favour Now the Angels are sent forth to minister for them who are Heirs of Salvation Besides in two other things the peculiar affection of the Prince would be most evident to that Nation 1. If he put on their habit and attire himself according to their fashion 2. If he fixt his residence among them Now the Son of God was cloathed with our flesh and found in fashion as a man and for ever appears in it in Heaven and will at the last day invest our bodies with glory like to his own He now dwells in us by his Spirit and when our warfare is accomplisht he shall in a special manner be present with us in the eternal Mansions As God incarnate he converst with Men on Earth and as such he will converse with them in heaven There he raigns as the first-born in the midst of many Brethren Now all these Prerogatives are the fruits of our Redemption And how great is that Mercy which hath raised Mankind more glorious out of its ruines The Apostle breaks out with a Heavenly astonishment Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God! that we who are Strangers and Enemies Children of Wrath by nature should be dignified with the honorable and amiable title of his Sons 'T was a rare and most merciful condescension in Pharaoh's Daughter to rescue an innocent and forsaken Infant from perishing by the waters and adopt him to be her Son but how much greater kindness was it for God to save guilty and wretched Man from Eternal Flames and to take him into his Family The Ambition of the Prodigal rose no higher than to be a Servant whaâ— an inestimable favour is it to make us Children When God would express the most dear and peculiar affection to Solomon he saith I will be his Father and he shall be my Son this was the highest honour he could promise and all believers are dignified with it 'T is the same relation that Christ hath when he was going to Heaven he comforted his Disciples with these words I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God There is indeed a diversity in the foundation of it Christ is a Son by Nature we are by meer Favour he is by Generation we are by Adoption Briefly Jesus Christ hath made us Kings Priests unto God his Father These are the highest Offices upon Earth and were attended with the most conspicuous Honour and the Holy Spirit chose those bright Images to convey a clearer notice of the glory to which our Redeemer hath raised us Not only all the Crowns and Scepters in this perishing World are infinitely beneath this dignity but the honour of our innocent state was not equal to it Secondly The Gospel is a better Covenant than that which was establisht with Man in his Creation and the excellency of it will appear by considering 1. 'T is more beneficial in that it admits of Repentance and Reconciliation after sin and accepts of Sincerity instead of perfection The Apostle magnifies the Office of Christ By how much he is a Mediator of a better Covenant which was established upon better promises The comparison there is between the Ministry of the Gospel and the Mosaical oeconomy And the excellency of the Gospel is specified in respect of those infinitely better promisses that are in it The ceremonial Law appointed Sacrifices for sins of ignorance and error and to obtain only legal impunity but the Gospel upon the account of Christ's all-sufficient Sacrifice offers full Pardon for all Sins that are repented of and forsaken Now with greater reason the Covenant of Grace is to be preferr'd before the Covenant of Works For the Law considered Man as holy and endued with perfection of Grace equal to whatsoever was commanded 'T was the measure of his Ability as well as Duty and requir'd exact Obedience or threatned extreme Misery The least breach of it is fatal A single Offence as certainly exposes to the curse as if the whole were violated And in our lapsed state we are utterly disabled to comply with its Purity and Perfection But the Gospel contains the Promises of Mercy and is in the hands of a Mediator The tenor of it is That Repentance and Remission of Sins be preached in the Name of Christ. And if we judge our selves we shall not be judged 'T is not if we are innocent for then none could be exempt from Condemnation But if the convinced Sinner erect a Tribunal in Conscience and strips Sin of its disguise to view it in its native deformity if he pronounce the Sentence of the Law against himself and glorifie the Justice of God which he cannot satisfie and forsake the Sins which are the causes of his sorrow he is qualified for pardoning Mercy Besides The Gospel doth not only apply Pardon to us for all forsaken Sins but provides a Remedy for those Infirmities to which the best are incident Whilst we are in this mortal state we are exposed to Temptations from without and have Corruptions within that often betray us Now to support our drooping Spirits our Redeemer sits in Heaven to plead for us and perpetually renews the Pardon that was once purchased to every contrite spirit for those unavoidable frailties which cleave to us here The promise of Grace is not made void by the sudden surprizes of Passions If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous The rigour of the Law is mollified by his Mediation with the Father A title of Love and Tenderness God deals not with the Severity of a Judg but He spares us as a man spares his own son that serves him And as He pardons us upon our Repentance so He accepts our hearty though mean services Now the Legal that is unsinning and compleat Obedience cannot be performed the Evangelical that is the sincere though imperfect is graciously received God doth not require the duties of a Man by the measures of an Angel Unfeigned Endeavours to please Him unreserved Respects to all his Commands single and holy aims at his Glory are rewarded Briefly Although the Law is continued as a Rule of living yet not as the Covenant of Life And what an admirable exaltation of Mercy is there in this new Treaty of God with Sinners 'T is true the first Covenant was holy just and good but it made no abatements of favour and 't is now weak through the flesh that is The carnal corrupt Nature is so strong and impetuous that the restraints of the Law are ineffectual to stop its desires and therefore cannot bring Man to that Life that is promised by the performance of the Condition required But the Gospel provides an Indulgence for relenting and returning Sinners This is the language of God in that Covenant I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their Iniquities
