SERMON XIV.
SERM. XIV.
The Fountain of Life.
neſs he is there employed about, which is his prieſthood; he is paſſed into the heavens, as our great high prieſt, to intercede, andtherefore we cannot miſcarry.
3. Let it encourageyou to constancy andprayer : O donotneglect that excellent duty, ſeeing Chriſt is there topreſent all your petitions toGod; yea, toperfume as well as present them.
So the apoftle, Heb. iv. 16. infers from Chriſt's interceffion ; " Let us therefore come boldly unto the throneof grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time ofneed."
4. Hence be encouragedto pleadfor Christ on earth, who continuallypleadsforyouin heaven.
Ifany accuſe you, he is there to plead for you : and ifany dishonour him on earth, ſee that you plead his intereſt, and defend his honour.
Thus you have heard what his interceffion is, and whatbenefits we receiveby it.
BleffedbeGod forJesus Christ.
SERMON XIV.
Afſerts and Vindicates the Satisfaction of Chrift, being the firſt principal Effect or Fruit of his Priesthood.
GAL . iii . 13.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, beingmade a cursefor us.
YOU have feen the general nature, neceffity, and parts of Chriſt's priesthood, viz . oblation and interceffion.
Before you part from this office, it is neceſſary you should farther take intoconfideration the principal fruits and effects ofhis priesthood; which are, compleat fatisfaction and the acquisition or purchase of an eternal inheritance. The former, viz. The fatisfaction made by his blood, is manifeſtly contained in this excellent ſcripture before us, wherein the apostle (having shewn before, at verſe 10. that whosoever " continues not in all " things written in the law, todo them, are curſed)" declares how, notwithstanding the threats of the law, a believer comes to be freed from the curſe of it, namely, by Chriſt's bearing that curſe for him, and ſo fatisfying God's justice, and difcharging the believer from all obligations to punihment.
More particularly, in theſe words you have the believer's
1go The Fountain of Life.
SERM . XIV.
diſcharge fromthe curſe of the law, and theway and manner thereofopened.
1. The believer's discharge ; Chrift hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.
The law ofGod hath three parts, commands, promiſes, and threatnings or curſes.
The curse ofthe law is its condemning ſentence, whereby a finner is bound over todeath, even the death of foul and body.
The chain, bywhich itbinds him, is the guilt of fin; and from which none can looſe the foul butChriſt.
This curſe of the law is the moft dreadful thing imaginable; it ſtrikes at the life of a finner, yea, his best life, the eternal life of the foul; and when it hath condemned, it is inexorable, no cries nor tears, no reformations or repentance canlooſe the guilty ſinner; for it requires for its reparation that which no mere creature can give, evenan infinite fatisfaction.
Now from this curſe Chrift frees thebeliever; thatis,hediffolves the obligation to punishment, cancels the hand-writing, loofes all the bonds and chains of guilt, fo that the curse ofthe lawhath nothing todo with him for ever.
2. Wehave here theway and manner inand by which this isdone; and that is by a full price paid down, and that price paidin the room of the finner *, both making up a compleat and fullfatisfaction.
He pays a full price, every way adequate and proportionable to the wrong.
So much this word, ημας εξηγυρασεν, which we tranflate redeemed, imports ; he hathbought ns out, or fully bought us; that is, by a full price.
This pricewith which he fo fullybought or purchased our freedom from the curſe, is not only called λυθρον, Mat. xx. 28. or ranſom, but more emphatically αντιλυθρον, in 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6. which might be tranflated an adequate or fully anſwerable ranſom.
Andfo his freeing us by this price, is not only expreſſed by ηγορασας τω Θεω ημας, "Thou hast bought us to God by thy blood," Rev. v. 9. but εξηγορασεν ημας, he hath fully, perfectly, boughtus out.
( Andas the price or ranſompaid was full, perfect, and ſuf. ficient in itſelf; ſo it was paid in our room, and upon our account: fo faith the text, † " Byhis being made acurſe for us,"
* As he who is free, redeems a captiveby ſubſtituting himself inhisroom, andby putting on the chains , the other puts them off : fo Chriſt was willing to be obnoxious to the fulfilling of the law thathe might acquire immunity to us.
