Part 10
Believers have free and blessed access to God—but still it is upon the credit of the man Christ Jesus, Heb. 4:15-16. "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace," says the apostle, speaking of Christ, "that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." The apostle's phrase signifies liberty of speech, and boldness of face; as
when a man with a bold and undaunted spirit, utters his mind before the great ones of the world without blushing, without weakness of heart, without shaking of his voice, without imperfection and faltering in speech, when neither majesty nor authority can take off his courage, so as to stop his mouth, and make him afraid to speak. With such heroic and undaunted spirits would the apostle have us to come to the throne of grace; and all upon the credit of Christ our high priest, who is God-man. But,
9. Ninthly, Is Jesus Christ God-man? is he very God and very man? Then you may be very confident of his sympathizing with you in all your afflictions, Ezek. 35:10-13; Isaiah 37:23, 24; then this may serve as a foundation to support you under all your troubles, and as a cordial to comfort you under all your afflictions, in that Christ partaking of the same nature, and having had experience of the infirmities of it, he is the more able and willing to help and support us.
"For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Hebrews 2:16-18. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." Hebrews 4:15
If one comes to visit a man who is sick of a grievous disease, who has himself been formerly troubled with the same disease, he will sympathize more, and show more compassion than twenty others, who have not felt the same disease. So here, from Christ's sufferings in his human nature, we may safely gather that he will show himself a merciful high priest to us in our sufferings, and one who will be ready to help and support us in all our afflictions and miseries, which we suffer in this life, inasmuch as he himself had experience of
suffering the like in our nature; "for in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to support those who are tempted." And this should be a staff to support us, and a cordial to comfort us in all our sorrows and miseries. It is between Christ and his church as it is between two lute strings which are tuned one to another; no sooner is one struck but the other trembles.
Isaiah 63:9, "In all their afflictions, he was afflicted." These words may be read thus: was he in all their afflictions afflicted? Christ took to heart the afflictions of his church, he was himself grieved for them and with them. The Lord, the better to allure and draw his people to himself, speaks after the manner of men, attributing to himself affection, love, and compassion to men in misery. Christ did so sympathize with his people in all their afflictions and sufferings, as if he himself had felt the weight, the smart, the pain of them all. "He was in all things made like unto his brethren," not only in nature— but also in infirmities and sufferings, and by all manner of temptations, "that thereby he might be able," experimentally, "to support those who are tempted." He who touches them touches not only his eye, but the pupil of his eye—which is the tenderest piece of the tenderest part—to express the inexpressible tenderness of Christ's compassion towards them. Let persecutors take heed how they meddle with God's eyes, for he will retaliate eye for eye, Exod. 21:24. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength, and sinners shall one day pay dear for touching the apple of his eye.
Christ counts himself persecuted, when his church is persecuted; "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Acts 9:4. And he looks upon himself as hungry, thirsty, naked, and in prison, when his members are so, Mat. 25:35-36; so greatly does he sympathize with them. Hence the afflictions of Christians are called "the remainders of the afflictions of Christ," Col. 1:24: such as Christ, by his fellow-feeling, suffers in his members, and as they by correspondency are to fill up, as exercises and trials of their faith and patience.
Christ gave many evidences of his sympathy and compassion to our infirmities when he was on earth, as he groaned in his spirit, and was troubled, John 11:33; when he saw those who wept for Lazarus, he wept also, verse 35; as he did over Jerusalem also, Luke 19:41. It is often observed in the Gospel that Christ was moved with compassion; and that he frequently put forth acts of pity, mercy, and support to those who were in any distress, either in body or soul. Christ retains this sympathy and fellow-feeling with us, now that he is in heaven; and does so far commiserate our distresses, as may stand with his glorified condition. Jesus Christ grieves for the afflictions of his people; "the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Almighty, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem," Zech. 1:12. The angel here is that Jesus, who is our advocate with the Father, 1 John 2:1-2. He speaks as one intimately affected with the state and condition of poor Jerusalem. Christ plays the advocate for his suffering people, and feelingly pleads for them; he being afflicted in all their afflictions, it moved him to observe that God's enemies were in a better case than his people; and this put him upon that passionate expostulation, "O Lord Almighty, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem!"
Oh, what an honor is it to such poor worms as we are, that Jesus Christ, who is God-man, who is the Prince of the kings of the earth, that he should have a fellow-feeling of all our miseries, and sympathize with us in all our troubles Rev. 1:5. But,
10. Tenthly, Is Jesus Christ God-man? is he very God and very man? Then from hence you may see the excellency of Christ above man, above all other men, yes, above Adam in innocency. Christ, as man, was perfect in all graces: Isaiah 11:1-2, "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord." God gave the Spirit of wisdom to him not by measure; and therefore, at twelve years of age, you find him in the Sanhedrim disputing with the
doctors, and asking them questions, John 3:34; Luke 2:46-47; John 1:16, "And of his fullness have all we received grace for grace;" Col. 1:19, "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;" 2:3, "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
The state of innocency was an excellent state, it was a state of perfect holiness and righteousness, Gen. 1:27. By his holiness, Adam was carried out to know the Lord, to love the Lord, to delight in the Lord, to fear the Lord, and to take him as his chief good, Eph. 4:22-24. A legal holiness consists in an exact, perfect, and complete conformity in heart end life to the whole revealed will of God; and this was the holiness that Adam had in his innocency, and this holiness was immediately derived from God, and was perfect. Adam's holiness was as co-natural to him as unholiness is now to us. Adam's holiness was as natural, and as pleasing, and as delightful to him as any way of unholiness can be natural, pleasing, and delightful to us. The state of innocency was a state of perfect wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Witness the names that Adam gave to all the creatures, suitable and apposite to their natures, Gen. 2:20. The state of innocency was a state of great honor and dignity. David brings in Adam in his innocent estate with a crown upon his head, and that crown was a crown of glory and honor: "You have crowned him with glory and honor," his place was "a little lower than the angels," but far above all other creatures, Psalm 8:5. The state of innocency was a state of great dominion and authority, man being made the sovereign Lord of the whole creation, Psalm 8:6-8. We need not stand to enlarge upon that one parcel of his domain, namely, that which they call paradise, since the whole both of sea and land, and all the creatures in both, were his possession, his paradise.
Certainly man's first state was a state of perfect and complete happiness, there being nothing within him but what was desirable, nothing without him but what was amiable, and nothing around him but what was serviceable and comfortable—and yet Jesus Christ, who is God-man, is infinitely more glorious and excellent than ever Adam was; for Adam was set in a mutable condition—but Christ is the Rock
of ages. He is steadfast and abiding forever; he is "yesterday, and today, and forever the same," Heb. 13:8. He is the same before time, in time, and after time; he is the same, that is unchangeable, in his essence, promises, and doctrine. Christ is the same in respect of virtue, and even his manhood, before it was in being, was clothed with perfection of grace, and so continues forever.
