Page images
PDF
EPUB

chased them with the blood of his only Son, in whom, from all eternity, he is well pleased. We must not therefore imitate the examples of ill pay-masters, or unjust possessors of other men's goods; we must not expect until our souls be plucked from us by violence, but rather, like the good and righteous debtors, we ought to return them willingly, and yield them up into his hands, who hath paid for them an infinite and invaluable ransom. David was of this mind when he said, "Into thy hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth," Psa. xxxi.

11. From this death and passion of our glorious Redeemer, we understand not only our duty, but also find sufficient: grounds of comfort and hope: and suffer me to say, it is in the bowels of this dead Lion, that we meet with the sweetest and most ravishing consolations. This Chief Priest, who bears us upon his breast in his heavenly sanctuary, or rather in his heart, will not forsake us in the day of our distress, nor yield us up to the fears and pangs of death. For since he hath encountered with this cruel enemy, since he hath felt its stings, its shiverings and pains, and hath been tempted as we have been, in all things, sin excepted; he is merciful and faithful to have compassion on our infirmities; he is no less able to assist us in our temptations, and to make us in all things more than conquerors.

12. Believing souls, consider with me the noble expressions of St. Paul: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God," 1 Cor. i. These excellent truths may be very well applied to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Holy Ghost names the "Apostle and High-Priest of our Profession," Heb. iii. For

the comfortable assistances which he hath received from God, in the time of his greatest anguish, are precious tokens and infallible assurances of God's future help in our need. For as when he was in his bitter agony, when his soul was cast down with a deadly sorrow, an angel from heaven came to comfort him; so likewise, when we shall be engaged in an encounter with Death, when it shall endeavour to fill our souls with sadness and apprehensions; he will, doubtless, send to us some of his good angels, that be at his right hand, I mean the faithful teachers of his holy word; or else he will send from heaven some of his blessed spirits that stand about his throne, who are commonly employed in the assistance of the faithful. The Holy Ghost himself, the comforter of afflicted souls, and the true oil of gladness, will then drive from our hearts all grief, and revive us with his heavenly comforts. He will not forsake us, till he has brought us to the headspring of eternal joy and comfort.

13. Our Lord and Saviour's deliverance from death, is in some respect an image and assurance of our future deliverance, which we are to expect from God's mercy and almighty power. For as when St. Paul saith, That this High-Priest, in the days of his flesh, offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him that was able to save him from death," and was heard in that he feared;" we are not to understand, that he was altogether freed from death, but rather, that he had the favour granted to him of swallowing up Death in victory, and of triumphing over the powers of hell; and that through the shame, and bitterness of death he, is entered into his glory, and into the joys of his heavenly paradise; likewise when we pray to God in our greatest distresses and deepest sorrow, when we pour into his bosom the tears of a sincere repentance, he hears us from his sanctuary, and delivers us from death; not by hindering us from dying, but conveying our souls through death into an immortal life; from suffering into happiness.

14. To be fully persuaded that God will not withhold from us the joys and comforts of his holy Spirit ; and that he will make us more than conquerors of Death, by admitting us into an eternal felicity; we need but cast our eyes upon this great God and Saviour: for as he who grants a great deal, will not refuse a little; so God, who has not spared his only Son, but hath delivered him for us all to an ignominious and cruel death, how shall not he with him freely give us all things? St. Paul hath taught us to argue in this manner, and to gather this necessary consequence of God's proceedings, Rom. viii.

15. When Christ our Lord gave up the ghost upon the cross, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, heaven was opened, and a repenting thief was admitted. All this was to teach us, that we may enter into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he hath consecrated; by the veil, that is, his flesh; that this merciful Lord hath always his arms wide open to receive us; and that he will never refuse the glory of heaven, and the delights of his paradise, to the greatest sinners, who, repenting, have recourse to him by his eternal mercy and infinite merits.

16. The death of this great God and Saviour is the payment of all our debts, and the expiation of all our crimes: it is the healing of all our diseases, the freedom of all our miseries; for it hath overcome Satan and the powers of hell: it is the death of an eternal death, the meritorious death that hath purchased for us heaven, and all its excellencies; and procured to us a right to God's paradise, and to its delights and pleasures; in short, it is this death that introduces paradise into our souls before we enter into paradise, and fills our minds with an heavenly and divine peace, and an unspeakable and glorious joy.

17. This

17. This cross of our Saviour may be compared to the wood which Moses cast into the waters of Marah. For it takes away from the natural death of God's children whatsoever is incommodious and bitter, and causeth us to relish sweetness and comforts that cannot be expressed. It is like the salt which the prophet Elisha cast into the waters of Jericho, to make them wholesome and fruitful; for it causeth that death itself proves our salvation, and brings to us unspeakable comforts. I may also liken it to the meal which the same prophet cast into the pot, of which the sons of the prophets had made this complaint, "O thou man of God, there is death in the pot !" It is the death of Death, because it removes from it all deadly poison, and causeth us to relish angelical satisfactions. I may therefore say of this glorious cross, That it is the tree of knowledge of good and evil; because it makes known and understood the dreadful evils from which we are delivered, and the infinite advantages which are procured to us by Christ's death. I may call it also the tree of life; for every one that gathers of the fruit of this tree with the hand of faith, and eats of it, shall live for ever, John vi. Believing souls, it is that mystical ladder which Jacob saw in a vision; for it unites heaven and earth, sinful man with his God, Gen. xxviii. It pleased the Father to make peace by the blood of his Son crucified, and to reconcile all things to himself, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven, Col. i. It is by the means of this blessed cross, that the good angels are sent to our assistance, and that all the graces and blessings of God are procured to us. By this cross we shall ascend up to God, and to his eternal happiness. Under the shadow of this divine cross our souls rest, and enjoy the peace of God which passeth all understanding. It is like the golden sceptre which king Ahasuerus stretched out unto Esther. For if we touch this precious cross with the hand of faith, if we embrace it with a contrite soul, we shall obtain from the King of kings, not only the half part, but all his kingdom, with all its delights, honours, and advantages.

18. Moses's rod was changed into a serpent, and so were the rods of Pharaoh's magicians, but his serpent devoured all the rest. Thus the death of the Lord and Saviour is accompanied with sorrow, fear, and anguish; but these fears swallow up all other fears, and cause us to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. His sorrows drive away all our griefs, and fill us with joy and eternal comfort. His anguish gives ease and satisfaction to our souls. His troubled mind is the cause of the settlement of our consciences. His drops of blood wash away our tears. His groans hinder us from sighing, and his strong crying causes us to sing with joy. The fetters of this glorious Redeemer have purchased our freedom; and his condemnation our absolution. He hath been content to drink vinegar mingled with gall, and to swallow the very dregs of the cup of God's wrath and justice, that he might cause us to drink of the rivers of his divine pleasure. He cried out in the violence of his grief, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matt. xxvii. that God might never forsake us, and that in our greatest troubles we might have always his fatherly and powerful assistance ready at hand, he stooped down his head to raise our hopes. In short, he died, that he might deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to a cruel and insufferable bondage, Heb. ii. So that all such as tremble, and are afraid at the approaches of death, have not yet felt the power and efficacy of the cross of our Lord Jesus. They trample under foot the blood of the Son of God, and as much as in them lies they render the fruit and efficacy of his blessed death of no effect.

19. Consider well, christian souls, and imprint into your minds this lesson: Remember that death is never to be feared, but when it is attended with God's wrath, and the curse of his law, when our sins and offences have supplied it with offensive weapons; when the devil, who seeks to devour us

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »