Sermons Preached on Several Occasions, Sermon 6
SERMON VI. Serm. VI.ABPreached on GOOD-FRYDAY before the Lord Mayor, &c.
HEBREWS XII. III.C
For, consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary, and faint in your minds.
IT hath never yet been so well with the DWorld, and we have no great reason to hope it ever will be so; that the best of things, or of men, should meet with entertainment in it, suitable to their own worth and excellency. If it were once to be hoped, that all Mankind would be wise and sober, that their judgements would be according to the truth of things, and their actions suitable to their judgements; we might then reasonably Eexpect that nothing would be valued so much as true goodness, nothing so much in contempt and disgrace as impiety and profaneness. But if we find it much otherwise in the Age we live in; we have so much the less cause to wonder at it; because it hath been thus, in those times we might have thought Awould have been far better than our own. I mean those times and ages, wherein there were not only great things first spoken and delivered to Mankind, but examples as great as the things themselves; but these did so little prevail on the stupid and unthankful world, that they among whom the Son of God did first manifest himself, seem'd only solicitous to make good one Prophesic concerning him, viz. That he should be despised and rejected of men. And they who suffer'd their malice to live as long as he did, were not contented to let it dye with him; but their fury increases as the Gospel does: and wherever it had Bspread it self, they pursue it with all the rude clamors, and violent persecutions which themselves or their factors could raise against it. This we have a large testimony of, in those Iewish Christians to whom this Epistle was written; who had no sooner embraced the Christian Religion, but they were set upon by a whole army of persecutions. Heb. 10. 32. But call to remembrance the former days, in which after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions. As though the great enemy of souls, and therefore of Christians, had watched the first opportunity to make the strongest impression upon Cthem, while they were yet young and unexperienced; and therefore less able to resist so sharp an encounter. He had found how unsuccessful the offer of the good things of this World had been with their Lord and Master; and therefore was resolved to try what a severer course would do with all his followers. But the same spirit by which he despised all the Glories of the World, which the Tempter would have made him believe he was the disposer of; enabled them with a mighty courage, and strange transports of joy, not only to bear their own share of reproaches and afflictions, but a part of theirs who Dsuffer'd with them, v. 33, 34. But lest through continual duty, occasion'd by the hatred of their persecutors, and the multitude of their afflictions; their courage should abate, and their spirits saint; the Apostle finds it necessary, not only to put them in mind of their former magnanimity; but to make use of all arguments that might be powerful with them, to keep up the same vigour and constancy of mind in bearing their sufferings, which they had at first. For he well knew, how much it would tend to the dishonour of the Gospel, as well as to their own discomfort; if after such an early proof of a Egreat and undaunted spirit, it should be said of them, as was once of a great Roman Captain, Ultima Primis cedebant; that they should decline in their reputation as they did in their years; and at last sink under that weight of duty which they had born with so much honour before. Therefore, as a Genetal Ain the Field, after a sharp and fierce encounter at first, with a mighty resolution by his Souldiers; when he finds by the number and fresh recruits of the enemy, that his smaller forces are like to be born down before them; and through meer weariness of fighting are ready to turn their backs, or yield themselves up to the enemies mercy; lie conjures them by the honour they have gain'd, and the courage they had already expressed, by their own interest, and the example of their Leaders, by the hopes of glory, and the fears of punishment, that they would bear the last shock of their enemies force, and rather Bbe the Trophies of their Courage than of their Triumphs: so does our Apostle, when he finds some among them begin to debate, whether they had best to stand it out or no; he conjures them, 1. By the remembrance of their own former courage, whereby they did bear as sharp tryals as these could be, with the greatest chearfulness and constancy; and what could they gain by yielding at last, but great dishonour to themselves, that they had suffer'd so long to no purpose, unless it were to discover their own weakness and inconstancy. 2. By the hopes of a reward which would surely follow their faithfulness; Cv. 35, 36. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise: and the time will not be long ere ye come to enjoy it, v. 37. but if ye draw back, you lose all your former labours, for he who alone is able to recompence you, hath said, that if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, v. 38. and then from the example of himself, and all the genuine followers of Christ, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul, v. 39. DBut lest these examples should not be enough to perswade them; he conjures them by the name of all those who were as eminent for the greatness of their minds as the strength of their Faith; who have despised the frowns as well as the smiles of the world; and were not discouraged by the severest tryals from placing their confidence in God, and their hopes in a life to come; and all this done by persons who had not received the Promise: Heb. 11. 39. and could there be a greater disparagement to the clearness of that light we enjoy above them, if we only grew fainter by it? And therefore in the beginning of this Chapter Ehe encourages them by that army of Martyrs which had gone before them, by that Cloud of witnesses which did both direct and refresh them, that they would lay aside every thing which was apt to oppress or dishearten them, but especially their sinful fears, which they were so easily betray'd by, and so run with patience Athe race that was set before them, v. 1. But, saith he, if none of these will prevail with you, there is an example yet behind, which ought above all others to heighten your courage, and that is, of the Captain of your salvation, the author and sinisher of your faith, under whom you serve, and from whom you expect your reward; and as Caesar once said to his Souldiers, when he saw them ready to retreat out of the field, Videte quem, & quo loco Imperatorem deserturi estis. Remember what kind of General you forsake, and in what place you leave him: one whom you have vow'd your lives and your service to, one who Bhath thought nothing too dear, which was to be done for your good, one that will be ready to reward the least service you can do for him, one that is ready to assist you to the utmost in what you undertake, one that hath already undergone far more for your sakes, than ever you can do for his; therefore, Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary, and faint in your minds.
