not important) and present the most plausible temptation to our Re-
deemer under these trying circumstances, is perfectly consistent with
the malevolence of liis character ; but how far he was permitted to
exert his power in forming them, is not necessary to be inquired. The
grand objection is, why was Satan suffered thus to insult the Son of
God ? Wherefore did the Redeemer sufter his state of retirement to
be thus disturbed, with the malicious suggestions of the fiend ? The
great apostle furnishes an answer, equally pertinent and consolatory —
' He was tempted in all points like as we are — that he might be touch-
ed with the feeling of our infirmities— and himself having suffered be-
ing tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.' Heb. ii. 18.
iv. 15.
206 HISTORY OF REDExAIPTIOM.
said, his * soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death, and was sore amazed.' Mark xiv. 33, 34.*
So violent was the agony of his soul, as to force the
blood through the pores of his skin ; so that he was
overwhelmed with amazing sorrow, his body was
covered with blood. The disciples, who used to be
his friends and family, now appear cold and uncon-
cerned, at the time his Father's face is hid from him.
Judas, whom he had treated as one of his family, or
familiar friends, comes and betrays him in the most
deceitful, treacherous manner. The officers and sol-
diers apprehend and bind him. His disciples for-
sake him and flee, instead of comforting him in his
distress. He is led as a malefactor before the priests
and scribes, his mortal enemies, that they might set
as his judges; and they set up all night, to enjoy
the pleasure of insulting him, now they had got him
into their hands. But because they aimed at nothing
short of his life, they set themselves to find some
colour to put him to death, and seek for witnesses
against him. When none appeared, they employed
some to bear false witness ; and when their witness
did not agree together, then they examined him, to
catch something out of his own mouth. They hoped
he would say, that he was the Son of God, and then
they thought they should have enough. And when
he was silent they adjured him in the name of God,
to say whether he was or not. When he confessed
this, they supposed they had enough ; then it was a
time of rejoicing wnth them, which they show by in-
sulting him, spitting in his face, blindfolding and
buffeting him, and then bidding him prophesy who
it was that struck him; thus ridiculing him for pre-
* To heij^hten our idea of this distress, the evanajelists make use of
the most forcible words : ' He was seized with the most alarming
astonishment, or overwhelmed with insupportable dejection. He was
besieged on all sides, as it were with an army of invading sorrows.
He wrestled, amidst stronj; cries and tears, not only with the malice
of men and rage of devils, but with the infinitely more dreaded indig-
nation of God : he wrestled even unto an agony of spirit.' All thesir
circumstances of horror and anguish constitute what a celebrated poet
very justly stiles,
' A weight of woe, more than ten worlds can bear.'
THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTIOiV. 207
tending to be a prophet. The very servants also
have a hand in the cruel sport, and they strike him
with the palms of their hands. Mark xiv. Go.
During- the sufferings of that night, Peter, one of
the chief of his own disciples, appears ashamed to
own him, and denies and renounces him with oaths
and curses. And after the chief priests and elders
had finished the night in so shamefully abusing him,
when the morning was come, which was the morn-
ing of the most wonderful day that ever was, they
led him away to Pilate, to be condemned to death
by him, because they had not the power of life and
death in their own hands. He is brought before
Pilate's judgment seat, and there the priests and
elders accuse him as a traitor. And when Pilate,
upon examining into the matter, declared that he
found no fault in him, the Jews were the more fierce
and violent to have him condemned. Pilate, there-
fore, after clearing him, very unjustly brings him to
a second trial ; and then not finding any thing
against him, acquits him again. Pilate treats him
as a poor worthless fellow ; but is ashamed on so
little pretense to condemn him as a traitor.
Afterwards he was sent to Herod to be tried by
him, and was brought before his judgment seat; his
enemies following, and virulently accusing him as a
traitor, or one that would set up for a king ; but he
considers him as Pilate did, as a poor creature, not
worthy to be taken notice of, and only makes a jest
of the Jews, accusing him as a dangerous person to
Caesar, as one that was in danger of setting up to be
a king against him. Therefore in derision, he dresses
him in a mock robe, makes sport of him, and sends
him back with it through the streets of Jerusalem
to Pilate.