And again, Adam was a mere man, and alone by himself—but in Christ the human nature was hypostatically united unto the divine; and hence it comes to pass that Christ, even as man, had a greater measure of knowledge and revelation of grace and heavenly gifts than ever Adam had. The apostle tells us that in "Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead," bodily, that is, essentially; that is, not by a naked and bare communicating of virtue, as God is said to dwell in his saints—but by a substantial union of the two natures, divine and human, the eternal Word and the man, consisting of soul and body, whereby they become one—one person, one subsistence. Now from this admirable and wonderful union of the two natures in Christ, there flows to the manhood of Christ a plenitude and fullness of all spiritual wisdom and grace, such as was never found in any mere man, no, not in Adam while he stood in his integrity and uprightness. But,
11. Eleventhly, Is Jesus Christ God-man? is he very God and very man? Then this truth looks very sourly and frowningly upon all such as deny the godhead of Christ; as Arians, Turks, Jews. How many are there in this city, in this nation, who stiffly deny the divinity of Christ, and dispute against it, and write against it, and blaspheme that great truth, without which, I think, a man may safely say, there is no possibility of salvation. In ancient times, near unto the period of the apostles, this doctrine of Christ's godhead, and eternal generation from the Father, was greatly opposed by sundry wicked and blasphemous heretics, as Ebion, Cerinthus, Arius, etc., who stirred up great troubles, and bloody persecutions against the church, for maintaining this great truth of Christ's godhead. They asserted that Christ had no true flesh; it was only the likeness of flesh
which he appeared in, and that his body was only an imaginary body. But had the body of Christ been only such a body, then his conception, nativity, death, resurrection, are all too but imaginary things; and then his sufferings and crucifixion are but mere fancies too; and if so, then what would become of us, what would become of our salvation? then our faith would be in vain, and our hope would be in vain, and our hearing, preaching, praying, and receiving, would all be in vain; yes, then all our religion would vanish into a mere fancy also!
When a man's conscience is awakened to see his sin and misery, and he shall find guilt to lay like a load upon his soul, and when he shall see that divine justice is to be satisfied, and divine wrath to be pacified, and the curse to be borne, and the law to be fulfilled, and his nature to be renewed, his heart to be changed, and his sins to be pardoned—or else his soul can never be saved; how can such a person venture his soul, his all, upon one who is but a mere creature? Certainly, a mere man is no rock, no city of refuge, and no sure foundation for a man to build his faith and hope upon. Woe to that man, that ever he was born, that has no Jesus—but a Socinian's Jesus to rest upon! Oh, it is sad trusting to one, who is man—but not God; flesh—but not spirit. As you love the eternal safety of your precious souls, and would be happy forever; as you would escape hell, and get to heaven, lean on none, rest on none—but that Jesus who is Godman, who is very God and very man.
Apollinaris held that Christ took not the whole nature of man—but a human body only, without a soul, and that the Godhead was instead of a soul to the manhood. Also Eutyches, who confounded the two natures of Christ, and their properties, etc. Also Apelles and the Manichees, who denied the true human body, and held him to have an aerial or imaginary body. Just so, may it be said of Jesus Christ our Savior, though myriads of angels and saints acclaim he is a God, consequently, immortal; and a crew of heretics disclaim him to be a true man, as the Marcionites averred that he had an imaginary body, and Apelles who conceived that he had an ethereal substance—yet
the streams of blood which flowed from him, makes it sure that he was perfect man; consisting of a reasonable soul and human flesh.
And as this truth looks sourly upon the above-mentioned people, so it looks sourly upon the papists, who, by their doctrine of the real presence of Christ's body in the sacrament, do overthrow one of the properties of his human nature, which is to be but in one place present at once. This truth also looks sourly upon the Lutherans or Ubiquitaries, who teach that Christ's human nature is in all places by virtue of their personal union, etc. I wonder that of all the old errors, swept down into this latter age, as into a sink of time, this of the Socinians and Arians should be held forth among the rest. O sirs, beware of their doctrines, shun their meetings and those who come to you with the denial of the divinity of Christ in their mouths.
This was John's doctrine and practice. Irenaeus says, that after he was returned from his banishment, and came to Ephesus, he came to bathe himself, and in the bath he found Cerinthus, who taught that Christ had no being until he received it from the Virgin Mary; upon the sight of whom, John skipped out of the bath, and called his companions from thence; saying, let us go from this place, lest the bath should fall down upon us, because Cerinthus is in it, who is so great an enemy to God. You see his reaction, see his doctrine too: "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work." 2 John 1:9-11
What that doctrine was, if you cast your eye upon the scripture, you shall find it to be the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. Show no love where you owe nothing but hatred: "I hate every false way," says David, Psalm 119:118. "I shall look upon Auxentius as upon a devil, so long as he is an Arian," said Hilarius. We must show no countenance, nor give no encouragement to such as deny either the divinity or humanity of Christ.
I have been the longer upon the divinity and humanity of Christ,
1. Because the times we live in require it.
2. That poor, weak, staggering Christians may be strengthened, established, and settled in the truth, as it is in Jesus.
3. That I may give in my testimony and witness against all those who are poisoned and corrupted with Socinian and Arian principles, which destroy the souls of men.
4. That those in whose hands this book may fall may be the better furnished to make head against men of corrupt minds; who, "by sleight-of-hand and cunning craftiness, lie in wait to deceive," Eph. 4:14.
[6.] Sixthly, As he who did feel and suffer the very torments of hell, though not after a hellish manner, was God-man; so the punishments that Christ did sustain for us, must be referred only to the substance, and not unto the circumstances of punishment. The punishment which Christ endured, if it is considered in its substance, kind, or nature—so it was the same with what the sinner himself should have undergone. Now the punishment due to the sinner was death, the curse of the law, etc. Now this Christ underwent, for "he was made a curse for us," Gal. 3:13. But if you consider the punishment which Christ endured, with respect to certain circumstances, adjuncts, and accidents—as the eternity of it, desperation going along with it, etc., then, I say, it was not the same —but equivalent. And the reason is, because, though the enduring of the punishments, as to the substance of them, could, and did agree with him as a surety—yet the circumstances of those punishments could not have befallen him unless he had been a sinner; and therefore every inordination in suffering was far from Christ, and a perpetual duration of suffering could not befall him, for the first of these had been contrary to the holiness and dignity of his person, and the other had made void the end of his suretyship and
mediatorship, which was so to suffer, as yet to conquer and to deliver, and therefore, though he did suffer death for us in the substance of it. Yet he neither did nor could suffer death in the circumstances of it, so as forever to be held by death; for then, in suffering death, he would not have conquered death, nor delivered us from death. Neither was it necessary to Christ's substitution that he should undergo in every respect the same punishment which the offender himself was liable unto—but if he underwent so much punishment as did satisfy the law, and vindicate the lawgiver in his holiness, truth, justice, and righteousness, that was enough. Now that was unquestionably done by Christ, as the Scriptures do abundantly testify. [Whether the work of man's redemption could have been wrought without the sufferings and humiliation of Christ is not determinable by men—but that it was the most admirable way which wisdom, justice, and mercy could require, cannot be denied.]