In which words we have represented to us, the unparallel'd example of courage and patience under sufferings, in our Lord and Saviour; and the great influence that it ought to have on Call those who are call'd by his Name, that they would not dishonour so excellent a pattern of enduring sufferings, by weakness or dejection of mind. Christianity is a Religion which above all others does arm men against all the contingencies and miseries of the life of man: yea, it makes them serviceable to the most advantageous purpo…es that the greatest blessings can be designed for. It raises the minds of men higher than barely to consider, the common condition of humane nature, the unavoidableness of such things which are out of our own power, and the unreasonableness of tormenting our selves about the Dthings which are so, and that most mens conditions in the world as to their contentment, depends more upon their minds, than their outward circumstances; though these are things very fit for us as men to consider and make use of; yet they do not reach to that height, which the consideration of a life to come, and the tendency of all our sufferings here to the inhancement of our future glory may raise us to. Especially considering not only the weight of the arguments in themselves, but the force they receive from the example of him, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the Cross, and despised the shame, Eand is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. By which mighty instance we find, that the sufferings of this life are so far from being inconsistent with the joys of another, that he who is a…. 1….the Captain of salvation, was made perfect through sufferings, and therefore none of his followers have Acause to be dejected under them. But that we may the better understand the force of this argument, we shall consider,
1. What those things were which he endured.
2. From whom he suffer'd them, it was the contradiction of sinners against himself.
3. In that Way and manner he underwent them.
4. For what ends he did it. And when we have considered these, we shall see the influence this example of Christs sufferings ought to have upon our constancy and patience: which will be the most useful improvement of it to us.B
1. What those things were which Christ endured; which are here comprehended under those words, the contradiction of sinners. It is agreed by the best Expositors, both Greek and Latin, that under this phrase of the contradiction of sinners, the whole history of our Saviours sufferings is comprehended. All the injuries, reproaches, false accusations, all the cruelties, indignities, and violence, which were offer'd him, from the time of his publick appearance to his expiring upon the Cross, being undergone by him, by the malice of unreasonable men, may be call'd the contradiction of sinners. For the sense of this word Cextends as well to actions as words; and the sum of all that which our Saviour suffer'd from them, may be reduced under these heads. 1. The ill entertainment of his Doctrine. 2. The disparagement of his Miracles. 3. The violence offer'd to his Person.
1. The ill entertainment of his Doctrine; which must needs seem very strange to those who do not consider what a difficult access the clearest reason hath to the minds of such who are governed by interest and prejudice. Though all the Prophesies concerning the Messias were fulfilled in him; though Dthe expectations of the people were great at that time concerning the appearance of him that was to redeem his people; though all the characters of time, place, and person, did fully agree to what was foretold by the Prophets; though his Doctrine were as becoming the Son of God to reveal, as the sons of men to receive; though the unspot…ed innocency of his life were so great, as made him weary of his own that betray'd him: yet because he came not with the pomp and splendor which they expected, they despise his Person, revile his Doctrine, persecute his followers, and contrive his ruine. What Ecould have been imagined more probable, than that the Iewish Nation, which had waited long in expectation of the Messias coming, should have welcom'd his approach with the greatest joy, and receiv'd the Message he brought with a kindness only short of that which he shewed in coming among them? AWas it nothing to be eased of that heavy burden of the Ceremonial Law, which neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear? and that God was willing to exchange the chargeable and troublesome service of the Temple, for the more reasonable and spiritual Worship of himself? Was it nothing to have the Promises of a Land which now groaned under the weight of its oppressions, turned into those of an eternal state of bliss and immortality? and to change the Lamps of the Temple, for the glorious appearance of the Sun of Righteousness? Was it nothing to have an offer of Peace and Reconciliation with BGod made them, after they had suffer'd so much under the sury of his displeasure? Was a meer temporal deliverance by some mighty Conquerour from the subjection they were in to the Roman Power, so much more valuable a thing, than an eternal redemption from the powers of Hell and the Grave? Are the pomps and vanities of this present life, such great things in Gods account, that it was not possible for his Son to appear without them? Nay, how unsuitable had it been for one who came to preach humility, patience, self-denyal, and contempt of the world, to have made an ostentation of the CState and Grandeur of it? So that either he must have changed his Doctrine, or rendred himself lyable to the suspicion of seeking to get this world by the preaching of another. And if his Doctrine had been of another kind, he might have been esteemed a great person among the Iews, but not the Son of God, or the promised Messias, in whom all Nations of the Earth should be blessed. Which surely they would never have thought themselves to have been, in one, who must have subdued the neighbour Nations to advance the honour of his own. But since the Son of God thought fit to appear in another manner Dthan they expected him, they thought themselves too great to be saved by so mean a Saviour. If he had made all the Kingdoms of the Earth to have bowed under him, and the Nations about them to have been all tributaries to them; if Ierusalem had been made the Seat of an Empire as great as the World it self, they would then have gloried in his Name, and entertained whatever he had said, whether true or false, with a wonderful Veneration. But Truth in an humble dress meets with few admirers; they could not imagine so much Power and Majesty could ever shroud it self under so plain a disguise. EThus Christ a1 John 11.came to his own, and his own received him not. Yea, those that should have known him the best of all others; those who frequently conversed with him, and heard him speak as never man spake, and saw him do what never man did, were yet so blinded by the meanness of his Parentage and AEducation, that they baffle their own Reason, and persist in their Infidelity, because they knew the place and manner of his breeding; the names of his Mother and his Brethren and Sisters; aMatt. 13. 55, 56.are they not all with us? whence then hath this man all these things? As though, Is not this the Carpenters Son, had been sufficient answer to all he could say or do.