Calv. on Gal. iv.
+He is faid to be made a curſe and to bemade ſin : but he is not made the curſe itſelf, to wit, formally, but our curſe was imputed tohim.
Cyrif.
SERM. XIV.
The Fountain of Life.
the meaning is not, that Chriſt was made the very curſe itſelf, changed into a curte; no more than when the word is faid to be made flesh, the divine nature was converted into fleſh, but it aſſumed or took fleſh ; and ſo Chriſt he tookthe curſeupon himself ; therefore itis faid,2Cor. v. 21. " He was made fin for " uswhoknew no ſin;" that is, our fin was imputed to our furety, and laidupon him for fatisfaction. And ſo this word υπ
[for] implies a ſubſtitution ofone, in the place and ſtead of a nother. Nowthe price being full, and paid in lieu of our ins, and thereupon we fully redeemed or delivered from the curſe, it follows, as a fair andjuſt deduction, that,
Doct. Thedeath ofChrist hath made a fullfatisfaction toGod for all thefins ofhis elect.
" He(to wit our furety, Chriſt) was oppreſſed, and he was " afflicted," faith the prophet, Ifa. lii. 7. it may be fitly rendred,
(and the words will bear it without the leaft force) it was exac ted, and answered.
But how, being eitherway tranflated, it eſtabliſheth the fatisfaction ofChrift, may be ſeen in our learned
Annotations on that place.
So Col. i. 14." In whom we have απολυτρωσιν δια το αιματος redemptionthrough his blood, even the forgiveness of fin."
Here we have the benefit, viz . redemptioninterpretedby way of oppoſition,"even the remiffion
" of fins;" and the matchless price that was laid down to purchaſe it, the blood ofChrift.
So again, Heb. ix. 12. " By " his own blood he entered once intothe holy place, having
" obtained αιωνιαν λυτρωσιν, eternalredemption for us. " Here is eternal redemption, the mercy purchased; his ownblood, the price that procured it.
Now forafmuch as this doctrine of Chriſt's fatisfaction is fo neceffary, weighty, and comfortable in itſelf, and yet so much oppoled and intricated by feveral enemies to it; the method I ſhall take for the clearing, eſtabliſhing, and preparing it foruſe, ſhall be, First, To open the nature of Chriſt's fatisfaction, and ſhew whatitis.
Secondly, To eſtabliſh thetruth ofit, and prove thathemade full fatisfaction to God for all the fins of the elect.
Thirdly, To answerthe moſt confiderable objections made aagainst it.
And Lastly, Toapply it.
First, What is the fatisfaction of Chriſt, and what doth it
The Fountain of Life.
SERM XIV.
What divine imply? I anſwer,fatisfaction is the act ofChrist, Satisfaction is .
God man, presenting himself as our furety in obedience to God, and love to us ; to do and to fuffer all that the law required ofus ; thereby freeing usfrom
thewrath and curſedue to usforfins.
1. It is the act ofGod man * ; no other was capable ofgiving fatisfaction for an infinite wrongdone toGod.
But by reaſon ofthe unionofthe two natures in his wonderful perfon, he could do it, and hath done it for us.
The human nature did what was neceſſary in its kind; itgave the matter ofthe facrifice: the divine nature ſtamptthedignityand value upon it, which made it an adequate compenfation: ſo that itwas opus θεανδρικον, the act ofGod-man; yet ſo, that each nature retained its own properties, notwithſtanding theirjoint influence intothe effect.
If the angelsin heavenhad laiddown their lives, or if theblood of all the men in the world had been poured outby justice, this couldneverhavefatisfied;becauſethat αξίωσις,worth and value which this ſacrifice hath, would have ſtill been wanting. " It wasGodthatredeemed the church with his own blood,"
Acts xx. 18.
If God redeem with his own blood,he redeems asGod-man, without any difpute .
