Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

4S4 Vfe r. Hcb 6. 6. 1 Cor. 2. 8. Cont· g, 13• Vfez. Heh. 2. 9· rTim ,.6. 1 John •· 2. 31\tgUt ~urgatotp. when all our fins, the ftns of all the world were faften'd upon him? one mans fin is enough to fink him into hell; and had not our Saviour intervened, every one of us had know by a woful expcrien~c, how heavy Jm would have been upon the foul of each man.· bu~ ( 0 happy we!) theJnare u brokfn and we are delivered, To prevent fins effeCt Chrifl:. Je,us hath purged and walhcd it avvay. ' And is this all the matter vvherctore our Saviour fuffered ·~ was fin all the difeafe of wh1ch he bboured,1~hen. he had by htmfe!fpurged? yes, it was all, and if we conllder it nghtly, we may thtnk1t enough to caufe fufferings in him, when meer!y for its fake God was fo wroth agaml1: us. 0 loathfomefin, more ugly in the light of God, than IS the foule£1: Creature m the fight of man! he cannot a1vay with it, nor (fo righteous arc h1s waycs) could he fave h1s owh EleCt becaufe of it, but by killing his own Son: lmagme then :vhat a ficknefs is fin, when nothing but the blood of the Son of God could cure 1t: nnagme what a poyfon is fin, when nothing but a fpiritual Mithridate com– pounded and confeCted ot the be£1: blood that ever the wcrld had, could heal it: we need not any further to conllder its nature, but only to think of it how lateful it was to God, how hurtful to his Son, how damnable to men. And was it Sm he purged? 1. This may teach us how hateful fin is, that put him thus to h1s Purge: Every fin is a nail, a thorn, a fpear; and every finner a]ew, a]ud.,, a Pda!e: bowfoev~r then we may feek to fhift it on others, yet are we found the prinei. pal 111 th1s aCt our felves; you know it is not the Executioner that properly kills the map, f.n only is the murrherer, yea, ourfins onely are the crucifiers ofthe Lord ofglory: Y.ea, (1f you Will pleafe to hear me) I will yet fay more, o1tr fi"s onely didnot crucifie h1m, but do crtt<·ifte him afrcjh, Heb. 6. 6. and herein how far do we exceed the cruelty of the Jewcs? then his body was paffible and mortal, but now it is glorified and immor– tal; they knew not what they did, For had they k._nown, they would not have cr~tcified tht the Lord of glory : but we know well enough wh'lt we do and fay (too : they bu– ried Chrilt in the earth, and the third day he rofe again from the de~<d; but we through ji>me fo bury him in oblivion, that not once in three dayes, three weeks he arifeth, or lhineth in our hearts: 0 lhame of Chriflians to forget fo great a mercy! 0 fin pail: lhame to cru•'ifie afrejh the Son ofGod! Think of it (beloved) fin is the death of Chril1:, and would you not hate him that kills your Brother, your Father, your Mafter, your King; your God? beware then of fin, that does it all at a blow! and if you arc tempted to it, fuppofe with your felves that. you f.nv Chrifl Jefus corn– ing to wards you, wrapt in linnens, bound with a kercher, and crying after you in this gatlly manner : Beware, takf heed 1vhat }Oil do: once IHrve your fins mojf vilely m11rthered me; bltt no1VJeeiJJg mywounds arc whole again, do not (I bcfocchyo1~) mballd revi't.'e them withyour mttltiphedfins: pity, pity meyottr Jeftts, Jave me_your Savzour; once have 1died, .'lnd h,td ;wt that one death been{ufficient, I IWJtld have died a thoufand deaths more to have Javed yourfo;e/s; why then do you fin again to renelV myJuffering.r? 0 my ~aviour, who will not leave to fin that but hears thy voyce in the gardens? io, the c•mpamow heark.tn unto thy voice; ratt[e me to hear it: it is I that have finned, and if this be the'fruit of.it, let me rather be torne of beafts, be devoured of Worms, be violently pulled or hal~d with racks, then wittingly, or wilfully commit a fin. . . . . . 2. This may tench us what was the end, and meanwg, and mtent of Chnfl mh1s fufferings. It was to purge away fin, and therefore our fa1th mufi ch1efly eye that; without this, the contemplation of Chtifts death, or the med1tat1on of the fiory of hJ< fufferings, and of the greatndfc of them, will be altogether un~rofitabk Chnn1ans, learn th 1s for ever; that faith which is true, faving, jullifying f~1th, 1t ch1efly mmdes, and 1t is moll taken up with the main fcope and drift of all Chnfts fuffenngs~ wh1ch IS to obtain forgivendfe of fins in Chri£1: crucified. This was the true end of Chnil:s death, To be 11 propitz~ttion for fin Jto bear ~J'r J!m ot~ the tree ; he lVP.S m~de fin for u~~ that 1~e mt h: be made the riuhteoufncffe of God m hmt.Th1s was the plot wh1ch God by an anc1ent de fignemcnt ai1~edat in the rufferings' f Chrill:; And thus our faith mull take 1t up; Olct our faith look mainly to this defigne and pl0t.of God&. Chr.1i1: 10 h1s futfcn~gs,to JallSfit for our fins,& to jujhjie u1 finners.Surcly thiS mtcnt ofChn£1: 10 all that he dw or fuffered, is that welcome news, & the veryJprit of the Gojpel,wh1ch t:ue fa•th pnyes and fc1_rerh o\ Secondly, he p 1 :rgedfin; whofe? but o11r fin: and th1s tells us of the umvcrfat.ty O this oracious benefit, together with its limttatton. Fi~ll:, of the Hniveif~<lity; He tajfed ofdeath for every man, Heb. 2, 9· ~nd, HT~~~~ himfelf" ranfome for ~tll mm, 1 Tun. ;.. 6. and, He p~trged onrfins, fatth my wha~

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