2. The disparagement of his Miracles. Since the bare proposal of his Doctrine, though never so reasonable, could not prevail with them to believe him to be the Son of God, he offers them a further proof of it by the mighty works which were Bwrought by him. And though the more ingenuous among them were ready to acknowledge, bJohn 3. 2.that no man could do the things which he did, unless God were with him: yet they who were resolved to hear and see, and not understand; when they found it not for their credit, to deny matters of fact so universally known and attested, they seek all the means to blast the reputation of them that may be. Sometimes raising popular insinuations against him, that he was a man of no austere life, a friend of Publicans and sinners, one that could choose no other day to do his works on, but that very day wherein God himself Cdid rest from his; and therefore no great regard was to be had to what such a one did. When these arts would not take, but the people found the benefit of his Miracles, in healing the sick, curing the blind and the lame, feeding the hungry; then they undervalue all these in comparison with the wonders that were wrought by Moses in the Wilderness. If he would have made the Earth to open her mouth, and swallow up the City and the power of Rome; if he would have fed a mighty Army with bread from Heaven, in stead of feeding some few thousands with very small Provisions; if in stead of raising one Lazarus Dfrom the Grave, he would have raised up their Sampsons, and their Davids, their men of spirit and conduct, whose very presence would have put a new life, into the hearts of the people; if in stead of casting out Devils, he would have cast out the Romans, whom they hated the worse of the two: if he would have set himself to the cure of a distempered State, instead of healing the maladies of some few inconsiderable persons: if instead of being at the expense of a Miracle to pay tribute, he would have hinder'd them from paying any at all; then a Second Moses would have been too mean a title for him, Ehe could have been no less than the promised Messias, the Son of God. But while he imploy'd his power another way, the demonstration of it made them hate him the more; since they thought with themselves what strange things they would have done with it for the benefit of their Country; and therefore Aexpress the greatest malice against him, because he would not imploy it as they would have him. From thence, they condemn his Miracles as only some effects of a Magical skill; and say, he dispossessed the lesser Devils by the power of him that was the Prince among them. So unworthy a requital did they make for all the mighty works which had been done among them; Which, as our Saviour saith, aMat. 11. 21.if they had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes.
3. But although all this argued a strange spirit of contradiction Bin them to all the designs for their own good; yet the malice from whence that rose, would not stop here; for as they had long contrived his ruine, so they watched only an opportunity to effect it. Which his frequent presence at Ierusalem seemed to put into their hands, but his reputation with the people made them fearful of embracing it. Therefore they imploy their Agents to deal privately with one of his Disciples who might be fittest for their design; and to work upon his covetous humour by the promise of a reward, to bring him to betray his Master with the greatest privacy into their hands. CThis Iudas undertakes, knowing the place and season of his Masters retirements, not far from the City, where they might with the greatest secrecy and safety seize upon his person. Which contrivance of theirs our Saviour was not at all ignorant of; but prepares himself and his Disciples for this great encounter. He institutes his solemn Supper, to be perpetually observed in remembrance of his death and sufferings, after which he discourses admirably with his Disciples, to arm them against their future sufferings; and prays that most divine Prayer, St. Iohn 17. which he had no sooner finished, Dbut he goes with his Disciples to the usual place of his retirement in a Garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. And now begins the blackest Scene of sufferings that ever was acted upon humane Nature. Which was so great, that the Son of God himself expresseth a more than usual apprehension of it; which he discovered by the Agony he was in, in which he sweat bLuk. 22 44drops of blood; by the earnestness of his Prayer, falling upon his knees, and praying thrice, saying, cMat 26. 39O my Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Surely, this Cup must needs Ehave a great deal of bitterness in it, which the Son of God was so earnest to be freed from. If there had been nothing in it but what is commonly incident to humane Nature, as to the apprehensions of death or pain, it seems strange, that he who had the greatest innocency, the most perfect charity, the Afreest resignation of himself, the fullest assurance of the reward to come, should express a greater sense of the horror of his sufferings, than thousands did, who suffer'd for his sake. But now was the hour come wherein the Son of God was to be made a Sacrifice for the sins of men; wherein he was to bear our griefs, and carry our sorrows, when he was aIsa 53 4, 5.to be wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; now bMat. 26. 38.his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death; for now cLuk. 22. 53.the hour of his enemies was come, and the power of darkness. And accordingly they improve it; they Bcome out against him as a Malefactor, with swords and staves, and having seized his Person, being betray'd into their hands by one of his Disciples, they carry him to the High Priests house, where his professed enemies presently condemn him of dMat. 26. 66, 67.Blasphemy, and not content with this, they express the greatest contempt of him, for they spit in his face, they buffet him, and smite him with the Palms of their hands, they mock him, and bid him prophesie who it was that smote him; so insolent was their malice grown, and so spightful was their indignation against him. And so fearful were they, lest he should Cescape their hands, that the very next morning early, they send him bound to the Roman Governour, to have the sentence pronounced against him, to whom they accuse him of Sedition and Treason; but Pilate upon examination of him declares, eLuk 23. 4.he found no fault in him; which made them heap more unreasonable calumnies upon him, being resolved by what means soever to take away his life. Nay, the price of the blood of the Son of God was fallen so low with them, that they preferred the life of a known seditious person, and a Murtherer before him. And when Pilate being unsatisfied, asked still, DfMat 27. 23what evil he had done? they continue their importunity without any other answer but Crucifie him and making up what wanted in Justice and Reason in the loudness of their clamors. And at last seeing the sury and madness of the people, with the protestation of his own innocency as to his blood, he delivers him up to the people; and now he is stripped, and scourged, and mock'd, with a Crown of Thorns, a Scarlet Robe, and a Reed in his hand: all the indignities they could think of, they put upon him. But though it pleased them, to have him exposed to all the ignominies imaginable, yet nothing would satisfie Ethem but his blood; and therefore he is led forth to be crucified, and though so lately scourged and weakened by his sorrows, yet he is made to carry his own Cross (at least through the City) for no other death could satisfie them, but the most ignominious, and painful. And when he was brought Ato the place of Crucifixion, they nail his hands and feet to the Cross, and while he was hanging there, they deride and mock him still, they devide his garments before his face, give him Gall and Vinegar to drink, and the last act of violence committed upon him, was the piercing of his side, so that out of his Pericardium issued aJoh. 19. 34.both water and blood. Thus did the Son of God suffer at the hands of unreasonable men; thus was the blood of that immaculate Lamb split by the hands of violence; and he who left the bosom of his Father, to bring us to glory, was here treated as if he had been unworthy to live Bupon the Earth.
