through or by the new covenant, and that thou mightst not doubt of the
certainty of these glorious privileges, God hath so ordered it that
they do all come to thee by way of purchase, being obtained for thee,
ready to thy hand, by that one Man Jesus, who is the Mediator, or the
Person that hath principally to do both with God and thy soul in the
things pertaining to this covenant; so that now thou mayst look on all
the glorious things that are spoken of in the new covenant, and say,
All these must be mine; I must have a share in them; Christ hath
purchased them for me, and given them to me. Now I need not to say, O!
but how shall I come by them? God is holy, I am a sinner; God is just,
and I have offended. No; but thou mayst say, Though I am vile, and
deserve nothing, yet Christ is holy, and He deserveth all things;
though I have so provoked God by breaking His law that He could not in
justice look upon me, yet Christ hath so gloriously paid the debt that
now God can say, Welcome, soul, I will give thee grace, I will give
thee glory, thou shalt lie in My bosom, and go no more out; My Son hath
pleased Me, He hath satisfied the loud cries of the Law and justice,
that called for speedy vengeance on thee; He hath fulfilled the whole
Law, He hath brought in everlasting righteousness (Dan 9:24,25). He
hath overcome the devil, He hath washed away thy sins with His most
precious blood, He hath destroyed the power of death, and triumphs over
all the enemies. This He did in His own Person, as a common Jesus, for
all persons in their stead, even as for so many as shall come in to
Him; for His victory I give to them, His righteousness I give to them,
His merits I bestow on them, and look upon them holy, harmless,
undefiled, and for ever comely in my eye, through the victory of the
Captain of their salvation (1 Cor 15:55-57).
And that thou mayest, in deed and in truth, not only hear and read this
glorious doctrine, but be found one that hath the life of it in thy
heart, thou must be much in studying of the two covenants, the nature
of the one, and the nature of the other, and the conditions of them
that are under them both. Also, thou must be well-grounded in the
manner of the victory, and merits of Christ, how they are made thine.
First, And here thou must, in the first place, believe that the babe
that was born of Mary, lay in a manger at Bethlehem, in the time of
Caesar Augustus; that He, that babe, that child, was the very Christ.
Second, Thou must believe that in the days of Tiberius Caesar, when
Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and Pontius Pilate governor of Judea,
that in those days He was crucified, or hanged on a tree between two
thieves, which by computation, or according to the best account, is
above sixteen hundred years since. 24
Third, Thou must also believe that when He did hang upon that cross of
wood on the Mount Calvary, that then He did die there for the sins of
those that did die before He was crucified; also for their sins that
were alive at the time of His crucifying, and also that He did by that
one death give satisfaction to God for all those that should be born
and believe in Him after His death, even unto the world’s end. I say,
this thou must believe, upon pain of eternal damnation, that by that
one death, that when He did die, He did put an end to the curse of the
Law and sin [This is the doctrine that I will live and die by, and be
willing to be damned if it saves me not. I am not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation; therefore I preach
Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks
foolishness (Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:23).] and at that time by His death on
the Cross, and by His resurrection out of Joseph’s sepulchre, He did
bring in a sufficient righteousness to clothe thee withal
completely—“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that
are sanctified.” Not that He should often offer Himself—“for then must
He often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now ONCE
in the end of the world hath He appeared to put,” or do, “away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself”—namely, when He hanged on the Cross. For it
is by the offering up of the body of this blessed Jesus Christ ONCE for
all. Indeed, other priests may offer oftentimes sacrifices and
offerings which can never take away sins; but this Man, this Jesus,
this anointed and appointed sacrifice, when He had offered ONE
sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God (Heb
10:14; 9:24,25).
[A word of advice]. But because thou in thy pursuit after the faith of
the Gospel wilt be sure to meet with devils, heretics, particular
corruptions, as unbelief, ignorance, the spirit of works animated on by
suggestions, false conclusions, with damnable doctrines, I shall
therefore briefly, besides what hath been already said, speak a word or
two before I leave thee of further advice, especially concerning these
two things. First, How thou art to conceive of the Saviour. Second, How
thou art to make application of Him.