2. If he fatisfyGod for us, he must preſent himſelf before God, as our furety, in our ſtead, as well as for our good ; elſe his obedience had fignified nothing to us; to this end he was
" made under the law," Gal. iv. 4. comes under the fame obligationwith us, and that as afurety,for fo he is called, Heb. vii.
22.
Indeed his obedience and fufferings could be exacted from him upon no other account.
It was not for any thing he had done, that he became a curſe.
It was prophefied of him Dan. ix. 26. " The Meffiah ſhall be cut off, but not for himself : " andbeing dead,the fcriptures plainly affert it wasfor our fins, and upon our account : fo 1 Cor. xv. 3. " Chriſt died for our
" ſins, according to the ſcriptures."
And it is well obſerved by our divines, who affert the vicegerency and ſubſtitution of Chriſt in his fufferings, that all thoſe
Greek particles which we tranſlate (for) when applied to the fufferings of Chriſt, do note the meritorious, deſerving, procur- * This fatisfaction had in it ſufficient and in ſome reſpect infinite
2. In value.
1. In reſpect of the perſon offering it who wasGod. reſpect of what he offered ; for he offered himself,God andman.
3. In refpect ofthe manner ofoffering, inwhich therewas a certain divineperfectionin regard of the hypoftatical (orperfonalunion).
Ames. medul. p. 98.
SERM. XIV.
The Fountain of Life. ingcauſe of thoſe ſufferings. Soyou find, Heb. x. 12. " He
"offered one facrifice υπερ άμαρτιον, for fins."
1Pet. ii. 18 .
" Chrift once fuffered, w , for fins. "
Rom. iv. 25. " He was delivered, δια, for our offences." Mat.xv. 28. " Hegave his
" life aranſom, αντι, for many."
And there are that confident. lyaffirm this laſt particleis never uſedinany other ſenſe inthe wholebook ofGod : as " an eye foran eye, a tooth for atooth," i.e. one in lieu ofanother.
Just as thoſewhom theGreeks cal led αντιψύχοι, men that exchanged their lives, or gave life for life, ftakingdown their own todeliver another's, as Philumene didfor Ariftides. And ſothe poet Virgil ſpeaks ;
Si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit.
And indeed, this very confideration is thatwhich ſupports thedoctrine of imputation, the imputation ofour fins toChrift, andtheimputation ofChrift's righteousness untous, Rom . v. fy.
Forhow could our fins be laid onhim, but ashe flood inour ſtead? or his righteouſneſs be imputed to us, but as he was our furety, performing it in our place †; ſo that to deny
Chrift'sfufferings inour ſtead,is tolose thecorner-ſtone of our juftification, and overthrow the very pillar which fupports our faith, comfort, and falvation.
Indeed if thishad notbeen, he wouldhave beenthe righteous Lord,butnot the Lordour righteousness, asheis ſtiled,Jer. xxxiii . 16. Sothat itwas buta vain dittinction, to ſayit was for ourgood, but not in ourftead : for hadhe notbeen inour ftead, we could not havehad the good ofit.
3. The internal moving cause ofChrift's fatisfaction for us, washis obedience toGod, and love to us.
That it was an act of obedience, is plain from Phil. ii. 8. " He became obedient
" untodeath, even thedeath of the crofs."
Now obedience reſpects acommand, and fuch a command Chriſt receivedto die for us, as himſelftells us, John x. 18. " I lay down my life of " myfelf; Ihave power tolay itdown, andpower to take ita- " gain; this commandment have I received of my Father." So thatit was an act of obedience with refpect toGod, and yet a moſt free and ſpontaneous act with respect to himself.
And thathe wasmoved to itout ofpityandlove tous, himselfaffures + This ſpecial imputation isthe admiffion ofthe merit ofanother instead of that which ought tobe in the criminal himself. Bradhaw on Just. K.47 .
VOL. I. вь
SERM. XIV.
The Fountain of Life. us : Gal. v. 2." Chriſt loved us,andgave himselffor us an offer- " ing and a ſacrifice toGod."
Upon this Paul ſweetly reflected, Gal. ii. 20. " Who loved me, and gave himself for me."
As the external movingcauſe was our milery, ſo the internal was his own love and pity for us.
4. The matter of Chriſt's fatisfaction, was his active and paffive obedience to all the law of God required
I know there are ſome thatdoubt whether Chriſt's active obedience have any placehere, and ſo whether it be imputed as any part of our righteouſneſs.
It is confeſſed, the ſcripture moſt frequently mentions hispaſſive obedience, as that which made the atone. ment, and procures our redemption, Mat.xx. 28. and xxvi. 28.
Rom. iii. 24, 25. and elsewhere : but his paffive obedience is never mentioned excluſively, asthefole cauſe, or matter offatisfaction. Butinthoſe places where itis mentionedby itself, it is put for his whole obedience, both active and paſſive, by an uſual trope ; and in other ſcriptures,it is aſcribed to both, as Gal. iv. 4. he is ſaid " to be under the law, to redeem them
" thatwere underthelaw." Nowhis being " madeunder the " law" to this end, cannotbe restrainedto his ſubjection tothe curſeofthelaw only, but tothe commands ofit also. SoRom. v. 19. " As by one man's diſobedience, many were made fin .
" ners ; fo by the obedience ofone, ſhallmany be made righteous." It were a manifeſt injury to this text alfo, to reftrain it to the|| paffiveobedience of Chriſt only.
Tobe ſhort, this twofold obedience of Chriſt, ſtands oppoſed to a twofold obligation that fallen man is under; the one to do what God requires, the other to fuffer what he hath threatned fordiſobedience.
We owe him active obedience as his creatures, and paſſive obedience as his prisoners.
Suitably tothis double obligation, Chriſt comes under thecommandment ofthe law, toful.
" fil it actively, Mat. iii. 15. and under the malediction ofthe law, to fatisfy it paffively. And whereas it is objected by fome, if he fulfilled the whole law for us by his active, what need then of his paffive obedience ? We reply, great need; becauſe both
† For if through Chriſt's paffive obedience alone imputed, we are accounted free from all the guilt, of the fins ofevery one ofus of whatever kind, whether ofcommiſſion or omiffion ; to what purpoſe ſhould the active obedience of the fame perſon be farther imputed forjustification .
Bradshaw in epist. lib . de Justif .
There is a twofold obedience of Chrift, anſwering man's twofold obligation fince the fall : the active for the faultcommitted ; the paffive for the penalty incurred, or both the former anfwering for both the latter.
Trel. as above.
SERM . XIV.
The Fountain of Life. theſe make up that one, entire, and compleat obedience, by whichGod is fatisfied, and we juſtified.
It is a good rule of Alfted, obedientia Chriſtieſt una copulativa ; the whole obedience ofChriſt, both active and paſſive, make up one intire perfect obedience : and therefore there is no reason why one particle, either of the one, or ofthe other, ſhould be excluded.
5. The effect andfruit ofthis his fatisfaction, isourfreedom, ranſom, ordeliverance from the wrath and curſe due to us for our fins.
Such was the dignity, value, and compleatness of of Chriſt's fatisfaction *, that in ſtrict juſtice it merited our redemption and full deliverance; not only a poſſibility thatwe might be redeemed andpardoned, butaright whereby we ought tobe ſo, as the learned Dr. Twiſs judiciouſly argues.
Ifhebe madea curſe for us, we must then be redeemed fromthe curſe, according to juſtice: ſo the apoſtle argues, Rom. iii. 25, 26.
" WhomGod hath fet forth tobe a propitiation, through faith " inhis blood, todeclare his righteouſneſs for the remiſſion
" of fins that are aſt, through the forbearance ofGod ; to de- " clare, I ſay, at this time, his righteouſneſs, thatGod might
" be juſt, and the justifier ofhim that believeth in Jeſus."
Mark the deſign and end ofGod in exacting fatisfaction from Chriſt, it was to declare his righteouſneſs inthe remiſſion offin to believers ; and leſt we should loſe the emphatical word, he doubles it, to declare, Isay, his righteousness .
Every one can fee how his mercy is declared in remiſſion: but he would have us take notice, that his juſtification ofbelievers is an act of justice; andthatGod, as he is a juſtGod,cannot condemn the believer, fince Chriſt hath fatisfied his debts.
