guilt in the sight of God, considered as their God; for it is
sufficiently evident to any thinking mind, that it _was not possible for
the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin_, as committed against a
God; Heb. x. 4. And therefore the Jews themselves, when they had offered
their chief sacrifice of yearly expiation, had not so clear, so full,
and so satisfactory a peace in their consciences, as the gospel of
Christ bestows on christians; The apostle says, verse 1, 2. _The comers
thereunto were not made perfect_; for if they had _the worshippers once
purged, would have no more conscience of sin_, or sense of guilt.
_Wherefore, when Christ came into the world, he saith, sacrifice and
offering_, that is, _of bulls and goats, thou wouldst not, for they were
not sufficient, but a body hast thou prepared me_; and for what end this
was done, the following verses tell us, that sinners might be purified
from the guilty defilements of sin, _through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all_; verse 10.
Thus the blessed God, who designed in due time to make his own Son an
atonement for sinners, did early give some emblematical notices of this
divine atonement to those few who were taught to understand them: And in
this manner he kept alive in the world the hope of some such glorious
future transaction, which should be the ground-work of peace between God
and men, by the appointed death and sacrifice of beasts throughout all
ages, ever since he made the first promise, and gave the first hope of
grace to fallen man.
And indeed, all the souls that were pardoned, and all the sins that were
remitted under the several ancient dispensations of Adam, Noah, Abraham,
and Moses, must be referred to the virtue of this great sacrifice of the
Son of God, though all who were pardoned might not distinctly know the
ground of it. _Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation for the
remission of sins that are past_ in far distant ages, as well as for
sins that are yet to come; Rom. iii. 25. His sacrifice has a most
extensive efficacy, it reaches through all nations, and all ages, from
the beginning of the world to the end of it. It was this sacrifice of
Christ, that gave virtue to all other institutions and rights of
atonement that were appointed by God himself. In themselves they were
weak and insufficient, but they were made powerful through the blood of
Christ, to speak pardon and peace in some measure, to the guilty
conscience, though since Christ is come, we hear the joyful sound of
peace and pardon more distinctly.
IV. Nor was this doctrine manifested only in the ancient forms of
worship and sacrifice which God had ordained, but some of the noblest of
the following prophecies confirm and explain the first promise, and shew
that Christ was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. I
will mention only the words of those two great men, Isaiah and Daniel.
By Daniel we are told, that the _Messiah shall be cut off, but not for
himself, and the design of this is, to finish transgression, to make an
end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness_; Dan. ix. 24, 26. Isaiah speaks the same
thing more largely, in his liii. chapter, verses 5, 6, 10, 11. _Christ
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are
healed: We like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all.——It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and_ _to put
him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin.—By the knowledge
of him shall he justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities._ How
exceeding plain and strong is this language to support my doctrine, and
how exceeding hard to construe it to any other sense!
It may not be amiss to subjoin the witness of John the Baptist, who was
more than a prophet, and the very fore-runner of the Messiah; John i.
26. _Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world._ Now
a Lamb takes away sin in no other way than by dying as a sacrifice. Thus
our blessed Redeemer who, once in the end of the world, appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself, as a great High priest, was, as it
were, ushered into his office by a long train of types and prophecies:
All these went before him, that when his great sacrifice was offered, it
might not seem a strange thing, but might be more easily received by all
the world, who stood in so much need of him, and to whom the tradition
of sacrifices had been conveyed from Noah; and especially by the Jews,
who had so much notice of him before, by more express revelations beyond
what the heathens could learn by their broken traditions of sacrifice.
V. Our Saviour himself, among the rest of his ministrations as a
prophet, taught us the doctrine of atonement for sin by his death, and
that in these three ways:
1. He did speak of it, though but sparingly, in plain and express
language to his own disciples in private. Mat. xx. 28. _The Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many_: And this he spoke a little after he had foretold his
sufferings, his crucifixion, his death, and his rising again the third
day.
2. He preached this doctrine publicly to the multitude in parables and
figures of speech; John vi. 51. _The bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world. Except ye eat the flesh of
the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you_: Which can
signify nothing but his dying as a propitiation for sin, that we might
live by our feeding upon his sacrifice, or partaking the benefit of it.
John xii. 24. _The hour is come that the Son of man must be glorified.
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit._ Verse 32. _If I be lifted
up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me: This he said, signifying
what death he should die._ His being lifted up on the cross should draw
many souls to him as their way to the favour of God. Once he spoke it in
a little plainer language, in public; John x. 11. where he represents
himself as the _good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep_.