It must be readily granted that Christ was to suffer the whole punishment due unto sin, so far as it became the dignity of his person and the necessity of the work—but if he had suffered eternally, the work of redemption could never have been accomplished; and besides, he should have suffered that which would not befit him. And therefore the apostle says, Heb. 2:10, "It became him to be consecrated through sufferings." Christ was only to pass through such sufferings as became him, who was ordained to be the prince and captain of our salvation. It became him to be man, and it became him in our human nature to suffer death, and it became him to sustain for us the substance of those punishments, which we should have undergone; and accordingly he did. What our sins deserved, and what justice might lay upon us for those sins—all that did Christ certainly suffered. Jesus Christ did so suffer for our sins, as that his sufferings were fully answerable to the demerit of our sins. And I think I may safely say that God, in justice, could not require any more, or lay on any one more punishment than Jesus Christ did suffer for our sins; and my reason is this, because Christ bore all our sins, and all our sorrows, and was obedient unto the death, and made a curse for us, Isaiah 53, and Gal. 3:13; and more
than this the law of God could not require. And if Christ did suffer all that the law of God required, then certainly he suffered so much as did satisfy the justice of God, namely, as much punishment as was commensurate with sin. But,
[7.] Seventhly and lastly, The meritorious cause, the main end, and the special occasion of all the sufferings of Christ—were the sins of his people. Isaiah 53:4, 5. There were other subordinate ends of his sufferings; as,
(1.) To sanctify sufferings to us.
(2.) To sweeten sufferings to us.
(3.) To support us experimentally under all our sufferings, Heb. 2:1718.
(4.) That he might be prepared to enter into his glory, Luke 24:26.
(5.) That he might be a conqueror over sufferings, which was one piece of his greatest glory, etc.
Christ was our surety, and he could not satisfy for our sins, nor reconcile us to God without suffering: Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions." The Hebrew word for wounded has a double emphasis: either it may signify that he was pierced through as with a dart, or that he was tormented or pained, as women are accustomed to do, who have pain at the time of their travail; for the word in the text last cited comes regularly from a root that signifies to be in pain, as women are when they bring forth. It was our transgressions which gave Christ his deadly wounds; it was our sins which smote him, and bruised him!
Look, as Zipporah said to Moses, Exod. 4:25, "Surely a bloody husband are you to me," so may Christ say to his church, Surely a bloody spouse have you been to me. Christ's spouse may look upon him and say, "I was that Judas who betrayed you! I was that soldier
who murdered you! It was my sins which brought all sorrows and sufferings, all mischiefs and evils upon you! I have sinned—and you have suffered! I have sinned—and you have died! I have wounded you—and you have healed me! It is the wisdom, and oh, that it might be more and more the work of every believer to look upon a humble Christ with a humble heart, a broken Christ with a broken heart, a bleeding Christ with a bleeding heart, a wounded Christ with a wounded heart; according to that, Zech. 12:10, Christ was wounded, bruised, and cut off for sinners' sins.
When Christ was taken by the soldiers, he said, "If you seek me, let these go their way," Christ was willing that the hurt which sinners had done to God, and the debt which they owed to him, should be set upon his score, and put upon his account; and the apostle mentions it as a remarkable thing, that "Christ died for the ungodly," Romans 5:8; "the just for the unjust," 1 Pet. 3:18. Our sins were the meritorious cause of Christ's sufferings, Heb. 4:15, and 7:26. Christ did not suffer for himself, "for he was without sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." The grand design, errand, and business about which Christ came into the world, was to save sinners, 1 Tim. 1:15. He had his name Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins, Mat. 1:21. He died for our sins; not only for our good, as the final cause—but for our sins, as the procuring cause of his death. "He was delivered for our offences," "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," Romans 4:25, and 1 Cor. 15:3; that is, according to what was typified, prophesied, and promised in the blessed Scriptures.
Gal. 1:4, "He gave himself for our sins." "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree; by His wounds you have been healed." 1 Pet. 2:24. Here you see that the physician's blood became the sick man's salve! Here is the gospel mystery--that the wounding of one, should be the cure of another!
Oh, what an odious thing is sin to God, that He will pardon none without blood, yes, without the precious blood of His dearest Son!
Oh, what a hell of wickedness must there be in sin--that nothing can expiate it but the best, the purest, the noblest blood that ever ran in veins! Oh, what a transcendent evil must sin be--that nothing can purge it away but death--the accursed death of the cross! Oh, what a leprosy is sin, that it must have blood, yes, the blood of God, to take it away!
Now thus you have seen:
(1.) That the sufferings of Christ have been free and voluntary, and not constrained or forced.
(2.) That they have been very great and heinous.
(3.) That the punishments which Christ suffered for our sin, were, in their parts, and kinds, and degrees, and proportion—all those punishments which were due unto us by reason of our sins; and which we ourselves would otherwise have suffered.
(4.) That Jesus Christ did feel and suffer the very torments of hell, though not after a hellish manner.
(5.) That he who did feel and suffer the torments of hell, though not after a hellish manner, was God-man.
(6.) That the punishments that Christ did sustain for us, must be referred only to the substance, and not to the circumstances of punishment.
(7.) That the meritorious cause of all the sufferings of Christ, were the sins of his people.
Now thus you have seen:
(1.) That the sufferings of Christ have been free and voluntary, and not constrained or forced.
(2.) That the sufferings of Christ have been very great and heinous.
(3.) That the punishments which Christ suffered for our sin, were, in their parts, and kinds, and degrees, and proportion—all those punishments which were due unto us by reason of our sins; and which we ourselves would otherwise have suffered.
(4.) That Jesus Christ did feel and suffer the very torments of hell, though not after a hellish manner.
(5.) That he who did feel and suffer the torments of hell, though not after a hellish manner, was God-man.
(6.) That the punishments that Christ did sustain for us, must be referred only to the substance, and not to the circumstances of punishment.
(7.) That the meritorious cause of all the sufferings of Christ, were the sins of his people.
IV. Now to that great question of giving up your account at last, according to the import of these ten scriptures, [Eccles. 11:12, 14; Mat. 12:14, and 18:23; Luke 16:3; Romans 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27, and 13:17; 1 Pet. 4:7.] you may, in the fourth place, make this safe, noble, and happy plea. "O blessed God, Jesus Christ has suffered all those things that were due unto me for my sin; he has suffered even to the worst and uttermost; for all that the law threatened was a curse, and Christ was made a curse for me, Gal. 3:13; he knew no sin—but was made sin for me, 2 Cor. 5:21; and what Christ suffered he suffered as my surety, and in my stead; therefore, what he suffered for me, is as if I had suffered all that myself; and his sufferings has appeased your wrath, and satisfied your justice, and reconciled you to myself!"