This attribute ſeems to be the main bar againſt remiffion; but now it is become the veryground and reaſon why God remits. O how comfortable a text is this ! Doth Satan or confcience fet forth thy fin inallits diſcouraging circumstances and aggravations ?
Godhath fet forthChriſt to be a propitiation.
Muſt justice be manifeſted, ſatisfiedandglorified ? Soit isin thedeath ofChrift, ten thousand times more than ever it could inthy damnation.
Thus you have a brief accountof the fatisfactionmadeby Jeſus • Chrift.
Secondly, We shall gather up all that hathbeen faid toeſtaBb 2 * Chriſt acquireda right to give forgiveness of fins; but not fuch a rightby which merely they may be forgiven, but fuch that, injustice they ought to be all forgiven to thoſe for whom fatisfaction ismade by his death.
See Twiſſe depermiff. lib. 2.
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SERM. XIV.
bliſh the truthofChriſt's fatisfaction; proving the reality ofit, that it is notan improper, catachreſtical, fictitious fatisfaction, bydivine acceptilation,as fome have verydiminutivelycalled it; but real, proper, and full, andas fuch acceptedbyGod.
For hisblood is the blood ofa Surety, Heb. vii. 22. whocameunder the fame obligations of the lawwith us, Gal. iv. 4. and thoughhe had no fin of his own, yet ſtanding before God as our Surety, the iniquities ofus all were laid upon him, Ifa. liii.
6. and fromhim did the Lord, with great feverity, exact fatis faction for our fins, Rom. viii. 32. punifh themupon his foul,
Mat. xxvii. 46. and upon his body, Acts ii. 23. and with this obedience of his Son,is fully pleaſed andfatisfied, Ephef. v. 2. andhath in token thereofraiſedhim fromthedead, andfet him at his ownright hand, 1 Tim. iii. 16. and for his righteouſneſs. fake acquitted anddischargedbelievers, who ſhall never more comeintocondemnation,Rom. viii. 1, 34.
All this isplainin fcripture; and ourfaith in the fatisfaction ofChriſt, is not built onthewisdom ofman,butthe everlaſting ſealedtruth ofGod. yet fuchis the perverſe nature ofman, and the prideofhisheart, that whilst he ſhouldbe humbly adoring the grace ofGod, in providing fuch a furety for us, he isfound accuſing thejuftice, and diminishing the mercy ofGod, and raiſing all the objections whichSatan and his own heart can invent, tooverturn that bleffed foundation upon whichGod hathbuilt up hisownhonour, andhis peoples falvation.
Thirdly, in the next place, therefore, we ſhall reject thoſe doctrines, and remove the principal ofthoſe objections that are found militating against the fatisfaction ofChriſt .
And, in the firſt place, we reject with deep abhorrance that doctrine, which aſcribes to man any power, inwhole, or in part, to fatisfyGod for his own, or other mens fins.
This, no mere creaturecandoby active obedience, were it ſo compleat thathecould never fin in thought, word, or deed, any more, but livethe mostholy life thateverany lived: for all thiswould be no more than hisduty asa creature, Luke xvii. 10. and fo canbeno fatisfaction for what he is by nature, or hath done againſt God as a ſinner.
Nor yet by ſuffering; for we have offended an infiniteGod, and cannever fatisfy himby our finite fufferings.
We alſo, with like deteſtation, reject that doctrinewhich makes the fatisfaction of Chrift either impoſſible, or fictitious, and inconfiftent with grace, in the free pardon of fin. Many are the cavils raiſed against Chriſt's fatisfaction; the principal are ſuch as theſe that follow :
SERM. XIV.
The Fountain of Life.
Object. The doctrine of Christ's fatisfaction is abfurd, for Chrift (laywe) is God ; ifso then, God fatisfies bimself, than which what can be more abfurd to imagine ?
