A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 102 (Question 27 cont.)
SERMON CII.
II. WE proceed to conſider of the N… of Christ's Death; as acc… whereof we may take up in the opening … the following Deſcription; Christ's De… … the last part of his Humiliation, in which … … luntarily ſuffered the penalty of our S…, … therein made Satisfaction to revenging … on our behalf.
BY the Death of Chriſt, we are not … to underſtand, the ſeparation of his S…l and Body each from the other, or thoſe ou… ſufferings which he felt from the ha… … ſinners, which were but a part, and the … part of his Sufferings; but his whole p… Obedience, though more eſpecially … which he underwent in the cloſe of his L… and with which he ended it. And he… … ſomething more general, and ſomething … ſpecial to be obſerved.
I. MORE general; It is the last part of … Humiliation. And here three things … diſtinctly taken notice of;
1. THAT Chriſt's Death appertains is … Humiliation. This the Apoſtle takes particular notice of, Phil. 2.8. And being ſ… in faſhion as a man, he humbled himſelf; … became obedient unto death, even the death of the croſs. And this is of great weight to be remembred: for, we before obſerved, the Chriſt's Humiliation was his Abaſement, wherein he ſubmitted to the law for us, … that whatſoever belongs to his Humiliation muſt be referred to his mediatorial S… ſhip, and ſo reckoned as done in t…e name, and for the ſake of his Choſen, as ſtanding … anſwer …e Law of God in their behalf, … was obediential, or an act of obedience … the Law, and ſo anſwered the Law for … that point wherein we were to have ſuffered And except we look upon it under this conſideration, we miſs of the great deſign … Chriſt's dying. Paul put the empheſis them …. 2.20. Who loved me, and gave himſelf for …
2. IT is a part of his Humiliation. Some …es, otherwiſe Orthodox, do make it to ag…ſs his whole Humiliation, and reſtrain is whole merit and ſatisfaction to his Death, …d will allow nothing elſe of what he did … be ſatisfactory and meritorious for us, but … his Sufferings; accounting his habitual …e…cy, and active obedience, to be only …peratory, or qualities ſitting him to merit … dying. But they ert in this point. There … a rea…eld reſpect, or ſubſerviency, that … man bears to the Law of God, which …ites anſwerably a double obedience from …is Surety: one as he is a man, the other as … is a ſinner.
(1.) AS he is a man, the Law is the rule of … happineſs. It tells him what man muſt do if he will be bleſſed; That active obedience which is required in the moral Law, is the very condition of man's felicity; and it is a ſtanding, perpetual, and unchangeable …le, Math, 5.18. And what doth it ſay? See, Iſal. 56.2 Ja…. 1.25. Now, though the ſ…ll of man hath diſabled him from doing what is required in the Law, yet it hath not …gaged him from the Law, or releaſed the condition of it. Man was by creation, …ither happy not miſerable, but equally capable of either. The Law told him what he muſt do to be happy, and aſſured him of miſery upon his default: ſo that, let his imp…cy be now what it will, yet it ſtill re… agreat truth, that if man would be happy, he muſt have an obdience to preſent the great Judge withal, which is commen… with the Rule, that ſaith, Thou ſ…alt … the Lord thy God with all thy Soul, &c. This perfect rule muſt he perfectly attended; and if he have no ſuch Obedience of his own, he muſt have that of Chriſt's to ſtand for him. It therefore became him to ſu…fi…l all righteouſ…, Math, 3.25.
(2) As he is a ſinner, (which is the condition of all Adam's natural Poſterity.) ſo the … declares him miſerable, and holds him …der the ſentence of Death, having paſt it upon him. For man's diſobediene brought death into the world, and the Law hath arſed the diſobedient, and holds him hound … to ſuffer Death for ſin, ſo that he muſt …ds die: And if Chriſt will free him from this curſed ſtare, He muſt become a curſe and the for him. And as it was not enough for … to ſuffer Death for man without meriting life for him; ſo neither is it ſurficient to …erit life, unleſs he withal undergo Death: for there is a curſe upon him which … be removed, elſe that merit cannot take place: and this is done by dying. So that there are both of theſe in Chriſt's Humiliation, and his Death is a part, and not the whole of it.
