Fifth. The LOVE and MERCY of G.o.d are more seen in and by this doctrine than any other way. Mercy and love are seen, in that G.o.d gives us rain and fruitful seasons, and in that he filleth our hearts with food and gladness; from that bounty which he bestoweth upon us as men, as his creatures. O! but herein is love made manifest, in that 'Christ laid down his life for us.' 'And G.o.d commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us' (1 John 3:16; Rom 5:8).

Never love like this, nor did G.o.d ever give such discovery of his love from the beginning to this day. 'Herein is love, not that we loved G.o.d, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins' (1 John 4:10).

Here is love, that G.o.d sent his Son, his darling, his Son that never offended, his Son that was always his delight! Herein is love, that he sent him to save sinners, to save them by bearing their sins, by bearing their curse, by dying their death, and by carrying their sorrows! Here is love, in that while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us; yea, here is love, in that while 'we were yet without strength, Christ died for the unG.o.dly' (Rom 5:6).

THE SECOND USE.

[SECOND.] But as this doctrine giveth us the best discovery of G.o.d, so also it giveth us the best discovery of ourselves and our own things.

First. It giveth us the best discovery of ourselves. Wouldst thou know, sinner, what thou art? look up to the cross, and behold a weeping, bleeding, dying Jesus: nothing could do but that, nothing could save thee but his blood; angels could not, saints could not, G.o.d could not, because he could not lie, because he could not deny himself. What a thing is sin, that it should sink all that bear its burden! yea, it sunk the Son of G.o.d himself into death and the grave, and had also sunk him into h.e.l.l-fire for ever had he not been the Son of G.o.d, had he not been able to take it on his back, and bear it away! O this Lamb of G.o.d! Sinners were going to h.e.l.l, Christ was the delight of his Father, and had a whole heaven to himself; but that did not content him, heaven could not hold him; he must come into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15). Aye, and had he not come, thy sins had sunk thee, thy sins had provoked the wrath of G.o.d against thee, to thy perdition and destruction for ever. There is no man but is a sinner, there is no sin but would d.a.m.n an angel, should G.o.d lay it to his charge. Sinner, the doctrine of Christ crucified crieth therefore aloud unto thee, that sin hath made thy condition dreadful. See yourselves, your sin, and consequently the condition that your souls are in, by the death and blood of Christ; Christ's death giveth us the most clear discovery of the dreadful nature of our sins. I say again, if sin be so dreadful a thing as to break the heart of the Son of G.o.d, for so he said it did, how shall a poor, wretched, impenitent, d.a.m.ned sinner wrestle with the wrath of G.o.d? Awake, sinners; you are lost, you are undone, you are d.a.m.ned, h.e.l.l-fire is your portion for ever, if you abide in your sins, and be found without a Saviour in the dreadful day of judgment.

Second. For your good deeds cannot help you; the blood of Christ tells you so. For by this doctrine, 'Christ died for our sins,'

G.o.d d.a.m.neth to death and h.e.l.l the righteousness of the world.

Christ must die, or man be d.a.m.ned. Where is now any room for the righteousness of men? room, I say, for man's righteousness, as to his acceptance and justification? Bring, then, thy righteousness to the cross of Jesus Christ, and in his blood behold the demands of justice; behold them, I say, in the cries and tears, in the blood and death of Jesus Christ. Look again, and behold the person dying; such an one as never sinned nor offended at any time, yet he dies. Could a holy life, an innocent, harmless conversation, have saved one from death, Jesus had not died. But he must die; sin was charged, therefore Christ must die.

Men, therefore, need to go no further to prove the worth of their own righteousness than to the death of Christ; they need not be waiting to seek in that matter till they stand before the judgment-seat.

Quest. But how should I prove [or try] the goodness of mine own righteousness by the death and blood of Christ?

Answ. Thus: if Christ must die for sin, then all thy righteousness cannot save thee. 'If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain' (Gal 2:21). By this text it is manifest that either Christ died in vain, or thy righteousness is vain. If thy righteousness can save thee, then Christ died in vain; if nothing below or besides the death of Christ could save thee, then thy righteousness is in vain; one of the two must be cast away, either Christ's or thine. Christ crucified to save the world, discovereth two great evils in man's own righteousness; I mean, when brought for justification and life. 1. It opposeth the righteousness of Christ. 2. It condemneth G.o.d of foolishness.

