by the eye of faith see and behold what it was that the Son of God suffered in our nature for us There may we see him suffering dereliction undergoing the deprivation of the sense and comfort of Gods love there may we see him bear the whole Curse suffering the wrath of God yea the very pains and torments of Hell for us We ought to contemplate these things and by faith to realize the sufferings of Christ and the greatness of his love to us in his sufferings We ought not to look upon the sufferings of Christ as a story but to see what he suffered was for our sakes and out of love to us and the desire of our salvation Now the more we meditate upon the sufferings of Christ there are two things that will follow thereupon 1. The more we meditate upon the sufferings of Christ the more shall we understand what those heights and depths and lengths and breadths of the love of Christ are which the Apostle speaks of The Apostle speaks of infinite dimensions in the love of Christ and the more we study the sufferings of Christ the more shall we see what those heights and depths and lengths and breadths of Christs love are O what immense love was this that the Son of God should come from Heaven to Earth to suffer and dye for men God might have glorified himself although man had never been saved A manifest proof of this we have in the Angels the Angels that fell were never recovered out of their sin and misery and yet God is glorified upon them and if fallen man had never been recovered God might have glorified himself upon men in their condemnation and destruction as he is now glorifying himself upon the fallen Angels Now this was the abundant love of God to man that God did not only will mans salvation but that so great a person as the Son of God and God should come from Heaven to Earth to save and dye for man O let us stand and wonder at this love the more we soak our hearts in the meditation of these things that the Son of God and God should come into the nature of man for this very end to suffer such things for man that man might be saved the more shall we be taken up in the admiration of this love 2. The more we meditate on Christs sufferings and of the end which Christ had in his sufferings that he suffered such and such things for us the more shall we be confirmed in the belief and assurance of our own salvation Christ did not suffer in vain he did not shed his blood in vain If Christ did indeed suffer the pains of Hell that is a certain sign that God hath no mind that such as believe in Christ shall suffer those pains The sufferings of Christ are a clear miroir to shew us what we are delivered from What Christ hath suffered we shall not suffer for God will not punish sin twice If God hath inflicted the full punishment of our sins upon the person of our Head he will not lay the punishment of sin upon us too God indeed may correct his children in a way of fatherly discipline but he will not lay the punishment of sin upon them in a way of vindictive Justice and the reason is because God hath already punished their sins in the person of their Head Christ their Head and Surety hath born the full punishment of their sins for them This is the force of the Apostles argument Rom. 8.33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed As much as if he had said If Christ hath dyed we shall not dey if we be Believers who shall condemn It is Christ that dyed that is if Christ hath dyed we shall not dye eternally if the Law hath had its full power and strength upon Christ if the Law hath put Christ to death if it hath executed the Curse upon Christ to the uttermost then it hath no more to execute upon a Believer as a part of the Curse for Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Therefore the consideration of what Christ hath suffered for us may be as food to our faith Hath Christ indeed suffered such things as we have heard of in the Doctrine of Satisfaction then we shall never suffer them Hath Christ suffered dereliction hath he been forsaken of God and that as our Surety then will God never forsake us for ever God may hide his face from us for a moment but he will not forsake us for ever Hath Christ born the wrath of God then shall we never bear it O when-ever the sense of guilt and the fear of Gods wrath oppress our consciences and lye heavy upon us the best course we can take is to dip our consciences in the wounds and blood of Christ as Luther's expression is and the realizing by faith what Christ hath suffered will be the best balm to cure a wounded conscience for if the sufferings of Christ were real then first there is real satisfaction made and if there was real satisfaction made then is God really pacified and really atoned and if God be really satisfied why then should we doubt and call in question his love any more Only our great concernment is to secure our part in Christ and to secure our interest in his sufferings till Christ himself be ours we can lay no claim to the benefits of his sufferings 1 Joh. 5.12 He that hath the Son hath life We must first have the Son himself before we can have life by the Son Our first work therefore is to make sure our interest in the Son himself Let me now in a few words close up the whole Doctrine concerning the Sufferings of Christ and the work of his Satisfaction We have heard much concerning the preciousness of Christs sufferings and that ample and full satisfaction that he hath made by his sufferings All that we have heard concerning the sufferings of Christ and the work of his satisfaction will signifie nothing to us will nothing at all avail