(3.) IT is the laſt part. There is firſt his active, and then his paſſive Obedience. It is laſt …eth in order of Nature: Active Obedience belongs to this life: it muſt be done whiles a man lives, or elſe it avails not: there is no working for a reward in the Grave, Eccl. 9.10. there muſt be then firſt merit, and then ſatisfaction. And it is laſt in order of Time: for, though it is a truth, that Chriſt was a ſufferer from his Infancy, and his life was a dying life, as hath been obſerved in the ſeveral parts, and paſſages of it; Herd perſecutes him in his Cradle, and he was all his days a man of ſorrows; Yet his great Suffering, in which he finiſhed the work of man's Redemption, came at the laſt, after he had done his other work; and in which he laid down his life, according to Jeb, 17. a
2. …RE specially; the Death of Chriſt is ſet forth in the remainder of the Deſcription; The principal whereof may be reduced to theſe four heads,
1. THE quality of his Death; viz. it was the ſuffering of the penalty of our ſins. And here two things are contained,
(1.) THAT it was for, or upon the account of ſin, that Chriſt died. There is an emphaſis in that, Rom. 5.6. Chriſt died for the unp…dly. It was not the malice of Satan, not the ſpite of the Jews, that properly brought him to his Croſs, but the ſin of man. The Scripture acquaints us, that the demerit or cages of ſin, is death, Rom. 6.23. And where there is no ſin, the Law inflicts no death. But we obſerved, that Chriſt's Death was in obedience to the Law, it being part of his Humiliation. Death is a puniſhment, and ſo cannot legally be inflicted, but where ſin is imputed. And this further appears, becauſe it was God who put him to this grief. Iſai 52.10. If it had been only men, it might have been imputed to their injuſtice; but it was God, the righteous Judge, and therefore there muſt needs be ſin in the caſe: but there was no ſin of his own, for He had none, and therefore it muſt be the ſin of others, Beſides, the Death of Chriſt was a Curſe that fell upon him, as, Gol. 3.12 And there is no Curſe but for ſin. Yea, the Prophet tells us that this was the procuring cauſe of all his Sufferings Iſal 52.5.
(2) THAT Chriſt in his Death ſuffered the deſerved penaty of our Sins. He not only died for ſin, but he bate the demerit of ſin in dying. His Death was the ſame, for the ſubſtance of it, that curs ſhould have been. It was proportioned to the threatning. Gen. 2.17. Thou ſhalt ſurely die. When we meditate on Chriſt's Death, we are not to bound our thoughts to thoſe outward and bodily Sufferings which he felt from wicked men; for, tho' they were great, yet there are other of his Servants, who have met with as great in their ſuffering for his Name: but there was no Grief like that which he underwent. He put himſelf in the rom of his Elect, and delivered himſelf up into the hand of divine Juſtice, that it might do to him, as it would have done with them for whom he undertook; and it did ſo. Hence he is ſaid, to bear our grief, Iſai. 53.4. i. the. ſame that we ſhould have born: the Law had not elſe been anſwered; the threatting of it had not been accompliſhed; M…rcy & Truth, could not elſe … each …ther in our Salvation: God might have been merciful, but He could not have been i…ſt…in pardoning and ſaving us without this. If therefore we would know how much Chriſt ſuffered, we muſt conſider how much out Si… Cet…rved, and expoſed us unto; for Chriſt is ſaid to he made Sin for us, 2 Cor. 5.21. i. e. a Sin Offering. Now, the Prieſt was to confeſs the Sins of the Sacrificer, ever his Offering, and lay his Hand upon the Picad of it and it was to bear the Guilt and Penalty in dying: Hence Chriſt is ſaid to offer his Sial a S…riſce for Sin, Iſa. 53.10. Now it was infinite Wrath which Sin deſerved; and therefore the moſt extreme Paniſament was the to the Sinner; and ſo, w…atſ…ver was the Eſſence of that Puniſhment, Chriſt underwent: What that was, will appear when we conſider His Death in its Parts; but here in ſum, It was what was due t… us. O…ly remember, that it was …he Eſſence of our Pa…iſhme…: For there were many things which were not eſſential; but