3. He taught the same doctrine both in types or emblems, and in plain
language, just before he died, at the institution of the holy supper;
Luke xxii. 19. _He took bread—and brake it_, saying, _This is my body
which is given for you_. And of the cup he said, _This cup is the New
Testament in my blood which is shed for you_; or as St. Matthew
expresses it, _This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for
many, for the remission of sins_. These things put together, make it
evident that Christ himself taught this doctrine.
Objection. But it will be said, How can we suppose that this doctrine of
atonement by the death of Christ, should be so considerable a part of
the gospel, if our blessed Redeemer, the great Prophet of his church,
spoke so seldom of it in public, and that in so obscure a manner?
Answer 1. This doctrine of atonement for sin by his death, and the
acceptance of it with God the Father, could not be so well preached in
public till he died, and rose again; for his death was the foundation of
this atonement; his resurrection and his ascension to heaven were the
proofs of its being accepted of God. Now it was divinely wise and proper
for our Lord not to preach such doctrines too freely in public to the
multitude, till these events should appear in the world. If he had
spoken all these things, concerning himself it would have probably
amazed and confounded the common people, and raised their rage or their
ridicule; so ignorant and so full of prejudice as they were in that day.
2. If Christ had publicly and plainly preached up the atonement of his
death, he must thereby have foretold openly that he must die as a
sacrifice; and this might have had very ill effects on the malicious
Jews, either, 1. To provoke them to kill him, before his hour was come,
and pretend that they only obeyed his own prophecy and commission when
they put him to death: Or, 2. They might lay hold on him, and keep him
prisoner without killing him, to endeavour to falsify his prophecies of
his death, and thus attempt to make void his doctrine of atonement.
It is true, God, by his immediate influence on the wills of men, could
have prevented these effects: But it is not the manner of God’s conduct
in providence to answer and accomplish his own predictions by such
immediate, divine, and over-ruling restraints upon the wills of men, if
it may done otherwise. And therefore indeed, the prophecies, and
especially such as are accomplished in the same age in which they are
spoken, are usually given forth in metaphors and parables, that men may
not so clearly and perfectly understand them, and that God, in his moral
government of the world, may not be constrained to go out of his common
and ordinary methods, in order to bring these prophecies to pass.
3. It is evident, from many expressions in the evangelists, that it was
not the design of Christ, in his own life-time, to publish the grace and
glory of the gospel, in so clear, so distinct, and so complete a manner,
as he designed to have it published by his apostles after he was gone to
heaven. The design of his own public ministry was rather to prepare the
way for the setting up of his own kingdom in the world, than to set it
up in the full glory of it in his own person. According to this view of
things, his preaching was formed; _Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand_; Mat. iv. 17. That is, the gospel state approaches, or hath
approached to you. The prayer he taught his disciples stands on the same
foot, wherein they are instructed to pray, _Thy kingdom come_; Mat. vi.
10. Therefore when he spake to the multitude, of the special glories of
his gospel, and especially of his atoning sacrifice, it was generally in
parables; and when he instructed his disciples more particularly in
private, he gave them but hints of it, and told them that they should
publish these things upon the house-tops after the Son of man should
rise from the dead, but not before.
Even just before his death, his own disciples themselves could not
bear many things that he had to teach them; John xvi. 12. These things
were reserved therefore for the forty days communication with them
after his resurrection, when he spake with them _of things pertaining
to the kingdom of God_; Acts i. 3. and more especially for the
teachings of his own Spirit, which he poured out upon them after he
went to heaven. By these means they were more completely furnished for
their ministry, and learned the doctrines of the gospel, in a more
perfect manner than ever our Lord himself taught them in his
life-time. Thus it appears that though Christ was the founder of a new
religion among men, yet there is good reason to be given, why he did
not teach plainly and publicly some of the chief doctrines of this
religion, during his own life on earth, _viz._ because these doctrines
were built on his death, his rising again, and ascending to heaven,
which events were then unaccomplished[38].
Thence we may infer, as we pass along, that if we would learn the
plainest and fullest account of the gospel of Christ, it is not enough
for us to consult merely his public sermons, or the histories of his
life, which are called the four gospels, but we must read carefully the
writings of the apostles after he went to heaven; for, during the life
of Christ, neither did he preach, nor did the apostles themselves learn
this gospel in the complete extent and glory of it. But this is only an
inference by the way.
[This is a proper pause in the middle of this sermon, when it is read in
families.]
Let us proceed to the next reason to prove that Christ was a
propitiation for our sins in his death.
VI. The terrors of soul, the consternation and inward agonies which our
blessed Lord sustained a little before his death, were a sufficient
proof that he endured punishments in his soul which were due to sin.
These were vastly greater than the persecutions of bloody men, and the
mere fears of dying: Can it ever be imagined, that the Son of God, whose
virtues and graces, whose patience and holy fortitude sparkled with
divine lustre in the various parts of his life, should have shewn so
much natural fear, and innocent disquietude of spirit, at the mere
thoughts of death by the hands of men, as if he had nothing else to
encounter with? When this dreadful hour was come, and the powers of
darkness were let loose upon him, _he began to be sore amazed, and very
heavy_; Mark xiv. 23. He told his disciples, _My soul is exceeding
sorrowful even unto death; He went forward a little, and fell on the
ground, and prayed, that if it were possible that hour might pass from
him_. He entreated his Father, _with prayers and supplications, with
strong cries and tears_; Heb. v. 7. Such a terror was upon his spirits,
that three times he repeated the same petition, that he might be excused
if possible from drinking that cup of sorrow. The agonies of his soul
pressed great drops of blood through the pores of his body, and bathed
him in a crimson sweat. These cries and tears, these agonies and these
sweats of blood preached the doctrine of atonement with dreadful power,
and uncontested evidence. And as upon the cross, so in the garden, it is
probable his Father forsook him, or hid his face from him, so that he
had need of an angel to be sent down from heaven on purpose to comfort
or strengthen him; Luke xxii. 43. It was here that he learned feelingly
what was the curse of the broken law, what was that indignation and
wrath, tribulation and anguish, that were due to the sin of man. Here
the seed of the woman maintained a combat with that great serpent, the
devil, and had his heel bruised; that is, his lower nature filled with
anguish. And it is most probable, that his nature being worn out with
this load of distress, was the true reason why he expired on the cross
much sooner than was expected, so that _Pilate marvelled to hear that he
was already dead_; Mark xv. 44.
I think it is impossible for the Socinians, who represent the death of
Christ chiefly as a martyrdom for the truth of his doctrine, and an
example of patience in suffering, to support their scheme against this
argument, or to give any tolerable account of this amazement which
possessed his spirit before his enemies came near him, and of these
agonies of soul which our blessed Lord sustained. Surely such sorrows
and such terrors demonstrate the work of propitiation and the dreadful
labour of reconciling an offended God and sinful man.
VII. This doctrine of satisfaction for sin by the death of Christ is
declared, and confirmed, and explained at large by the apostles in their
writings, when they were fully furnished for their ministry, by the
gifts of the Holy Ghost. Read St. Paul’s letters to the churches, and
you find them abounding in such expressions as these: _Christ died for
our sins_; 1 Cor. xv. 3. _He gave himself for us, to redeem us from all
iniquity_; Tit. ii. 13. _We have redemption through his blood_; Eph. i.
7. _God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them._ _He was made sin_; 2 Cor. v. 19, 21. _And he
was made a curse for us_; Gal. iii. 13. _He is our propitiation and
atonement_; 1 John ii. 2. _He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself_; Heb. ix. 26. _When we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by his death_; Rom. v. 10. _He made peace by the blood of his
cross_; Col. i. 20. _He was delivered for our offences, and raised again
for our justification_; Rom. iii. 25. _By the righteousness of one man,
the free gift came upon all men to justification of life._ _By the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous_; Rom. v. 18, 19.
Now in the writings of St. Paul on this subject, we may observe three
things.
1. He speaks this language, when in a plain doctrinal way he is teaching
the gospel of Christ, therefore these expressions of his are to be
understood in the common sense and meaning of the words. It would be a
very great force and torture put upon these expressions, if we construe
them only to mean, that God promised forgiveness to penitent sinners by
Jesus Christ, as a messenger of grace, and that Christ died as a martyr
to bear witness to this truth. Read his epistles to the Romans, the
Ephesians, the Colossians, and the Hebrews, where he treats of these
subjects, and you will find that the apostle in his doctrine of
atonement, means much more than this; for he talks in a plain rational
and argumentative style and method, to inform the minds of men, of the
true design of the death of Christ, and give them the clear knowledge of
the truth.
2. He not only represents the death of Christ as our atonement for sin,
but he declares this to be the great end of his appearing in the flesh.
Heb. ii. 14. _Because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he
himself also took part of the same, that through his own death he might
destroy the devil._ Heb. x. 5. _Sacrifices of bulls and goats were
insufficient, but a body hast thou prepared me._—ix. 26. _Once in the
end of the world he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself._ This was the design of his incarnation.
3. He makes the cross of Christ, and Christ crucified, to stand for the
gospel itself, and glories in it; 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. _Christ crucified is
the wisdom of God, and the power of God_;—ii. 2. _I desired to know
nothing among you but Christ, and him crucified._ Gal. vi. 14. _God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ_: And many such
expressions he uses, as though the public sermons of Christ, the example
of Christ, and the duties that he prescribed, were all as nothing
without the atoning virtue of his death, and his sacrifice on the cross;
for all these would not save us without his dying. This is eminently the
gospel.