us as to our salvation unless we get an interest in that great and blessed Person who hath done and suffered all these things That which must make the sufferings of Christ and his satisfaction available unto us is to know that Christ hath suffered as our Head that he hath suffered in our room and in our stead Now we cannot know that Christ hath suffered as our Head and as our Representative unless we first chuse him for our Head and pitch our faith upon his Person It is the Person of the Son of God who hath done and suffered all that in our nature which is necessary to be done and suffered for our salvation therefore as ever we expect benefit by what Christ hath done and suffered in our nature we must first direct the eye of our faith to that great person who hath taken up our nature and done and suffered such things in it Joh. 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life We must first by the eye of faith see that great Person the Son of God come down into our nature and doing and suffering such things in it for the accomplishment of our salvation and then we must close with this Person and embrace him with both the arms of our faith It is the Election of Christs Person that gives us union with him Now we having chosen Christ to be our Head we ought to contemplate what was done by him in our nature and to have all our expectation of salvation from what was wrought by him in it thus shall we have communion in the obedience death sufferings and satisfaction of Christ and what Christ our Head hath done and suffered in our nature he dwelling in our hearts by faith shall be accounted as if we had done it The end of the twentieth Sermon FINIS
with the Divine must always partake of the power virtue and efficacy of the Divine 2. If the spring of grace which is in the Divine nature do never fail or be dryed up then the grace in the humane nature which is always fed and maintained by this spring can never cease 3. Believers standing in union and conjunction with their Head as members of his body must needs partake of the virtue and influence of their Head 1 Cor. 6.17 Eph. 5.30 1.23 I shall conclude this particular with a passage of one of the Ancients Those things which a meer man received might be taken away from him as they were from Adam that therefore grace and the gifts of God may remain firm therefore Christ who is God and man received power as he was man which he had always as he was God that his humanity receiving all things those things might be delivered over to us out of his humanity to be firmly and surely possessed by us Learn from what hath been spoken Vse 1 what it is that must comfort us in reference to the ruines of the Fall Man was a glorious creature an excellent piece as first he came out of the hand of God but what ruine what deformity hath sin brought upon this glorious and excellent creature Who is there that turns his eyes in and upon himself and hath not cause to lament the sad and miserable ruines sin hath made there The understanding is full of darkness the will perverse and wholly carried off from God the chief good the affections wholly bent and set upon sensible objects the whole man depraved and out of order lying under the sad effects of original sin What is it that may comfort us in reference to these ruines and this sad deformity sin hath brought but only the consideration of the Incarnation of the Son of God By the Incarnation of the Son of God our nature is restored to its ancient beauty and perfection let us turn our eyes upon the Head of the Church and there we may see Holiness shining forth in its greatest beauty and perfection there we may see our nature without sin a mind full of Divine light and knowledge a will exactly conformed to the Divine will affections most pure and regular Now our nature being thus repaired and restored to its ancient purity in our Head we have this assurance it shall be repaired in us We have in Christ an instance what we may expect if we be his members for God hath predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son and he is the first-born among many brethren Rom. 8.29 Vse 2 By way of Exhortation to poor Sinners that are in a natural condition O labour to get into Christ You are by nature children of wrath unlovely unacceptable in the sight of God if ever you be taken from being children of wrath to be children of God if ever you be made sons and daughters of God you must first of all be implanted by faith into him who is the natural Son of God if ever your persons be made lovely and acceptable in the sight of God you must be accepted in him who is the beloved Son of God This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased There is not one drop of Gods love runs out of Christ all the love of the Father descends upon the Son incarnate and it is conveyed and let down by him upon the sons of men If you be found out of Christ you cannot expect to see or taste one drop of the love of God towards you O labour to get into Christ Is it not sad to lye under Divine wrath to be alienated and estranged from God to be able to lay no claim to God as your God and your Father to have no ground for the acceptation of your persons Till you get into Christ and be implanted into him this is your condition you are under Divine wrath you are alienated and estranged to God you are able to lay no claim to God as your God and Father you have no ground for the acceptation of your persons For this is the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased The Father looks upon none with a favourable eye but whom he looks