with him and in 2 Chron. 15.2 God is with you while yee are with him now if Christ had assistance from God the Father to strengthen him and the sense of the sweetnesse of Gods love to refresh him then hee was no way forsaken which is profesly contrary to this truth and it is to give the good Spirit of God the lie therefore away with those imaginations so that the answer is cleare that God the Father did take away the sense and feeling of the sweetnesse of his love from our Saviour and this made him to crie out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee thus much to wipe away the cavils of the Jesuits Now I come to shew the right sense and interpretation of the words which wee ought to receive and here you may see the great worke of Christ and the love of Christ and the comfort of a Christian the text includes two things which containes the very dregs of the cup First that God tooke away the sense and feeling of his love and favour Secondly God the Father laid a curse upon him There is a dereliction and a malediction in the words forsaking and the curse therefore adde to this place but Gal. 3.13 and you shall have the full sufferings of Christ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us because it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree so that when hee was crucified and hanged on the crosse then hee was made a curse for us and then he was forsaken Let mee a little open both the passages to you First for the forsaking of our Saviour Why hast thou forsaken mee when he cried thus and rored for the very disquietnesse of his soule there was more in it than ordinarie I will discover the substance of this forsaking of Christ how farre it went and that in three particulars that you may know how far to steere your judgements in conceiving the sense of the Spirit of God in this place this forsaking of Christ may be conceived of in three conclusions First it was not a totall forsaking of our Saviour but onely in part and it was not a perpetuall forsaking but for a while and it was not a taking away the Godhead from the manhood of our Saviour but the Godhead was ever united to the manhood and did evermore support it Secondly this forsaking was on the Fathers part and not on our Saviours part the Father forsakes Christ but Christ went after him God tooke away the sense of his love but the Lord Jesus Christ cried after him and laid hold upon him and saith My God my God why hast thou forsaken me the Father went away but the Lord Jesus Christ went after the Father and would not let him goe God the Father might justly forsake our Saviour being made sinne for us by account and imputation being our suretie God the Father might justly take away and withdraw the sense of the sweetnesse of his love and favour from the Lord Jesus Christ without any sinne but now the Lord Jesus Christ could not have forsaken and gone away from the Father without sinning so that this forsaking was on the Fathers part but our Saviour held fast and would not be carried away My God my God c. As Iob saith Though hee kill mee yet will I trust in him so that Iobs trusting and Gods killing anger might stand together and when the Lord wrestled with Iacob and said Let me goe for the day breaketh Iacob said I will not let thee goe untill thou blesse me God may goe away from Iacob but Iacob may not goe away from God for want of confidence and affiance so that this forsaking is to be apprehended wholly on the Fathers part for our Saviour did not goe away from God by diffidence and distrust Thirdly and here lies the main pith and heart blood of the point that wee may speake tremblingly and wisely in this great and difficult point The conclusion is this the soule of our Saviour that is the whole man was for the while deprived of the sense of Gods favour and the feeling operation of his love and mercy that might comfort him I say it was for the while and this seemes to be the reason of those strong cries and heart-breaking complaints of his You know when a man cries then there is misery and trouble upon him and when he cries loud and puts forth all his powers it implies a marvellous weight nay it gives us to conceive of a kinde of admiration and a kinde of wondering with himselfe what the cause of it should bee It seemes here that this was the cause of the sad complaint because in his agonie there were some inklings of Gods mercy and now and then a starre-light and a little flash of lightning to cheere him but now all the sense and feeling of Gods love was gone and not so much as any little star-light to cheere him up and that drives him to a wonderment saying My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Is it possible that thou canst thus forsake thy Sonne what 's the reason of it what and an onely begotten Sonne not that the spirit of consolation was ever taken away from our Saviour nor that the Godhead was taken away from the manhood and so left comfortlesse and supportlesse no no but howsoever the spirit of comfort and consolation was there yet the sweetnesse of that consolation wherein