it declare The Commission of the Apostles from his own mouth was to preach Repentance and Remission of sins in his name to all Nations and he was exalted by God to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin The establishing of this order is not a meer positive command wherein the will of the Law-giver is the sole ground of our duty but there is a special congruity and reason in the nature of the thing it self For Christ hath satisfied Justice that God may exercise pardoning Mercy in such a manner as is suitable to his other perfections Now 't is contrary to his Wisdom to dispense the precious benefits of his Sons Blood to impenitent Unbelievers to give such rich Pearls and so dearly bought to Swine that will trample them under their feet to bestow Salvation on those who despise the Saviour 'T is contrary to his Holiness to forgive those who will securely abuse his favour as if his pardon were a priviledge and license to sin against him Nay final Impenitency is unpardonable to Mercy it self For the objects of Justice and Mercy cannot be the same now an impenitent sinner is necessarily under the revenging Justice of God 'T is no disparagement to his omnipotency that he cannot save such For although God can do whatsoever he will yet he can will nothing but what is agreeable to his Nature Not that there is any Law above God that obliges him to act but he is a Law to himself And the more excellent his perfections are the less he can contradict them As 't is no reflection upon his power that he cannot die neither is it that he can do nothing unbecoming his perfections On the contrary it implies weakness to be liable to any such act Thus supposing the Creature Holy it is impossible but he should love it not that he ows any thing to the Creature but in regard he is infinitely good and if impenitent and obstinate in sin he cannot but hate and punish it not that he is accountable for his Actions but because he is infinitely Just. And from hence it appears that the requiring of Repentance and Faith in order to the actual partaking of the blessings our Redeemer purchased doth not diminish the value of his Satisfaction they being not the causes of pardon but necessary qualifications in the subject that receives it 2. It doth not lessen the Compleatness of his Satisfaction that Believers are liable to Afflictions and Death For these are continued according to the agreement between God and our Redeemer for other ends than satisfaction to Justice which was fully accomplisht by him This will appear by several Considerations 1. Some Afflictions have not the nature of a Punishment but are intended only for the exercise of their Graces That the trial of their Faith Patience and Hope being much more precious than of Gold that perisheth though it be tried by the fire might be found unto praise Now these Afflictions are the occasion of their Joy and in order to their Glory Of this kind are all the Sufferings that Christians endure for the promotion of the Gospel Thus the Apostles esteemed themselves dignified in suffering what was contumelious and reproachful for the Name of Christ. And St. Paul interprets it as a special favour that God call'd forth the Philippians to the Combat To you it is given in the behalf of Christ to suffer Not only the Graces of Faith and Fortitude but the Affliction was given So Believers are declared Happy when they are partakers of Christs Sufferings for the Spirit of Glory rests on them Now it is evident that Afflictions of this nature are no Punishments For since 't is essential to Punishment to be inflicted for a Fault and every Fault hath a turpitude in it It necessarily follows that Punishment which is the brand of a crime must be alwaies attended with infamy and the Sufferer under shame But Christians are honourable by their Sufferings for God as they conform them to the Image of his Son who was consecrated by Sufferings 2. Afflictions are sent sometimes not with respect to a Sin committed but to prevent the commission of it and this distinguishes them from Punishments For the Law deters from Evil not by inflicting but threatning the Penalty But in the Divine Discipline there is another Reason God afflicts to restrain from Sin As St. Paul had a thorn in the flesh to prevent Pride 3. Those Evils that are inflicted on Believers for Sin do not diminish the power and value of Christ's Passion For we must distinguish between Punishments which are meerly castigatory for the good of the Offender and that are purely vindictive for the just Satisfaction of the Law Now Believers are liable to the first but are freed from the other For Christ hath redeemed them from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for them The Popish Doctrine of Satisfaction to offended Justice by our suffering temporal Evils is attended with many pernicious Consequences 1. It robs the Cross of Christ of one part of its Glory as if something were left to us to make up in the degrees and vertue of his Sufferings 2. It reflects on Gods Justice as if He exacted two different Satisfactions for Sin the one from Christ our Surety the other from the Sinner 3. It disparages his Mercy in making Him to punish whom He pardons and to inflict a Penalty after the Sin is remitted 4. 'T is dangerous to Man by feeding a false Presumption in him as if by the merit of his sufferings he could expiate Sin and obtain part of that Salvation which we entirely owe to the Death of our Redeemer The difference between Chastisements and purely vindictive Punishments appears in three things 1. In the Causes from whence they proceed The severest Sufferings of the Godly are not the effects of the Divine Vengeance 'T is true they are Evidences of Gods displeasure against them for Sin but not of Hatred For being reconciled to them in Christ He beares an unchangeable Affection to them and Love cannot hate though it may be angry The motive that excites God to correct them is Love according to that testimony of the Apostle Whom the Lord loves He chastens As somtimes out of his severest displeasure He forbeares to strike and condemns obstinate Sinners to Prosperity here so from the tenderest Mercy he afflicts his own But purely vindictive Judgments proceed from meer wrath 2. They differ in their measures The Evils that Believers suffer are alwaies proportioned to their strength They are not the sudden eruptions of Anger but deliberate Dispensations David deprecates Gods Judgment as 't is opposed to Favour Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord and Jeremiah desires Gods Judgment as 't is opposed to Fury Correct me Oh Lord in thy Judgment not in thy Fury 'T is the gracious Promise of God to