2. But that which yet heightens these sufferings of Christ, is to consider, from whom he suffer'd these things, it was from sinners; which is as much as to say, from men, if the word were taken in the largest sense of it; for all have sinned; but being taken by us in opposition to othermen, so it implies a greater height of wickedness in these than in other persons. But this is not here to be consider'd absolutely, as denoting what kind of persons he suffer'd from, but with a particular respect to the nature of their proceedings with him, and the obligations Cthat lay upon them to the contrary. So that the first shews the injustice and unreasonableness of them; the second, their great ingratitude, considering the kindness and good will which he expressed towards them.
1. The Injustice and unreasonableness of their proceedings against him. It is true indeed, (what Socrates said to his wife, when she complained that he suffer'd unjustly, What, saith he, and would you have me suffer justly?) it is much greater comfort to the person who does suffer, when he does it unjustly but it is a far greater reflection on those who were the causes of Dit. And that our Blessed Saviour did suffer with the greatest injustice from these men, is apparent from the falseness and weakness of all the accusations which were brought against him. To accuse the Son of God for Blaphemy, in saying, he was so, is as unjust as to condemn a King for treason, because he saith he is a King: they ought to have examined the grounds on which he call'd himself so; and if he had not given pregnant evidences of it, then to have passed sentence upon him as an Impostor and Blasphemer. If the thing were true, that he was what he said, the Son of God, what horrible guilt was it in Ethem, to imbrue their hands in his blood? and they found he always attested it, and now was willing to lay down his life to confirm the truth of what he said. This surely ought at least to have made them more inquisitive into what he had affirmed; but they allow him not the liberty of a fair tryal, they hasten Aand precipitate the sentence, that they might do so the execution. If he were condemned as a false Prophet; (for that seems to be the occasion of the Sanhedrim meeting to do it, to whom the cognisance of that did particularly belong) why do they not mention what it was he had foretold, which had not come to pass; or what reason do they give why he had usurped such an Office to himself? If no liberty were allowed under pain of death for any to say, that they were sent from God, how was it possible for the Messias ever to appear, and not be condemned? for the expectation of him was, that he Bshould be a great person immediately sent from God, for the delivery of his people. And should he be sent from God, and not say that he was so? for how then could men know that he was? So that their way of proceeding with him, discovers it self to be manifestly unjust, and contrary to their own avowed expectations. Neither were they more successful in the accusation of him before Pilate; why did not the witnesses appear to make good the charge of sedition and treason against him? where were the proofs of any thing tending that way? Nay, that which abundantly testified the innocency of our CSaviour, as to all the matters he was accused of, was that the Roman Governour, after a full examination of the cause, declares him innocent, and that not only once but several times; and was fully satisfied in the Vindication he made of himself, so that nothing but the fear of what the Iews threatned, viz. accusing him to Caesar (a thing he had cause enough otherwise to be afraid of) which made him at last yield to their importunity. But there was one circumstance more which did highly discover the innocency of Christ, and the injustice of his sufferings, which was Iuda's confession and end; the man who Dhad betray'd his Lord, and had receiv'd the wages of his iniquity; but was so unquiet with it, that in the time when his other Disciples durst not own him, he with a great impetus returns to them with his Money, throws it among them with that sad farewel to them all, aMat. 27. 4.I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. What could have been said more for his Vindication at this time than this was, by such a person as Iudas, one who had known our Saviour long, and had been the fittest instrument, if any guilt could have been fasten'd upon him, to have managed the accusation against him; but Ethe anxiety of his mind was too great for what he had done already, to live to do them any longer service; for either his grief suffocated him, or his guilt made him hang himself; for the words will signifie either. Neither can it be said by any modern Iews, that all the testimony we have of these things Ais from his own Disciples; but that certainly they had some greater matter to accuse him of; which we now have lost. For how is it possible to conceive, that a matter so important as that was, should be lost by those of their own Nation, who were so highly concerned to vindicate themselves in all places, as soon as the Gospel was spread abroad in the World? For the guilt of this blood was every where by the Christians charged upon them; and their prodigious sufferings afterwards were imputed wholly by them to the shedding of that blood of Christ, which by a most solemn imprecation they had said, should Bbe upon them and their Children. Besides, how comes Celsus, who personates a Iew opposing Christianity, to mention no other accusations against him but those recorded in the Gospel; and aOrig. c. Cels. l. 3. p. 123.Origen challenges him or any other person to charge him with any action which might deserve punishment. And which is very observable, Porphyrie, one of the most inveterate enemies of Christianity, and that took as much pains to write against it as any, and had more learning to do it with, yet in his Book of the Philosophy of Oracles, as bAugust. de Civit. Dei, l. 19. c. 23.St. Augustin tells us, quotes an Oracle wherein were these words Cconcerning Christ, And what became of him after his death? it saith, that his Soul was immortal, cCur ergo damnatus est? responait Dea: corpus quidem debilitantibus tormentis semper oppositum est, anima autem piorum coelasti s…ai insidet.Viri pietate praestantissimi est illa anima, and that it was the soul of a most excellent person for piety; and being then asked, why he was condemned? the answer only is, that the body (of the best) is exposed to weakning torments, but the Soul rests in heavenly habitations. So that on no account can this contradiction appear to be otherwise than an act of great injustice and cruelty, and therefore must needs be the contradiction of sinners.