upon in the beloved Son if you have nothing to do with the beloved Son you have nothing to do with the Fathers love Let this press such as are yet strangers to Christ to give themselves no rest day nor night till they get into Christ By way of Exhortation to Believers Vse 3 to exhort them to keep close to Christ It is the interest and concernment of Believers to labour to keep close to Christ and to see that Christ dwell in their hearts by faith yet more and more The Apostle prays for the Ephesians Eph. 3.17 that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith The more Christ dwells in our hearts by faith the greater sense we shall have of our Adoption and the acceptation of our persons The Son of God taking our nature lays the foundation for our Adoption and the acceptation of our persons therefore the more firmly we embrace the Son of God cloathed with our nature in the arms of our faith the greater sense we shall have of our sonship and acceptation Christ is the natural Son of God if we embrace him and adhere to him by faith the greater evidence shall we have that we are the adopted sons of God by faith in him Gal. 3.26 Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus That which makes us sons at first will be the means to continue the sight and comfort of this sonship to us It is faith makes us the sons of God therefore if we would have the comfort of our sonship let us look to this that Christ dwell in our hearts by faith When Christ promises to manifest the Fathers love to us how is it that he will do it He saith I in them Joh. 17.26 Let us consider it well the way by which Christ manifests the Fathers love to the Elect is by his being in them If ever we expect the manifestation of the Fathers love Christ must be in us and we in him Let us take heed therefore how we let our eye go off from Christ we can expect no love from the Father but as he looks upon us through the Son and we cannot expect to have the sense of the Fathers love let in upon us through the Son but as we take hold of the Son The more possession we have of Christ in our hearts by faith the greater sense and manifestation of the Fathers love will be let in upon us Learn from what hath been opened Vse 4 where to go for all supplies of grace We have a fountain near at hand we have grace brought down into a part of our own nature grace is lodged in the Son of God incarnate as in its proper fountain there may we repair and
infinite Justice and Righteousness then he must needs see himself worthy of condemnation and nothing can give ease and quiet to trembling consciences in this case but for a man to turn his eye upon the Satisfaction of Christ and see the Justice of God satisfied in Christ In Christ the Justice of God is satisfied to the utmost upon him was the wrath of God poured out to the full and the whole punishment that was due to us was inflicted upon him hither it is therefore that we must flye for refuge when-ever we are under the sense of guilt and under fears of condemnation by reason of sin there is no refuge but by flying to the Satisfaction of Christ The end of the fourth Sermon SERMON V. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Proceed now to the seventh Proposition which is this It was the compact and agreement between the Father and the Son that the Son the second Person in Trinity should take our nature and in that nature become our Surety and undertake the payment and discharge of our debt for us I say this was the compact and agreement between the Father and the Son hence is it said The counsel of peace was between them both Zach. 6.13 Some Learned men render it Between those two Inter illos duos that is between the Father and the Son the counsel of peace was between them both Here it may be said Object How could there be such a compact or an agreement as this is between the Father and the Son concerning mans Redemption and Salvation God is but one the Divine Essence is but one and the Divine Will but one How then could there be this compact and agreement between the Father and the Son since they are both one and the same God and have one and the same essential Will To this the Answer is plain Answ that as the Essence of the Father and the Son is but one so the Will is but one But for as much as the Father and the Son are considered as distinct Persons so the counsel of peace is said to be between them both Here are two Persons spoken of from which also the third the Holy Ghost is not to be excluded but all the three Persons agree in one and the same will Now according to the counsel of the whole Trinity the Son the second Person of the three is to take our nature and in that nature to become our Surety hence is it said That Jesus is made a surety of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 And Christ being made a Surety by virtue of the compact that was between him and the Father he is to undertake the payment of our debt for that is the nature of a Surety A Surety is properly an Vndertaker 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that undertakes anothers cause and debt There are some Divines that call this compact between the Father and the Son the Covenant of Redemption and this Covenant of Redemption they describe after this fort namely The Covenant of Redemption say they it is the agreement between the Father and the Son who was designed to be Mediator concerning the Elect who are supposed to lye in sin and misery by their own demerit together with the rest of men I say concerning the Elect to be converted sanctified and saved by virtue of the obedience of the Son as Mediator which was to be performed to the Father this they call the Covenant of Redemption The Apostle doth plainly intimate this compact or agreement that was between the Father and the Son Heb. 10.5 6 7. Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me In burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou hast had no pleasure Then said I Lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will O God When Christ saith here Lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will O God he plainly refers to that ancient Decree and Compact that was between the Father and himself It was the Fathers will from Eternity that the Son should take a body and offer up that body to make satisfaction for the sins of the Elect and the Son consented to this will of the Father and what he did in time in assuming a body and in offering up that body was in pursuance of that ancient Decree and Compact that was between him and the Father therefore it is said In the volume of the book it is written I come to do thy will O God The eighth Proposition is this That Christ becoming our Surety stands responsible to the Law and is liable to pay all the debt we owe to God Hence are those expressions that he was made under the Law Gal. 4.4 That he was made a Curse for us Gal. 3.10 To understand this we must know that Christ is to be considered as a common Person as sustaining the persons of all the Elect. Look as the first Adam was a common person the obedience which he was bound to perform we were obliged unto and therefore when he sinned we sinned in him and when he became obnoxious to the curse and to death by reason of sin we also became obnoxious to the same Curse and death in him Rom. 5.12 Wherefore as by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned So Christ is to be considered as a common Person Christ undertaking to be our Surety the obedience which we were bound to perform Christ is bound to perform and the punishment which we are obnoxious unto by reason of our violation of the Law Christ becoming our Surety is obnoxious to the same punishment Hence is it said of the first Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he is the figure of him that was to come Rom. 5.14 The figure of him that was to come that is the Type of Christ the first Adam is the Type of the second Adam How so As the first Adam was a common person and all his seed were comprehended in him and represented by him so the second Adam is to be looked upon as a common person and all his seed are comprehended in him and represented by him therefore Christ is called the second Adam 1 Cor. 15.45 The first Adam was made a living soul the second Adam was made a quickning Spirit Here it may be inquired How was it that the first Adam was made a common person And how was it that Christ the second Adam became a common person I answer briefly The first Adam was made a common person by Divine ordination and appointment and by the Law of his Creation he being the head and root of all mankind and Christ was made a common person partly by Divine ordination and appointment and
saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 undequaque tristis est anima mea My soul is exceeding sorrowful My soul is sorrowful on every side so the word properly signifies my soul is environed or compassed about with sorrow sorrow and grief possess me all over Yet that is not all but he adds farther My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death So great was his grief and sorrow before he came to the Cross and the sufferings that he underwent there that the greatness of his grief and sorrow had almost brought him to death before-hand yea we may well suppose that had not our Saviour had the power of the Divinity to support him the strength of his sorrows in the Garden before he came to the Cross might have taken away his natural life He saith his soul was heavy to the very death We see how many are killed with grief when grief and sorrow rises to a great height many have had their natural spirits suppressed and dyed away under it Now our Saviours sorrows did far exceed the sorrows of all other men yea if all mens sorrows were put together our Saviours sorrows exceeded them all and the reason is because he sustained the person of all the Elect and he bare the punishment not only of a few sins but of all the sins of all his people at once Therefore if he had not had the power of the Divinity to have supported him the greatness of his sorrows might have sunk him and brought him down to death but having other things to suffer upon the Cross besides those things he suffered in the Garden he was not sorrowful unto death absolutely that is not sorrowful so as to dye in and by those sorrows but yet he was sorrowful next to death setting aside death it self his sorrow and grief in the Garden was so great as it could not have been greater even in death it self My soul is sorrowful unto death Thus I have shewed how our Saviour suffered a great deal of anxiety and perplexity in his mind in respect of fear in respect of grief but this is only in general But to come a little nearer the matter and the thing it self 2. Our Saviour conflicted with the sense of Gods wrath in his soul I have shewed how he suffered the greatest anxiety perplexity and grief in his mind Now I shall shew how the great sorrows our Saviour underwent did arise from the conflict he had with Gods wrath in his soul Mat. 26. Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me What cup was this Truly the cup of Divine wrath The cup of God is the wrath of God Calix Dei ira Dei est ira Dei justa est vindicta quae imponitur à justo Judice the wrath of God is the just revenge which is inflicted by a just Judge for our sins and this is the cup our Saviour drank of our Saviour that he might bear the punishment that was due to us for our sins tasted of the wrath of God conflicted with the sense of Gods wrath The better to take in this we must consider that the sense of Divine wrath is part of the punishment that is due to us for our sins yea it is a principal part of the punishment and a great part of the pains and torments of Hell consists in it It is a speech of Luther The greatest temptation of all others is that temptation by which God is set in direct opposition to a man and appears contrary to him Quâ Deus contrarius homini ponitur This temptation saith he is an unsupportable temptation and is properly Hell it self and no man can tell how great this temptation is but he that hath felt it Now when a man is under the sense of Gods wrath he apprehends God to be contrary to him and to be set in direct opposition against him and as was said this is part of the punishment that is due to us for sin Observe what is spoken to this purpose Rom. 2.8 9. But to hem that are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil The Apostle is here speaking what is the punishment that shall come upon men for sin now he describes it by this Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish Now by these expressions indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish I conceive the Apostle doth not only intend the effects of Divine wrath all the miseries that shall be laid upon the damned as the effects of Divine wrath but he also intends the impression of Divine wrath upon the conscience of the sinner and therefore he expresseth it by so many words that intimate so much indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish these words plainly intimate the horror and anguish that shall be upon the spirit of the damned and whence doth this tribulation and anguish arise certainly from the fense of Gods wrath When our first Parents had sinned God appeared to them as an angry God in an angry manner to Adam he saith Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I said thou shalt not eat and to the Woman he said What is this that thou hast done Both these are expressions of anger When therefore man had sinned God appears to him as an angry God Now our Saviour being to take upon him the guilt of our sins he was to conflict with the sense of Gods wrath and therefore he had great and deep apprehensions fastned upon his soul concerning the displeasure that was due from God to us by reason of sin Christ when he came to suffer for our sins saw the Justice of God armed with revenge against us for our sins he saw the Justice of God ready to take hold on him as our Surety who had taken upon him the guilt of our sins There is a Learned man who is no friend to the Soul sufferings of Christ but makes it his business to oppose them that yet in discussing that argument is at last brought to this confession Christ saith he in his sufferings had a present sight of the Divine Majesty sitting as it were in Judgment and armed with the infinite power of Divine Justice to avenge the sins of men This is the confession of an Adversary that opposes the Soul-sufferings of Christ Now they which do assert the Soul-sufferings of Christ do only add thus much more That Christ did not only see Gods wrath that was due to us for our sins but he tasted of it and felt it and conflicted with the sense of it for to what purpose should he see it and not feel it Or how could Christs seeing the weight of Divine wrath that was due to us and not bearing it have expiated and taken away the guilt of our sins The sense of Divine wrath was that which was due to us as the punishment of sin for the Law saith Cursed is he that continueth not in all
Privatio prâ—mii beaâ—â—â—ci Perfectionis ad quam erant apti nati carentia ex peccato causatae and the pain of sense The pain of loss is the want of blessedness or else it is the privation of the beatifical reward Other School men describe it more largely thus The pain of loss is the want of that perfection which men were capable of and is brought upon them by reason of sin Now in this pain of loss the damned are deprived of all good things they are deprived of all peace all joy all comfort all solace and refreshment they are deprived of the fellowship of the Saints and Angels but amongst all the pains of loss which the damned undergo the greatest of all is the want of the sight of God and therefore some of the School-men describe the pain of loss only by this Privatio visionis fruitionis Divinae That it is a deprivation of the Divine vision and fruition not but that the damned are deprived of all other comforts and good things but the sight and fruition of God comprehends all the rest being deprived of the sight and fruition of God the chief good they must necessarily be deprived of the comfort of other particular goods Now this deprivation of the sight of God being part of the punishment that is due to us for our sins this pain of loss our Saviour underwent for us in his dereliction and desertion His humane soul was deprived of that clear sight and vision of the Deity for a time We by sin deserved to be deprived of the sight of God and Christ in his dereliction his humane soul was deprived of the sight of God for a time Divines are wont commonly to say That Christ from the moment of his conception had the sight of God his humane soul being