Attributes seem'd to be attendants on Justice The Wisdom of God enforc'd its Plea it being most indecent that Sin which provokes the execution should procure the abrogation of the Law this would encourage the commission of Sin without fear The Majesty of God was concern'd for it was not becoming his excellent Greatness to treat with defiled dust and to offer Pardon to a presumptuous Rebel immediately after his Offence and before he made Supplication to his Judge The Holiness of God did quicken his Justice to execute the threatning For he is of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity As Goodness is the essential object of his Will which he loves unchangeably wherever it is so is Sin the eternal object of his hatred and where 't is found in the love of it renders the subject odious to him He will not take the wicked by the hand The Law of contrariety forbids Purity and Pollution to mix together And the veracity of God requir'd the inflicting the punishment For the Law being a declaration of God's Will according to which He would dispense Rewards and Punishments either it must be executed upon the Offendâ—r or if extraordinarily dispens'd with it must be upon such terms as the honour of Gods Truth may be preserved This seeming conflict was between the Attributes The sublimâ—st Spirits in Heaven were at a loss how to unravel the difficulty and to find out the miraculous way to reconcile infinite Mercy with inflexible Justice how to satisfie the demands of the one and the requests of the other God was to overcome Himself before He restored Man In this exigence his Mercy excited his Wisdom to interpose as an Arbiter which in the Treasures of its incomprehensible Light found out an admirable expedient to save Man without prejudice to his other Perfections That was by constituting a Mediator both able and willing between the guilty creature and Himself That by transferring the punishment on the Surety he might punish Sin and pardon the Sinner And here the more severe and rigorous Justice is the more admirable is the Mercy that saves In the same stupendious Sacrifice he declared his respect to Justice and his delight in Mercy The two principal relations of our Redeemer are the one of a gift from God to man the other of an oblation for men to God By the one God satisfies his infinite Love to Man and by the other satisfies his infinite Justice for Man Neither is it unbecoming God to condescend in accepting the returning Sinner when a Mediator of infinite dignity intercedes for favour The Divine Majesty is not lessen'd when God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself Neither is the Sanctity of God disparag'd by his Clemency to Sinners for the Redeemer is the principle and pattern of Holiness to all that are saved The same Grace that enclin'd God to send his Son to die for us gives his Spirit to live in us to renew us in the inward Man that by conformity to God we may be prepared for communion with him Here is a sweet concurrence of all the attributes Mercy and Truth are met together Righteousness and Peace kiss each other Who can count up this heap of wonders Who can unfold all the treasures of this mysterious Love The tongue of an Angel cannot explicate it according to its dignity 'T is the fairest copy of the Divine Wisdome the consummation of all God's Counsels wherein all the Attributes are displayed in their brightest lustre 'T is here the manifold wisdome of God appears The Angels of Light bend themselves with extraordinary application of Mind and arâ—ent Affections to study the rich and unsearchable variety that is in it only the same Understanding comprehends it which contriv'd it But as one that views the Ocean although he cannot see its bounds or bottom yet he sees so much as to know that that vast collection of waters is far greater than what is within the compass of his short sight So although we cannot understand all the depths of that immense Wisdom which orderâ—d the way of our Salvation yet we may discover so much as to know with the Apostle that it surpasses knowledg He that is the Brightness of his Fatherâ—s Glory and the Light of the World so illuminate our dark Understandings that we may conceive aright of this great Mystery The First thing that offers it self to Consideration is the compass of the Divine Wisdome in taking occasion from the Sin and Fall of Man to bring more Glory to God and to raise him to a more excellent state Sin in its own nature hath no tendency to good 't is not an apt medium to promote the Glory of God so far is it from a direct contributing to it that on the contrary 't is the most real dishonour to Him But as a black ground in a Picture which in it self only defiles when plac'd by Art sets off the brighter colours and heightens their beauty So the evil of Sin which considered absolutely obscures the Glory of God yet by the disposition of his Providence it serves to illustrate his Name and to make it more glorious in the esteem of reasonable Creatures Without the Sin of Man there had been no place for the most perfect exercise of his Goodness O foelix culpa qâ—ae tantum talem meruit habere Redemptorem Happy fault not in it self but by the wise and merciful Counsel of God to be repair'd in a way so advantageous that the Salvation of the Earth is the Wonder of Heaven the Redemption of Man ravishes the Angels The Glory of God is more visible in the recovery of lapsâ—d Man than if the Law had been obeyed or executed If Adam had persever'd in his Duty the Reward had been from Gaace for owing himself to God he could receive nothing but as a gift from his Bounty so that Goodness only had then been exerci'sd and not in its highest and most obliging Acts which are to save the guilty and the miserable for Innocence is incapable of Mercy If the Sentence had been inflicted Justice had been honour'd with a solemn Sacrifice but Mercy the sweet tender and indulgent Attribute had never appear'd But now the Wisdom of God is eminent in the accord of both these Attributes God is equally glorious as equally God in preserving the authority of his Law by an act of Justice upon our Surety as in the exercise of Mercy by remitting the punishment to the Offender And 't is no less honourable to God's Wisdom to restore Man with infinite advantage 'T is a mystery in Nature That the corruption of one thing is the generation of another 't is more mysterious in Grace that the Fall of Man should occasion his more noble Restitution Innocence was not his last End his supreme felicity transcends the first The holiness of Adam was perfect but mutable But Holiness in the Redeemed though in a less degree shall be