2 Cor. 5:19, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." "And he has reconciled both Jews and Gentiles unto God, in one body, on the cross; having slain
enmity thereby." Jesus Christ took upon him all my sins—all of them were laid upon him, and he bore or suffered all the wrath and punishment due for them, and he suffered all as my surety, in my stead, and for my good; and you designed him for all this, and accepted of it as sufficient and effectual on my behalf. Oh, with what comfort, courage, and confidence, may a believer, upon these considerations, hold up his head in the great day of his account.
Let me now make a few INFERENCES from the consideration of all the great and grievous sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ—
1. First, Let us stand still, and admire and wonder at the love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners; that he should rather die for us, than the fallen angels. "For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants." Hebrews 2:16. They were creatures of a more noble extract, and in all probability might have brought greater revenues of glory to God. Yet that Christ should pass by those golden vessels, and make us vessels of glory—oh, what amazing and astonishing love is this! [This is the envy of devils, and the astonishment of angels and saints.] The fallen angels were more honorable and excellent creatures than we. They were celestial spirits; we earthly bodies, dust and ashes. They were immediate attendants upon God, they were, as I may say, of his privy chamber; we servants of his in the lower house of this world, farther remote from his glorious presence. Their office was to sing hallelujahs, songs of praise to God in the heavenly paradise; ours to dress the garden of Eden, which was but an earthly paradise. They sinned but once, and but in thought, (as is commonly thought)—but Adam sinned in thought by lusting, in deed by tasting, and in word by excusing. Why did not Christ suffer for their sins—as well as for ours? Why, if he suffered for any sins—why not for theirs, rather than ours? "Even so, O Father, for so it pleased you," Mat. 11:26.
"We move this question, not as being curious to search your secret counsels, O Lord—but that we may be the more swallowed up in the
admiration of the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, which passes knowledge." The apostle, being in a holy admiration of Christ's love, affirms it to pass knowledge, Eph. 3:1819; that God, who is the eternal Being, should love man when he had scarcely a being, Proverbs 8:30-31, that he should be enamored with deformity, that he should love us when in our blood, Ezek. 16, that he should pity us when no eye pitied us, no, not even our own. Oh, such was Christ's transcendent love, that man's extreme misery could not abate it. The deploredness of man's condition did but heighten the holy flame of Christ's love. It is as high as heaven, who can reach it? It is as low as hell, who can understand it? Heaven, with all its glory, could not contain Him. Neither could all hell's torments make Him refrain! Such was His perfect matchless love to fallen and miserable man. That Christ's love should extend to the ungodly, to sinners, to enemies who were in rebellion against him, Romans 5:6, 8, 10; yes, not only so—but that he should hug them in his arms, lodge them in his bosom, dandle them upon his knees, and lay them to his breasts, that they may suck and be satisfied—is the highest degree of love, Isaiah 66:11-13.
It is astonishing that Christ should come from the eternal bosom of his Father, to a region of sorrow and death, John 1:18; that God should be manifested in the flesh, the Creator made a creature, Isaiah 53:4; that he who was clothed with glory, should be wrapped with rags of flesh, 1 Tim. 3:16; that he who filled heaven, should be cradled in a manger, John 17:5; that the God of Israel should fly into Egypt, Mat. 2:14; that the God of strength should be weary; that the judge of all flesh should be condemned; that the God of life should be put to death, John 19:41; that he who is one with his Father, should cry out of misery, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!" Mat. 26:39: that he who had the keys of hell and death, Rev. 1:18, should lie imprisoned in the sepulcher of another, having, in his lifetime, nowhere to lay his head; nor after death, to lay his body, John 19:41-42. That He would do all this for man, for fallen man, for miserable man, for worthless man--is beyond all conception!
The sharp, the universal and continual sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, from the cradle to the cross, does above all other things speak out the transcendent love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners. That wrath, that great wrath, that fierce wrath, that pure wrath, that infinite wrath, that matchless wrath of an angry God, that was so terribly impressed upon the soul of Christ, quickly spent his natural strength, and turned his moisture into the drought of summer, Psalm 32:4— and yet all this wrath he patiently underwent, that sinners might be saved, and that "he might bring many sons unto glory," Heb. 2:10. Oh wonder of love!
The Curtii laid down their lives for the Romans, because they loved them. Just so, it was the greatness of his love, which made our dear Lord Jesus lay down his life, to save us from hell and to bring us to heaven. As the pelican, out of her love to her young ones, when they are bitten with serpents, feeds them with her own blood to recover them again. Just so, when we were bitten by the old serpent, and our wound incurable, and we in danger of eternal death—then did our dear Lord Jesus, that he might recover us and heal us, feed us with his own blood, Gen. 3:15; John 6:53-56. Oh unspeakable love! This made one cry out, "Lord, you have loved me more than yourself; for you have laid down your life for me." It was the golden link of love, which alone fastened Christ to the cross, John 10:17, and which made him die freely for us, and which made him willing "to be numbered among transgressors," Isaiah 53:12, that we might be numbered among the "general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven," Heb. 12:23.
If Jonathan's love to David was wonderful, 2 Sam. 1:26, how wonderful must the love of Christ be to us, which led him by the hand to make himself an offering for us, Heb. 10:10, which Jonathan never did for David. For though Jonathan loved David's life and safety well—yet he loved his own better; for when his father cast a javelin at him to smite him, he flies from it, and would not abide his father's fury, notwithstanding his wonderful love to David, 1 Sam.
20:33-35; making good the philosopher's notion—that man is a lifelover.
Christ's love is like his name, and that is Wonderful, Isaiah 9:6. Yes, it is so wonderful, that it is above all creatures, beyond all measure, and contrary to all nature. Christ's love is above all creatures, for it is above the angels, and therefore above all others. Christ's love is beyond all measure, for time did not begin it, and time shall never end it; place does not bound it; sin does not exceed it; no estate, no age, no gender is denied it; tongues cannot express it; minds cannot conceive it. Christ's love is contrary to all nature; for what nature can love where it is hated? what nature can forgive where it is provoked? what nature can offer reconcilement where it receives wrong? what nature can heap up kindness upon contempt, favor upon ingratitude, mercy upon sin? And yet, Christ's love has led him to all this; so that well may we spend all our days in admiring and adoring of this wonderful love, and be always ravished with the thoughts of it. But,
2. Secondly, See that you love the Lord Jesus Christ with a superlative love, with an overtopping love. There are none who have suffered so much for you as Christ; there are none who can suffer so much for you as Christ. The least measure of that wrath that Christ has sustained for you, would have broken the hearts, necks, and backs of all created beings. O my friends! there is no love but a superlative love, which is any way suitable to the transcendent sufferings of dear Jesus. Oh, love him above your lusts, love him above your relations, love him above the world, love him above all your outward contentments and enjoyments; yes, love him above your very lives; for thus the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints, primitive Christians, and the martyrs of old, have loved our Lord Jesus Christ with an overtopping love: Rev. 12:11, "They loved not their lives unto the death;" that is, they slighted, scorned, yes, despised their lives, exposing them to hazard and loss, out of love to the Lamb, "who had washed them in his blood." [Acts 20:24, and 21:12-13; 2 Cor. 1:8-10, 4:11, and 11:23; Heb. 11:36-39.]
