(1.) Mourning for sin. When we call to remembrance the death of Christ, the anguish of his soul, the bruises of his body, the effusion of his blood, these are all occasions of godly sorrow. For, ' He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; and he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed,' Isa. liii. 4, 5. Therefore godly sorrow is seasonable so far as it is a means and part of repentance. The Jews on the solemn day of atonement used to afflict their souls on that day, as you may read, Lev. xxiii. 27-29, * On the tenth day of the seventh month it shall be a day of atonement; it shall be an holy convocation unto you ; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work on that day, for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God : for whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from^ among his people.' Mark when this should be, at the day of expiation or atonement and solemn reconciliation with God, that they might have forgiveness of all their sins. Affliction of soul, or humiliation, is inward, by godly sorrow for sin, ' which worketh repentance unta salvation not to be repented of,' 2 Cor. vii. 10. It is done by judging and loathing ourselves for the evils we have committed ; outwardly by fasting and abstinence from all fleshly delights, which the Jews observed with great rigour. I press it only as it was a sign of repent- ance. Then we best remember Christ crucified when we are crucified
SERMON UPON I CORINTHIANS XI. 26. 32^
with liim : Gal. ii. 20, ' I am crucified witli Christ ; ' when the sensual inclination is mortified, and the heart deadened to the pleasures of sin, which are hut for a season.
(2.) Rejoicing in Christ Jesus. The other tendeth to this, as a pre- paration to the solemn efi'ect. And to repentance there must be joined faith, which is an acceptance and acknowledgement of the benefits procured and offered to us by Christ. Therefore we cannot receive them so sealed, confirmed and applied, as they are in the Lord's supper, without joy. We are invited to the Lord's table as to a feast, and joy doth best become a holy feast. This ordinance was instituted for our consolation, as being one of those solemn assurances given to the heirs of promise. And their nature and use is to beget ' strong consolation,' Heb. vi, 18. It is true we come to it with remorse, but that by way of preparation, and for the quickening of our appetite ; but the proper act wherein consisteth our communion with Christ and his body and blood is the joy and contentment that the soul received in that Christ died for us. Christ is not only propounded as dead, but as dead for us, that his death may be our life, and a fountain of ever- lasting comfort to us. When we come to God's table, we eat and drink in his presence, as those that are agreed with him, and reconciled to him by Jesus Christ. And then, Eom. v. 11, ' We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, as those that have received the atonement.' So Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satisfied ; they shall praise the Lord that seek him ; your heart shall live for ever ; ' that is, the poor humble christian is revived and comforted by the eucharistical spiritual food, and the vital efiects thereof, of which by faith they are made partakers. He speaketh there of paying his vows, and alludeth to the peace-offerings when they feasted with their friends ; which is fulfilled in the eucharist or commemorative feast which we observe in the remembrance of Christ's death. These are the spiritual affections ; we come with brokenuess of heart, and go away with joy : Acts viii. 39, 'And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip) and the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on. his way rejoicing.'
3. The commemoration of Christ's death as a mystery of godliness is done by a due consideration or reflection on the cause, occasion, and benefits of it.
[1.] The first inward moving cause of all is the great love and mercy of God to us : John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; ' and 1 John iv. 10, * Herein is love, not that w« loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' This must not be overlooked, partly because this is commended to us : Rom. v. 8, * But God commendeth his love to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Some things may be told us, but this is commended that we maybe sure not to forget it. This was the great thing propounded to our thouglits ; this gracious act and expression of God's mercy and bounty, carried on in the most astonishing way, far beyond what we could con- ceive or imagine. And partly because this calleth for thankfulness, the great principle of gospel obedience : 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love