Then the Jews prefer Barabbas before him, and
are instant and violent with loud voices to Pilate,
to crucify him. So Pilate after he had cleared him
twice, and Herod once, very unrighteously brings
him on trial the third time. Christ was stripped
and scourged : thus he gave his ' back to the smiters.'
208 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
Isai. 1. 6. After that, though Pilate still declared
that he found no fault in him ; yet so unjust was he,
that for fear of the Jews he delivered him to be cru-
cified. But before they execute the sentence, his
spiteful and cruel enemies again insult and torture
him. They strip him, and put on him a scarlet
robe, place a reed in his hand, and a crown of thorns
on his head. Both Jews and Roman soldiers were
united in the transaction ; they bow their knees be-
fore him, and in derision cry, * Hail, King of the
Jews.' They spit upon him also, and took the reed
out of his hand, and smote him on the head. After
this they led him away to crucify him, and made
him carry his own cross, till he sunk under it, his
strength being spent; and then they laid it on one
Simon a Cyrenian. Mat. xxvii. 32.
At length, being come to Mount Calvary, they
execute the sentence which Pilate had so unrigh-
teously pronounced. They nailed him to the cross
by his hands and feet, then raise it erect, and fix
one end in the ground, he being still suspended on
it by the nails which pierced his hands and feet.
And now Christ's sufferings are come to the extre-
mity ; now the cup which he so earnestly prayed
that it might pass from him, is come, and he must,
he does drink it. Isai. xxvi. 39. In those days cru-
cifixion was the most tormenting death by which
any were executed. There was no death in which
a person experienced so much torment ; and hence
the Roman word which signifies torment, is taken
from this kind of death.— Besides what our Lord
endured in this excruciating death in his body, he
endured vastly more in his soul. Now was that
travail of his soul, of which we read in the prophet.
Now it pleased God to bruise him, and to put him
to grief; now ' he poured out his soul unto death.'
•Isai. liii. 10. And if the mere forethought of this
cup made him sweat blood, how much more dread-
ful and excruciating must the drinking of it have
been ! Many martyrs have endured much in their
bodies, while their souls have been joyful, and have
fc
THE PURCHASE OF REDEMPTlH^i;^^ 209 '^ i" f j" «
sung for joy, whereby they have been supported ..-^
under the sufferings of the outward man, and have
triumphed over them. But this was not the case
with Christ ; he had no such support ; but his suf-
ferings w^ere chiefly those of the mind, though the
others were extremely great.
Under all these sufferings, the Jews still mock
him ; and wagging their heads say, * Thou that
destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days,
save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross.' Matt, xxvii. 40. Even the
chief priests, scribes, and elders, joined in the cry,
saying, ' He saved others, himself he cannot save.'*
And probably the devil at the same time tormented
him to the utmost of his power ; for this was the
hour, and the power of darkness. Luke xxii. 53.
Under these sufferings, Christ having cried out
once and again with a loud voice, at last he said,
* It is finished, and bowed the head, and gave up the
ghost.' John xix. 20. Thus was finished the great-
est work that ever was done ; now the angels beheld
the most wonderful sight that ever was seen, now
was accomplished the main thing that had been
pointed at by the various institutions of the cere-
monial law, by all the typical dispensations, and by
all the sacrifices from the beginning of the world.
Christ being thus brought under the power of
death, continued under it till the morning of the next
day but one ;t and then was finished that great
* So Celsus, that bitter enemy of Christianity, tauntingly cries,
* Why, in the name of wonder, does he not, on this occasion, at least,
act the God ? Why does he not deliver himself from this shocking ig-
nominy, or execute some signal vengeance on the author of such im-
pious and abusive insults, both.of himself and his Father ?' — Why,
Celsus .' Because on his death depends the salvation of mankind, and
thereby is purchased that pardon which the gospel proclaims to sin-
ners, such as Celsus.
t During this period, some have supposed our Lord descended
below the grave, and ' preached to the spirits,' — ^either in purgatory,
or even hell itself. The two former of these opinions have been main-
tained by popish writers, and sufficiently answered by protestants : but
tlie latter notion supposes that Christ after his death went down among
the damned, preached salvation there, and actually converted and de-
livered many of the unhajjpy spirits therein confined. The text here
2 E
210 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
work, the purcliase of our redemption, for which
such great preparation had been made from the be-
ginning of the world. Then was finished all that
was required in order to fulfil the threaten ings of
the law, and all that was necessary in order to sa-
tisfy divine justice ; then the utmost that vindictive
justice demanded, even the whole debt was paid.