I have read of Kilian, a Dutch schoolmaster, who being asked whether he did not love his wife and children, answered, "Were all the world a lump of gold, and in my hands to dispose of—I would leave it at my enemies' feet to live with them in a prison. But my soul and my Savior are dearer to me than all." "If my father, "says Jerome, "should stand before me, and my mother hang upon, and my brethren should press about me—I would break through my brethren, I would throw down my father, I would tread my mother underfoot—to cleave to Jesus Christ!" "Had I ten heads," said Henry Voes, "I would allow them all to be chopped off in martyrdom for Christ." "If every hair of my head," said John Ardley, martyr, "were a man, they should all suffer for the faith of Christ." "Let fire, racks, pulleys," said Ignatius, "and all the torments of hell come upon me— just so that I may win Christ."
Love made Jerome to say, "O my Savior, did you die for love of me? —a love more dolorous than death—but to me a death more lovely than love itself. I cannot live, love you, and be longer away from you." ["They do not love Christ, who love anything more than Christ," Augustine. The more Christ has suffered for us, the dearer Christ should be unto us. The greater and the bitterer Christ's sufferings have been for us, the greater and the sweeter should our love be to him.]
George Carpenter, being asked whether he did not love his wife and children, which stood weeping before him, answered, "My wife and children!—my wife and children! are dearer to me than all Bavaria— yet, for the love of Christ, I know them not." That blessed virgin in Basil, being condemned for Christ to the fire, and having her estate and life offered her if she would worship idols, cried out, "Let money perish, and life vanish—Christ is better than all." Sufferings for Christ are the saints' greatest glory; they are those things wherein they have most gloried: "Your cruelty is our glory," says Tertullian. It is reported of Babylas, that when he was to die for Christ, he desired this favor, that his chains might be buried with him, as the ensigns of his honor.
Thus you see with what a superlative love, with what an overtopping love, former saints have loved our Lord Jesus; and can you, Christians, who are cold and low in your love to Christ, read over these instances, and not blush? Certainly the more Christ has suffered for us, the more dear Christ should be unto us; the more bitter his sufferings have been for us, the more sweet his love should be to us, and the more eminent should be our love to him. Oh, let a suffering Christ lie nearest your hearts; let him be your manna, your tree of life, your morning star. It is better to part with all, than with this pearl of price. Christ is that golden pipe through which the golden oil of salvation runs; and oh, how should this inflame our love to Christ! Oh, that our hearts were more affected with the sufferings of Christ! Who can tread upon these hot coals, and his heart not burn in love to Christ, and cry out with Ignatius, "Christ my love is crucified!" Cant. 8:7-8.
If a friend should die for us, how would our hearts be affected with his kindness! and shall the God of glory lay down his life for us, and shall we not be affected with his goodness? John 10:17-18. Shall Saul be affected with David's kindness in sparing his life, 1 Sam. 24:16, and shall not we be affected with Christ's kindness, who, to save our life, lost his own? Oh, the infinite love of Christ, that he should leave his Father's bosom, John 1:18, and come down from heaven, that he might carry you up to heaven, John 14:1-4; that he who was a Son should take upon him the form of a servant, Phil. 2:5-8; that you slaves should be made sons, that you enemies should be made friends, that you heirs of wrath should be made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, Romans 8:17; that to save us from everlasting ruin, Christ should stick at nothing—but be willing to be made flesh, to lie in a manger, to be tempted, deserted, persecuted, and to die upon a cross! Oh what flames of love to Christ, should these things kindle in all our hearts!
Ah! what sad metal are we made of, that Christ's fiery love to us— cannot inflame our love to him! Moses wondered why the bush was not consumed, when he saw it all on fire, Exod. 3:3—but if you but
look into your own hearts, you shall see a greater wonder; for you shall see that, though you walk like those three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, Dan. 3, even in the midst of Christ's fiery love flaming round about you—yet there is but little, very little, true smell of that sweet fire of love to be felt or found upon you or in you.
Oh, when shall the sufferings of a dear and tender-hearted Savior kindle such a flame of love in all our hearts, as shall still be abreaking forth in our lips and lives, in our words and ways—to the praise and glory of free grace? Oh, that the sufferings of a loving Jesus might at last make us all sick with love! Cant. 2:5. Oh let him forever lie between our breasts, Cant. 1:13, who has left his Father's bosom for a time, that he might be embosomed by us forever. But,
3. Thirdly, Then in the sufferings of Christ, as in a gospelmirror, you may see the odious nature of sin—and accordingly learn to hate it, arm against it, turn from it, and subdue it. Sin never appears so odious as when we behold it in the red glass of Christ's sufferings, Psalm 119, 104, 113, 128, and Romans 7:15, and 12:9. Can we look upon sin as the occasion of all Christ's sufferings, can we look upon sin as that which made Christ a curse, and which made him forsaken of his Father, and which made him live such a miserable life, and which brought him to die such a shameful, painful, and cruel death—and our hearts not rise against it? Shall our sins be grievous unto Christ—and shall they not be odious unto us? Shall he die for our sins—and shall not we die to our sins? Did not he suffer for sin—that we might cease from sin? Did not he "bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin, should live to righteousness"? 1 Pet. 4:1, and 2:24. If one would kill our father, would we hug and embrace him? Surely not! We would be revenged on him. Sin has killed our Savior, and shall we not be revenged on it. Can a man look upon that snake that has stung his dearly-beloved spouse to death, and preserve it alive, warm it at the fire, and hug it in his bosom? Would he not stab it with a thousand wounds? It is sin which has stung our dear Jesus to death, which has crucified our Lord, clouded his glory, and shed his
precious blood! Oh, how should this stir up our indignation against sin!
Ah, how can a Christian make much of those sins, which have killed his dearest Lord! how can he cherish those sins which betrayed Christ, and apprehended Christ, and bound Christ, and condemned Christ, and scourged Christ, and which violently nailed him to the cross, and there murdered him! It was neither Judas, nor Pilate, nor the Jews, nor the soldiers—which could have done our Lord Jesus the least hurt, had not our sins, like so many butchers and hangmen, come in to their assistance!