his Health but the Sinner is sick of a deadly Disease an incurable wound He that is sick and wounded may send for the Physician in order to his Recovery But the Sinner is in a deep sleep He that is asleep may awake But the Sinner is in a state of Death which implies not only a Cessation from all vital Actions but an absolute disability to perform them The Understanding is disabled for any Spiritual Perception the Will for any Holy Inclinations the whole Man is disabled for the sense of his wretched state This is the spiritual Death which justly exposes the Sinner to Death temporal and eternal 4. Every Man as descending from Adam is born a Sacrifice to Death His condition in this world is so wretched and unworthy the original excellency of his Nature that it deserves not the name of Life 'T is a continual exercise of sinful Actions dishonourable to God and damning to himself and after the succession of a few Years in the defilements of Sin and the accidents of this frail state in doing and suffering evil Man comes to his fatal Period and falls into the bottomless Pit the place of Pollutions and Horrors of Sin and Torments 'T is there That the wrath of God abides on him and who knows the power of his wrath According to his fear so is his wrath Fear is an unbounded Passion and can extend it self to the apprehension of such Torments which no finite Power can inflict But the Wrath of God exceeds the most jealous fears of the guilty Conscience It proceeds from infinite Justice and is executed by Almighty Power and contains eminently all kinds of evils A Lake of flaming Brimstone and whatever is most dreadful to Sense is but an imperfect Allusion to represent it And how great is that Love which pitied rescued us from Sin and Hell This Saving Mercy is set out for its tenderness and vehemence by the commotion of the bowels at the sight of one in misery especially the working of the Mother's when any evil befals her Children Such an inward deep resentment of our distress was in the Father of Mercies When we were in our blood He said to us Live And that which further discovers the eminent degree of his Love is that He might have been unconcerned with our Distress and left us under despair of Deliverance There is a Compassion which ariseth from Self-love when the sight of anothers Misery surprises us and affects us in such a manner as to disturb our Repose and imbitter our Joy by considering our liableness to the same troubles and from hence we are enclin'd to help them And there is a Compassion that proceeds from pure love to the miserable when the Person that expresses it is above all the assaults of evil and incapable of all Affections that might lessen his Felicity and yet applies himself to relieve the afflicted and such was Gods towards Man If it had been a tollerable Evil under which we were faln the Mercy that recovered us had been less For Benefits are valued by the necessity of the receiver But Man was disinherited of Paradise an Heir of Hell his Misery was inconceivably great Now the measure of God's Love is proportionable to the Misery from whence we are redeemed If there had been any possible Remedy for us in Nature our engagements had not been so great But only He that created us by his Power could restore us by his Love Briefly it magnifies the Divine Compassion that our Deliverance is full and intire It had been admirable Favour to have mitigated our Misery but we have perfect Redemption sweetned by the remembrance of those dreadful evils that opprest us As the three Hebrew Martyrs came unhurt out of the fiery Furnace The hair of their heads were not singed nor their coats changed nor the smell of the fire had passed on them So the Saints above have no marks of Sin or Misery remaining upon them not the least spot or wrinkle to blast their Beauty nor the least trouble to diminish their Blessedness but for ever possess the Fulness of Joy and Glory a pure and triumphant Felicity 2. The Greatness of the Divine Love towards faln Man appears in the means by which our Redemption is accomplisht And those are the Incarnation and Sufferings of the Son of God The Incarnation manifests this Love upon a double account 1. In regard of the essential condition of the nature he assum'd 2. It s Servile state and meanness 1. The essential condition of the humane nature assum'd by our Redeemer discovers his transcendent Love to us For what proportion is there between God and Man Infinite and Finite are not terms that admit comparison as Greater and Less but are distant as All and Nothing The whole World before him is but as the drop of the Bucket that hath scarce weight to fall and the small dust of the Ballance that is not of such moment as to turn the scales 't is as nothing and counted less then nothing and vanity The Deity in its own nature includes Independence and Sovereignty To be a Creature implys dependence and subjection The Angelical Nature is infinitely inferior to the Divine and Man is lower then the Angels yet the Word was made Flesh. Add to this he was not made as Adam in the perfection of his nature and beginning the first step of his life in the full exercise of Reason and Dominion over the Creatures but he came into the World by the way of a natural birth and dependance upon a mortal Creature The Eternal Wisdom of the Father stoopt to a state of infancy which is most distant from that of Wisdom wherein though the Life yet the Light of the reasonable Soul is not visible the mighty God to a condition of indigence and infirmity The Lord of Nature submitted to the Laws of it Admirable Love wherein God seemed to forget his own Greatness and the meanness of the Creature This is more indeared to us by considering 2. The Servile state of the Nature be assumed An account of this we have in the Words of the Apostle Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ who being in the form of God that is injoying the Divine Nature with all its Glory eternally and invariably As to be in the form of a King signifies not only to be a King but to have all the conspicuous marks of Royalty the Crown Scepter Throne the Guards and State of a King Thus our Saviour possest that Glory that is truly Divine before he took our nature The Angels adored him in Heaven and by him Princes reigned on the Earth 'T is added he thought it no robbery to be equal with God that is being the essential Image of the Father he had a rightful possession of all his perfections Yet he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was