2. This contradiction of theirs to Christ was an act of high DIngratitude. It was a sharp but very just rebuke which the Iews received from our Saviour, when they were once ready to stone him; dJoh. 10. 32.Many good works have I shewed you from my Father, for which of those works do you stone me? The very same might have been applyed to his Judges and accusers; when they were about to crucifie him. For what was his whole Life after he appeared publickly, but a constant design of doing good? His presence had far more vertue for the curing all bodily distempers, than the Pool of Bethesda among the Iews, or the Temples of Aesculapius among the Gentiles. What wonders Ewere made of very small things done by other persons, as the cure of a blind Man by Vespasian! when such multitudes of far more certain and considerable cures, can hardly keep up the reputation of any thing extraordinary in him. But though his kindness was great to the bodies of men, where they were fit Aobjects of pity and compassion; yet it was far greater to their souls, that being more agreeable to the design of his coming into the World; for the other tended to raise such an esteem of him as might make him the more successful in the cure of their Souls. And to shew, that this was his great business, wherever he comes, he discourses about these things, takes every opportunity that might be improved for that end, refuses no company he might do good upon, and converses not with them with the pride and arrogance of either the Pharisees or Philosophers, but with the greatest meekness, humility and Bpatience. How admirable are his more solemn discourses, especially that upon the Mount, and that wherein he takes leave of his Disciples! How dry and insipid are the most sublime discourses of the Philosophers compared with these! how clearly doth he state our Duties, and what mighty encouragements does he give to practise them! how forcibly does he perswade men to self-denyal and contempt of the world! how excellent and holy are all his Precepts! how serviceable to the best interest of men in this life and that to come! how suitable and desireable to the souls of good men are the rewards he promises! Cwhat exact rule of Righteousness hath he prescribed to men, in doing as they would be done by! with what vehemency doth he rebuke all hypocrisie and Pharisaism! with what tenderness and kindness does he treat those that have any real inclinations to true goodness! with what earnestness does he invite, and with what love doth he embrace all repenting sinners! with what care doth he instruct, with what mildness doth he reprove, with what patience doth he bear with his own disciples! Lastly, with what authority did he both speak and live, such as commanded a reverence, where it did not beget a love! And yet Dafter a life thus spent, all the requital he met with, was to be reproached, despised, and at last crucified. O the dreadful effects of malice and hypocrisie! for these were the two great enemies which he always proclaimed open war with; and these at first contrived, and at last effected his cruel death. What baseness, ingratitude, cruelty, injustice, (and what not?) will those two sins betray men to, when they have once taken possession of the hearts of men! for we can find nothing else at the bottom of all that wretched conspiracy against our Saviour; but that his doctrine and design was too pure and holy for them; Eand therefore they study to take him away who was the author of them.
3. We consider, in what way and manner, our Saviour underwent all these sufferings; and this as much as any thing is here propounded to our consideration. For it is not only who, Aor what, but in what manner he endured the contradiction of sinners, that we ought to consider, to prevent fainting and dejection of mind. So another Apostle tells us, aPet 2. 21. 22, 23.that Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who when he was reviled, reviled not again: when he suffered, he threatned not, but committed himself to him that judged righteously. He uses none of those ranting expressions which none of the patientest persons in the world were accustomed to; of bidding them laugh in Phalaris his Bull; and when they were Bracked with pains, to cry out, Nil agis dolor: he tells them not, that it is their duty to have no sense of torments, and to be jocund and pleasant when their flesh is torn from them, or nailed to a Cross; if this be any kind of fortitude, it is rather that of a Gladiator than of a wise man or a Christian. The worst of men either through a natural temper of body, or having hardned themselves by custom, have born the greatest torments with the least expression of grief under them. And Panaetius, one of the wisest of the Stoicks, is so far from making insensibleness of pain the property of a wise man, that he makes it not the property Cof a man. The inferiour Creatures are call'd Brutes from their dulness and insensibleness, and not meerly from want of reason, any further than that one follows from the other: bP…i…. Nat. Hist. l. 11. 37.bruta existimantur animalium quibus cor durum riget, saith Pliny, those animals are call'd Brutes which have the hardest hearts: and the nearer any of them approach to the nature of man, the more apprehensive they are of danger, and the more sensible of pain; thence cScali…. hist. a…i…. l 2 sect. 133.Scaliger saith of the Elephant, that it is maximabellua, sed non maximè bruta, though it be the greatest beast, it is the least a Brute. Stupidity then Dunder sufferings can be no part of the excellency of a man; which in its greatest height is in the Beings the most beneath him. But when danger is understood, and pain felt, and Nature groans under it, then with patience and submission to undergo it, and to conquer all the strugglings of Nature against it, that is the duty and excellency of a Christian. If to express the least sense of grief and pain, be the highest excellency of suffering, the Macedonian boy that suffer'd his flesh to be burnt by a Coal, till it grew offensive to all about him, without altering the posture of his arm, lest he should disturb Alexanders Esacrifice, out-did the greatest Philosophers of them all. Possidonius his pitiful rant over a fit of the Gout, so highly commended by Pompey and d…. l. 2.Tully; O pain, it is to no purpose; though thou beest troublesome, I will never confess thou art evil; falls extremely short of the resolution of the Macedonian boy, Aor any of the Spartan Youths, who would not in the midst of torments so much as confess them troublesome. And what a mighty revenge was that, that he would not confess it to be evil, when his complaint that it was troublesome, was a plain argument that he thought it so. It is not then the example of Zeno or Cleanthes, or the rules of Stoicism, which Dionysius Heracleotes, in a fit of the Stone complained of the solly of, that are to be the measures of patience, and courage in bearing sufferings; but the example and Precepts of our Lord and Saviour, who expressed a great sense of his sufferings, Bbut withal the greatest submission under them. When aAab. Miraus i… … i…â Lips…i p. 60.Lipsius lay a dying, and one of the by-standers knowing how conversant he had been in the Stoicks writings, began to suggest some of their Precepts to him, Vana sunt ista, said he, I find all those but vain things; and beholding the Picture of our Saviour near his bed, he pointed to that, and cryed, haec vera est patientia: there is the true pattern of Patience. For, notwithstanding that Agony he was in immediately before his being betray'd, when he sees the Officers coming towards him, he asks them whom they seek for? and tells them, I am he; which Cwords so astonished them, bJoh. 18. 