Then was finished the whole of the purchase of
eternal life.
IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD II
In surveying the history of redemption, we have
now shown how this work was carried on through
alluded to is 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20 ; but against this extraordinary opinion,
the foliowino: objections appear to be important and decisive.
(1) The Spirit ' by which he went and preached,' Mas not Christ's
human soul, but a divine nature, or rather the Holy Spirit, by which
he was quickened, and raised from the dead.
(2) Christ when on the cross promised the penitent thief his presence
that day in paradise ; and accordingly when he died, committed his
soul into his heavenly Father's hand. In heaven therefore, and not in
hell, we are to seek tlie separate spirit of our Redeemer at this period,
Luke xxiii. 43, 46.
(3) Had our Lord descended to preach salvation to the damned,
there is no supposeabie reason why the unbelievers in Noah's time
only should be mentioned, rather than those of Sodom and the un-
happy multitude who died in sin.
(4) Granting the fact, that our Saviour descended into hell, we have
no intimation of his preaching being attended with any more success
than that of his servant Noah. Some indeed were raised from the
dead at this time, and no doubt these would have been taken for some
of the unhappy spirits released, and permitted to return to earth, had
not the scriptures expressly told us that they were the bodies of saints.
Matt, xxvii. 52.
(5) So far from any intimation of such deliverance, St. Jude, subse-
quent to this, mentions the sinners of Sodom suffering the vengeance
of eternal fire : and both the apostles, Jude and Peter, mention the
Sodomites, the Israelites that perished for their rebellion in the wilder-
ness, tiie fallen angels, and impenitent sinners in general, as involved
in one common ruin, and reserved to the ' day of judgment to be
punished ; ' and the latter includes the inhabitants of tlie old world
among the rest. Jude 5—8. 2 Pet. ii. 4—9.
(6) Our Lord is express, that ' he that believeth shall never come
into condemnation— shall never perish;' and ' he that believeth not,
shall not see life,' — not come where He is. John iii. 36. v. 24. viii.
21.
(7) The apostle, describing the resurrection of Christ, says, that ' he
.spoiled principalities and powers— made a show of them openly.' Co!.
ii. 15. But he adds nothing of the souls delivered from !u>!l, thong!»
be would hardly have omitted such a fact, had it been true.
IMPROVEMENT OF PERIOD IT. 211
the two first periods into which we divided it, from
the fall to the incarnation of Christ, and from thence
to the end of the time of Christ's humiliation ; and
have particularly explained how in the first of these
periods God prepared the way for Christ's appearing
and purchasing redemption ; and how, in the second
period, that purchase was made and finished. I
would now add some improvement of what has been
said on both these subjects in conjunction.
1. I begin with an use of reproof; a reproof of
three things ; of unbelief, self-righteousness, and a
careless neglect of the salvation of Christ.
(1) If the things above particularly recited be
true, how greatly do they reprove those who do not
believe in, and heartily receive the Lord Jesus
Christ. Persons may receive him in profession, and
may wish that they had some of those benefits that
Christ has purchased, and yet their hearts not re-
ceive him. They may be sincere in nothing that
they do towards him ; they may have no high esteem
of him, nor any real respect to him. Though their
hearts have been opened wide to others, yet Christ
has always been shut out, and they have been deaf
to all his invitations. They never found an inclina-
tion of heart to receive him, nor would they ever
trust in him.
Let me now call upon you to consider how great
your sin, in thus rejecting Jesus Christ, appears to
be from what has now been said. You slight the
glorious Person, for whose coming God made such
great preparations in such a series of wonderful pro-
vidences from the beginning of the world, and who,
after all things were made ready, God sent into the
world, bringing to pass a thing before unknown, —
the union of the divine and human nature in one
person. You have been guilty of slighting that great
Saviour, who, after such preparation, actually ac-
complished the purchase of redemption ; and who,
after he had spent three or four and thirty years
in poverty, labour and contempt, in purchasing re-
demption, at last finished the purchase by closing
212 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION,
his life under such extreme sufferings as you have
heard; and so by his death, and continuing for a
time under the power of death, completed the whole.
