Ah ! Christian, canst thou look upon Jesus as standing in thy room, to bear the wrath of a Deity for thee ? Canst thou think on it, and not melt ? That when thou, like Isaac, wast bound to the altar, to be offered up to justice, Christ, like the ram, was caught in the thicket, and offered in thy room. When thy sins had raised a fearful tempest, that threatened every moment to entomb thee in a sea of wrath, Jesus Christ was thrown over to appease that storm ! Say, reader, can thy heart dwell one hour upon such a subject as this ? Canst thou with faith, present Christ to thyself, as he was taken down from the cross, drenched in his own blood, and say, These were the wounds that he received for me ; this is he that loved me, and gave himself for me : out of these wounds comes that balm that heals my soul ; out of these stripes my peace : When he hanged upon the cross, he bore my name upon his breast, like the high priest. It was love, pure love, strong love to my poor soul ; to the soul of an enemy that drew him down from heaven, and all the glory he had there, to endure these sorrows in soul and body for me.
O you cannot hold up your hearts long to the piercing thoughts of this, but your bowels will be pained, and, like Joseph, you will seek a place to vent your hearts in.
Thirdly, Faith cannot only realize and apply Christ, and his death, but it can reason and conclude such things from his death, as will fill the soul with affection to him, and break the heart in pieces, in his presence. When it views Christ as dead, it infers, Is Christ dead for me? then was I dead in law, sentenced and condemned to die eternally ; 2 Cor. v. 14. " If one died for all, " then were all dead." How woeful was my case when the law
SERM. XXV. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 817
had passed sentence on me ? I could not be sure when I lay down, but that it might be executed before I rose ; nothing but a puff of breath betwixt my soul and hell.
Again, Is Christ dead for me ? then I shall never die. If he be condemned, I am acquitted. " Who shall lay any thing to the " charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth, it is Christ that " died," Rom. viii. 34. My soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler ; I was condemned, but am now cleared ; I was dead, but am now alive; O the unsearchable riches of Christ! O love past finding out !
Again, Did God give up Christ to such miseries and sufferings for me ? * How shall he with-hold any thing from me ? He that " spared not his own Son, will doubtless with him freely give me " all things," Rom. viii. 32. Now I may rest upon him for pardon, peace, acceptance, and glory for my soul. Now I may rely upon him safely for provision, protection, and all supplies for my body. Christ is the root of these mercies ; he is more than all these, he is nearer and dearer to God than any other gift. O what a blessed, happy, comfortable state hath he now brought my soul into !
To conclude, Did Christ endure all these things for me ? then it is past doubt, he will never leave nor forsake me : It cannot be that after he has endured all this, he will cast off the souls for whom he endured it. Here the soul is evangelically broken, con- sidering the mercies that emerge and flow to it out of the sea of Christ's blood.
Fourthly, and lastly, Faith can not only realize, apply, and in- fer, but it can also compare the love of Christ in all this, both with his dealings with others, and with the soul's dealing with Christ, who loved it. To compare Christ's dealings with others, is most affecting : he hath not dealt with every one, as with me ; nay, few there are that can speak of such mercies as I have from him. How many are there that have no part nor portion in his blood ? Who must bear that wrath in their own persons, that he bare himself for me ! He espied me out, and singled me forth to be the object of his love, leaving thousands and millions still unre- conciled ; not that I was better than they, for I was the greatest of sinners, far from righteousness, as unlikely as any to be the object of such grace and love : my companions in sin are bft, and I am taken. Now the soul is full, the heart ffrows biff, too biff to con- tain itself.
Yea, faith helps the soul to compare the love of Christ to it, with
* He who sent his Son, hath sent down the Spirit, and promised his favour; Is there any thing so great that he will refuse ? Prosp.
318 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. XXV,
the returns it hath made to him for that love. And what, my soul I hath thy carriage to Christ been, since this grace that wants a name, appeared to thee ? Hast thou returned love for love ? Love suitable to such love ? Hast thou prized, valued, and esteemed this Christ, according to his own worth in himself, or his kind- ness to thee ? Ah no, I have grieved, pierced, wounded his heart a thousand times since that, by my ingratitude ; I have suffered every trifle to jostle him out of my heart ? I have neglected him a thousand times, and made him say, Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? Is this the reward I shall have for all that I have done, and suffered for thee ? Wretch that I am, how have I requited the Lord ! This shames, humbles and breaks the heart.
And when from such sights of faith, and considerations as these, the heart is thus affected, it affords a good argument, indeed, that thou art gone beyond all the attainments of temporary believers ? flesh and blood hath not revealed this.
Inference 1. Have the believing meditations of Christ, and his sufferings, such heart-melting influences ? Then sure there is but little faith among men. Our dry eyes and hard hearts are evidences against us, that we are strangers to the sights of faith.
God be merciful to the hardness of your hearts. How is Christ and his love slighted among men! How shallow doth his blood run to some eyes ?. O that my head were waters, and mine eyes fountains of tears for this ! What monsters are carnal hearts ? We are as if God had made us without affections, as if all ingenuity and tenderness were dried up. Our ears are so accustomed to the sounds of Christ, and his blood, that now they are become as common things. If a child die, we can mourn over our dead ; but who mourns for Christ as for an only son ? We may say of faith, when men and women sit so unaffected under the gospel, as Martha said of Christ concerning her brother Lazarus, If thou (precious faith) hadst been here, so many hearts had not been dead this day, and in this duty. Faith is that burning-glass which contracts the beams of the grace, and love, and wisdom, and power of Jesus Christ together, reflects these on the heart, and makes it burn ; but without it, we feel nothing savingly.