o…ly A…unds and Conſ…quents, which c…me upon Man, conſidered, either as a finite Creature … is a Sin er… which Chriſt was exampted from: A…d they were ſuch as Chriſt's Holineſs and Dignity, tendered him in…anable or. And this principally i…w: reſpects. [1.] IN regard …. To ſuffer eternaly is not of the Eſſence of Puniſhment but is an A… un…t. I unite Paniſhment indeed is does for the M…rit of ſin inſers it, being an infinite offence, and therefore expoſeth the finner to infinite wrath… but the reaſon of the Eternity of it is becauſe the Creature is finite, and ſo cannot bear it at once, and …ce muſt anſwer the infiniteneſs of the weight of it, with an infinite Duration. But Chriſt was an infinite Perſon, and therefore, there was an infinite Value in his Suffering, and ſo Death could not hold him, Act. 2.24. And but for this, he could not have redeemed us. [2.] IN reſp…ct of De…dination. God puniſheth ſin, with ſin, in wicked men; but this is not of the Eſſence, but an Adjunct of puniſhment, and it makes them the more miſerable; whereas Chriſt was holy and ſinleſs, and ſo could not feel any moral miſery, but only natural; and ſo all the Sufferings that he underwent, were altogether without ſin. 2 Cor. 5.21.
2. THE act view of Chriſt in his own Death. He voluntarily ſuffered … this. Though the Death of Chriſt be truly called his Paſſive Obed e…e, in regard of the Sufferings which he underwent, yet in reſpect to the principal efficient of it, it may be called an Act: for there is nothing more properly active, then what proceeds from the will; but here were both the elicit and imperate acts of the will of Chriſt in thoſe Sufferings, very active. There was an inward conſent, and an outward reſignation of himſelf to it. Hence thoſe expreſſions of his, Joh. 10.17, 18. Therefore d…th my Father love me, becauſe I lay dow my life, that I might take it again. No man taken it from me, but I lay it down of my ſelf: I h… power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment h… I received of my Father. Chriſt was not forced, and violently led to his Death by any external agent; but he did freely expoſe himſelf to theſe ſorrows, and ſubmit himſelf to the will of his Father, Math. 26.39. He applied himſelf to the work, as a part of the buſineſs that he came into the World for. And this will appear if we confiner,
(1.) HE kn…w his Fathers mind before hand. It was an agreement between them in the Covenant of Redemption. Iſai. 53.10. And he was often ſpeaking of it to his Diſciples before it came: Yea, and it being his Fathers will, though he fore knew it, yet he was ſo far from uſing means to avoid it, that where the time drew near, he ſet himſelf ſole…ly to prepare for it, as hath before been obſerved.
(2.) HE could, as be was God, have avoided it. An evidence of this, we have in his Transfiguration. How ſuddenly could be have taken upon him, ſuch a glorious and a…oniſh…ng aſpect, as ſhould have ſurprized his enemies with amazement? And did, Job. 18. begin. So that if he had not given himſelf into their hands, they could not have ſurprized him. Yea, and he could with one word, have raiſed an Army of Angels, but that he was engaged in this work, and reſolved to go through with it. Math. 26.53, 54.
(3.) IT was an Act of Obedience to his Fathers will; and therefore it muſt needs be … luntary. Chriſt, as he was the Son, promiſed it in the eternal Compact; and Chriſt, as Man, in the eſtate of Humiliation, owed it to the Law: Now there is no obedience but what is voluntary: If the heart and will be not in it, but it be a forced thing, it ca… truly be called Obedience. But Chriſt in this was obedient, Phil. 2.7, 8: And therefore ſpeaking of it, he profeſſeth, that he came thus to do the will of his Father.
(4.) IF it had not been voluntary, it had … been acceptable to God. For God accepts of … ſervice but what is done with a willing mind. And hence all his actions about it, gave evidence to his Readineſs in it. He knew J… had indented to betray him, and that be knew the place of his uſual reſort; and yet thither he goes, there he waits for him, and when arreſted, he reſigns himſelf up.