After Julius Caesar was treacherously murdered, Antonius brought forth his coat, all bloody, cut and mangled, and laying it open to the view of the people, said, "Look, here is your emperor's coat!" Whereupon the people were all in an uproar, and nothing would satisfy them but the death of the murderers, and they ran to the houses of the conspirators and burnt them down to the ground. But what was Caesar's coat, compared to the body of our dear Lord Jesus, which was all bloody, rent, and torn for our sins? Ah, how should this provoke us to be revenged on our sins! how should we forever loathe and abhor them! how should our fury be whetted against them! how should we labor with all our might to be the death of those sins that have been the death of so great a Lord, and will, if not prevented, be the death of our souls to all eternity!
To see God thrust the sword of his pure, infinite, and incensed wrath through the very heart of his dearest Son, notwithstanding all his supplications, prayers, tears, and strong cries, Heb. 5:7, is the highest manifestation of the Lord's hatred and indignation of sin that ever was, or ever will be! It is true God revealed his great hatred against sin, by turning Adam out of paradise, and by casting the angels down to hell, by drowning the old world, and by raining hell out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and by the various and dreadful judgments that he has been a-pouring forth upon the world in all ages. But all this hatred is but an emblem of hatred, compared to
that hatred which God manifested against sin in causing the whole curse to meet upon our crucified Lord, as all streams meet in the sea. It is true God reveals his hatred of sin by those endless, easeless, and remediless torments that he inflicts upon devils and damned spirits —but this is no hatred, compared to that hatred against sin, which God revealed when he opened all the floodgates of his envenomed wrath upon his Son, his own Son, his only Son, his Son who always pleased him, his Son who never offended him, Isaiah 53:5-6, and Proverbs 8:30-31, and Mat. 3:17.
Should you see a father who had but one son, and he such a son in whom he always delighted, and by whom he had never been provoked; a son who always made it his business, his work, his heaven to promote the honor and glory of his father, John 8:49-50, and 9:4; a son who was always most at ease when most engaged in his father's service; a son who counted it his food and drink to do his father's will, John 4:34: now should you see the father of such a son inflicting the most intensified pains and punishments, tortures and torments, calamities and miseries upon this, his dearest son—would you not wonder at the cause of the father's exercising such amazing, such matchless severity, fury and cruelty upon his only son? [Jer. 44:4, and Zech. 8:17.] Now cast your eye upon the actings of God the Father towards Jesus Christ, and you will find that he has inflicted more torments and greater torments upon the Son of his dearest love, than all mortals ever have or could inflict upon others. Isaiah 53:6, "The Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all." God made all the penalties and sufferings that were due to us—to fall upon Jesus Christ. God himself inflicted upon dear Jesus whatever was requisite to the satisfying of his justice, to the obtaining of pardon, and to the saving of all his elect: verse 10, "It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he has put him to grief." Neither all the devils in hell, nor all the men upon earth, could never have bruised or put to grief our Lord Jesus. If it had not pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief, he had never been bruised or put to grief. Oh, how should this work us to look upon sin with indignation!
Suppose a man should come to his dinner table, and there should be a knife laid down, and it should be told him, "This is the very knife that cut the throat of your child!" If this man would use this knife as a common knife, would not everyone say, "Surely this man had but very little love to his child, who can use this bloody knife as a common knife!" Just so, when you meet with any temptation to sin, oh, then say, "This is the very knife which cut the throat of Jesus Christ, and pierced his sides! This very knife was the cause of his sufferings, and made Christ to be a curse!" Accordingly let your hearts rise against sin!
Ah, how well does it befit Christians to look upon sin as that accursed thing, which made Christ a curse—and accordingly to abhor it! Oh, with what detestation should a man fling away such a knife! and with the like detestation should every Christian fling away his sins, as Ephraim did his idols: "Get away from me! What have I any more to do with you?" Hosea 14:8. "Sin, you have slain my Lord; you have been the only cause of the death of my Savior!" Isaiah 2:20, and 30:22. Let us say as David, "Is not this the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" 2 Sam. 23:17. Just so, is not this the sin which poured out Christ's blood? Oh, how should this enrage our hearts against sin, because it cost the Captain of our salvation, Heb. 2:10, not the hazard—but the very loss of his life!
God showed Moses a tree with which he might make the bitter waters sweet, Exod. 15:25. But, lo! here is a tree with which you may make the sweet waters of sin, to become bitter. Look upon the tree on which Christ was crucified, remember his cross, and the pains he suffered thereon, and the seeming sweetness that is in sin will quickly vanish. When you are solicited to sin, cast your eye upon Christ's cross, remember his astonishing sufferings for sin, and sin will soon grow distasteful to your souls. How can sin not be hateful to us--if we seriously consider how hurtful it was to Jesus Christ? Who can look upon the cross of Christ—and excuse his sin, as Adam did, saying, "The woman which you gave me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat"? Gen. 3:12. Who can look upon the cross of Christ and
emblazon his sin, as Judas did, saying, "Hail, Master"? Mat. 26:49. Who can look upon the cross of Christ and deny his sin, as Gehazi did, saying, "Your servant went no where"? 2 Kings 5:25. Who can look upon the cross of Christ and defend his sin, as Jonah did, saying, "I do well to be angry"? Jonah 4:9.
O sirs! where is that hatred of sin that used to be in the saints of old? David could say, "I hate vain thoughts and I hate every false way," Pa. 119:104, 113, 128. And Paul could say, "I do the very thing I hate," Romans 7:15. "It is better," says one, "to be in hell with Christ, than to be in heaven with sin." Oh, how odious was sin in the saints' eye! The primitive Christians chose rather to be cast to lions without— than to be left to lusts within—so great was their hatred of sin. "I had rather," says Anselm, "go to hell pure from sin, than to heaven polluted with that guilt." "I will rather," says another, "leap into a bonfire—than willfully to sin against God." Under the law, if an ox gored a man so that he died—the ox was to be killed, Exod. 21:28. Sin has gored and pierced our dear Lord Jesus—oh, let it die for it! oh, avenge yourselves upon it, as Samson did avenge himself upon the Philistines for his two eyes! Judg. 16:28.