This is the Saviour you reject and despise. You
make light of all the glory of his person, and all the
love of the Father in sending him into the world,
and the Son's compassion in the whole of this affair.
That precious stone that God hath laid in Zion for
a foundation in such a manner, and by such won-
derful works as you have heard, is a stone set at
nought by you.
Sinners sometimes are ready to wonder why un-
belief should be looked upon as so great a sin : but
if you consider what you have heard, how can you
wonder. If Christ be so great a Saviour, and his
work so great, and such great things have been done
in order to it, truly there is no cause of wonder that
the rejection of this Saviour is spoken of in scrip-
ture as a sin so provoking to God, and attended
with greater aggravations than the worst sins of the
heathen, who never heard of those things, nor have
had this Saviour offered to them.
(2) What has been said affords matter of reproof
to those who, instead of believing in Christ, trust
in themselves for salvation. It is a common thing
with men to trust in their prayers, their good con-
versation, the pains they take in religion, the refDr-
mation of their lives, and in their self-denial, to
make some atonement for their sins^ and to recom-
mend themselves to God.
Consider three things :
[1] How great a thing that is which you take
upon you. Though you are poor, worthless, pol-
luted worms of the dust ; yet so arrogant are you,
that you take upon you that work which the only-
begotten Son of God became man to capacitate him-
self for, and in order to which God made so great
preparation. Consider how vain is the thought
which you entertain of yourself; how must such
arrogance appear in the sight of Christ, whom it
cost so much to make a purchase of salvation, when
IMPROVEMENT OE PERIOD II. 213
it was not to be obtained even by him, so great
and glorious a person, at a cheaper rate than his
wading through a sea of blood, and passing through
the midst of the furnace of God's wrath.
[2] If there be ground for you to trust, as you
do, in your own righteousness, then all that Christ
did to purchase salvation when on earth, and all
that God did from the fall of man to that time to
prepare the way for it, is in vain. Your self-righ-
teousness charges God with the greatest folly, in
that he has done all this to bring about an accom-
plishment of what you alone, a little worm, with
your poor polluted services, are sufficient to accom-
plish. For if you can appease God's anger, and can
commend yourself to him by these means, then you
have no need of Christ ; but he has died in vain.
Gal. ii. 21. * If righteousness come by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain.' Alas, how blind are natural
men, how vain are the thoughts they have of them-
selves, how ignorant of their own littleness and
pollution ! How do they exalt themselves up to
heaven, and what great things do they assume to
themselves !
[3] You that trust to your own righteousness, ar-
rogate to yourselves the honour of the greatest thing
that ever God himself did ; not only as if you were
sufficient to perform divine works, and to accomplish
some of the great works of God ; but such is your
pride and vanity, that you are not content without
taking upon you to do the greatest work that ever
God himself wrought, even the work of redemption.
To work out redemption is a greater thing than to
create a world. Consider what a figure you would
make, if you should attempt to deck yourself with
majesty, pretend to speak the word of power, and
call a universe out of nothing ; yet in pretending to
work out redemption, you attempt a greater thing.
You take upon you to do the most difficult part of
this work, even to purchase redemption. Christ
could accomplish other parts of this work without
cost or difficulty ; but this part cost him his life.
214 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
as well as innumerable pains and labours, very great
ignominy and contempt. If all the angels in hea-
ven had been sufficient for this work, would God
have sent his own Son, the Creator of angels, into
the world, to have done and suffered such things ?