3. THE benefit or fruit of Chriſt's Death, and Suffering. He by it made Satisfaction to revenging Juſtice. As there were two conditions in the Covenant, ſo relative Juſtice have a diverſe reſpect to them; to the one as rewarding, to the other as revenging. As ſoon as man became a ſinner, this Juſtice was ſ… againſt him for his ruine; and every finner that hath guilt on him, is expoſed to its fury. This held all Adams poſterity bound over … Death. Now Chriſt comes in, and pays a Death to Juſtice on his Peoples ſcore, and thereby it becomes fully ſatisfyed. They make a poor thing of Chriſt's Death, who think he died only to be a pattern of patience is ſuffering; as if God had been at all this coſt, to ſend his Son to take our nature, only to be an inſtance of bearing affliction. It is …e, the Vertues which Chriſt expreſſed both in his Life and Death, were for our imitation, and we are bidden to learn of him: But this …es not all, for, as his Life, ſo his Death was Mediatorial. Here then obſerve,
(1.) THAT the whole current of Scripture, repreſents the Death of Chriſt, as a ſatisfactory …tion to the Juſtice of God. It is called a Sacrificing of himſelf, wherein he was the Antitype aimed at in the ſhadowy Sacrifices of the Law. Hence John calls him, The Lamb of God, Joh. 1.29. And his Sufferings are called our Ranſom, 1 Tim. 2.6. and we are ſaid to be bealed by his ſtripes, Iſai. 53.5. and to bear the ſins of many, Heb. 9. ult. And how did be bear them, but in reſpect of Guilt? He did not bear the moral Defilement, He was not polluted by them; but he bare the pecalty of them, whereby Juſtice was atoned, and God reconciled, 2 Cor. 5.19.
(2) IF Chriſt had not ſatisfied for us, we could not have been Pardoned. We have before obſerved, that ſuch was the conſtitution of the … Covenant, that there was no room for pardon, till Satisfaction be ſecured. This muſt either be by the Offender himſelf, or ſome other for him: He cannot do it himſelf; for, being in the fleſh, it is impoſſible that he ſhould pleaſe God, Rom. 8.8. Not can any do it for him but Chriſt: the work is too big for any other to do but he: and he muſt do it by dying; for there was no other way in which Satisfaction could be made; whereas his Death had t…ough, that one Sacrifice was ſufficient to anſwer for all our offences. The Perſon was infinite, the Blood was preci…us: Juſtice had a compleat triumph, when it brought the Son of God to undergo that curſed Death: It then for in higheſt ſtate, when God ſmote his Fellow: this is enough to perfect us, Heb. 10 14.
(3.) THE Grace of God is not obſcured, but rendered the more illuſtrious by Chriſt's Satisfaction. Chriſt indeed was ſubjected unto Juſtice, but his Redeemed are thus made the ſubjects of the greater Grace. A bare act of pardon, without any more ado, though it would as really have freed us from condemnation, yet it would not have ſo demonſtrated the riches of Grace, as do appear, when the caſe was ſo, that man could not be forgiven, except the Son of God did ſuffer; that God muſt make the way to his being reconciled to us, through the heart of his own Son, and He moſt die, that we may live; He muſt pay the whole price, that we may be diſcharged; He muſt bear the full weight of wrath, that we may eſcape it. Hence the emphaſis is put on it, Joh. 3.16. For God ſo loved the world that be gave his only begotten Son. So, Rom. …. 32.
