r.Z SER MßN S zapan Serm. T;. and broken , and fo proper food for our Souls:, his Blood as poured out and (bed for us. Well then, here we remember Chrift as dying on the Crofs rather than as glorified in Heaven. 3. By reafon it muff needsbe fo. t. With refpe& to the (late of Man , with whom the new Covenant is made 5 it is made with Man fallen , and a Sinner; therefore Baptifm and the Lords Supper imply our Communion with Chrift as a Redeemer and Saviour , who cometh so fave us from our fins , Mat. I. 2 i. and nothing can fave us from our fins but a crucified Saviour. Therefore thefe Ordinances imply a Communion with his Death, Heb. g. 15. For this caufe be is the Mediator of the New Teffament, that by the means of death , for the redem_ pion of the tranfgrejons, that were under the firft Tefiament , they which are called might receive the promife of eternal Inheritance. So here, the intervention of his Death was the way and means to expiate former fins , and that penitent Believers might have eternal Bleffednefs inftated upon them by way of inheritance 5 therefore the molt obvious thing reprefented in thefe Seals of the new Covenant mutt be the Death of Chrift. 2. With refpe& to the great Benefit we (land in need of, which is the deftru &ion of fin, which hash a double malignity in it 5 for fin is confiderable under a double refpea, as it damneth , or as it defileth ; as it rendreth us obnoxious to Gods Juftice, or as it tainteth and flaineth and defileth our faculties. Chrift confidereth fin under this dou- ble refpe& , and maketh none partakers of the benefit which cometh by him, whom he freeth not from fin , both as to the guilt and power: by his Death our fins are expia- ted before God , and fo pardoned 5 and alto the Spirit , or a new and holy Nature is put into us , whereby the reigning power, of .fin is broken and taken away ; not only the guilt of fin , which is oppofed to Bleffednefs, but the reign of fin, which is oppofed to Holinefs. We can never be compleatly happy , till we get freed from the punifh- ment which fin hath made our due, and alto get that fin deftroyed which would in- volve us in new guilt ; God who is a juft and wife Difpofer of his Grace will not give impunity where fin remaineth in its full ftrength. Now this being the nature of our recovery, we ought to feek Communion with Chrifis Death, that we may obtain both pardon , and the gilt of the Spirit , and be juftified and fan&ified in the Name of the Lord Jefus, and by the Spirit of our God; or (which tendeth to the lame effe &) that we might feel the virtue of Chrifis Death, and exprefs the likenefs of it. 3. With refpe& to the value of Chrifis Death, which is often recommended to us under thefe two Confiderations (i.) As a wonderful Ml of Love. (2.) As a Price and Ranfom paid for our Souls, and the Blef ings we (land in need of. a. As a wonderful A& of condefeending Love, Gal. 2.20. He loved me, and gave himfelf for me. Eph 5. 2. Who bath loved ur , and given king( for us an offering and facrifce to God for atweet( welling favour. Rev. r. 5. Who loved us, and waffled us from oar fins in his own blood. Chrifts Death is the greateft inftance of his Love , and Sa- craments are a Memorial of his Love to us , and therefore muff needs principally relate to his Death, for fo they are moll apt to work upon our Souls. 2. They are the Price paid for the Bleffings we Rand in need of, and fo breed con. fidence in us. The great benefit is the defttu &ion of fin , as I laid before ; for the great occafion of this Myftery of Grace was our fallen eRate , which brought fin and mifery upon us. But the Son of God came to take away fin , i yob. 3.5. 'by dying an accurfed Death to propitiate God to us, and make way for the more liberal effufion of his Mercy. Well then, if poor Creatures have any awakening fenfe of their deep mi- fery, what fhould they look after, or bids God for, when they folemnly come to ac- cept the Covenant, but the Death of Chrift ? 4. The mutual refpe& that is between both Sacraments. For Chrifts Death, and the immediate Benefits which refute thence , are reprefented both in Baptifm and the Lords Supper in .a way proper to each. Baptifm fignifieth our fieft entrance into the Evan. gelical Rate, and the Lords Supper our growth and. progtrfs therein. Both are ne. ceffary. r. Baptifm, that our content do depend upon God for the benefits of the new Cove- nant, and perform the duties thereof, may be more folemn and explicite : for all the fin - cerity of our after-obedience Both very much depend upon the ferioufnefs of our 'firft confent; therefore it is meet, that we Mould be frengthenedwhh,fucha bond , that we thould be baptized into the Death of Chrift : that'a& is an a& òf Love, it may bind us to love him to the death, who bath loved usfirif, and in all Temptations cleave to him; performing our Covenant-refolutáonand confent with.all fidelity all the days of our
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