1. It opposeth the righteousness of Christ, in that it seeketh itself to stand where should the righteousness of Christ--to wit, in G.o.d's affection for the justification of thy person; and this is one of the highest affronts to Christ that poor man is capable to give him: right worthily, therefore, doth the doctrine of the gospel d.a.m.n the righteousness of men, and promiseth the kingdom of G.o.d to publicans and harlots rather.

2. It condemneth G.o.d of foolishness; for if works of righteousness which we can do can justify from the curse of the law in the sight of G.o.d, then are not all the treasures of wisdom found in the heart of G.o.d and Christ; for this dolt-headed sinner hath now found out a way of his own, unawares to G.o.d, to secure his soul from wrath and vengeance; I say, unawares to G.o.d, for he never imagined that such a thing could be; for had he, he would never have purposed before the world began to send his Son to die for sinners. Christ is the wisdom of G.o.d, as you have heard, and that as he is our justifying righteousness. G.o.d was manifest in the flesh to save us, is the great mystery of G.o.dliness. But wherein lieth the depth of this wisdom of G.o.d in our salvation, if man's righteousness can save him? (Job 40:10-14).

Yea, wherefore hath G.o.d also given it out that there is none other name given to men under heaven whereby we must be saved? I say again, why is it affirmed 'without shedding of blood is no remission,' if man's good deeds can save him?

This doctrine, therefore, of the righteousness of Christ being rightly preached, and truly believed, arraigneth and condemneth man's righteousness to h.e.l.l; it casteth it out as Abraham cast out Ishmael. Blood, blood, the sound of blood, abaseth all the glory of it! When men have said all, and showed us what they can, they have no blood to present G.o.d's justice with; yet it is blood that maketh an atonement for the soul, and nothing but blood can wash away from us our sins (Lev 17:11; Rev 1:5; Heb 9).

Justice calls for blood, sins call for blood, the righteous law calls for blood, yea, the devil himself must be overcome by blood.

Sinner, where is now thy righteousness? Bring it before a consuming fire, for our G.o.d is a consuming fire; bring it before the justice of the law; yea, try if aught but the blood of Christ can save thee from thy sins, and devils; try it, I say, by this doctrine; go not one step further before thou hast tried it.

Third. By this doctrine we are made to see the worth of souls. It cannot be but that the soul is of wonderful price, when the Son of G.o.d will not stick to spill his blood for it. O sinners, you that will venture your souls for a little pleasure, surely you know not the worth of your souls. Now, if you would know what your souls are worth, and the price which G.o.d sets them at, read that price by the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ was spilt to save souls.

'For ye are bought with a price,' and that price none other than the blood of Christ; 'therefore glorify G.o.d in your body and in your spirit, which are G.o.d's (1 Cor 6:20). Sinners, you have souls, can you behold a crucified Christ, and not bleed, and not mourn, and not fall in love with him?

THE THIRD USE.

[THIRD.] By this doctrine sinners, as sinners, are encouraged to come to G.o.d for mercy, for the curse due to sin is taken out of the way. I speak now to sinners that are awake, and see themselves sinners.

There are two things in special when men begin to be awakened, that kill their thoughts of being saved. 1. A sense of sin. 2. The wages due thereto. These kill the heart; for who can bear up under the guilt of sin? 'If our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?' (Eze 33:10). How indeed! it is impossible.

So neither can man grapple with the justice of G.o.d. 'Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?' They cannot (Eze 22:14).

'A wounded spirit who can bear?' (Prov 18:14). Men cannot, angels cannot. Wherefore, if now Christ be hid, and the blessing of faith in his blood denied, woe be to them; such go after Saul and Judas, one to the sword, and the other to the halter, and so miserably end their days; for come to G.o.d they dare not; the thoughts of that eternal Majesty strike them through.

But now, present such poor dejected sinners with a crucified Christ, and persuade them that the sins under which they shake and tremble were long ago laid upon the back of Christ, and the noise and sense and fear of d.a.m.ning begins to cease, depart, and fly away; dolors and terrors fade and vanish, and that soul conceiveth hopes of life; for thus the soul argueth, Is this indeed the truth of G.o.d, that Christ was made to be sin for me? was made the curse of G.o.d for me? Hath he indeed borne all my sins, and spilt his blood for my redemption! O Blessed tidings! O welcome grace! 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.' Now is peace come; now the face of heaven is altered; 'Behold, all things are become new.' Now the sinner can abide G.o.d's presence, yea, sees unutterable glory and beauty in him; for here he sees justice smite. While Jacob was afraid of Esau, how heavily did he drive even towards the promised land? but when killing thoughts were turned into kissing, and the fears of the sword's point turned into brother embraces, what says he?--'I have seen thy face as though it had been the face of G.o.d, and thou wast pleased with me' (Gen 33:10).

So and far better is it with a poor distressed sinner at the revelation of the grace of G.o.d through Jesus Christ. 'G.o.d was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespa.s.ses unto them.' O what work will such a word make upon a wounded conscience, especially when the next words follow--'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of G.o.d in him!'

Now, the soul sees qualifications able to set him quit in the sight of G.o.d; qualifications prepared already. Prepared, I say, already; and that by G.o.d through Christ; even such as can perfectly answer the law. What doth the law require? If obedience, here it is; if b.l.o.o.d.y sacrifice, here it is; if infinite righteousness, here it is! Now, then, the law condemns him that believes before G.o.d no more; for all its demands are answered, all its curses are swallowed up in the death and curse Christ underwent.

Object. But reason saith, since personal sin brought the death, surely personal obedience must bring us life and glory.

Answ. True reason saith so, and so doth the law itself (Rom 10:5); but G.o.d, we know, is above them both, and he in the covenant of grace saith otherwise; to wit, that 'if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that G.o.d hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved' (Rom 10:9).

Let reason, then, hold its tongue, yea, let the law with all its wisdom subject itself to him that made it; let it look for sin where G.o.d hath laid it; let it approve the righteousness which G.o.d approveth; yea, though it be not that of the law, but that by faith of Jesus Christ.

G.o.d hath made him our righteousness, G.o.d hath made him our sin, G.o.d hath made him our curse, G.o.d hath made him our blessing; methinks this word, 'G.o.d hath made it so,' should silence all the world.

THE FOURTH USE.

[FOURTH.] By this doctrine, sufficiency of argument is ministered to the tempted to withstand hereby the a.s.saults of the devil.

When souls begin to seek after the Lord Jesus, then Satan begins to afflict and distress, as the Canaanites did the Gibeonites, for making peace with Joshua (Josh 10:1,6).

There are three things that do usually afflict the soul that is earnestly looking after Jesus Christ. First. Dreadful accusations from Satan. Second. Grievous defiling and infectious thoughts.

Third. A strange readiness in our nature to fall in with both.

First. By the first of these, the heart is made continually to tremble. Hence his temptations are compared to the roaring of a lion, for as the lion by roaring killeth the heart of his prey, so doth Satan kill the spirit of these that hearken to him (1 Peter 5:8); for when he tempteth, especially by way of accusation, he doth to us as Rabshakeh did to the Jews; he speaks to us in our own language; he speaks our sin at every word, our guilty conscience knows it; he speaks our death at every word, our doubting conscience feels it.

Second. Besides this, there doth now arise, even in the heart, such defiling and foul infectious thoughts that putteth the tempted to their wits' end; for now it seems to the soul that the very flood-gates of the flesh are opened, and that to sin there is no stop at all; now the air seems to be covered with darkness, and the man is as if he was changed into the nature of a devil; now if ignorance and unbelief prevail, he concludeth that he is a reprobate, made to be taken and destroyed.

Third. Now also he feeleth in him a readiness to fall in with every temptation; a readiness, I say, continually present (Rom 7:21). This throws all down. Now despair begins to swallow him up; now he can neither pray, nor read, nor hear, nor meditate on G.o.d, but fire and smoke continually bursteth forth of the heart against him. Now sin and great confusion puts forth itself in all; yea, the more the sinner desireth to do a duty sincerely, the further off it always find itself; for by how much the soul struggleth under these distresses, by so much the more doth Satan put forth himself to resist, still infusing more poison, that if possible it might never struggle more, for strugglings are also as poison to Satan. The fly in the spider's web is an emblem of the soul in such a condition--the fly is entangled in the web; at this the spider shows himself; if the fly stir again, down comes the spider to her, and claps a foot upon her; if yet the fly makes a noise, then with poisoned mouth the spider lays hold upon her; if the fly struggle still, then he poisons her more and more. What shall the fly do now? Why, she dies, if somebody does not quickly release her. This is the case of the tempted; they are entangled in the web, their feet and wings are entangled; now Satan shows himself; if the soul now struggleth, Satan laboureth to hold it down; if it now shall make a noise, then he bites with blasphemous mouth, more poisonous than the gall of a serpent; if it struggle again, then he poisoneth more and more, insomuch that it needs, at last, must die in the net, if the man, the lord Jesus, help not out.[6]

The afflicted conscience understands my words.