Plutarch reports of Marcus Cato, that he never declared his opinion in any matter in the senate—but he would close it with this passage, "I still think that Carthage should be destroyed." Just so, a Christian should never cast his eye upon the cross of Christ, the sufferings of Christ, nor upon his sins—but his heart should say, "I think pride should be destroyed, and unbelief should be destroyed, and hypocrisy should be destroyed, and earthly-mindedness should be destroyed, and self-love should be destroyed, and vain-glory should be destroyed, etc." The Jews would not have the pieces of silver which Judas cast down in the temple put in the treasury, because they were the price of blood, Mat. 27:5-6. Oh, lodge not any one sin in the treasury of your hearts, for they are all the price of blood! But,
4. Fourthly, Let the sufferings of our Lord Jesus raise in all our hearts a high estimation of Christ. Oh, let us prize a
suffering Christ—above all our duties, and above all our graces, and above all our privileges, and above all our outward contentments, and above all our spiritual enjoyments! Mat. 10:37; Luke 14:26. A suffering Christ is a commodity of greater value than all the riches of the Indies, yes, than all the wealth of the whole world. "He is better than rubies," says Solomon, "and all the things you can desire are not to be compared to him," Proverbs 8:11. He is that pearl of great price, which the wise merchant purchased with all that ever he had, Mat 13:46; no man can buy such gold too dear. Joseph, (who was a type of the Lord Jesus,) —then a precious jewel of the world, was far more precious, had the Ishmaelitish merchants known so much, than all the balms and myrrhs that they transported, Gen. 37:25. And just so, is a suffering Christ, as all will grant, who really know him, and who have experienced the sweet of union and communion with him.
Christ went through heaven and hell, life and death, sorrow and suffering, misery and cruelty—and all to bring us to glory—and shall we not prize him? When in a storm, the nobles of Xerxes were to lighten the ship to preserve their king's life—they leaped into the sea! But our Lord Jesus Christ, to preserve our lives, our souls— he leaps into a sea of wrath! Oh, how should this work us to set up Christ above all!
What a deal of stir has been made about Alexander the Great, and Constantine the Great, and Pompey the Great—because of their great power and authority. But what was all their greatness and grandeur, compared to that greatness and grandeur which God the Father put upon our Lord Jesus Christ when he gave all power in heaven and in earth unto him, and set him down at his own right hand? Mat 28:13; Heb. 1:13; Eph. 1:20. O sirs! will you value men according to their titles, and will you not highly value our Lord Jesus Christ, who has the most magnificent titles given him? He is called King of kings and Lord of lords, Rev. 17:14, and 19:16. It is observed by learned Drusius, that those titles were usually given to the great kings of Persia. Yet the Holy Spirit attributes these great titles to Christ, to let
us know that, as God has exalted Christ above all earthly powers, so we should magnify and exalt him accordingly.
Paul, casting his eye upon a suffering Christ, tells us that he esteems of "all things," Phil. 3:8, as rubbish in comparison of Christ. "All things" is the greatest account that can be cast up, for it includs all prizes, all sums; it takes in heaven, it takes in the vast and huge globe and circle of the capacious world, and all excellencies, within its bosom. "All things" includes all nations, all angels, all gold, all jewels, all honors, all delights, and everything else besides—and yet the apostle looks upon all these things but as "dung," dogs' dung, as some interpret the word, or dogs' meat, coarse and contemptible, in comparison of dear Jesus. [The original word notes the filth that comes out of the entrails of beasts, or offal cast to dogs.]
Carraciolus, that noble Italian marquis, was of the same mind and metal with Paul, for when he was strongly tempted, and solicited with great sums of money and preferments, to return to the Romish church, he gave this heroic answer, "Cursed be he who prefers all the wealth of the world to one day's communion with Christ!" What if a man had large domains, stately buildings, and ten thousand rivers of oil! What if all the mountains of the world were pearl, the mighty rocks rubies, and the whole globe a shining diamond! yet all this were not to be named in the same breath, wherein there is mention made of a suffering Christ. Look, as one ocean has more waters than all the rivers in the world, and as one sun has more light than all the luminaries in heaven, so one suffering Christ is more "all" to a poor soul, than if it had the all of the whole world a thousand times over and over.
O sirs! if you cast but your eye upon a suffering Christ, a crucified Jesus! There you shall find righteousness in him to cover all your sins, and plenty enough in him to supply all your needs, and grace enough in him to subdue all your lusts, and wisdom enough in him to resolve all your doubts, and power enough in him to vanquish all your enemies,
and virtue enough in him to heal all your diseases, and fullness enough in him both to satisfy you and save you—and that to the utmost, Heb. 7:25. [I have read of a Roman servant, who knowing his master was sought for by officers to be put to death, he put himself into his master's clothes, that he might be captured in his place; and so he was, and was put to death for him; whereupon his master, in memory of his thankfulness to him and honor of him, erected a brazen statue. But what a statue of gold should we set up in our hearts to the eternal honor and exaltation of Jesus, who not in our clothes, but in our very nature, has laid down his life for us!]
All the good things that can be reckoned up here below have only a finite and limited benignity. Some can clothe but cannot feed, others can nourish but they cannot heal, others can enrich but they cannot secure, others can adorn but cannot advance. All serve some good purpose—but none can fully satisfy. They are like a beggar's coat, made up of many pieces, not all of which, are enough either to beautify, defend, or satisfy. But there is enough in a suffering Christ to fill us and satisfy us to the full.
Christ has the greatest worth and wealth in him. Look, as the worth and value of many pieces of silver is to be found in one piece of gold; just so, all the petty excellencies which are scattered abroad in the creatures, are to be found in a bleeding, dying Christ! Yes, all the whole volume of perfections which is spread through heaven and earth, is epitomized in him who suffered on the cross! A man cannot hyperbolise in speaking of Christ and heaven—but must entreat his hearers, that they would conceive much more than he was able to express. Certainly it is as easy to compass the heavens with a span, and contain the sea in a sea-shell—as to relate fully a suffering Christ's excellencies, or heaven's happiness. O sirs! there is in a crucified Jesus something proportionable to all the straits, needs, necessities, and desires of his poor people. [John 6:5-6, 37; Rev. 13:14; Mat. 9:12; Isaiah 9:6; Heb. 2:10; Acts 5:31, and 7:37-38; Heb. 2:17-18, and 4:15-16; 2 Cor. 11:2; Isaiah 9:6-7; John 20:17; 28:16; Rev. 22:16; Eph. 1:22-23.] He is bread to nourish them, and a
garment to cover and adorn them, a physician to heal them, a Counselor to advise them, a captain to defend them, a prince to rule them, a prophet to teach them, and a priest to make atonement for them; a husband to protect them, a father to provide for them, a brother to relieve them, a foundation to support them, a root to quicken them, a head to guide them, a treasure to enrich them, a sun to enlighten them, and a fountain to cleanse them. Now what more can any Christian desire--to satisfy him and save him; and to make him holy and happy, in time and eternity?