he had refreshed and solaced himselfe that was quite taken await Object Oh but say the Jesuites this seemes strange for if this bee so that all the sense and sweetnesse of Gods love was taken away from him then how can he say my God my God Answer It is a conceit for a Jesuite and not for a Christian for faith and the want of feeling may goe together Christ longed after mercy though hee saw nothing and hee cried my God my God though hee had no sense of Gods love the strongest faith may stand where no sense is Esay 50.10 Hee that walketh in darknesse and hath no light that is he that is altogether in misery and sorrow and anguish and seeth no light of comfort and consolation what must hee doe must hee cast away all hope no let him stay himselfe by the power of faith upon his God So then Christ may have and had confidence to say my God my God and yet hee was deprived of the sense of Gods love and the feeling operation of his mercy and favour and God the Father might take away the sense and sweetnesse of it without
any weaknesse on our Saviours part because this withdrawing of the sweetnesse of Gods love brings onely a punishment upon the soule and takes to grace nor holinesse from the soule of our Saviour Now wee are come to the bottome now our Saviour foresaw all the mercy goodnesse and compassion of God the Father going away from him and hee panted after it saying my God my God mercy is gone and compassion is gone in regard of the sense of it Now that you may see the weight of the sufferings of our Saviour consider thus â—â—ich that the 〈◊〉 away the selfe of Gods love discovers it selfe in Scripture after this manner The Lord in this worke of his and in this heavie withdrawing himselfe he turnes away his face and lookes another way deprives him of the injoying of the sweetnesse of his fellowship which formerly hee had Ionah 2.4 Ionah was a good and a gratious man though he was a strange man as one observes yet when the Lord had dealt something strangely with him and cast him into the sea a whale receives him and when hee was swallowed up of the whale he was then swallowed up of a greater griefe for God had taken away the sweetnesse of his love from him therefore saith he I am cast out of thy sight hee would play the runne away with God and would goe to Tarsus therefore God casts him out of his sight to his owne apprehension therefore saith hee I am cast out of thy presence this was onely in regard of the sense and sweetnesse of Gods love and favour this you may see in the example of David Psalme 31.22 I said in my haste I am cast out of thy sight as no question but Ionah prayed in the whales belly and said Lord pardon my sinne and forgive my transgressions no saith the Lord get you downe to Tarsus so David prayed and cried earnestly saying not smile of thy favour Lord no saith the Lord and hee looked another way yet thou heardest the voyce of my prayer and so Ionah yet will I looke towards thy holy Temple hee looked to mercy whiles his eyes and his heart and all faild so that faith may well stand even there where there is no sense at all Thus it was here in the case of our Saviour and thus the Scripture speakes admirable pithily Psalme 77.9 Hath God forgotten to bee gracious and hath he shut up his tender mercies as if he had said though I may not have mercy yet let me see mercy hath God in anger shut up his mercy the face of mercy is sweet and the presence of mercy is comely but hath God in anger shut up his tender mercies hee hath not onely sent him going out of doores as hee did Ionah but hee shuts himselfe up that the poore sinner cannot come within fight of him Oh saith the sonne I would my father would but looke out at the window that I might see him but when hee will not suffer his sonne to looke upon him this is heavie so the Lord saith to his servants no no you have slighted my kindnesse therefore I will locke it up that you shall see him no more In the second Booke of Samuel the fourteenth chapter the twentie eighth verse When Absolom had dwelt two yeares in Ierusalem and saw not the Kings face at length hee sends for Ioab to send him to the King and said either let me see the Kings face or else wherefore doe I live It was a great favour that hee might but see the Kings face though hee might not injoy fellowship with him this is a great trouble when the Lord shuts up his mercy in anger mercy hath come home to your hearts and it hath besought you to take it but you have dealt basely with the Lord and walked rebelliously against him well the Lord will shut you out of his presence and will shut up his mercy and then you shall say that you had mercy offered to you once and you would not accept it Thirdly and this is the highest degree of all the Lord doth not onely shut up his mercy that he cannot be seene but hee goes away that a man cannot tell where to seeke him Oh saith the sonne that I might but see my Father but hee is gone and then his heart is even swalloweed up nay God doth not only take away the sense and feeling of his favour beyond sight but hee goes away from a