First. For the Saviour. 1. Thou must look upon Him to be very God and
very Man; not man only, nor God only, but God and Man in one Person,
both natures joined together, for the putting of Him in a capacity to
be a suitable Saviour; suitable, I say, to answer both sides and
parties, with whom He hath to do in the office of His Mediatorship and
being of a Saviour. 2. Thou must not only do this, but thou must also
consider and believe that even what was done by Jesus Christ, it was
not done by one nature without the other; but thou must consider that
both natures, both the Godhead and the manhood, did gloriously concur
and join together in the undertaking of the salvation of our bodies and
souls; not that the Godhead undertook anything without the manhood,
neither did the manhood do anything without the virtue and union of the
Godhead; and thou must of necessity do this, otherwise thou canst not
find any sound ground and footing for thy soul to rest upon.
For if thou look upon any of these asunder—that is to say, the Godhead
without the manhood, or the manhood without the Godhead—thou wilt
conclude that what was done by the Godhead was not done for man, being
done without the manhood; or else, that that which was done with the
manhood could not answer Divine justice, in not doing what it did by
the virtue and in union with the Godhead; for it was the Godhead that
gave virtue and value to the suffering of the manhood, and the manhood
being joined therewith, that giveth us an interest into the heavenly
glory and comforts of the Godhead.
What ground can a man have to believe that Christ is his Saviour, if he
do not believe that He suffered for sin in his nature? And what ground
also can a man have to think that God the Father is satisfied, being
infinite, if he believe not also that He who gave the satisfaction was
equal to Him who was offended?
Therefore, beloved, when you read of the offering of the body of the
Son of Man for our sins, then consider that He did it in union with,
and by the help of, the eternal Godhead. “How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without
spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works,” etc.
And when thou readest of the glorious works and splendour of the
Godhead in Christ, then consider that all that was done by the Godhead,
it was done as it had union and communion with the manhood. And then
thou shalt see that the devil is overcome by God-man; sin, death, Hell,
the grave, and all overcome by Jesus, God-man, and then thou shalt find
them overcome indeed. They must needs be overcome when God doth
overcome them; and we have good ground to hope the victory is ours,
when in our nature they are overcome.
Second. The second thing is, how to apply, or to make application of
this Christ to the soul. And for this there are to be considered the
following particulars—
1. That when Jesus Christ did thus appear, being born of Mary, He was
looked upon by the Father as if the sin of the whole world was upon
Him; nay, further, God did look upon Him and account Him the sin of
man—“He hath made Him to be sin for us,” (2 Cor 5:21) that is, God made
His Son Jesus Christ our sin, or reckoned Him to be, not only a sinner,
but the very bulk of sin of the whole world, and condemned Him so
severely as if He had been nothing but sin. “For what the law could not
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh”—that is, for our sins condemned His Son Jesus Christ; as if He
had in deed and truth been our very sin, although altogether “without
sin” (Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21). Therefore, as to the taking away of thy
curse, thou must reckon Him to be made sin for thee. And as to His
being thy justification, thou must reckon Him to be thy righteousness;
for, saith the Scripture, “He,” that is, God, “hath made HIM to be SIN
for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS
of God in HIM.”
2. Consider for whose sakes all this glorious design of the Father and
the Son was brought to pass; and that you shall find to be for man, for
sinful man (2 Cor 8:9).
3. The terms on which it is made ours; and that you will find to be a
free gift, merely arising from the tender-heartedness of God—you are
“justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in
Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in
His blood,” etc. (Rom 3:25).
4. How men are to reckon it theirs; and that is, upon the same terms
which God doth offer it, which is freely, as they are worthless and
undeserving creatures, as they are without all good, and also unable to
do any good. This, I say, is the right way of applying the merits of
Christ to thy soul, for they are freely given to thee, a poor sinner,
not for anything that is in thee, or done by thee, but freely as thou
art a sinner, and so standest in absolute need thereof.