Sol. I anſwer, Godcannot properly be faid to fatisfy himfelf; for thatwould be the fame thing as to pardon, ſimply, without any fatisfaction. But there is a twofold confideration ofChrift *; one in refpect ofhis Effence and Divine Nature, inwhich ſenſe he is the object both of the offence, and ofthe fatisfaction made for it. Another in reſpect of his perſon and oeconomy, or office; inwhich ſenſe he properly fatisfiesGod, being in reſpect of hismanhood another, and inferior toGod,
John xiv. 28.
Theblood oftheman Chrift Jeſus isthe matter ofthe fatisfaction ; the Divine Nature dignifies it, and makes itof infinite value †. A certain familyhath committed treaſon against the king, andare allunder the condemnation ofthe law for it; the king's fon, moved with pity and love, reſolves to fatisfy the law, andyet fave the family; in order whereuntohe marries a daughter of the family, where by her blood becomes royal blood, andworth the blood ofthewhole family whence ſhe ſprang ; this princeſs isby herhusbandexecuted inthe room ofthe reſt.
In this cafe the king ſatisfies not himself for the wrong, but is ſatisfiedby thedeath ofanother, equivalent in worthtotheblood ofthem all.
This fimilitude anſwers not to all the particulars, as indeed nothing innature doth, or can ; but it only thews what itwas that fatisfiedGod, and how it became ſo ſatisfactory.
Object. If Christ satisfied by paying ourdebt, then he should have enduredeternal torments ; forſoweshould, and thedamned
Shall.
Sol. We must distinguish betwixt what is effential, and what is accidentalinpunishment. The primary intent ofthelaw is reparationand fatisfaction; he that can make it at one intire payment (as Chriſt couldanddid)ought to bedischarged. He thatcannot (as no mere creature can)ought to lie for ever, as the damneddo, under fufferings.
Object. IfGod willbe fatisfied for ourfins before he pardon them, how then is pardon an act ofgrace ?
* It is one thing totreat ofChrift's divinityaccording to itsnature, confidereddiftinctlyby itself: another thing to treat of itas in his perfon.
Trelcat.
+Chrift, according tohisdivinenature,isone withGod; asman he is one withus: on the other part, as God, he is atadiſtance from us: asman, or by voluntary oeconomy, at a diſtance from God. Idem ibid. SeeDavon.on. Col. 103. andCameron.p. 361 .
SERM. XIV.
The Fountain of Life.
Sol. Pardoncouldnot be an act ofpuregrace, ifGod received fatisfaction from us ; but if he pardon us upon the fatisfaction received from Chriſt, though it be ofdebtto him, it is ofgrace to us : for it was grace to admit aSurety to fatisfy, more grace to provide him, and moſt ofall to apply his fatisfaction tous,by unitingus toChriſt, as he hath done .
Object. But God loved us before Chriſt died for us ; for it was the love ofGod to the worldthat moved him togive his onlybegotten Son.
Could God love us, andyet notbe reconciled and fatisfied?
Sol.God's complacential love is indeed inconſiſtentwith an unreconciled ſtate : He is reconciled to every one he ſo loves. But his benevolent love, confifting in his purpoſe ofgood, may bebefore actual reconciliation and fatisfaction.
Object. Temporal death, as well as eternal, is a part of the curse if Christ have fully fatisfied by bearing the cursefor us, how is it, that those for whom he bare it, die as well as o. thers?
Sol. As temporal death is apenal evil, and part of the curſe, foGod inflicts it not upon believers; but they must die for other ends, viz . to be made perfectly happy in a more full and immediate enjoymentofGod, thanthey can have in the body : and ſo death is theirs byway of privilege, 1 Cor. iii. 22. They are not death's by way of punishment.
The fame may be faid of allthe afflictions with which God, for gracious ends, now exerciſes his reconciled ones .
Thus much may fuffice to eſtabliſh this great truth.
Inference 1. Ifthe death ofChriſt was that which fatisfied Godfor all the ſins of the elect, then certainly there isan infinite evilinfin,finceit cannot beexpiated, but byan infinitefatisfaction .