Glorious Trinity were equally provok'd by our Sin and to obtain our Pardon the Son with the consent of the Father deposits his Interest into his Hands and as a Mediator intervenes between us and him who in this Transaction is the Depositary of the Rights of Heaven and having performed what Justice required he reconciled the World to God that is to the Father Himself and the Eternal Spirit In this Cause his Person is the same but his Quality is different he made Satisfaction as Mediator and receiv'd it as God 'T is in this sense that the Apostle saith We have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Not to exclude the other Persons but in regard the Father as the First Person is the Protector of Justice our Mediator in appeasing Him appeases the others also 3. The Death of Christ is represented under the notion of a Sacrifice offer'd up to God For the more full understanding of this we must consider that Sacrifices were of two kinds 1. Some were Eucharistical They are called Peace-offerings by which the Sacrificer acknowledged the Bounty of God and his own unworthiness and rendered Praise for a favour received and desired the Divine Blessing 2. Expiatory The Sin-offerings for the averting of Gods wrath The Institution of them was upon a double Reason 1. That Man is a sinner and therefore obnoxious to the just indignation and extreme displeasure of the Holy and Righteous God 2. That God was to be propitiated that he might pardon them These Truths are engraven in the natural Consciences of Men as appeares by theâ—â— pretended Expiations of sin among the Heathens But are more clearly reveal'd in the Scripture Under the Law without the effusion of Blood there was no Remission To signifie that God would not forgive Sin without the atonement of Justice which required the Death of the Offender but it being tempered with Mercy accepted a Sacrifice in his stead And that there was a Substitution of the Beast in the place of the guilty Offender appeares by the Law concerning Sacrifices 1. None were instituted for Capital Offences as Murder Idolatry Adultery c. Because the Sinner himself was to be cut off But for other Sins which although in strictness they deserved Death yet God who was the King of Israel was pleased to remit the Forfeiture and to accept the life of the Sacrifice for the Life of the Sinner 2. The guilty Person was to offer a clean Beast of his own to signifie the Surrogation of it in his stead For in the relation of a Possessour he had a dominion over it to apply it to that use 3. The Priest or the person that offer'd was to lay his hands on the head of the Sacrifice thereby Consecrating it to God and Devoting it in his stead to bear the Punishment For this reason 't was called a Sin and a Curse 4. The Confession of Sin by the People or the Priest as in the day of Atonement signified that the guilt of all met on the Sacrifice for Expiation 5. The Blood was to be shed wherein the vital spirits are an express representation what the Sinner deserved and that it was accepted for his Life 6. Lastly The deprecating of God's Anger was joyned with the Sacrifice As when a Man was slain and the Murderer was not found the Elders of the City next to the dead Body were to kill an Heifer in a Valley and to pray that innocent Blood might not be laid to their charge otherwise the Land could not be clensed from the guilt of Blood but by the Blood of the Murderer 2. The Effects of these Sacrifices declare their nature And they are answerable to their threefold respect to God to Sin to Man To God that his Anger might be appeased to Sin that the fault might be expiated to Man that the guilty person might obtain Pardon and Freedom from Punishment Thus when a Sacrifice was duly offered 't is said to be of a sweet savour unto the Lord and to atone him Lev. 1.17 and the Remission of Sins with the Release of the Sinner followed The Priest shall expiate it that is declaratively and it shall be forgiven him Now there was a double Guilt contracted by those that were under the Mosaical Dispensation 1. Typical From the breach of a Ceremonial Constitution which had no relation to Morality Such were natural Pollutions accidental Diseases the touching of a dead Body c. which were esteemed vicious according to the Law and the Defiled were excluded from Sacred and Civil Society Now these Impurities considered in themselves deserved no punishment For involuntary and inevitable Infirmities and corporeal things which do not infect the inward man are the marks of our abject and weak state but are not in themselves sinfull Therefore Ceremonial Guilt was expiated by a Ceremonial Offering For 't is according to the nature of things that Obligations should be dissolved by the same means by which they are contracted As therefore those Pollutions were penal merely by the positive Will of God So the exercise of his Supreme Right being tempered with Wisdome and Equity he ordained that the guilt should be abolisht by a Sacrifice and that they should be fully restored to their former Priviledges Thus the Apostle tells us that the Blood of those Sacrifices Sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh that is communicated a legal Purity to the Offerers and consequently a right to approach the holy Place Now the reason of these Institutions was that the legal Impurity might represent the true defilements of Sin and the Expiatory Sacrifices prefigure that great and admirable Oblation which should purge away all Sin 2. A real Guilt which respects the Conscience and was contracted from the breach of the Moral Law and subjected the Offender to Death temporal and eternal This could not be purged away by those Sacrifices For how is it possible the Blood of a Beast should cleanse the Soul of a Man or content the Justice of an offended God Nay on the contrary they reviv'd the guilt of Sin and reinforced the rigour of the Law and were a publick profession of the Misery of Men For this reason the Law is called the Ministry of Death As the Moral contained a declaration of our guilt and Gods right to punish so all the parts of the Ceremonial were either arguments and convictions of Sin or images of the punishment due for them But as they had a relation to Christ who was their Complement so they signified the expiation of moral guilt by his Sacrifice and freed the Sinner from that temporal Death to which he was liable as a Representative of our freedom from Eternal Death by the Blood of the Cross. This will appear more clearly by considering 1. That all kinds of placatory Sacrifices are referred to Christ in the New Testament 2. That all their Effects are attributed to him in a sublimer and most perfect