And, Christian, thou art not in this thing to follow thy sense and
feeling, but the very Word of God. The thing that doth do the people of
God the greatest injury, it is their too little hearkening to what the
Gospel saith, and their too much giving credit to what the Law, sin,
the devil, and conscience saith; and upon this very ground to conclude
that because there is a certainty of guilt upon the soul, therefore
there is also for certain, by sin, damnation to be brought upon the
soul. This is now to set the Word of God aside, and to give credit to
what is formed by the contrary; but thou must give more credit to one
syllable of the written Word of the Gospel than thou must give to all
the saints and angels in Heaven and earth; much more than to the devil
and thy own guilty conscience.
Let me give you a parable:—There was a certain man that had committed
treason against his king; but forasmuch as the king had compassion upon
him, he sent him, by the hand of a faithful messenger, a pardon under
his own hand and seal; but in the country where this poor man dwelt,
there were also many that sought to trouble him, by often putting of
him in mind of his treason, and the law that was to be executed on the
offender. Now which way should this man so honour his king, but as by
believing his handwriting, which was the pardon. Certainly he would
honour him more by so doing than to regard all the clamours of his
enemies continually against him.
Just thus it is here: thou having committed treason against the King of
Heaven, He through compassion, for Christ’s sake, hath sent thee a
pardon; but the devil, the Law, and thy conscience do continually seek
to disturb thee by bringing thy sins afresh into thy remembrance. But
now, wouldst thou honour thy King? Why then, he that believeth “the
record that God hath given of His Son,” hath set to his seal that God
is true. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). And therefore, my
brethren, seeing God our Father hath sent us damnable traitors a pardon
from Heaven, even all the promises of the Gospel, and also hath sealed
to the certainty of it with the heart-blood of His dear Son, let us not
be daunted, though our enemies, with terrible voices, do bring our
former life never so often into our remembrance.
Object. But, saith the soul, how, if after I have received a pardon, I
should commit treason again? What should I do then?
Answ. Set the case: thou hast committed abundance of treason, He hath
by Him abundance of pardons—“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He
will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly
pardon” (Isa 55:7).
Sometimes I myself have been in such a strait that I have been almost
driven to my wit’s ends with the sight and sense of the greatness of my
sins; but calling to mind that God was God in His mercy, pity, and
love, as well as in His holiness, justice, etc.; and again, considering
the ability of the satisfaction that was given to holiness and justice,
to the end there might be way made for sinners to lay hold of this
mercy; I say, I considering this, when tempted to doubt and despair, I
have answered in this manner—
“Lord, here is one of the greatest sinners that ever the ground bare; a
sinner against the Law, and a sinner against the Gospel. I have sinned
against light, and I have sinned against mercy. And now, Lord, the
guilt of them breaks my heart. The devil also he would have me despair,
telling of me that Thou art so far from hearing my prayers in this my
distress, that I cannot anger Thee worse than to call upon Thee; for
saith he, Thou art resolved for ever to damn, and not to grant me the
least of Thy favour; yet, Lord, I would fain have forgiveness. And Thy
Word, though much may be inferred from it against me, yet it saith, If
I come unto Thee, Thou will in nowise cast me out. Lord, shall I honour
Thee most by believing Thou canst pardon my sins, or by believing Thou
canst not? Shall I honour Thee most by believing Thou wilt pardon my
sins, or by believing Thou wilt not? Shall I honour the blood of Thy
Son also by despairing that the virtue thereof is not sufficient, or by
believing that it is sufficient to purge me from all my blood-red and
crimson sins? Surely, Thou that couldst find so much mercy as to pardon
Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, the three thousand murderers, persecuting
Paul, murderous and adulterous David, and blaspheming Peter—Thou that
offeredst mercy to Simon Magus, a witch, and didst receive the
astrologers and conjurors in the 19th of Acts—Thou hast mercy enough
for one poor sinner. Lord, set the case: my sins were bigger than all
these, and I less deserved mercy than any of these, yet Thou hast said
in Thy Word that he that cometh to thee Thou wilt in “nowise cast out.”
And God hath given comfort to my soul, even to such a sinner as I am.