man that hee cannot tell where to seeke him that if he would write letters as I may say yet he knowes not where to send them and if he call his father he cannot heare him Thus the Scripture speakes and thus the saints of God have found it from time to time Psalme 77.7 8 9. Will the Lord absent himselfe for ever and will he shew no more favour this translation is reasonable well but the originall runs thus will hee adde no more to bee favourable as if hee had said what will he not only not entertaine me but is hee gone that I cannot tell where to finde him and in the â— verse Is his mercy cleane gone for ever This is the last of all and that which contains the pith of all that our Saviour speakes expresly of himselfe that God goes not onely out of his presence but out of his calling too the place is excellent Psal 22.1 from whence these words were taken My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee why art thou so farre from helping mee and from the words of my complaint God is gone beyond call Now that you may see the weight of the sorrowes that lay upon our Saviour consider thus much our Saviour was not onely cast out of Gods favour and God did not onely take away the sense of his love and the feeling operation of his favour that so he received not the sweetnesse that he had done but Christ tooke the place of sinners and therefore God the Father shut him out amongst sinners and drew his mercy out of sight and out of hearing and therefore he cried out My God my God c. Nay further why art thou so farre from my helpe Hee cried out that hee â—ore his bowels againe and stretched out his throat and cries my God my God and hee followes the mercy of God the Father in this kinde not that his faith did not prevaile but he had not the sense and sweetnesse of Gods love and so David in all that he spake saying Will he be favourable no more hath hee in anger shut up his tender mercies All this while God was present with him by supportation though he held that vision of mercy off from his soule now at this time it seemes to me and the text will beare it that though Christ before had but three bouts in the garden yet now all the sins of all his elect children and the cloud of sins of all the faithfull did arise to a mighty great fog and the cloud did overspread all the
hell and condemnation every beleeving soule of you Do not think that God will passe by poore little ones no he will not lose one of you but he will in his appointed time helpe and deliver you therfore be not troubled not dismaied but resolve of this and say I shall bee delivered therefore let my soule be for ever cheared what would you have and what doe you feare Is it your sinnes doe you think that they beare you an old grudge and they will bee clamouring up to heaven against you and complaining of you at the throne of grace doe you feare them so you may justly because of that secret sliding off from the truth Oh saist thou my errand is done in heaven before this time and my sins knocke at heaven gates and say Justice Lord I have taken them in their sinnes and therefore as thou art a God of justice execute justice upon a rebellious soule Now therefore remember that Jesus Christ hath suffered he hath taken thy sinnes upon him and hath suffered the punishments of them 1 Iohn 2.1 Little children sinne not at all It were to be wished that a man might be alwayes humble and poore in spirit and doe all good against the evill done to him and it were to be wished that a man could walke exactly before God but it is not possible so long as we have this body of death it will shew it selfe but if we doe sinne we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the just he is gone to heaven to tell the Father that all is fully answered and he saith Father save all those poore soules whom thou hast given mee I have paid all and answered all for them and therefore Father I will that all that thou hast given mee may be with me where I am that they may behold my glory thus he plead for he doth not plead as we doe but he saith Father I will now if there be any crie against the soule by reason of sinne Christ stops it sinne pleads and Christ pleads and who will prevaile thinke you therefore be not discouraged we have an Advocate with the Father the sinnes of your dreames this last night they have done your errands in heaven before you did awake but let them plead what they can wee have an Advocate with the Father in Heaven and he pleads our cause in heaven and he will prevail in whatsoever he pleads for he will be heard all the pleas of sin shal be fully answered Heb. 12.22 23 24. ye are not come to the mount that might not be touched nor unto burning fire c. But ye are come unto the mount Zion to the citie of the living God and to the Spirits of just and perfect men and to Iesus Christ the Mediatour of the new Testament and to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel what did the blood of Abel speake see that in Gen. 3.9 10. where is Abel thy brother said the Lord and he answered I cannot tell am I my brothers keeper Oh