6.that they went back, and fell upon the ground: thereby letting them understand how easie a matter it was for him to have escaped their hands; and that it was his own free consent, that he went to suffer, for he knew certainly before hand, the utmost that he was to undergo, and therefore it was no unreasonable impetus, but a settled resolution of his mind to endure all the contradictions of sinners. When he was spit upon, mocked, reproached and scourged, none of all these could draw one impatient expression from him. The malice and rage of his enemies did not at all provoke him; unless Dit were to pity and pray for them. And that he did, with great earnestness in the midst of all his pains: and though he would not plead for himself to them, yet he pleads for them to God; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. How much more divine was this, than the admired Theramenes among the Greeks, who being condemned to dye by the thirty Tyrants, when he was drinking off his cup of Poyson, said, he drank that to Critias, one of his most bitter enemies, and hoped he would pledge it shortly. Socrates seemed not to express seriousness enough at least, when he bid one of Ehis friends, when he was dying, offer up a Cock to Aesculapius for his deliverance. Aristides and Phocion among the Greeks came the nearest to our Saviours temper, when one pray'd, that his Country might have no cause to remember him when he was gone, and the other charged his Son, to forget Athe injuries they had done him; but yet by how much the greater the person and office was of our Blessed Saviour, than of either of them, by how much the cruelty and ignominy, as well as pain was greater which they exposed him to, by how much greater concernment there is to have such an offence pardon'd by one that can punish it with eternal misery, than not revenged by those, who though they may have will, have not always power to execute; so much greater was the kindness of our Saviour to his enemies, in his Prayer upon the Cross, than of either of the other, in their concernment for Bthat ungrateful City, that had so ill requited their services to it. Thus when the Son of God was oppressed, and afflicted, aIsa. 53. 7.he opened not his mouth, but only in Prayer for them, who were his bitter enemies; and though nothing had been more easie than for him to have cleared himself from all their accusations, who had so often baffled them before; yet he would not now give them that suspicion of his innocency, as to make any Apology for himself; but committed himself to God that judges righteously, and was brought as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers was dumb, so he Copened not his mouth. And the reason thereof was, he knew what further design for the good of mankind was carrying on by the bitterness of his passion, and that all the cruel usage he underwent, was that he might be a sacrifice of atonement so the sins of the World. Which leads to the last thing propounded to our consideration.
4. Which is, the causes why God was pleased to suffer his Son to endure such contradiction of sinners against himself. I know it is an easie answer to say, that God had determin'd it should be so, and that we ought to enquire no further: but Dsure such an answer can satisfie none who consider, how much our salvation depends upon the knowledge of it, and how clear and express the Scripture is in assigning the causes of the sufferings of Christ. Which though as far as the instruments were concerned in it, we have given an account of already, yet considering the particular management of this grand affair by the care of divine Providence, a higher account must be given of it, why so divine and excellent a person should be exposed to all the contempt and reproach imaginable, and after being made a sacrifice to the tongues and rods of the Epeople, then to dye a painful and ignominious death? So that allowing but that common care of divine Providence, which all sober Heathens acknowledged, so transcendent sufferings as these were, of so holy and innocent a person, ought to be accounted for, in a more than ordinary manner; Awhen they thought themselves concerned to vindicate the Justice of Gods providence in the common calamities of those who are reputed to be better than the generality of Mankind. But the reasons assigned in that common case will not hold here, since this was a person immediately sent from God upon a particular message to the World, and therefore might plead an exemption by vertue of his Ambassage from the common Arrests and troubles of humane nature. But it was so far otherwise, as though God had designed him on purpose to let us see how much misery humane nature can undergo. Some Bthink themselves to go as far as their reason will permit them; when they tell us, that he suffer'd all these things to confirm the truth of what he had said, and particularly the Promise of Remission of sins, and that he might be an example to others, who should go to Heaven by suffering afterwards, and that he might, being touched with the feeling of our infirmities here, have the greater pity upon us now he is in Heaven. All these I grant to have been true and weighty reasons of the sufferings of Christ, in subordination to greater ends, but if there had been nothing beyond all this, I can neither understand why he should Csuffer so deeply as he did, nor why the Scripture should insist upon a far greater reason more than upon any of these? I grant, the death of Christ did confirm the truth of his Doctrine, as far as it is unreasonble to believe that any one who knew his Doctrine to be false, would make himself miserable to make others believe it; but if this had been all intended, why would not an easier and less ignominious death have served? since he who would be willing to die to confirm a falshood, would not be thought to confirm a truth by his death, because it was painful and shameful. Why, if all his sufferings were Ddesigned as a testimony to others, of the truth of what he spake, were the greatest of his sufferings, such as none could know the anguish of them but himself, I mean his Agony in the Garden, and that which made him cry out upon the Cross: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why were not his Miracles enough to confirm the truth of his Doctrine? since the Law of Moses was received without his death, by the evidence his Miracles gave that he was sent from God; since the Doctrine of remission of sins had been already deliver'd by the Prophets, and received by the People of the Iews; Esince those who would not believe for his Miracles sake, neither would they believe though they should have seen him rise from the Grave, and therefore not surely because they saw him put into it. But of all things, the manner of our Saviours sufferings seems least designed to bring the World to the Abelief of his Doctrine, which was the main obstacle to the entertainment of it among the men of greatest reputation for wisdom and knowledge. For it was a1 Cor. 1. 