Further, though the fly in the web is altogether incapable of looking for relief, yet this awakened, tempted Christian is not.

What must he do therefore? How should he contain hopes of life? If he look to his heart, there is blasphemy; if he look to his duties, there is sin; if he strive to mourn and lament, perhaps he cannot; unbelief and hardness hinder. Shall this man lie down and despair?

No. Shall he trust to his duties? No. Shall he stay from Christ till his heart is better? No. What then? Let him NOW look to Jesus Christ crucified, then shall he see his sins answered for, then shall he see death a-dying, then shall he see guilt borne by another, and there shall he see the devil overcome. This sight destroys the power of the first temptation, purifies the heart, and inclines the mind to all good things.

And to encourage thee, tempted creature, to this most gospel duty, consider that when Jesus Christ read his commission upon the entering into his ministry, he proclaimed, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord' (Luke 4:18,19).

These things therefore should the tempted believe; but believing is now sweating work; for Satan will hold as long as possible, and only steadfast faith can make him fly. But O, the toil of a truly gracious heart in this combat! If faith be weak, he can scarce get higher than his knees; Lord, help! Lord, save! and then down again, till an arm from heaven takes him up, until Jesus Christ be evidently set forth crucified for him, and cursed for his sin; for then, and not till then, the temptation rightly ceaseth, at leastwise for a season. Now the soul can tend to look about it, and thus consider with itself: if Christ hath borne my sin and curse, then it is taken away from me; and seeing thus to take away sin was the contrivance of the G.o.d of heaven, I will bless his name, hope in his mercy, and look upon death and h.e.l.l with comfort. 'Thine heart shall meditate terror,' thou shalt see the land that is very far off (Isa 33:16-18).

THE FIFTH USE.

[FIFTH.] this doctrine makes Christ precious to the believers--'Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious' (1 Peter 2:7).

This head might be greatly enlarged upon, and branched out into a thousand particulars, and each one full of weight and glory. 1.

By considering what sin is. 2. By considering what h.e.l.l is. 3. By considering what wrath is. 4. By considering what eternity is. 5.

By considering what the loss of a soul is. 6. What the loss of G.o.d is. 7. What the loss of heaven is. 8. And what it is to be in utter darkness with devils and d.a.m.ned souls for ever and ever. And after all to conclude, from all the miseries the Lord Jesus delivered me.

Further, this makes Christ precious, if I consider, in the next place,

1. How he did deliver me; it was with his life, his blood; it cost him tears, groans, agony, separation from G.o.d; to do it he endured his Father's wrath, bore his Father's curse, and died thousands of deaths at once.

2. He did this while I was his enemy, without my desires, without my knowledge, without my deserts; he did it unawares to me.

3. He did it freely, cheerfully, yea, he longed to die for me; yea, heaven would not hold him for the love he had to my salvation, which also he hath effectually accomplished for me at Jerusalem.

Honourable Jesus! precious Jesus! loving Jesus! Jonathan's kindness captivated David, and made him precious in his eyes for ever. 'I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan,' said he; 'very pleasant hast thou been unto me; thy love to me was wonderful, pa.s.sing the love of women' (2 Sam 1:26). Why, what had Jonathan done? O, he had delivered David from the wrath of Saul. But how much more should he be precious to me who hath saved me from death and h.e.l.l! who hath delivered me from the wrath of G.o.d! 'The love of Christ constraineth us.' Nothing will so edge the spirit of a Christian as, 'Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to G.o.d by thy blood.' This makes the heavens themselves ring with joy and shouting. Mark the words, 'Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to G.o.d by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our G.o.d kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.'

What follows now? 'And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever' (Rev 5:9-14).