Shall the Romans and other nations highly value those who have but ventured to lay down their lives for their country—and shall not we highly value the Lord Jesus Christ, who has actually laid down his life for his sheep? John 10:11, 15, 17. I have read of one who, walking in the fields by himself, suddenly fell into loud cries and weeping, and being asked by one who passed by and overheard him the cause of his lamentation, replied, "I weep to think that the Lord Jesus Christ should do so much for us men, and yet not one man of a thousand so much as minds him or thinks of him." Oh what a bitter lamentation have we cause to take up, that the Lord Jesus Christ has suffered so many great and grievous things for poor sinners, and that there are so few who sincerely love him, or who highly value him; most men preferring their lusts, or else the toys and trifles of this world, above him. But,
5. Fifthly, Let the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ work us into a gracious willingness to embrace sufferings for his sake, and cheerfully and resolutely to take up his cross and follow him. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24. Did Christ suffer—who knew no sin; and shall we think it strange to suffer—who know nothing but sin? Shall he lie sweltering under his Father's wrath, and shall we cry out under men's anger? Was he crowned with thorns—and must we be crowned with rose-buds? [Godfrey, king of Jerusalem, refused to be crowned with a crown of gold, saying that it was not fitting for a Christian to wear a crown of gold, where Christ,
for our salvation, had worn a crown of thorns.] Was his whole life, from the cradle to the cross, made up of nothing but sorrows and sufferings—and must our lives, from the cradle to the grave, be filled up with nothing but pleasures and delights? Was he despised—and must we be admired? Was he debased—and must we be exalted? Was he poor—and must we be rich? Was he low—and must we be high? Did he drink of a bitter cup, a bloody cup—and must we have only cups of consolation? Let us not think anything too much to do for Christ, nor anything too great to suffer for Christ, nor anything too dear to part with for such a Christ, such a Savior—who thought nothing too much to do, or too grievous to suffer—so that he might accomplish the work of our redemption. He left heaven for us—and shall not we let go this world for him? He left his Father's bosom for us—and shall not we leave the bosoms of our dearest relations for him? Psalm 45:10-11; Mat. 10:37. He underwent all sorts of sufferings for us—let us as readily encounter with all sorts of sufferings for him.
Paul was so accustomed to sufferings for Christ, that he could rejoice in his sufferings, he gloried most in his chains, and he looked upon his scars, buffetings, scourgings, stonings for Christ—as his greatest triumphs, 2 Cor. 12:10, and 11:23-28. And how ambitious were the primitive Christians of martyrdom in the cause of Christ? And of late, in the times of the Marian persecution, how many hundreds cheerfully and willingly laid down their lives—mounting Elijah-like to heaven in fiery chariots! And oh, how will Christ own and honor such Christians at last, who have exposed themselves to hazards, losses, and sufferings for his sake! Rev. 3:21, as those brave souls, who loved not their lives unto the death, Rev. 12:11; that is, they despised their lives in comparison of Christ; they exposed their bodies to horrible and painful deaths, their temporal estates to confiscation, and their persons to all manner of shame and contempt, for the cause of Christ, Heb. 11:33-39, and 10:34. In the days of that bloody persecutor Dioclesian, the Christians showed a glorious faith in the face of martyrdom, and the savageness of the persecutors. This bred wonder and astonishment in beholders. In all
ages and generations, those who have been born after the flesh have persecuted those who have been born after the Spirit, Gal. 4:29; and the seed of the serpent have been still a-multiplying of troubles upon the seed of the woman.
"Would any man take the church's picture," says Luther, "then let him paint a poor silly maid, sitting in a wilderness, compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, boars, and bears, and with all manner of other cruel hurtful beasts; and in the midst of a great many furious men, assaulting her every moment and minute." And why should we wonder at this, when we consider that the whole life of Christ was filled up with all sorts and kinds of sufferings? Oh, where is that brave spirit, which was upon the saints of old? Blessed Bradford looked upon his sufferings for Christ as an evidence to him who he was in the right way. "It is better for me to be a martyr than a monarch," said Ignatius when he was to suffer. ["If one man did suffer all the sorrows of all the saints in the world—yet they are not worth one hour's glory in heaven!" Chrysostom.] "Happy is that soul, and to be equaled with angels, who is willing to suffer, if it were possible, as great things for Christ, as Christ has suffered for him," says Jerome. "Sufferings are the ensigns of heavenly nobility," says Calvin. Modestus, lieutenant to Julian the emperor, said to Julian, "While those Christians suffer they deride us," says he, "and the torments are more fearful to those who look on—than to the tormented themselves!"
Vincentius laughed at those who slew him, saying, "that to Christians, tortures and death were but sports." And he gloried when he went upon hot burning coals, as if he trod upon a bed of roses. It was a notable saying of a French martyr, when the rope was about his fellow martyr's neck, "Give me that golden chain, and dub me a knight of that noble order." "Paul rattled his chain, which he bore for the gospel, and was as proud of it as a woman of her ornaments," says Chrysostom. "Do your worst, do your worst," said Justin Martyr to his persecutors; "but this I will tell you, that you may put all that you are likely to gain by the bargain—into your eye and weep it out
again." Basil will tell you, that "the most cruel martyrdom is but a trick to escape death, to pass from life to life; for it can be at most, a day's journey between the cross and paradise. "Their names which are written in red letters of blood in the church's calendar, are written in golden letters in Christ's register, in the book of life," says Prudentius.
Though the cross be bitter—yet it is but short. "A little storm," as one said of Julian's persecution, "and an eternal calm follows!" "Methinks," said one, "I tread upon pearls, (when he trod upon hot burning coals,) and I feel no more pain than if I lay in a bed of down, (and yet he lay in flames of fire.) "I am heartily angry," says Luther, "with those who speak of my sufferings, which, if compared to that which Christ suffered for me, are not once to be mentioned in the same breath." Paul greatly rejoiced in his sufferings for Christ; and therefore oftentimes sings it out: "I Paul a prisoner," as you may see by these scriptures, [See Acts 28:17; Eph. 3:1, and 4:1; 2 Tim. 1:8; Phil. 1, 9: 2 Cor. 11:23; Romans 16:7; Col. 4:10; Phil. 23.] It is not, "I Paul an apostle," nor "I Paul enrapt up in the third heaven." Christ showed his love to him, in rapping him up in the third heaven; and he shows his love to Christ in suffering for him.
During the cruel persecutions of the heathen emperors, the Christian faith was spread through all places of the empire, "because the oftener they were mowed down," says Tertullian, "the more they grew." "I am the the most unfit man for this high office of suffering for Christ, that ever was appointed to it," said blessed Sanders. Austin observed, that "though there were many thousand Christians put to death for professing Christ—yet they were never the fewer for being slain." Cyprian, speaking of the Christians and martyrs in his time, said, "They may kill them—but they cannot overcome them." "The more we are cut down by the sword of persecution, the more we increase," says Tertullian. Eusebius tells us of one who wrote to his friend from a stinking dungeon, and dates his letter from, "My lovely orchard." "Burn my foot if you will," said that noble martyr, "that it may dance everlastingly with the blessed angels in heaven." The