23Christ crucified, which was to the Iews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. Had the Apostles only preached that the Son of God had appeared from Heaven, and discovered the only way to bring men thither, that he assumed our Nature for a time to render himself capable of conversing with us, and therein had wrought many strange and stupendious miracles, but after he had sufficiently acquainted the World with the nature of Bhis doctrine, he was again assumed up into Heaven; in all probability, the doctrine might have been so easily received by the world, as might have saved the lives of many thousand persons, who dyed as Martyrs for it. And if it had been necessary that some must have dyed to confirm it, why must the Son of God himself do it? when he had so many Disciples who willingly sacrificed their lives for him, and whose death would on that account have been as great a confirmation of the truth of it as his own. But if it be alledged further, bQuod caet…a etiam foede…a c…so a…imali ali …o s… ciri, & sa…g…i… ejus co…fir… ari solerent. Crell. c. Grot. ad cap. 1. p. 29.that God now entring into a Covenant with man for the pardon of sin, Cthe shedding of the blood of Christ was necessary as a federal rite to confirm it. I answer, if only as a federal rite, why no cheaper blood would serve to confirm it but that of the Son of God? We never read that any Covenant was confirmed by the death of one of the contracting parties; and we cannot think that God was so prodigal of the blood of his Son, to have it shed only in allusion to some ancient customs. But if there were such a necessity of alluding to them, why might not the blood of any other person have done it? when yet all that custom was no more, but that a sacrifice should be offer'd, and Dupon the parts of the sacrifice devided, they did solemnly swear and ratifie their Covenant. cV. Hei…s. not. ad Sil. p. 9. 10.And if this be yielded them, it then follows from this custom, that Christ must be consider'd as a sacrifice in his death; and so the ratification of the Covenant must be consequent to that oblation which he made of himself upon the Cross. Besides, how incongruous must this needs be, that the death of Christ the most innocent person in the World, without any respect to the guilt of sin, should suffer so much on purpose to assure us, that God will pardon those who are guilty of it? May we not much rather Einfer the contrary, considering the holiness and justice of Gods nature; if he dealt so severely with the green tree, how much more will he with the dry? If one so innocent suffer'd so much, what then may the guilty expect? If a Prince should suffer the best subject he hath, to be severely punished, could ever Aany imagine that it was with a design to assure them that he would pardon the most rebellious? No; but would it not rather make men afraid of being too innocent, for fear of suffering too much for it? And those who seem very careful to pre…erve the honour of Gods Justice, in not punishing one for anothers faults, ought likewise to maintain it in the punishing of one who had no fault at all to answer for. And to think to escape this by saying, that to such a person such things are calamities, but no punishments, is to revive the ancient exploded Stoicism, which thought to reform the diseases of BMankind by meer changeing the names of things, though never so contrary to the common sense of humane nature: which judges of the nature of punishments by the evils men undergo, and the ends they are designed for. And by the very same reason that God might exercise his dominion on so innocent a person as our Saviour was, without any respect to sin as the moving cause to it, he might lay eternal torments on a most innocent Creature (for degrees and continuance do not alter the reason of things) and then escape with the same evasion, that this was no act of injustice in God, because it was Ca meer exercise of Dominion. And when once a sinner comes to be perswaded by this that God will pardon him, it must be by the hopes that God will shew kindness to the guilty, because he shews so little to the innocent; and if this be agreeable to the Justice and Holiness of Gods nature, it is hard to say what is repugnant to it. If to this it be said, that Christs consent made it no unjust exercise of Dominion in God towards him: it is easily answered, that the same consent will make it less injustice in God to lay the punishment of our sins upon Christ, upon his undertaking to satisfie for as; for then the Dconsent supposes a meritorious cause of punishment; but in this case the consent implyeth none at all. And we are now enquiring into the reasons of such sufferings, and consequently of such a consent; which cannot be imagined but upon very weighty motives, such as might make it just in him to consent, as well as in God to inflict.
Neither can it be thought that all the design of the sufferings of Christ, was to give us an example and an incouragement to suffer our selves; though it does so in a very great measure, as appears by the Text it self. For the hopes of an eternal reward Efor these short and light afflictions, ought to be encouragement enough, to go through the miseries of this life in expectation of a better to come. And the Cloud of Witnesses, both under the Law and the Gospel, of those who have suffer'd for righteousness sake, ought to make no one think it strange, Aif he must endure that, which so many have done before him, and been crowned for it. And lastly, to question whether Christ could have pity enough upon us in our sufferings, unless he had suffer'd so deeply himself; will lead men to distrust the pity and compassion of Almighty God, because he was never capable of suffering, as we do. But the Scripture is very plain and full (to all those who rack not their minds to pervert it) in assigning a higher reason than all these of the sufferings of Christ, viz. That a1 Pet. 3. 18.Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust; that bIsa. 53. 10.his soul was made an offering for sin, and that the BLord therefore as on a sacrifice of atonement, cV. 6.laid on him the iniquities of us all: that, through the eternal Spirit, dHeb. 9. 14. V. 27.he offer'd himself without spot to God, and did appear to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; that he was made a propitiation for our sins; that, e1 John 2. 2, 4, 10.he laid down his life as a price of Redemption for Mankind; that, f1 Tim 6. 2.through his blood we obtain Redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, which in a more particular manner is attributed g1 Cor. 6. 20.to the blood of Christ, as the procuring cause of it. That he dyed Ephes. 1. 7.hCol. 1. 14.to reconcile God and us together; and that iRom. 3. 24, 25.the Ministery Cof Reconciliation, is founded kRom. 5. 10.on Gods making him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him: and that we may not think that all this Reconciliation respects us and not God; he is said l2 Cor. 5. 19, 21.to offer up himself to God; and for this cause to be a Mediator of the New Testament, and mHeb. 9. 14, 15.to be a faithful high-Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people: nHeb. 2. 17.and every high-Priest, taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God; not appointed by God in things meerly tending to the good of men; which Dis rather the Office of a Prophet than a Priest. So that from 5. 1.all these places it may easily appear, that the blood of Christ is to be looked on as a sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the World. Not as though Christ did suffer the very same which we should have suffer'd, for that was eternal death as the consequent of guilt in the person of the Offender, and then the discharge must have been immediately consequent upon the payment, and no room had been left for the freeness of remission, or for the conditions required on our parts; But that God was pleased to accept of the death of his Son, as a full, Eperfect, sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the World; as our Church expresseth it; and in consideration of the sufferings of his Son, is pleased to offer pardon of sin upon sincere repentance, and eternal life upon a …y obedience to his will. Thus much for the things we are to consider Aconcerning the contradiction of sinners which Christ endured against himself.