Fools make a mock at ſin, and there are but few fouls in the world that are duly ſenſible of, and affected with its evil ; but certainly, ifGod ſhoulddamn thee to all eternity, thy eternal fufferings could not fatisfy for the evil that is in one vain thought ‡.
Itmay be you may think this is harſh andfevere, that God ſhould holdhis creatures under everlaſting ſuf. ferings for fin, and never be ſatisfiedwith them anymore. But † By this death of Chriſt we are greatly excited both to caution, and to deteſtation offin.
For it muſt ſurely be a deadly evil which could not be otherwise cured than by Chrift's death.
What man therefore, feriouſly confidering that his fins were no other way expiatedthanby the blood ofthe very Son ofGod, will not tremble atthe thoughts oftrampling, as itwere, onthatmoſt preciousblood bydaily finning ?
Daven, on Col. chap. 1. V. 20.
SERM . XIV.
The Fountain of Life. whenyou have well confidered, that the object againstwhom you fin, is the infinite bleſſed God, which derives an infinite evil to the ſin committed against him; and when you confider howGod dealt with the angels that fell, for one fin, andthat butofthemind; (forhaving no bodily organs, they could commitnothing externally against God:) you willalteryour minds about it.
O the depth ofthe evil of fin! If ever you will fee how great andhorrid anevil ſinis, meaſureit inyour thoughts, eitherby the infinite holiness and excellency of God, who is wrong'd by it ; or by the infinite ſufferings of Chrift, whodied to fatisfy for it ; and then you willhavedeeper apprehenfions of the evil offin .
Inference 2. Ifthedeath ofChriſt ſatisfiedGod, and thereby redeemed the elect from the curſe : then the redemption offouls is coftly ; fouls are dear things, and ofgreat value withGod.
" Yeknow, (ſays the apoftle,) thatye were not redeemed with " corruptible things, as filver and gold, fromyour vain converſation, received by tradition; butwith the precious blood of the Son ofGod, as of a lamb without ſpot," IPet. i. 18, 19.
Onlytheblood ofGod is found an equivalent price for the redemption offouls.
Gold and ſilvermay redeem fromTurkish, but not from helliſh bondage.
The whole creation fold tothe utmoſt worth of it, is not a value for the redemption of one foul.
Souls are very dear ; he that paid forthem foundthem. fo: yet how cheaplydo ſinners fell their fouls, as if they were butlow prizedcommodities! but you that fell your fouls cheap, willbuy repentance dear.
Inference 3. IfChriſt's death ſatisfied God for our fins, how unparalleledis thelove ofChrist topoorfinners! It is much topay
" a pecuniarydebt to free another, but who will payhisown blood for another ? We have a noted inſtance of || Zaleucus, that famous Locrenfian lawgiver, who decreed, that whoever was convicted of adultery, ſhouldhave both his eyes put out.
It fo fell out, that his own Son was brought before him for that crime; hereuponthe people interpofing, made fuit for his pardon. At length, the Father, partly overcome by their impor-
tunities, and not unwilling to ſhew what lawful favour he might to hisSon,he firſt put out one of his own eyes, andthen oneofhis fon's; and ſo ſhewed himselfboth a merciful father, andajuſt lawgiver; ſo temperingmercywithjustice, thatboth the Law was fatisfied, and his Son ſpared.
This is writtenby theHiſtorian as an inſtance offingularlove inhis Father, to pay
|| Valerius, book vi chap. 5.
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onehalfofthe penaltyfor his Son.
But Chriftdid not divide, andsharein the penaltywithus, butbare itall.
Zaleucusdid it for his Son, who was dear to him ; Chrift did it for ene. mies, that were fighting and rebelling against him : Rom. v. 8.
" While we were yet finners, Chriftdied for us." "O would " toGod(faidaholy one) I could cauſe paper and ink toſpeak
" theworth and excellency, the high and loud praiſes ofour " brother ranſomer ! O the ranſomer needs notmy report; but " O if he would take it, and make ufe of it! I ſhould be
" happy if I had an errand to this worldbut for fome few years, to ſpread proclamations, and out-cries, and love-let- « "
" ters of the highness [the highneſs evermore] ofthe ranſom. er, whoſe cloaths were wet, anddyed in blood ; howbeit,
" that after that my foul andbody ſhould goback to their mo- " ther nothing."