And I tell you, there is no way so to honour God, and to beat out the
devil, as to stick to the truth of God’s Word and the merits of
Christ’s blood by believing. When Abraham believed—even against hope
and reason—he gave glory to God (Rom 4). And this is our victory, even
our faith (1 John 5:4). Believe, and all things are possible to you. He
that believeth shall be saved. He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life, and shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of Christ’s Father’s hands.”
And if thou dost indeed believe this, thou wilt not only confess Him as
the Quakers do—that is, that He was born at Bethlehem of Mary, suffered
on Mount Calvary under Pontius Pilate, was dead and buried, rose again,
and ascended, etc.; for all this they confess, and in the midst of
their confession they do verily deny that His death on that Mount
Calvary did give satisfaction to God for the sins of the world, and
that His resurrection out of Joseph’s sepulchre is the cause of our
justification in the sight of God, angels, and devils; but, I say, if
thou dost believe these things indeed, thou dost believe that then, so
long ago, even before thou wast born, He did bear thy sins in His own
body, which then was hanged on the tree, and never before nor since;
that thy old man was then crucified with Him, namely, in the same body
then crucified (See 1 Peter 2:24; and Rom 6:6). This is nonsense to
them that believe not; but if thou do indeed believe, thou seest it so
plain, and yet such a mystery, that it makes thee wonder. But,
[THIRD USE]. In the third place, this glorious doctrine of the new
covenant, and the Mediator thereof, will serve for the comforting, and
the maintaining of the comfort, of the children of the new covenant
this way also—that is, that He did not only die and rise again, but
that He did ascend in His own Person into Heaven to take possession
thereof for me, to prepare a place there for me, standeth there in the
second part of His suretyship to bring me safe in my coming thither,
and to present me in a glorious manner, without spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing; that He is there exercising of His priestly office for me,
pleading the perfection of His own righteousness for me, and the virtue
of His blood for me; that He is there ready to answer the accusations
of the Law, devil, and sin for me. Here thou mayst through faith look
the very devil in the face, and rejoice, saying, O Satan! I have a
precious Jesus, a soul-comforting Jesus, a sin-pardoning Jesus. Here
thou mayst hear the biggest thunder-crack that the Law can give, and
yet not be daunted. Here thou mayst say, O Law! thou mayst roar against
sin, but thou canst not reach me; thou mayst curse and condemn, but not
my soul; for I have righteous Jesus, a holy Jesus, a soul-saving Jesus,
and He hath delivered me from thy threats, from thy curses, from thy
condemnations; I am out of thy reach, and out of thy bounds; I am
brought into another covenant, under better promises, promises of life
and salvation, free promises to comfort me without my merit, even
through the blood of Jesus, the satisfaction given to God for me by
Him; therefore, though thou layest my sins to my charge, and sayest
thou wilt prove me guilty, yet so long as Christ is above ground, and
hath brought in everlasting righteousness, and given that to me, I
shall not fear thy threats, thy charges, thy soul-scarring
denunciations; my Christ is all, hath done all, and will deliver me
from all that thou, and whatsoever else can bring an accusation against
me. Thus also thou may say when death assaulteth thee—O death, where is
thy sting? Thou mayst bite indeed, but thou canst not devour; I have
comfort by and through the one Man Jesus; Jesus Christ, He hath taken
thee captive, and taken away thy strength; He hath pierced thy heart,
and let out all thy soul-destroying poison; therefore, though I see
thee, I am not afraid of thee; though I feel thee, I am not daunted;
for thou hast lost thy sting in the side of the Lord Jesus; through Him
I overcome thee, and set foot upon thee. Also, O Satan! though I hear
thee grumble, and make a hellish noise, and though thou threaten me
very highly, yet my soul shall triumph over thee, so long as Christ is
alive and can be heard in Heaven; so long as He hath broken thy head,
and won the field of thee; so long as thou are in prison, and canst not
have thy desire. I, therefore, when I hear thy voice, do pitch my
thoughts on Christ my Saviour, and do hearken when He will say, for He
will speak comfort; He saith, He hath got the victory, and doth give to
me the crown, and causeth me to triumph through His most glorious
conquest.