is said that His Blood cleanseth from all sin and that it purgeth the Conscience foom dead Works and that we are washt from our sins in His Blood The frequent Sprinklings and Purifications with Water under the Law prefigured our cleansing from the defilements of sin by the Grace of the Spirit but the shedding of the Blood of Sacrifices was to purge away sins so far as they made liable to a Curse Thirdly Our exemption from punishment and our restoration to Communion with God in Grace and Glory is the fruit of his expiating sin For this reason the Blood of the Mediator speaks better things then that of Abel For that cryed for revenge against the Murderer but his procures remission to Believers And as the just desert of sin is separation from the presence of God who is the fountain of felicity so when the guilt is taken away the person is received into God's favour and fellowship A representation of this is set down in the 24 of Exod. where we have described the manner of dedicating the Covenant between God and Israel by bloody Sacrifices after Moses had finisht the Offering and sprinkled the Blood on the Altar and the People the Elders of Israel who were forbid before to approach neer to the Lord were then invited to come into his presence and in token of reconciliation feasted before him Thus the Eternal Covenant is establisht by the Blood of the Mediator and all the benefits it contains as remission of sins freedom to draw near to the Throne of Grace and the enjoyment of God in Glory are the fruits of his reconciling Sacrifice The sum of all is this That as under the Law God was not appeased without shedding of Blood nor sin expiated without suffering the punishment nor the sinner pardoned without the substitution of a sacrifice so all these are eminently accomplisht in the Death of Christ. He reconciled God to us by his most precious Blood and expiated sin by enduring the Curse and hath procured our pardon by being made sin for us So that 't is most evident that the proper and direct end of the Death of Christ was that God might exercise his Mercy to the guilty sinner in a way that is honourable to his Justice 'T is objected that if God from infinite Mercy gave his Son to us then antecedently to the coming of Christ he had the highest love for mankind and consequently there was no need that Christ by his Death should satisfie Justice to reconcile him to us But a clear answer may be given to this by considering 1. That Anger and Love are consistent at the same time and may in several respects be terminated on the same subject A Father resents a double affection towards a rebellious Son he loves him as his Son is angry with with him as disobedient Thus in our laps'd state God had compassion on us as his creatures and was angry with us as sinners As the injured party he laid aside his anger but as the preserver of Justice he required satisfaction 2. We must dinstinguish between a love of good-will and compassion and a love of complacency The first is that which moved God to ordain the means that without prejudice to his other perfections he might confer pardon and all spiritual benefits upon us the other is that whereby he delights in us being reconciled to him and renewed according to his Image The first supposes him placable the latter that he is appeased There is a visible instance of this in the case of Job's Friends The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite My anger is kindled against thee and thy two Friends because ye have not spoken of me the things that are right as my Servant Job Here is a declaration of God's anger yet with the mixture of Love for it follows therefore take unto you now seven Bullocks and seven Rams and go to my Servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering and my Servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept He loved them when he directed the way that they might be restored to his Favour yet he was not reconciled for then there had been no need of Sacrifices to atone his anger 2. T is further objected that supposing the Satisfaction of Christ to Justice both the freeness and greatness of God's Love in pardoning sinners will be much lessen'd But it will appear that the Divine Mercy is not prejudiced in either of those respects First The freenss of Gods Love is not diminished for that is the original mover in our Salvation and hath no cause above it to excite or draw it forth but meerly arises from his own will This Love is so absolute that it hath no respect to the sufferings of Christ as Mediator for God so loved the World that he gave his Son to die for us and that which is the effect and testimony of his Love cannot be the impulsive cause of it This first Love of God to Man is commended to us in Christ who is the medium to bring it honorably about Secondly Grace in Scripture is never opposed to Christs Merits but to ours If we had made Satisfaction Justice it self had absolved us For the Law having two parts the command of our Duty which consists in a moral good and the sanction of the punishment that is a physical evil to do or to suffer is necessary not both or if we had provided a Surety such as the Judge could not reject we had been infinitely obliged to him but not to the favour of the Judg. But 't is otherwise here God sent the Reconciler when we were enemies and the Pardon that is dispenc'd to us upon the account of his Sufferings is the effect of meer Mercy We are justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ. 'T is pure Love that appointed and accepted that imputes and applies his Righteousness to us And as the Freeness so the Riches of his Mercy is not lessened by the Satisfaction Christ made for us 'T is true we have a pattern of God's Justice never to be parallel'd in the Death of Christ but to the severity of Justice towards his only beloved Son his clemency towards us guilty Rebels is fully comensurate For He pardons us without the expence of one drop of our Blood though the Soul of Christ was poured forth as an Offering for Sin Thus in an admirable manner He satisfies Justice and glorifies Mercy and this could have been no other way effected for if He had given His Spirit alone to restore us to His Image His Love had eminently appeared but the honour of his Justice had not been secured But in our Redemption they are infinitely magnified His Love could give no more than the Life of His Son and Justice required no less for Death being the Wages of Sin there could be no satisfaction without the Death of our Redeemer CHAP. XIV The