Inference4. IfChriſt, bydying, hath made full fatisfaction, thenGod is no lofer in pardoning the greatest offinners that believe in Jesus ; and confequentlyhis justice can be no bar to theirjustification andfalvation. He is just to forgive us our ſins, 1 Johni. 9.
What an argument is here for a poor believer topleadwithGod ! Lord, ifthou ſave me by Jefus Chrift, thy justice will be fully fatisfied atone full payment ; but if thou damn me, and require fatisfaction at my hands, thou canft never receive it: I ſhall make but a dribbling payment, though I lie in hell to eternity, and ſhall ſtill be infinitely behindwith thee.
Is it not more for thy glory to receive it from Chriſt's hand, than to require it at mine ? One drop of his blood is more worth than allmy pollutedblood. O how fatisfying a thing is this to the confcienceofapoor finner that is objecting the multitude, aggravations, and amazing circumſtances, of fins, against the poſſibility oftheirbeing pardoned !
Canſuch a finner as I be forgiven ? Yes, ifthou believeſt in Jeſus, thou mayeft; for foGod willloſe nothing in pardoning the greatest tranfgreffors: " Let Ifraelhope in the Lord ; for " with the Lord there is mercy, and with himis plenteous re- " demption," Pfal. cxxx. 7. i. e. a large ſtock ofmerit lying by him inthe blood of Chriſt, to pay him for all that you have doneagainst him .
Inference 5. Lastly, IfChrift hath made ſuch a full fatisfaction as youhaveheard, How much is it the concernment of every foul,toabandonallthoughts offatisfyingGodforhisownfins,and betake himself to the blood of Christ, the ransomer, by faith, that in that blood they may bepardoned ? It would grieve one's heart tofee howmany poor creatures are drudging and tugging ata1
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taſk of repentance, and revenge uponthemſelves, and reformation, and obedience, to fatisfyGod for what they havedone against him: And alas ! it cannot be, they do but loſe their labour ; could they ſwelter their very hearts out, weep till they canweep nomore, cry till their throats be parched, alas, they canneverrecompenfeGod for onevainthought; for fuch is the ſeverityofthe law, thatwhen it isonce offended, it will never be made amends again by all that we cando; it will notdiſcharge thefinner, for all the forrow inthe world.
Indeed, ifa manbe inChrift, forrow for fin is something, and renewed obedience is foinething; God looks upon them favourably, and accepts them graciouflyin Chrift : butoutofhim they fignify no more than the intreaties and cries of a condemned malefactor, to reverſe the legal fentence of the judge.
Youmay toil all the days of your life, and at night go tobed without a candle. To that ſenſe that ſcripture ſounds, Iſa. 1. 1 г. " Behold, all ye that kin- "dle a fire, that compaſsyourſelves about with ſparks ; walk
" in the light ofyour fire, and in the ſparks that you have " kindled: This ſmall ye have ofmine hand, ye ſhall lie down
" in forrow."
Byfire, and the light ofit, ſome underſtandthe fparkling pleaſures ofthis life, andthe fenfitivejoys of the creatures : but generally it is taken for our own natural righteoufneſs, and all acts ofduties, in order toour juftification by them beforeGod. And so it ſtands opposed to that faith of recumbencyſpoken of in the verſe before. By their compaffing themjelves about with thesesparks, underſtand their dependance on theſe theirduties,andglorying in them. Butfee the fatal iſſue,
Yeshall lie down inforrow : that ſhallbe your recompence from thehand ofthe Lord'; that is all the thanks and rewardyoumust expect fromhim, for flightingChriſt's, andpreferring your own righteoufneſs before his.
Reader, be convinced, that one actof faith in the Lord Jefus pleaſesGod more than allthe obedience, repentance, and ſtrivings to obey the law, through thy whole life, can do.
And thus you have the firſt ſpecial fruits of Chrift's priesthood, in the full fatisfaction of God, for allthe fins of believers.
VOL. I.