tisement of our Peace was upon him, and by his Stripes we are heal'd: Ifa. 53. 5. with many other Circumstances of his Passion. All which evidently relate to the Wounds and Bruises, the Scourge and Lashes receiv'd at his Crucifixion. Thus was the particular Way and Manner of his Sufferings clearly reveal'd to the Prophets long before it came to pass. Whence I proceed, 1 Thirdly, To shew that our Blessed Saviour underwent the utmost Extremity of that Punishment, according to those Predictions: for he was nail'd to the Cross after the manner of other Malefactors, where he hung for the Space of fix hours upon the tender Wounds of his Hands and Feet; during which time he not only felt the acutest Pains, but endur'd the bitterest Taunts, Scoffs, and Revilings of the People. They reproach'd him with all his former Miracles, willing him to come down from the Cross, when they had fasten'd him to it; and wagging their heads at him, faid, He fav'd others, bimself he cannot fave. He was mock'd, buffetted, and spit upon, and crucify'd between two Thieves, as if he had been the Arch Malefactor; ; being, as 'twas foretold of him, numbred with the Transgressors, and us'd more roughly and contemptuously than the worst of them. All the preliminary and additional Acts of Shame and Cruelty us'd in such Cases, were exercis'd on him with the greatest Barbarity. For, 1. He was severely scourg'd before they led him to be crucify'd, their cruel Lashes fetching blood, and making long furrows on his Back; the Smart whereof was increas'd by that reproachful Taunt us'd at every Blow, Now prophesy who it is that strikes thee. After which, they expos'd his raw and tender Flesh to the scorching of the Sun, and the Rigour of the Air and Winds. Again, 2. He was stript of his Clothes, and according to the manner of that Punishment suffer'd naked. They divested him of those poor Coverings that were ordain'd to hide our Shame, parting his Garments among them, and casting Lots for bis Vesture; as we read, Mat. 27. Moreover, 3. He was made to bear his Cross upon his own shoulders, till growing weary and almost sinking under the Burden, they compell'd Simon the Cyrenian to bear it for him. Lastly, He had, according to the Custom in this Punishment, his Accusation written in Capital Letters over his head; THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS, JEWS, Mat. 27. 37. which that it might be the more generally known and read by all, St. Luke tells us, was written in three Languages, viz. in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; Luke 23. 38. Thus did the malicious Jews improve this Roman Punishment to the Height of Cruelty upon the Person of our Saviour, who thereby endur'd the utmost Rigour of Crucifixion of the Truth whereof we may be abundantly affur'd, not only from the Satisfaction given to St. Thomas, whosaw in his Hands the very Print of the Nails, and thrust his Finger into his Side, where the Soldier's Spear had pierc'd; but likewise from the Testimony of the Jews, who executed this Cruelty upon him, and the History of the Romans, who in their Annals have recorded it. But, How came the glorious and guiltless Son of God to submit to so vile and infamous a Punishment? Why, as Sin was the Cause, so the Expiation of it was the end of his Sufferings. He had undertaken for Man's Redemption, and to rescue them from those eternal Punishments which their Disobedience had incur'd. Now none but the Son of God could effect this, and nothing but his precious Blood could prove a valuable Confideration. Indeed the whole Scene of his Sufferings was occafion'd by our Sins; these were the Nails that fasten'd him to the Cross, and the Spear that pierc'd his facred Side. And the whole Design of them was to remove their Guilt, and so restore us to the Favour of God. He wore a Crown of Thorns, that we might wear a Crown of Gold; and that which pierc'd and wounded his Head, serves to defend and adorn ours: That Scarlet Robe which the Jews put on him, dy'd as it were in his own Blood, helps to hide our Shame, and to cover for us a multitude of Sins; his bitter Cup is our most reviving Cordial; the Vinegar and Gall which made him faint, is our Nectar, and a glorious Portion of Immortality; his Cross, the cursed Instrument of his Death, is to us a Tree of Life, which bears the Fruit of Knowledge and eternal Happiness; his Agonies are our Triumphs, and his bloody Sweat the most Sovereign Balsam to cure our Wounds. In a word he liv'd and dy'd with Thieves and Robbers, and was number'd among Tranfgreffors, only that we might live with Saints, and fing forth his Praises with Myriads of Angels. Thus Thus did every part of this Tragedy relate intirely to our Benefit and Advancement: All which instruct us in many excelent Leffons. As, 1. Christ's being lifted up on the Cross for us, betokens the Ardency of his Affection towards us, whose Arms are there open and stretch'd out ready to receive and embrace us; his Hands spread out as it were to woo and call us to him, that he may lead us unto our heavenly Father, and be reconcil'd to him: which Postures represent that great and large Charity he bears in his Heart to Mankind. 