immediately united to the Deity Christ from the very moment of his conception had the sight of God Now for our Saviour who had known experimentally how sweet the comfort of his Fathers face had been and had lived all his days under the warm beams and influences of the Divinity and had had his soul all along refreshed with the sense of the Divine presence for him to be left in that horror and darkness as to have no taste of comfort no glimpse of the Divinity breaking in upon his humane soul how great an affliction must that needs be unto him This spiritual dereliction as was formerly hinted which our Saviour underwent was part of the punishment due to us for our sins When Adam had sinned he was driven out of Paradise he was banished out of the presence of God man forsaking God God forsook him and withdrew himself from him now that dereliction which we deserved in Adam Christ suffered for us Hence is that of Cyril When Adam had transgressed the Divine commandment humane nature was forsaken of God and made subject unto the curse and to death Now these words of our Saviour when he crys out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me are the words of Christ manifestly discharging or paying that debt of dereliction that was come upon us by means of sin and pacifying God this way Hence also is that expression of another of the Ancients Deseritur cum desertis c. Christ was deserted with them who were deserted and Christ paid the tribute for that nature which he had assumed that is Christ paid our debt Christ was forsaken with us who were forsaken that so Divine grace and favour might return again to us the face of God was hid from him for a time that so it might not be hid from us for ever Now if it be asked But what was this dereliction I shall 1. Shew negatively what it was not and 2. Positively and affirmatively what it was 1. What it was not It was not a dissolution of the union of the two Natures The union of the two Natures in Christ continued notwithstanding this his dereliction for if the personal Union of the two Natures had been dissolved if it had not continued in the time of the sufferings of Christ then it would have followed that it was not God that was the Person that suffered and so the merit and efficacy of Christs sufferings would have been enervated and taken away but the Scriptures tell us That it was God that redeemed the Church with his own blood Act. 20.28 the Person suffering was God though it was in our nature that he suffered Also they tell us That they crucified the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 the Person suffering was God although it was in and by the flesh that he suffered Joh. 6.51 I am the bread that came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever and the bread which I shall give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world The flesh which is given for the life of the world it is the flesh of the Word the flesh of the second Person in Trinity The Word was made flesh Joh. 1.14 that person who is called the Word the second Person in Trinity who came down from heaven by his Incarnation and took flesh gave that flesh for the life of the world The Word is the Person who takes flesh the Word the second Person in Trinity who takes a part of our flesh is not disjoyned or disunited from his flesh all the time of his sufferings it is his flesh still The bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world The Word the second Person in Trinity accounts it his flesh whilst he suffers it was the flesh only that was capable of suffering but the Word the second Person in Trinity stood related to that flesh in the time of his suffering yea he was one with it in the bond of personal Union therefore it is said 1 Pet. 4.1 Christ suffered for us in the flesh It is a remarkable expression Christ suffered for us in the flesh the person suffering is Christ the Son of God though it was in the flesh in the Humanity that he suffered the humane nature is only capable of suffering but yet the person of the Son of God was united to that nature in the time when he suffered there was no dissolution of the union of the two natures Non dissolutione unionis sed substractione visioniâ— Christs dereliction was not by the dissolution of the Vnion but by the substraction of Vision as one of the Ancients speaks 2. This dereliction or desertion of our Saviour was not a desertion in point of grace Christ had all along the same presence of Divine grace with him to carry him out to all acts of obedience There was no failure as to any one act of obedience in Christ If Christ had been deserted in point of grace and any one act of obedience had been interrupted then his obedience had not been perfect and compleat and if his