Nothing now remains, but the influence that ought to have upon us, lest we be weary and faint in our minds. For which end I shall suggest two things.
1. The vast disproportion between Christs sufferings and ours.
2. The great encouragement we have from his sufferings, to bear our own the better.
1. The vast Disproportion between Christs sufferings and Bour own. Our lot is fallen into suffering times; and we are apt enough to complain of it. I will not say it is wholly true of us, what the Moralist saith generally of the complaints of men, Non quia dura sed quia molles patimur; that it is not the hardness of our conditions so much as the softness of our spirits which makes us complain of them. For I must needs say, this City hath smarted by such a series and succession of judgements which few Cities in the world could parallel in so short a time. The Plague hath emptied its houses, and the fire consumed them; the War exhausted our spirits, and it were well if Peace Crecovered them. But still these are but the common calamities of humane nature, things that we ought to make account of in the World; and to grow the better by them. And it were happy for this City; if our thankfulness and obedience were but answerable to the mercies we yet enjoy: let us not make our condition worse by our fears; nor our fears greater than they need to be: for no enemy can be so bad as they. Thanks be to God our condition is much better at present than it hath been; let us not make it worse by fearing it may be so. Complaints will never end till the World does; and we may imagine Dthat will not last much longer; when the City thinks it hath trade enough, and the Country riches enough. But I will not go about to perswade you that your condition is better than it is, for I know it is to no purpose to do so; all men will believe as they feel. But suppose our condition were much worse than it is; yet what were all our sufferings compared with those of our Saviour for us? the sins that make us smart, wounded him much deeper; they pierced his side, which only touch our skin, we have no cause to complain of the bitterness of that Cup which he hath drunk off the dreggs of already. We lament Eover the ruins of a City, and are revived with any hopes of seeing it rise out of the dust; but Christ saw the ruins that sin caused in all mankind, he undertook the repairing them, and putting men into a better condition than before: And we may easily think what a difficult task he had of it; when he came Ato restore them who were delighted in their ruins, and thought themselves too good to be mended. It is the comfort of our miseries, (if they be only in this life) that we know they cannot last long; but that is the great aggravation of our Saviours sufferings, that the contradiction of sinners continues against him still. Witness, the Atheism, I cannot so properly call it, as the Antichristianism of this present Age; wherein so many profane persons act over again the part of the Scribes and Pharisees; they slight his Doctrine, despise his Person, disparage his miracles, contemn his Precepts, and undervalue Bhis Sufferings. Men live as if it were in defiance to his holy Laws; as though they feared not what God can do, so much as to need a Mediator between him and them. If ever men tread under foot the Son of God, it is when they think themselves to be above the need of him; if ever they count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing, it is not only when they do not value it as they ought, but when they exercise their profane wits upon it. Blessed Saviour! was it not enough for thee to bear the contradiction of sinners upon Earth; but thou must still suffer so much at the hands of those whom thou dyedst for, that Cthou mightest bring them to Heaven? was it not enough for thee to be betrayed on Earth, but thou must be defied in Heaven? Was it not enough for thee to stoop so low for our sakes, but that thou shouldest be trampled on because thou didst it? was the ignominious death upon the Cross too small a thing for thee to suffer in thy Person, unless thy Religion be contemned, and exposed to as much shame and mockery as thy self was? Unhappy we, that live to hear of such things! but much more unhappy if any of our sins have been the occasion of them: If our unsuitable lives to the Gospel have open'd the mouths of Dany against so excellent a Religion. If any malice and revenge, any humour and peevishness, any pride or hypocrisie, any sensuality and voluptuousness, any injustice, or too much love of gain, have made others despise that Religion which so many pretend to, and so few practise. If we have been in any measure guilty of this, as we love our Religion, and the honour of our Saviour, let us endeavour by the holiness and meekness of our spirits, the temperance and justice of our actions, the patience and contentedness of our minds, to recover the honour of that Religion which only can make us happy, and our EPosterity after us.
2. What Encouragement we have from the sufferings of Christ, to bear our own the better; because we see by his example that God deals no more hardly with us, than he did with his own Son, if he laies heavy things upon us. Why should we Athink to escape, when his own Son underwent so much? if we meet with reproaches, and ill usage, with hard measure, and a mean condition, with injuries and violence, with mockings and affronts, nay with a shameful and a painful death, what cause have we to complain, for did not the Son of God undergo all these things before us? If any of your Habitations have been consumed, that you have been put to your shifts where to lodge your selves, or your Families; consider, that aMat. 8. 20.though the Foxes have holes, and the Birds of the Air have nests, yet the Son of Man had not whereon to lay his head. If your condition Bbe mean and low, think of him, bPhil. 2. 6, 7.who being in the form of God, took upon him the form of a servant; and c2 Cor. 8. 9.though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that through his poverty ye might be made rich. If you are unjustly defamed and reproached, consider what contumelies and disgraces the Son of God underwent for you. If you are in pain and trouble, think of his Agony and bloody sweat, the nailing of his hands and feet to the Cross, to be a sacrifice for the expiation of your sins. Never think much of undergoing any thing, whereby dRom. 8. 29.you may be conformable to the Image of the Son of God, knowing Cthis, eV. 17.that if ye suffer with him, ye shall also be glorified together. And you have never yet set a true estimate and value upon things, if you fV. 18.reckon the sufferings of this present. life worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. Which Glory ought always to bear up our minds under our greatest afflictions here; and the thoughts of that, will easily bring us to the thoughts of his sufferings, who gHeb. 9. 12.by his own blood purchased an eternal redemption for us. Therefore, consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary, and faint in your minds.D