Compleatness of Christ's Satisfaction proved from the Causes and Effects of it The Causes are the Quality of his Person and Degrees of his Sufferings The Effects are His Resurrection Ascension Intercession at Gods right hand and his exercising the Supreme Power in Heaven and Earth The excellent Benefits which God reconciled bestows on Men are the Effects and Evidences of his compleat Satisfaction They are Pardon of Sin Grace and Glory That Repentance and Faith are required in order to the partaking of the Benefits purchased by Christ's Death doth not lessen the Merit of his Sufferings That Afflictions and Dâ—ath are inflicted on Believers doth not derogate from their All-sufficiency THe Third thing to be considered is the Compleatness of the Satisfaction that Christ hath made by which it will appear that Gods Justice as well as Mercy is fully glorified in his Sufferings For the proof of this I will first consider the Causes from whence the compleatness of his Satisfaction arises Secondly The Effects that proceed from it which are convincing Evidences that God is fully appeas'd The Causes of his compleat Satisfaction are two 1. The Quality of his Person derives an infinite value to his obedient Sufferings Our Surety was equally God and as truely Infinite in His Perfections as the Father who was provoked by our Sins therefore he was able to make Satisfaction for them He is the Son of God not meerly in respect of the honour of his Office or the special Favour of God for on these accounts that Title is communicated to others but his only Son by Nature The sole preheminence in Gifts and Dignity would give Him the title of the first-born but not deprive them of the quality of Brethren Now the wisdom and justice of all Nations agree that Punishments receive their estimate from the quality of the Persons that suffer The Poet observes that the Death of a vertuous Person is more precious than of Legions Of what inestimable value then is the death of Christ and how worthy a Ransom for lost mankind For although the Deity is impassible yet he that was a Divine Person he suffered A King suffers more than a private person although the strokes he endures in his body cannot immediatly reach his honour And 't is specially to be observed that the Efficacy of Christs Blood is ascribed to his Divine Nature This the Apostle declares In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of Sins who is the image of the invisible God Not an artificial Image which imperfectly represents the Original As a Picture that sets forth the Colour and Figure of a Man but not his Life and Nature But the essential and exact Image of his Father that expresses all his glorious Perfections in their immensity and eternity This is testified expresly in Hebr. 1.3 The Son of God the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person having purged by himself our sins is set down on the right hand of Majesty on High From hence arises the infinite difference between the Sacrifices of the Law and Christs in their value and vertue This with admirable Emphasis is set down in Hebr. 9.13 14. For if the blood of Bulls and of Goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purification of the flesh How much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead works to serve the living God Wherein the Apostle makes a double Hypothesis 1. That the Legal Sacrifices were ineffectual to purifie from real guilt 2. That by their Typical Cleansing they signified the washing away of moral guilt by the Blood of Christ. 1. Their insufficiency to expiate Sin appears if we consider the subject Sin is to be expiated in the same nature wherein 't was committed now the Beasts are of an inferiour rank and have no communion with Man in his nature Or if we consider the object God was provoked by Sin and He is a Spirit and not to be appeased by gross material things His Wisdom requires that a rational Sacrifice should expiate the guilt of a rational Creature And Justice is not satisfied without a proportion between the Guilt and the Punishment This weakness and insufficiency of the Legal Sacrifices to expiate Sin is evident from their variety and repetition For if full Remission had been obtained The worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sin 'T is the sense of Guilt and the fear of Condemnation that required the renewing of the Sacrifice Now under the Law the Ministry of the Priests never came to a period or perfection The Millions of Sacrifices in all Ages from the erecting the Tabernacle to the coming of Christ had not vertue to expiate one Sin They were only shadows which could give no refreshment to the inflamed Conscience but as they depended on Christ the body and substance of them But the Son of God who offered himself up by the Eternal Spirit to the Father is a Sacrifice not only Intelligent and Reasonable but incomparably more precious than the most noble Creatures in Earth or in Heaven it self He was Priest and Sacrifice in respect of both His Natures His entire Person was the Offerer and Offering Therefore the Apostle from the excellency of his Sacrifice infers the unity of its Oblation and from thence concludes its Efficacy Christ did not by the Blood of Bulls and Goats but by his own Blood He entred in once to the Holy Place having obtained eternal Redemption for us and by one Offering He hath for ever perfected them who are sanctified Upon this account God promised in the New-Covenant That their Sins and Iniquities He would remember no more having received compleat satisfaction by the Sufferings of his Son 'T is now said that once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself And as it is appointed for all men once to die and after Death comes Judgment So Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin As there is no other natural death to suffer between Death and Judgment so there is no other propitiatory Sacrifice between his all-sufficient Death on the Cross and the last coming of our Redeemer There is one Consideration I shall adde to shew the great difference between Legal Sacrifices and the Death of Christ as to its saving vertue The Law absolutely forbids the eating of Blood and the peoples tasting of the Sin-offerings to signifie the imperfection of those Sacrifices For since they were consumed in their Consecration to Gods Justice and nothing was left for the nourishment of the Offerers 't was a sign they could not appease God The Offerers had communion with them when they brought them to the Altar and in a manner