4. THE Perſons for whom Chriſt died. It was on out behalf: it was not for all men univerſally, but for 2 ſelect Company that were known to him from Eternity; whoſe Names were given him in the Covenant of Redemption, who were ſet apart to be made partakers in this Grace, before the World was made, in the decree of Election. Though there are ſome Benefits which flow from the Death of Chriſt to the whole World, and there are yet ſome more peculiar ones afforded to all ſuch as belong to the viſible Church; yet the great end of Chriſt's dying, bare a reſpect to none but Chriſt's choſen ones. He ſo died for none but thoſe whom he had indented for, and on whoſe account he had undertaken to make ſatisfaction, to redeem them from their vain converſation, and make them partakers in Heavenly Glory. The Church of the Jews was a Type of the Spiritual Church of God: And it is obſervable, that there were no Sacrifices appointed to be offered for the Nations about them, but only for the Congregation. The Ram of the conſecration, was offered only for the ſins of the people of God. They were only the ſins of Iſrael that were confeſſed over the head of the Scape Goat, and ſent into the wilderneſs of oblivion: It was only his Sheep for whom Chriſt laid down his life, Joh. 10.11. and he knows them, ver. 14, 15. and they muſt be converted. ver. 16. God's deſign in giving his Son, and Chriſt's deſign in dying, was not meerly to render mankind ſalvable, and yet to leave their Salvation at uncertainty, but He came to ſave. He, by Dying, made way for Application. The People of God owe to God the Father the acknowledgment of his ſpecial love in chuſing them, and to God the Holy Ghoſt of his fin… gular love in calling them; but not ſo to God the Son in redeeming them, if he died alike for all. Peter in Heaven owes no more thanks to the Second Perſon, than Judas in Hell doth; on ſuppoſition that He died for both alike: Chriſt's love muſt be as great to the one as to the other. Chriſt's Death was a fruit of the greateſt love. Joh. 15.13. But what love could it be to all, if having redeemed them from the Law, he doth thereby deſign them the greater damnation by the Goſpel? For it is certain, he never intended to ſave all; for then all ſhould certainty be ſaved; or otherwiſe he muſt loſe his end, and die in vain in reſpect of ſome. And why ſhould Paul make ſuch a ſignal remark upon Chriſt's giving himſelf for him, Gal. 2.20. if he had equally given himſelf for all others as he had for him? Redemption is a Priviledge; but to buy a man from the Gallows, to put him to more exquiſite torments, is not a Priviledge but a Plague.
USE. AND what a patent Obligation doth this Contemplation of Chriſt Death, lay upon all his Redeemed, to Love Him? How ſhould the thoughts of this Dying Love of His to us, kindle and e…ſlame our affection to Him? Could he find in his Heart to dye for us, and ſhould we think it too much to beſtow out beſt love upon Him? Think what manner of Love this is, how unparallel'd! There never was the like, that the Son of God ſhould not only plead, but die for us. Confider how unworthy we were of this love. If the guilt of the higheſt rebellion, if the ſtain of the moſt loathſome pollution, if the practice of the moſt horrible treachery, and wilful obſtinacy, can render a creature unworthy of his love; ſuch were we. If a creature no way profitable, and every way harmful, that could do no good, and did all manner of evil, is worthleſs; ſuch were we. Think what muſt have become of us, if he had not thus died for us: we had been for ever without hope; the fiery indignation of a jealous God was juſt ready to conſume us, the Arm of his fury juſt talling on us with a downright blow, and we muſt have made our bed in flames for ever. Think how fully revenging Juſtice is ſatisfyed by this Death of his: what great Debts he hath paid, what vaſt Bonds he hath taken up, what an infinite Accompt he hath cancelled. Count up if you can, the innumerable ſins you have been guilty of, the leaſt whereof would have ſunk you into eternal materies; and then think of that precious word, Rom. 8 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Chriſt that died. yea rather that is riſen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who alſo maketh interceſſion for us. There is not one ſin left. And now think, what a Difference he hath put between us and others, on this very account, that he hath died for us. To make Chriſt's Death common, is to make it contemptible. But When we look, and can ſay, He died for me, and not for the World, this renders it admirable to a rapture. We were no nearer to Him, as Creatures, than others: All mankind are of one Blood, of the ſame Parentage, as near a…kin to Chriſt in his humane nature: yea, and we had made our natures as vile by the Apoſtaſy as any. Eph. 2.3. The Contagion was univerſal, Adam's ſin equally imputed, and his polluted Image equally imparted; all the tray cerous Children of a Traytor; and it may be, in our lives, more vile than others: And that yet Chriſt ſhould dye for us, to ſave us from all our Abominations, what an unaccountable love is this? And ſhall we not love him above all? What reaſon had the Apoſtle to paſs a fearful curſe on all ſuch as do not love him, 1 Cor. 16.22. If any man love not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, let him be Anathema, Maranatha.
[OCTOBER 27. 1696.]