231 ther could the Blood of Bulls and of Goats of themselves take away Sin: and therefore in thofe Sacrifices there was a remembrance again made of Sins every Year. But Chrift, by one Oblation of himself once offer'd, made a full, perfect and intire Sacrifice and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World, the infinite Dignity of his Perfon putting an Allfufficient Merit and Value into his Atonement: And tho God Almighty, if he had thought fit, might, out of his abfolute Sovereignty, have pardon'd Sinners upon the fole Condition of their Repentance; yet his infinite Wisdom. rather chose this way, to vindicate the Honour of his Laws, and to difpenfe his pardoning Mercy in fuch a manner as fhould give no encouragement to Sin, nor make the leaft reflection on his infinite Juftice, Truth, and Holiness.

In a word, He was deliver'd for our Offences, that we might be deliver'd from the Power and Guilt of them; and fuffer'd once for Sins, to free us from the Eternal Sufferings due to them.

But what may we learn from Chrift's Sufferings? Why, 1. We learn from hence, the Variety of his Human Nature; for he fuftain'd thofe Miferies which none but Man could fuffer, and in that degree too, that none but God could bear and by both, we are affur'd of the Certainty and Efficacy of his Redemption. His Divine Nature was impaffible, and we cannot doubt the Truth of his Human Nature, when we find him fubject to our Infir

mities.

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2. From Chrift's Sufferings we learn, the heinous and provoking Nature of Sin, which requir'd the Blood of the Son of God for its Expiation: And God's hatred and grievous difpleasure against it herein plainly appears, in that he would not hear of, or grant any Mercy or Pardon without fuch a valuable Confideration. And fure that can be no cheap or light Matter, that coft our Saviour fo dear to do it away.

3. From Chrift's Sufferings we may affure ourselves of his Tendernefs and Compaffion towards us. Nothing gives us a quicker fenfe of any Evil than our own undergoing of it; and we are naturally difpos'd to pity and compaffionate any Mifery in another, which we have felt and groan'd under ourselves: for thereby we know what it is, and that makes us apt to be affected towards them that labour under it, as we fhould be. This, the Apostle tells us, was one

Part II. End of Chrift's Sufferings, that he might be a merciful High Priest; he fubjected himself to Mifery, that he might be difpos'd to fhew us Mercy: Which made the fame Apoftle fay, We have not an High Prieft that was not touch'd with the feeling of our Infirmities, but one that was in all points tempted and try'd as we are; that by the sense of his own Sufferings he might the more compaffionate ours.

4. The Confideration of Chrift's Sufferings fhould inflame our Heart with ardent Love towards him, who underwent thofe great Miferies for our fake: For your fake (fays the Apoftle) he became poor, that you thro' his Poverty might be made rich. He emptied himself of all, that we might be filled; and was content to undergo the greatest Sufferings, that we might efcape them: And how can we do lefs than intirely love fo dear a Friend?

5. From Chrift's Sufferings we may learn to put our whole Truft and Affiance in him: for if God spar'd not his own Son, but deliver'd him up for us, how fhall be not with him freely give us all things? And if Chrift fpar'd not his own Life, but gave himself for us, how can we fear his withholding any good thing from us?

6. Chrift's Sufferings may teach us Patience and Refignation to the Will of God in all that befals us. If he hath fuftain'd the heavy Burden of God's Wrath for us, fhall we droop and flag under a few light and gentle Afflictions? Shall we grudg but to fip of that bitter Cup which he drank off to the very dregs? And when he hath borne the heat and trouble of the Day, fhall we be impatient under the darkness and uneafinefs of the Night?

Laftly, Our Saviour's Sufferings in our ftead, fhould engage us to all poffible ways and acts of Gratitude; devoting ourselves intirely to him who died for us, and often faying with the Pfalmift, What shall we return to the Lord for all bis Benefits?

學學

DISCOURSE XIV.

MARK XV. 15.

So Pilate, willing to content the People, releas'd Barabbas to them; and deliver'd Jefus, when be bad fcourged him, to be crucify'd.

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AVING fpoken of Chrift's Paffion in general, and feen fomething of the Nature, Manner and End of his Sufferings; I proceed to the particular Steps and Degrees of them. The

First whereof is his Crucifixion, He was crucified: of which I fhall now treat from thefe words of the Evangelift; Pilate, willing to content the People, deliver'd him up to be crucified, &c. Where we have,

1. The Perfon under whom our Saviour fuffer'd, which was Pontius Pilate, who is here faid to deliver him up; of which before.

2. The Motive that induc'd him to deliver him up, which was to content the People. And here it may be ask'd,

How came Pilate fo fearful and tender of offending the People, as to be willing to yield up Jefus, and to pafs Sentence upon him, against his Confcience, to please them? Why, the Reason was, he had incens'd the People by his former Violences, and made himself liable to be articled against for many Mifdemeanors: particularly, they threatned to accufe him to his jealous Governour Tiberius, as no Friend to him, for letting Chrift go, which they said was to be no Friend to Cefar: and therefore to quiet them, he did as they would have him; and this abject Fear betray'd him into this unjuft and vile action. However, this did not serve his turn, for Fofephus tells us, that he was foon after, upon the Complaint of the Samaritan Jews remov'd ; Antiq. lib. 18. c. 5.