Nor is the apostle Paul singular in declaring this doctrine of
atonement, or different in his sentiments from the other apostles. You
find Peter and John saying the same things in their epistles: 1 Pet. i.
18, 19. “Ye were not redeemed with silver and gold, but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.”—ii. 24. “Who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. Ver. 21. Christ
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to
God.” 1 John i. 7. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all
sin.”——ii. 1, 2. “Jesus Christ the righteous is the propitiation for our
sins.” iii. 16. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, that he laid down
his life for us.” Rev. i. 5, 6. Unto him that loved us and washed us
from our sins in his own blood be glory and dominion for ever. These
apostles take every occasion to publish the same gospel and the same
promises and hopes of salvation, by the death and sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
VIII. To sum up many arguments in one, These were the doctrines that
were witnessed to the world by those amazing gifts of the Holy Ghost,
which attended the gospel[39]. The gifts of tongues, the wonders of
prophecy, the powers of healing and destroying, communicated to men in
such a manner as the world never saw, and astonished the spectators, all
confirmed the truth of this atonement which the apostles preached. These
were the discoveries that were made so gloriously successful for the
conversion of nations. These doctrines subdued kingdoms to the belief of
them, and triumphed over the souls of men: These were the truths that
changed the corrupt natures of men into virtue, piety, and goodness,
that turned sinners into saints in multitudes, and raised a church for
Christ in the world, in spite of all the rage of enemies, the
superstitions of the priests, the learning and sophistry of the
philosophers, the wild prejudices of the people, and the tyranny of
princes.
The primitive christian writers who were converted to the faith, teach
us these same doctrines of the grace of God, through the atonement of
Christ, the pardon of sin through his blood, which had so much power
over their own souls. In the faith of these doctrines, and the hope of
eternal life by them, they became the glorious confessors and martyrs of
a crucified Christ, and cast down the tempter and the accuser by the
blood of the Lamb. This is the doctrine that has been delivered down to
us through all ages of the christian church; and though the
antichristian powers have mingled it with many of their superstitions,
yet the gates of hell have never been able to prevail against it, so as
to root it out. This is the religion which, two hundred years ago, was
reformed from popish corruptions, and while our blessed reformers
laboured to recover and convey it to us in its primitive glory, many of
them were called to witness and seal it with their own blood.
An occasional Remark.—Since these were the truths that the last, and
brightest, and best revelation of God communicated to men: since this
propitiation of Christ was the doctrine which the inspired apostles
taught, and in which all the foregoing revelations centre, even from the
beginning of the world: It is by this therefore, that all the former and
darker discoveries are to be explained; all the types and shadows of
ceremonial worship, and the obscure language of prophecy, must have
their true light cast upon them by this doctrine. This is the clue to
guide us into the mysteries and deep things of God, which lay hid under
the veils for so many ages. The great apostle St. Paul shews us how to
penetrate and unfold all the ancient dispensations, by the doctrine of
the Son of God coming into the flesh, by his dying as a sacrifice for
sin, by his rising and ascending to heaven, by his appearing there as a
priest to intercede for sinners in the virtue of his sacrifice, and by
his sitting there as a king, to reign over all things for the salvation
of his people, whom he has purchased with his own blood.
The Recollection.—What a variety of supports has this blessed doctrine
of our reconciliation to God by the atoning death of Christ? What a
train of arguments to confirm it are drawn down from the very first
entrance of sin into the world? Guilty nature urges us on to enquire
after such an atonement, and the bible reveals it to us in a long
succession of types, promises, and prophecies, in narratives and plain
instructions, in darker or brighter discoveries from the beginning of
mankind.
If I forsake the gospel of Christ, and his atonement for sin, whither
shall my guilty conscience fly to find a better relief? This is the
doctrine that supplies the chiefest wants of a guilty creature, and the
chief defects of natural light and reason. Nature shews me no way to
recompense the justice of God for my innumerable sins. Nature shews me
nothing which God will accept in the room of my own perfect obedience,
or in the room of my everlasting punishment. If I leave thee, O Jesus,
whither should I go? Thy sufferings are the spring of my hope of pardon,
and my eternal life depends on thy painful and shameful death.
I see and obtain in this gospel of atonement all that the heathen world
laboured for in vain, by many wild inventions, and painful
superstitions. The anger of the God of heaven is pacified by the
sufferings of Jesus his Son. O my God, let my soul never run back to
infidelity and heathenism, and rove abroad among the foolish inventions
of men, in quest of any other methods of atonement. The blood of Jesus
is all my hope.