2. From our Saviour's Crucifixion, we may learn to crucify the Flesh, with the Affections and Lusts; this is the use the Apostle would have us make of it. As Christ was crucify'd for us, so should we be crucify'd to the World, and the World to us. And what can be more reasonable, than that we should mortify and forsake that which cost our Saviour so dear to do it away? If any can be so dangerously mistaken, as to think Sin but a flight matter, let him enter into the High-Prieft's Palace, the Judgment-Hall, and Mount Calvary, and there see what it drew upon a bleeding and crucify'd Saviour: let him take a walk in the Garden of Gethsemane, and behold there what he endur'd for its Expiation; there may'st thou see what a dismal Night of Affliction thou hast made him to suffer by thy Luxury and Night-Revellings, and how he groan'd under that, at which thou dost but sport thyself: Call upon thy deep Draughts and riotous Excesses, to fee what a Cup of Wrath and Trembling they have made him to drink to the very dregs: Shew thy leud Embraces a naked Christ, bath'd all over in Tears and Blood, to wash off their Impurities: Bid thy Oaths and Curfings look yonder, and fee the Blood and Wounds they have so often play'd withal : View the bitter Pangs, Throws, and Agonies that Sin made him to labour under; and then tell me, whether it be so light a matter as too many would perfuade themselves it is. And having thus wrought thyself into some sense of the Evil and Danger of Sin; learn, in the next place, to hate and abhor it; be forry for what is past, and seek to repent and turn from it for the time to come. Can we think it much to shed a few penitential Tears, for that which made him sweat great Drops of Blood? And when he has fuf fer'd so much for us already, shall we tear open his Wounds Wounds afresh, and act over the Tragedy upon him again? Why, the Apostle tells us, that to continue in our Sins, is to crucify afresh the Son of God, and to put him again to open shame: so that to perfist in our evil ways, is to delight in our Saviour's Blood, and to hug the Cause of his Crucifixion. When therefore Satan, or thy own corrupt Heart tempt thee to the Commission of any, imagine that thou sawest thy crucify'd Saviour coming towards thee, shewing thee his Cross, and beseeching thee not to pierce his Side again, or drive any more Nails into him; yea, fanfy all his Wounds to be so many Mouths gaping for Pity, and begging thee not to renew their Smart by any fresh Acts of Cruelty: And this, one would think, should be sufficient to diffuade any, that had but the Bowels of a Man, from such unreasonable Attempts. 3. Our Saviour's Cross may teach us the great Lessons of Patience, Humility, and doing good to one another: for he bore the sharpest Pains with the greatest Patience; and as the Sheep before the Shearer is dumb, so he open'd not his Mouth. He did not indeed pretend to a Stoical Apathy or Insensibleness of Pain, nor court Racks and Gibbets with quam fuave! quam dulce! how sweet and pleasant are these things! No, he felt the Sharpness both of the Spear and Nails, and was so sensible of the Bitterness of his Cup, that he pray'd three times most earnestly that it might pass from him; yet when his Father's Will and his own Choice, had made it his Lot, he was content to take it off, and bore the Bitterness of it with an invincible Patience: And therefore the Apostle wills us, to look to the Author and Finisher of our Faith, who was crucify'd for us, lest we grow weary and faint in our Minds; Heb. 12. 2. Lastly, Let us not be either afraid or asham'd to own a crucify'd Saviour, but rather put our whole Trust and Affiance in him. The Apostles and the primitive Christians were so far from being asham'd, that they glory'd in the Cross, and prefer'd it above all the Glories and Triumphs of the World. I am not asham'd (faith St. Paul) of the Cross of Christ, by which the World is crucify'd to me, and I unto the World; yea, God forbid (faith he in another place) that 1 Should glory in any thing Save in the Cross of Christ, which is the Power of God unto Salvation. He told the Corinthians, that he desir'd to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ, and him crucify'd: and the Philippians, that be counted all other Knowledge but as Loss and Dung in comparison of the I Excel Excellency of this Knowledge of Christ. He endur'd the Cross, and defpis'd the Shame for our Salvation; and certainly it must be very unworthy and unsafe too for us to be asham'd to own and adhere to him; especially having told us, That they who are asham'd of him, of them he will be asham'd at the last Day. DISCOURSE XV. I COR. XV. 3. latter part. Chrift died for our Sins, according to the Scrip F tures. ROM the first Step of our Saviour's Passion, viz. his Second, Which is his Death: Was crucify'd, dead, 5. Where we must note, that Crucifixion of it-felf does not neceffarily include Death; for the Persons that suffer'd this way being fasten'd to the Cross, not by any vital part, which might foon dispatch them, but by the Hands and Feet, were so long a dying, that being taken down in some time they might be easily suppos'd to live: But our Saviour's Sufferings did not end so, but proceeded to the very Extremity of this Punishment, and fulfill'd the utmost Design of Crucifixion, which terminated in Death. So the Apostle tells us, Christ died for our Sins according to the Scriptures. In treating of which, I must shew, First, That Christ underwent a true and proper Death. Secondly, That his Death was for our Sins. Thirdly, That this was done according to the Scriptures; that is, according to the Account of it in the Predictions of the Old Testament. First, I say, our Saviour underwent a true and proper Death. For the clearing of which, we must observe, that as Life properly confifts in the Union of Soul and Body, and those vital Operations that flow from it; even fo Death truly confists in the Diffolution of that Union, and the Separation of the two great Parts, the Body and the Soul, |