But the main thing which both our Text and our Creed here will us to confider, is the Punishment to which Chrift was deliver'd up; and that is, after scourging, to be crucified. Where,

First, I muft fhew the Nature and Mannner of Crucifixion.

Secondly, That 'twas foretold by the Prophets in the Old Teftament, that the Meias was to be crucify'd.

Thirdly, That our Saviour underwent the Extremity of this Punishment, according to thofe Predictions. For the

First, Crucifixion, in the days of the Apostles, was a frequent and known Punishment; but fince that, the long difufe of it hath made it not fo eafy to be understood. The Account we have of it, both from Hiftory and Figure, fhews it to be the affixing of Criminals to a Cross, which was made of a ftrait erect piece of Wood, with a transverse piece over it, near the Top. The Perfon that fuffer'd on it, had his Body apply'd to the erect piece of it, faften'd below with Nails to the Feet; above, the Arms stretch'd out and nail'd by the Hands to the tranfverfe Beam, as we find it represented in the Figure of a Crucifix. 'Twas a Roman Punishment inflicted only on Servants and Slaves, call'd therefore by Tacitus, Servile Supplicium, never executed on any Freeman or Citizen, unless it were for very heinous and flagitious Crimes; fuch as Treafon, Robbery, Sedition, or the like. 'Twas a cruel and accurfed way of dying; for the Body being faften'd to the Crofs by the most tender and fenfible Parts, it was attended with the most exquifite Pains; and yet being no vital Parts, they were a long time a-dying, and expos'd all the while to the Scoffs and Mockery of Spectators. Upon which account, it is written, Curfed is every one that hangeth on a Tree. This was the common Punishment of the most infamous and vileft fort of Wretches, till Conftantine the firft Chriftian Emperor, out of a pious Honour and Refpect to our Saviour who fuffer'd this way, forbad any farther Ufe of it. But for the better underftanding of this Punishment, we may note many Circumftances added by the Romans to increase the Shame and Sting of it. As,

1. They that were to undergo it, were firft to be fcourg'd fo St. Ferom tells us, 'tis requir'd by the Laws of the Romans, that the Perfon to be crucify'd be firft whip'd. Accordingly, Pilate's Sentence was, when he had scourg'd him, to lead him away to be crucify'd. To which end,

2. They that were to be crucify'd were to be ftrip'd of their Clothes, and to fuffer naked; that being feverely

lafh'd

lafh'd in feveral Parts, and after expos'd to the open Air, they might feel the greater Shame and Pain.

3. The Perfons to be crucify'd were to bear their Cross on their fhoulders to the Place of Execution, which was ever without the City. So Plutarch tells us that Malefactors going to execution, each one bears his own Crofs. This was added to increafe the Ignominy and Reproach of this Punishment, by making them to carry the Inftrument of their own Shame, and to bear that which was after to bear them.

4. They who were faften'd to the Crofs, had the Caufe of their Punishment written over them in Capital Letters, that fo the Equity of it might the better appear to the World. Hence Dio tells us of a Servant hanging on the Cross, with Letters declaring the Caufe of his Punishment. This is a brief Account of the Nature and Manner of Crucifixion from whence I must go on,

Secondly, To fhew that 'twas foretold by the Prophets, that the promis'd Meffias was to fuffer this way, and to undergo Crucifixion. And this will be evident by many Types and Prophefies of the old Teftament. Abraham's Readinefs to facrifice his Son Ifaac, and Ifaac's yielding himfelf up to be made a Sacrifice, reprefents both the Readinefs of God the Father to offer up his Son, and the Willingness of the Son to be offer'd up for us: And Ifaac's bearing the Wood for the Sacrifice, reprefented Chrift's bearing his Crofs; which was a Circumftance peculiar to that way of Suffering and was a clear Type or Token of Crucifixion. Mofes's lifting up the brazen Serpent on a Pole. in the Wilderness, and the People's being cur'd and preferv'd from the mortal Bitings of other Serpents by the fight of it, was a plain Representation of the Meffias's lifting up on the Crofs, and the Salvation wrought by it from the Power and Malice of the old Serpent.

And as this was reprefented in Types, fo was it more clearly foretold in Prophecies. David prophetically fpake in the Perfon of the Meffias, They pierced my Hands and my Feet, Pfal. 22. 17. And Zachary, they shall look upon him whom they have pierc'd, Zach. 12. 10. Both which places are generally expounded of the Sufferings of the Meffias, and manifeftly refer to his Crucifixion. The Prophet Ifaiah fpeaks of him as one wounded for our Tranfgreffions, and bruis'd for our Iniquities; the Chaf tisement