to perpetuity all that shall address to God by Him Since He ever lives to make Intercession The Pardon that He once purchased shall ever be applied to contrite Believers The Covenant that was sealed with his Blood is eternal and the Mercies contained in it 2. The perfection of his Sacrifice is evident by its expiating universally the guilt of all transgressions 'T is true Sins in their own nature are different some have a crimson guilt attending them and accordingly Conscience should be affected But the Grace of the Gospel makes no difference The Apostle tells us that the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sins Whatever the kinds degrees and circumstances are As the Deluge overflowed the highest Mountains as well as the least Hill so pardoning Mercy covers Sins of the first magnitude as well as the smallest Under the Law one Sacrifice could expiate but one Offence though but against a carnal Commandment but this one washes away the guilt of all Sins against the Moral Law And in that Dispensation no Sacrifices were instituted for Idolatry Adultery Murder and other Crimes which were certainly punisht with Death But under the Gospel Sins of what quality soever if repented of are pardoned The Apostle having reckoned up Idolaters Adulterers and many other notorious Sinners that shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven tells the Corinthians that such were some of them but they were sanctified and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 'T is true Those who sin against the Holy Ghost are excepted from Pardon But the Reason is Because the Death of Christ was not appointed for the Expiation of it And there being no Sacrifice there is no Satisfaction and consequently no Pardon The Wisdome and Justice of God requires this Severity against them For if he that despised Moses Law died without Mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace that is They renounce their Redeemer as if he were not the Son of God and virtually consent to the cruel Sentence past against Him as if he had blasphemed when He declared Himself to be so and thereby out sin his Sufferings How reasonable is it they should be for ever deprived of the Benefits who obstinately reject the Means that purchased them 2. The Death of Christ hath procured Grace for Men. We made a Forfeiture of our Original Holiness and were righteously deprived of it And till Divine Justice was appeased all influences of Grace were suspended Now the Death of Christ opened Heaven and brought down the Spirit who is the Principle of Renovation in us The world lay in wickedness as a Carcass in the grave insensible of its horror and corruption The Holy Spirit hath inspired it with a new life and by a marvellous change hath caused Purity to succeed Pollution 3. The receiving Believers into Heaven is a convincing proof of the all-sufficiency of his Sacrifice For Justice will not permit that Glory and Immortality which are the Priviledges of the Righteous should be given to guilty defiled Creatures Therefore our Saviour's first and greatest work was to remove the bar that excluded us from the place of Felicity 'T is more difficult to justifie a Sinner than to glorifie a Saint The Goodness of God inclines Him to bestow Happiness on those who are not obnoxious to the Law but his Justice was to be aton'd by Sufferings Now what stronger Argument can there be that God is infinitely pleased with what His Son hath done and suffered for his People than the taking of them into his Presence to see his Glory The Apostle sets down this order in the work of our Redemption That Christ being made perfect by Sufferings that is having consummated that part of his Office which respected the expiation of Sin He became the Author of eternal Salvation to all that obey him To sum up all 't is observable that the Scripture attributes to the Death of Christ not only Satisfaction whereby we are redeemed from Punishment but such a redundant Merit as purchases for us Adoption and all the glorious Prerogatives of the Children of God Upon these accounts his Blood hath a double Efficacy As the Blood of the Covenant it procured our peace as the Blood of the Testament it conveyes to us a Title to Heaven it self according to that of St. Paul we have boldness to enter into the Holiest by his Blood I will remove two slender prejudices against this Doctrine 1. That Repentance and Faith are required in order to the partaking of the precious benefits which Christ hath purchased doth not lessen the Merit of his Death and the compleatness of the Satisfaction made to God by it For we must consider There is a great difference between the payment of that the Law requires by the Debtor and the payment of that which was not in the original Obligation by another in his stead Upon the payment of the first actual freedom immediately follows If a Debtor pays the sum he ows or a Criminal endure the punishment of the Law they are actually discharged and never liable to be sued or suffer again But when the same that the Law requires is not paid but something else by another the release of the guilty is suspended upon those condâ—tions which he that freely makes satisfaction 〈◊〉 the Governour who by favour accepts it are â—â—eased to appoint Now 't is thus in the transaction of our Redemption Christ laid down his Life for us and this was not the very thing in strict sense that the Law required For according to the threatning the Soul that sins shall die the Delinquent in his own person was to suffer the penalty and there was no necessity natural or moral that obliged God to admit of his Satisfaction for our discharge If the Law had exprest that the sinner or his surety should suffer there had been no need of a better Covenant But in this the Grace of God so illustrously appears that by his appointment the punishment of the guilty was transfer'd to the Innocent who voluntarily undertook for them In this respect God truly pardons sin though he received intire Satisfaction for he might in right have refused it Now these things being supposed although the Blood of Christ was a price so precious that it can only be valued by God that received it and might worthily have redeemed a thousand Worlds yet the effects of it are to be dispensed according to the Eternal Covenant between the Father and the Son and the tenor of it is revealed in the Gospel viz. that Repentance and Faith are the conditions upon which the obtaining pardon of sin and all the blessings which are the consequents of it depends thus Christ who makes Satisfaction and God that accepts