Moreover! God is not at all delighted with, nor' defirous of the blood, the tears, the cries, the inexpreffible torments and fufferings of the Son of his love, for he delights not in the anguish of any; he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men, Lam. iii. 35. much lefs the Son of his bofom, only he required that his law be fulfilled, his juftice fatisfied, his wrath atoned for fin, and nothing lefs than all this, would bring it about. If the debt of fin might have been compounded for, at a cheaper rate, it had never been held up at the price of the blood of Chrift. Here then foul, take a view of the defert of fin; behold it far more evident, than in all the threatnings and curfes of the law. I thought indeed, mayeft thou fay from thence, that fin, being found on fuch a poor worm as I am, was worthy of death, but that it fhould have this effect, if charged on the Son of God, that I never once imagined.

2. Confider alfo further, what he fuffered. For though he was fo excellent an one, yet perhaps it was but a light affliction, and trial that he underwent, efpecially confidering the ftrength he had to bear it. Why what ever it were, it made this fellow of the Lord of hofts, this Lion of the tribe of Judah, this mighty one, the wisdom and power of God, to tremble, fweat, cry, pray, wrestle, and that with ftrong fupplications. Some of the popifh devotionists tell us that one drop, the leaft, of the blood of Chrift, was abundantly enough to redeem all the world: but they err not knowing the defert of fin, nor the severity of the juftice of God. If one drop, less than was fhed, one pang, lefs than was laid on, would have done it; thofe other drops had not been fhed, nor those other pangs laid on

God did not cruciate the dearly beloved of his foul for nought. But there is more than all this.

It pleafed God to bruife him, to put him to grief to make his foul an offering for fin, and to pour out his life unto death. He hid himself from him, was far from the voice of his cry, until he cried out, my God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me? He made him fin, and a curfe for us, executed on him the fentence of the law, brought him into an agony, wherein he sweat thick drops of blood, was grievously troubled, and his foul was heavy unto death; he that was the power of God, and the wifdom of God went ftooping under the burden, until the whole frame of nature feemed aftonished at it. Now this, as I faid before, as it discovered the indignation of God against fin, fo it clearly holds out the defert of it. Would you then fee the true demerit of fin, take the meafure of it, from the mediation of Christ, efpecially his crofs. It brought him who was the Son of God, equal unto God, God bleffed for ever, into the form of a fervant, who had not where to lay his head; it pursued him all his life, with afflictions and perfecutions, and lastly brought him under the rod of God, there bruifed him, and brake him, flew the Lord of life. Hence is a deep humiliation for it upon the account of him: whom we have pierced. And this is the firft fpiritual view of fin we have in Christ.

2. The wifdom of understanding our impotency by reafon of fin, is wrapped up in him. By our impotency I understand two things..

1. Our difability to make any atonement with God för fin.

2. Our disability to anfwer his mind and will, in

all

all or any of the obedience, that he requireth by reafon of fin.

1. For the first, that alone is discovered in Christ. Many enquiries have the fons of men made after an atonement, many ways have they entered into, to accomplish it. After this they enquire, Micah vi. 6, 7. will any manner of facrifices, though appointed of God, as burnt offerings and calves of a year old; though very coftly, thoufands of rams, and ten thoufand rivers of oil; though dreadful and tremendous, offering violence to nature, as to give my children to the fire; will any of these things make an atonement? David doth pofitively indeed determine this bufinefs, Pfal. xlix. 7, 8. none of the best or richeft of men, can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their fouls is precious, and it ceafeth for ever. It cannot be done, no atonement can be made. Yet men would still be doing, ftill attempting; hence did they heap up facrifices, fome coftly, fome bloody and inhuman. The Jews to this day, think that God was atoned for fin, by the facrifices of bulls and goats, and the like; and the Socinians acknowlege no atonement, but what confifts in mens repentance and new obedience. In the cross of Chrift, are the mouths of all stopped as to this thing. For,

1. God hath there difcovered that no facrifices for fin, though of his own appointment, could ever make them perfect that offered them, Heb. x. 11. Thofe facrifices could never take away fin; thofe facrifices could never make them perfect that performed them, as to the confcience, Heb, ix. 9. as the apostle proves, Chap. x. 1. and thence the Lord rejects all facrifices and offerings whatever,

a

1

as to any fuch end and purpose, ver. 6, 7, 8. Chrift in their ftead faying, Lo I come, and by him we are juftified, from all, from which we could not be justified by the law, Acts. xiii. 34. God, I fay, in Chrift, hath condemned all facrifices, as wholly infufficient in the leaft to make an atonement for fin. And how great a thing it was, to inftruct the fons of men in this wifdom, the event hath manifefted.

2. He hath alfo written vanity on all other endeavours whatever that have been undertaken for that purpose, Rom. iii. 24, 25, 26. by setting forth his only Son to be a propitiation, he leaves no doubt upon the fpirits of men, that in themselves they could make no atonement. For if righteousness were by the law, then were Chrift dead in vain? To what purpose should he be made a propitiation were not we ourselves weak and without ftrength to any fuch purpofe? fo the apostle argues, Rom. vi. 6. when we had no power, then did he by death make an atonement, as ver. 8, 9.

This wisdom then is also hid in Chrift: men may fee by other helps perhaps far enough to fill them with dread and astonishinent, as thofe in Ifa. xxxiii. 14. But fuch a fight and view of it, as may lead a foul to any comfortable fettlement about it; that only is difcovered in this treasury of heaven, the Lord Jefus.

2. Our difability to anfwer the mind and will of God, in all or any of the obedience that he requir eth, is in him only to be difcovered. This indeed is a thing that many will not be acquainted with to this day. To teach a man that he cannot do, what he ought to do; and for which he condemns himself, if he do it not, is no easy talk. Man rifes up with all his power, to plead against a conviction of

impotency.

impotency. Not to mention the proud conceits and expreffions of the philofophers, how many that would be called Chriftians, do yet creep by several degrees, in the perfuafion of a power of fulfilling the law; and from whence indeed fhould men have this knowlege that we have not? Nature will not teach it, that is proud and conceited, and it is one part of its pride, weaknefs, and corruption, not to know it at all. The law will not teach it; for though that will fhew us, what we have done amifs, yet it will not discover to us, that we could not do better; yea by requiring exact obedience of us, it takes for granted, that fuch power is in us for that purpose; it takes no notice, that we have loft it, nor doth it concern it fo to do; this then alfo lyes hid in the Lord Jefus, Rom. viii. 2, 3, 4. The law of the fpirit of life in Chrift Jefus, hath made me free from the law of fin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God fending his own Son, in the likeness of finful flesh, and for fin condemned fin in the flesh: that the righteoufnefs of the law might be fulfilled in us: The law can bring forth no righte oufnefs, no obedience, it is weak to any fuch purpofe, by reafon of the flefh, and that corruption that is come on us: these two things ar done in Christ, and by him. First fin is condemned as to its guilt, and we fet free from that, the righteoufnefs of the law by his obedience, is fulfilled in us, who could never do it ourfelves: and fecondly, that obedience which is required of us, his Spirit works it in us; fo that that perfection of obedience which we have in him, is imputed to us, and the fincerity that we have in obedience, is from his Spirit beftowed on us. And this is the moft excellent glafs where