thou wretch saith the Lord the voyce of thy brothers blood crieth to me from the earth for vengeance against thee thus all our sinnes doe speake but there are some sinnes that crie and say Lord this soule is taken to bee a Christian and a Professer and one that hath some grace but Lord against knowledge and conscience and the directions of the Ministers hee hath sinned thus and this therefore good Lord execute judgement upon him but now here is your comfort you poore Saints I confesse these wretched corruptions of your hearts play the backe friends with you many times but we have the blood of Christ that cries for mercy and pardon and refreshing and forgivenesse sinne pleads and saith Lord doe me justice against such a soule but the blood of Christ saith I am abased and humbled and I have answered all Christ shall be heard and if he plead the cause the day is certainly yours and hee pleads without any fees and his blood speaketh on your behalfe and your sinnes shall never be heard against you but what sticks upon your stomackes Object Oh you have heard that the Lord is a just God hee is so hee is holy and blessed and of pure eyes that cannot endure to behold any polluted or uncleane thing and if God be strict to marke what is done amisse who can abide it Oh then say you you have these sinnes and corruptions and God is pure and you are polluted and you have many secret windings and turnings and devices and you say God knowes all the crevices of my heart and sees all the frame of my soule and if the Lord marke what is done amisse nay hee will marke what is done amisse Who then shall be able to stand How shall I be able to answer it especially considering that Satan saith I have sinned and why should I not be cast out as well as others have beene cast out that have sinned Lord execute justice upon them as they have deserved how shall wee helpe ourselves herein yes admirably for then the blood of Christ comes in and that satisfies all Gal. 5.22.23 The fruits of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse meeknesse temperance faith against such there is no law so it is here there is no law nor no condemnation to beleevers truly penitent for their sins there is no punishment to them nor no wrath to execute judgement upon them because the debt is paid and the Lord is just and cannot and righteous and will not doe it but saith the Devill thou hast sinned and why shalt thou not bee condemned for it but saith justice hold thy tongue Satan for there is no law against them that repent what troubles you now Answer Why the very truth is the thoughts of Hell astonish my heart me thinkes I see a little peep-hole downe into hell and the devils roaring there being reserved in chaines under darknesse untill the judgement of the great day and me thinkes I see the damned flaming and Iudas and all the wicked of the world and they of Sodome and Gomorah there they lie roaring and damnation takes hold upon them and the wrath of God finks them downe to hell Now I have sinned and therefore why should not I be damned and why should not the wrath of God bee executed against mee I answer the death of Christ acquits thee of all and although the wrath of God be of admirable power and force yet you shall bee acquitted by the death of the Lord Jesus Revelations 20. â—â— Blessed and holy is he that hath a part in the first resurrection for on such the second death shall have no power that is wicked men and the ruffians of the world that scorne all commands and despise all the ordinances of God and the lawes of men and neither of them can take place in their hearts they breake all bonds and cast away all commands and the
threatnings of God can take no hold upon them but though they are so rebellious here yet everlasting condemnation shall take hold of them and shall have power over them hereafter and will drag their soules and bodies downe to hell and there they shall suffer intolerably and incomprehensibly and then hell and condemnation shall tell them thus much seeing the commands of God could take no hold upon you therefore we will the mercies of God could not perswade with you but the judgements of God shall prevaile against you What becomes of all the great and mighty men of the world where is Pharaoh and Nimrod and the rest of them the wrath of God hath throwne them upon their backs in hell but you that are true beleevers the second death shall have no power over you though wrath and condemnation seeme to lay hold upon you yet there is no power in them to condemne you because if Christ hath taken away the paines of the second death then it shall never oppresse such as belong to the Lord Jesus Christ therefore goe your way comforted there is nothing that shall ever prevaile against you Object Oh but saith the soule could I see Heaven gates set open if the way were open and plaine that I might see the way and walke in it then I could be comforted but what I in heaven the Angels are all holy and God is a holy God and a pure redeemer and all things there are pure and undefiled can such a wretch as I am