I remember, when the worthies of Israel brake through the host of the Philistines, and brought unto David the waters of the well of Bethlehem, it is said, 2 Sam. xxiii. 17. ' He would not drink thereof, but poured it out before the Lord, and said. Be it far from me, that I should do this : Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives .?'
He longed for it, and yet would not taste it, how pleasant soever it would have been to him, considering what hazard was run to ob- tain it.
Ah Christian ! it was but the hazard of their blood that gave check to David''s appetite to the water : And if the wate^ had cost an equal quantity of their blood, yet it had been but a low argument to dissuade him from drinking it, to this consideration that now lies before thee. Thy sin actually cost the blood of Christ ; one drop whereof is more valuable than all human blood ; and yet wilt thou not deny thy lusts, nor resist a temptation for his sake ? ' Behold the Lamb of God, slain for thy sin !' and thou canst never have slight thoughts of it any more.
Thirdly^ Is there any among you that droop, and are discouraged in their spirits, because of their manifold aggravated iniquities ; who being overweighed with the burthensome sense of sin, despond and sink in their minds.? To such I would apply the words of my text, as a sovereign cordial, to revive their hearts and hopes : ' Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world !'
If the blood of the Lamb can take away the sin of the world, it can take away thy sin, though there be a world of sin in thee. For do but consider Christ, as designed from eternity to be our propitiation ; John vii. 27. ' Him hath God the Father sealed ;' as sacrificed in our room, *in the fulness of time.' 1 Cor. v. 7. 'Christ our passover is sacrificed for us :' As accepted by the Father with the greatest con- tent and pleasure, even ' as a sweet smelling savour ;' Eph. v. 2. As pubhcly justified and discharged by God, the Creditor, at his resurrec- tion, 1 Tim. iii. 16. and John xvi. 9. And lastly, Consider him as now in heaven, where he ' appears before God tor us, as a Lamb that had been slain,' Rev. v. 6. bearing the very marks of his death, and presenting them before God, as the most effectual and moving plea, to procure pardon, and mercy for his people. Let these things, I say, be duly pondered, and nothing will be found more effectual to relieve the despondent miiids of poor believers against the sinking sense of their sin.
416 SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS.
He that represents himself in the sacrament as wounded for you, shews at the same time, to the Father in heaven, the real body that was wounded ; than which nothing more effectually moves mercy, or stays the sliding feet of a poor believer's hope : And that whether we consider,
First, The dignity of that body which was wounded ; the most hallowed and deeply sanctified thing that ever was created; Luke i. S5. ' That holy thing.'
Secondly, Or his vicegerency in suffering ; ' He was wounded for our transgressions,' Isa. liii. 5. It was for that hard, proud, vain, dead heart, that thou complainest of Or,
Thirdly, The end and design of those wounds ; which was to re- pair the honour of God, and the violated law : the language of that blood (which is said to ' speak better things than the blood of Abel,' Heb. xii. 24.) is this :
' Father, have these poor souls wounded thy name, thine honour, thy law? Behold the wounds thy justice hath inflicted on me, for reparation of all that v/rong they have done thee !' O how sweetly doth the blood of the Lamb settle the conscience of a poor drooping beliver !
Fourthly, Is there any among you that are faint-hearted, and ready to shrink away from any sufferings for Christ, as unable to bear and endure any thing for his sake ? To such I would say in the words of this text. Behold the Lamb of God! Did Christ suffer such grievous things for you ! and cannot you suffer small matters for him ? Alas ! what is the wrath of man to the wrath qf the great and terrible God f Besides, he was an innocent Lamb, and deserved not to suffer the least degree of penal evil upon his own account; but thou hast de- served hell, and yet shrinkest under the sufferings of a moment. Did he suffer so much for you ; and can you suffer nothing for him ? Surely he, in suffering for you, hath ' left you an example, that you should follow his steps,' 1 Pet. ii. 21. What! is our blood com- pared in dignity to the blood of Christ ? What ! are our sufferings compared hi kind, or degree, to the sufferings of Christ ! Nothing is found to fortify a man's spirit for sufferings, as the meditation of Christ's suffering for us doth.
Fifthly, Is there any among you that are impatient under your own personal trials and troubles, apt to howl under common afflictions from the hand of God, or swell with revenge under injuries from the hands of men ! To such I would say. Behold the Lamb q/God! Was Christ a Lamb for meekness, and art thou a lion for fierceness ? Was he silent, not once opening his mouth, when he suffered most vile things from the hands of sinners, and can you bear nothing ? He suffered patiently, and deserved it not ; you suffer impatiently, and have deserved infinitely more.
O that you would learn to be more Christ-like in all your trials and afflictions*^! let it not be said, that Christ carried it as a Lamb when
SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS. 41't
he was tried, and we like swine, grumbling or howling when we are tried. O get a Christ-like temper !
Sixthly, Is there any among you that stagger at the promises, through unbelief, that cannot rely upon a word of promise, because their own unbelieving hearts fill them with unworthy suspicions of the power, faithfulncLss, or willingness of God to perform them to them ? O that such would behold the Lamb of' God, as represented in this ordinance ! Are not all the promises of God sealed to be- lievers in the blood of the Lamb? Heb. ix. 17, 18, 19, 20. Are not all the promises of God, in Christ, ' Yea, and Amen, to all ^that are in him 't" 2 Cor. i. 20. Or is there any thing put into any promise of greater value than the blood of the Lamb, that was shed to purchase it.? Or is not the giving of Christ to die for us the ac- complishment of the greatest promise that ever God made to us ? And after the fulfilling thereof, what ground remains for any to doubt the fulfilling of lesser promises ?
Lastly, Is there any among you that desire to get up your affec- tions at this table, to have your hearts in a melting temper, to awa- ken and rouse up all the powers of your souls in so great an occasion for it as this f Behold the Lamb of' God I and this will do it.