What self-righteous persons take to themselves, is
the same work that Christ was engaged in when he
was in his agony and bloody sweat, and when he
died on the cross. Their self-righteousness does, in
effect, charge Christ's offering up himself in these
sufferings, as the greatest instance of folly that ever
men or angels saw, instead of being the most glo-
rious display of the divine wisdom and grace. Yea,
self-righteousness makes all that Christ did and suf-
fered through the whole course of his life, with all
that God did in the dispensations of his providence
from the beginning, nothing but a scene of the most
wild, extreme, and transcendent folly. Is it any
wonder then, that a self-righteous spirit is repre-
sented in scripture as that which is most fatal to
the souls of men ? Or that Christ was so provoked
with the pharisees and others, who trusted in them-
selves that they were righteous, and were proud of
their goodness, and thought that their own per-
formances were a valuable price of God's favour
and love ?
Let persons hence be warned against a Self-righ-
teous spirit. You that are seeking salvation, and
taking pains in religion, take heed that you do not
trust in what you do ; that you do not harbour any
thoughts, that God ought to accept of what you do,
so as to be inclined by it in some measure to forgive
you, and have mercy upon you ; or that he does
not act justly, if he refuse to regard your prayers
and pains. Such complaining of God, and quar-
relling with him, for not taking more notice of your
righteousness, plainly shows that you are guilty of
all that arrogance that has been spoken of, thinking
yourself sufhcient to offer the price of your own
salvation.
(3) What has been said on this subject, affords
IMPROVKMEXT OF PERIOD If. 215
matter of reproof to those who carelessly neglect the
salvation of Christ ; such as live a sensual life, neg-
lecting the business of religion, and the salvation of
their own souls, having their minds taken up about
the gains, the vanities, and pleasures of the world.
Let me here apply myself to you in some expostu-
latory interrogations.
[1] Shall so many prophets, kings and righteous
men, have their minds taken up with the prospect,
that the purchase of salvation was to be wrought
out in ages long after their death ; and will you neg-
lect it when actually accomplished ? You have
heard what great account the church in all ages
made of the future redemption of Christ ; how joy-
fully they expected and spoke of it. How much
did Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophets, speak con-
cerning this redemption. How did David employ
his voice and harp in celebrating it, and the glorious
display of divine grace therein exhibited. How did
Abraham and the other patriarchs rejoice in the
prospect of Christ's day, and the redemption which
he was to purchase. And even the saints before the
flood were elated in the expectation of this glorious
event, though it was then so long future, so faintly
and obscurely revealed to them. Now these things
are declared to you as actually fulfilled. The church
has seen accomplished all those great things which
they so joyfully foretold. And yet, when these
things are set before you as already accomplished,
how light do you make of them ; how unconcerned
are you about them, following other things, not so
much as feeling any interest in them ! Indeed your
sin is extremely aggravated in the sight of God.
God has put you under a more glorious dispensa-
tion, has given you a more clear revelation of Christ
and his salvation ; and yet you neglect all these
advantages, and go on in a careless course of life,
as though nothing had been done, no such discovery
had been made you.
[2] Have the angels been so engaged about this
salvation ever since the fall of man, though they are
216 HISTORY OF REDEMPTION.
not immediately concerned in it; and will you who
need it, and have it offered to you, be so careless
about it ? You have heard how the angels at first
were subjected to Christ as mediator, and how they
have all along been ministering spirits to him in this
affair. And when Christ came, how were their
minds engaged. They came to Zacharias, to inform
him of the coming of Christ's forerunner ; to the
virgin Mary, to inform her of the approaching birth
of Christ ; to Joseph, to warn him of the danger
which threatened the new-born Saviour, and to
point out the means of safety. And at the birth ol
Christ, the whole multitude of the heavenly hosts
sang praises upon the occasion, saying, ' Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good
will towards men.' Afterwards, from time to time,
they ministered to Christ when on earth ; they did
so at the time of his temptation, at the time of his
agony in the garden, at his resurrection, and at his
ascension. All these things show that they were
greatly engaged in this affair ; and the scripture in-
forms us, that they pry into these things. ' Which
things the angels desire to look into.' 1 Pet. i. 12.
And how are they represented in the Revelation, as
being employed in heaven in singing praises to Him
that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb. Now,
shall these take so much notice of his redemption,
and of the purchaser, who need it not for them-
selves, and have no immediate interest in it; and
will you, who are in such extreme necessity, neglect
and take no notice of it ?
[3] Did Christ labour so hard and suffer so much,
to procure this salvation, and is it not worth while