come to heaven certainly the Saints will goe out of heaven if I come there Answer No the blood of Christ will doe all this for you and it will make way for thee into heaven as Hebr. 10.19 20. Seeing therefore brethren that by the blood of Iesus we may most boldly enter into the holy places by the new and the living way which hee hath prepared for us through the vaile which is his flesh marke two things in that place you may have boldnesse you feare now that your sinnes will not bee pardoned and that God the Father will not accept of you well be not proud and sawcie but take the blood of Christ along with you and goe on boldly and chearfully All you that have an interest in the great worke of God either for brokennesse of heart or vocation to call you to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ bee thou a sinner If thou hast faith I speake not of the measure of faith but hast thou faith then why sittest thou here drooping Go you on cheerily and undauntedly and goe with comfort to everlasting happinesse every thing gives you comfort had you but eyes to see it God and men Heaven and earth sinne justice hell and condemnation gives you all comfort If you looke up to justice that saith you poore beleeving creatures goe your way comforted I am setisfied to the full If you looke to hell and death and condemnation they say be comforted you poore beleeving soules we have no power over you the Lord Iesus Christ hath conquered us and if you looke to your owne sinnes they tell you thus much and say be for ever comforted for wee have pleaded against you but wee have lost the cause If you looke up to heaven there you may see glory and happinesse and blessednesse ready to entertaine every beleeving soule and they all call after you and say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you therefore goe away cheerily and get you to heaven and when you come there be discomforted if you can if Christ and God and Heaven and all call you and say come all hither you beleeving soules then lift up your heads with joy and draw the waters of comfort and consolation from this truth onely remember this here when you finde your sins roaring upon you and telling your Father that you have sinned and justice cries and hell threatens then take the blood of Christ and see before your eyes all that ever Christ hath suffered and see justice fully satisfied and heare the blood of Christ speaking as well as the clamours of sinne it is the misery that we are in that we can here the bawlings of Satan and of corruption crying and saying what you salvation and yet have these and these corruptions we heare these and we hearken not to the other the blood of Christ hath pardoned all and will cleanse all Oh heare that voyce and you shall see and heare that it speakes admirable things this is the second use Vse 3 Thirdly hath Christ done all this then stand amazed at that endlesse and boundlesse love of the Lord Jesus Christ but onely that the Scripture cannot lie and God hath said which is faithfull and true and cannot be deceived and is infinite in all his workes otherwise man that is sensible of his sins and wants could not beleeve it but yet Christ hath done it and it is worth the while to weigh it and to consider of it in a holy admiration although wee are not able to walke in any measure answerable thereto had our Saviour only sent his creatures to serve us and had we onely had some Prophets to advise us in the way to Heaven or had hee onely sent his holy Angels from his chamber of presence to attend upon us and minister to us it had beene a great deale of mercy or had Christ come downe from the heavens to visit us It had beene a peculiar favour that a King will not onely send to the Prison but goe himselfe to the lungeon and aske saying is such a man here a man would thinke himselfe strangely honoured and the world would wonder at it and say the King himselfe came to the prison to day to see such a man certainly he loves him dearly or had Christ himselfe come onely and wept over us and said Oh that you had never sinned and oh that you had more considered of my goodnesse and the excellency of happinesse oh that you had never sinned this had beene marvellous mercy but that Christ himselfe should come and strive with us in mercy and patience and we slight it and not onely to provide the comforts of this life but the means of a better life and to give us peculiar blessings nay that the Lord Jesus should be so fond of a company of rebels and hell-hounds that he thinkes nothing good enough for them hee hath prepared heaven for them and he gives them the comforts of the earth for their use too nay he hath given them his blood and his life and all and yet you are not at the highest what doe you talke of life hee was not onely content to part with life but hee was content to part with the sense and sweetnesse of Gods love which is a thousand times better than life it selfe as David saith The loving kindnesse of God is better than life it selfe He was content to be accused that we might be blessed he was content