them Now in the serious exercises of faith we ought to attend this we ought to consider how that all the great things of our salvation were transacted by our Head in a part of our nature for us what Christ suffered our nature suffered in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas It is a good speech of Athanasius It was not our Lord himself so much as we that suffered in him The third Direction is We should behold our nature in Christ suffering and undergoing the same things which we deserved and do lye under the fear of As it is a great relief to faith to behold our nature suffering in Christ so that which makes this relief compleat is to see our nature in Christ suffering the very same things which we deserved and are under the fear of The Apostle tells us Rom. 4.5 The law worketh wrath The Law works the fear of wrath in the conscience the Law begets the sense of Gods wrath in the conscience How so The reason is Because by the law is the knowledge of sin sin is the transgression of the law by the Law I know my self to be a sinner because I see I have transgressed such a Law now the breach of this Law worketh wrath that is it works the fear of wrath as that which is due for sin Hence also is that expression of conscience of sin Heb. 10.2 The worshippers once purged should have no more conscience of sin By conscience of sin here in this place I take it that we must understand a conscience burdened and laden with the guilt of sin The meaning is not certainly that those who are once purged by the virtue of Christs Sacrifice should make no more conscience of sin that would be an impious opinion nay the contrary thereunto is most true a conscience purged from the guilt of sin by the Blood and Sacrifice of Christ such a person makes more conscience of sin that is of committing sin Shall we sin because grace abounds God forbid The grace of God teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts But the meaning of the place is that those who have their consciences once purged and cleansed by the blood of Christ they ought to have no more conscience of sin as to guilt that is they ought to look upon their consciences exonerated and discharged from guilt by the Sacrifice of Christ But that which I quoted this Text for was to shew that sin brings a conscience of guilt When sin lyeth upon the conscience it fills the conscience with the fear and horrour of Gods wrath now the great relief to conscience in this case must be for a man to turn his eyes upon Christ and to see Christ in our nature suffer that which we deserve and that which we are afraid of We are afraid of Gods wrath and Christ that was true man our Head and Surety felt and suffered the wrath of God we fear lest God should forsake us lest God should cast us off for ever now we ought to turn our eyes upon Christ and see our nature forsaken and deserted in Christ My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Do you fear the torments of Hell Christ hath born these very pains and torments This is certain there is no such relief or remedy to an afflicted conscience as for a man to turn his eyes upon Christ and to see Christ who was most innocent in himself suffering all that for us which we deserve and fear Deseritur cum desertis pro natura quam assumpserat tributum solvit Christ was deserted with them who were deserted and paid the tribute for that nature which he assumed as we heard heretofore And another of the Ancients expresseth himself to the same purpose God saith he in his righteous judgment exacted all those things from us which are written in the Law which when we our selves were not able to pay our Lord hath paid them for us Christ hath assumed and volunt arily taken upon himself the curse and condemnation which we were obnoxious unto Quae pati debueramus illa ipse pertulit those things which we ought to have suffered he himself hath born for us This is a great support to faith to consider that the things we deserved and feared those are the things which Christ hath suffered and born for us The fourth Direction is this Let us behold our nature in Christ voluntarily suffering what we deserved to suffer this also is a great relief to faith As it is a relief to faith to behold our nature suffering and suffering the same things that we ought to have suffered so this is another great relief to faith to behold our nature in Christ voluntarily suffering what we deserved to suffer As we who are the sinful sons of men have sinned voluntarily so one of our kin one of our stock and linage one that was true man hath voluntarily offered himself to suffer for us poor sinful men So that satisfaction is voluntarily tendered up to God in our room and stead by one who was true man and in all points like unto us sin only excepted Our sin and disobedience was not more voluntary than Christs obedience and offering himself to suffer for us was free and voluntary Christ our Head and Surety when the Justice of God was coming forth armed against us hath most voluntarily run to meet it and to expose himself to those strokes which should have lighted on us Lo I come to do thy will thy law is in my heart Heb. 10. The Justice of God was not more desirous of satisfaction to be made to it than Christ our Head and Surety was willing to tender it Now if a Creditor hath never so great a sum of money owing to him and the Surety undertake the payment of the whole debt and be most free and ready as to the payment of it as free to pay the debt as the Creditor is to demand it what can he desire more Christ our Surety undertook the payment of our debt and was as ready to tender the satisfaction as God was to require it The fifth Direction is Let us direct the eye of our faith to the person of the Son of God acting in our nature and sanctifying all his sufferings by the dignity of his own person To illustrate this let us consider that Scripture Heb. 7.26 Such an High Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners made higher than the heavens and then it follows in vers 28. The Law maketh High Priests which have infirmity but the word of the oath which was since the Law maketh the Son who is consecrated for evermore The scope of the Apostle in this place is to shew that he who is our High Priest is more than a man he is the Son of God The word of the oath makes the Son which is consecrated for evermore He opposeth the Son of God to the Priests under the Law Now