Nay, my brethren, the saints under the Levitical Law, who had not the
new covenant sealed or confirmed any further than by promise that it
should be; I say, they, when they thought of the glorious privileges
that God had promised should come, though at that time they were not
come, but seen afar off, how confidently were they persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and were so fully satisfied as touching the
certainty of them, that they did not stick at the parting with all for
the enjoying of them. [Shall not we then that see all things already
done before us make it a strong argument to increase our faith (Heb
11).] How many times doth David in the Psalms admire, triumph, and
persuade others to do so also, through the faith that he had in the
thing that was to be done? Also Job, in what faith doth he say he
should see his Redeemer, though He had not then shed one drop of blood
for him, yet because He had promised so to do; and this was signified
by the blood of bulls and goats. Also Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Zechariah, etc., how gloriously in confidence did they speak of Christ,
and His death, blood, conquest, and everlasting priesthood, even before
He did manifest Himself in the flesh which He took of the Virgin. [For
they were so many sure promises, with a remembrance in them, also for
the better satisfaction of them that believed them]. We that have lived
since Christ, have more ground to hope than they under the old covenant
had, though they had the word of the just God for the ground of their
faith. Mark, they had only the promise that He should and would come;
but we have the assured fulfilling of those promises, because He is
come; they were told that He should spill His blood, but we do see He
hath spilt His blood; they ventured all upon His standing Surety for
them, but we see He hath fulfilled, and that faithfully too, the office
of His Suretyship, in that, according to the engagement, He hath
redeemed us poor sinners; they ventured on the new covenant, though not
actually sealed, only “because He judged Him faithful who had promised”
(Heb 11:11). But we have the covenant sealed, all things are completely
done, even as sure as the heart-blood of a crucified Jesus can make it.
There is a great difference between their dispensation and ours for
comfort, even as much as there is between the making of a bond with a
promise to seal it, and the sealing of the same. It was made indeed in
their time, but it was not sealed until the time the blood was shed on
the Mount Calvary; and that we might indeed have our faith mount up
with wings like an eagle, he showeth us what encouragement and ground
of faith we have to conclude we shall be everlastingly delivered,
saying, “For where a testament” or covenant “is, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force
after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the
testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated
without blood” (Heb 9:16-18). As Christ’s blood was the confirmation of
the new covenant, yet it was not sealed in Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob’s
days to confirm the covenant that God did tell them of, and yet they
believed; therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to believe
the things that we have heard, and not in any wise to let them be
questioned; and the rather, because you see the testament is not only
now made, but confirmed; not only spoken of and promised, but verily
sealed by the death and blood of Jesus, who is the Testator thereof.
My brethren, I would not leave you ignorant of this one thing, that
though the Jews had the promise of a sacrifice, of an everlasting High
Priest that should deliver them, yet they had but the promise; for
Christ was not sacrificed, and was not then come a high priest of good
things to come; only the type, the shadow, the figure, the ceremonies
they had, together with Christ’s engaging as Surety to bring all things
to pass that were promised should come, and upon that account received
and saved.
It was with them and their dispensation as this similitude gives you to
understand:—Set the case that there be two men who make a covenant that
the one should give the other ten thousand sheep on condition the other
give him two thousand pound; but forasmuch as the money is not to be
paid down presently, therefore if he that buyeth the sheep will have
any of them before the day of payment, the creditor requesteth a
surety; and upon the engagement of the surety there is part of the
sheep given to the debtor even before the day of payment, but the other
at and after. So it is here; Christ covenanted with His Father for His
sheep—“I lay down My life for My sheep,” saith He—but the money was not
to be paid down so soon as the bargain was made, as I have already
said, yet some of the sheep were saved even before the money was paid,
and that because of the Suretyship of Christ; as it is written, “Being
justified,” or saved, “freely by His grace through the redemption,” or
purchase, “that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past,” or the sinners who died in
the faith before Christ was crucified, through God’s forbearing till
the payment was paid; to declare, I say, at this time His
righteousness; “that He might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus” (Rom 3:24-26).