SERMON XXXVI.
The Use of the foregoing Sermons, with intermingled Reflections.
Rom. iii. 25.—Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation——
This glorious doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, has been explained and proved at large in the former discourses. It remains that we shew the proper uses of it. If we would set our thoughts at work to draw inferences, we might derive thence many truths, as well as duties. But as my chief design is to promote practical godliness, I shall content myself with mentioning two doctrinal inferences, and all the rest shall more immediately direct our practice.
First doctrinal inference. How vain are all the labours and pretences of mankind, sinful, guilty mankind, to seek or hope for any better religion than that which is contained in the gospel of Christ! It is here alone, that we can find the solid and rational principles of reconciliation to an offended God. This doctrine of atonement for sin by the sufferings of Christ, is a substantial ground for our establishment in christianity, and should be an effectual persuasive, to continue in the profession of the gospel; Heb. iv. 14. Having such a High-priest as Jesus the Son of God, who after he had died for our sins, rose again, and entered into heaven, let us hold fast our profession. All the religions that God ever appointed for fallen man, meet and centre here. If you have any regard to reason and argument, if you would follow the dictates of revelation, or if you would seek the peace and happiness of your souls, never, never forsake the religion of Jesus.
Reflection.—“My soul, hast thou heard this doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, and the arguments that support it in the last discourse? Dost thou receive, dost thou believe this great article of faith? Hold it fast then, and live upon it continually. Never hope to find a surer spring of pardon, nor a sweeter relief for a guilty conscience. Maintain this hope, and hold fast thy bible, where this blessing is discovered to men. Keep upon thy spirit a due sense and relish of this atonement for sin: It will be a blessed guard against infidelity, and assist thee to stand in an hour of temptation, against the cavils of men, who have renounced the gospel of God.
“But remember, O my soul, that if thou sin wilfully against this gospel, that is, if thou abandon this grace, and reject it utterly with contempt and opposition, after thou hast received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries;” Heb. x. 26, 27. This scripture seems to stand like a divine engine, charged with vengeance and eternal death, and pointed not only against the primitive apostates, but against some of the profane infidels and scoffers of our age, who have renounced, reproached, and ridiculed the gospel which they once professed. Remember also, that it carries in it a very dangerous and threatening aspect, upon those who continue to profess the religion of the bible, but cancel out of it the doctrine of the atonement of Christ; for there remains no other sacrifice. Have a care, therefore, O my soul, and stand at a distance from their company, who deny the propitiatory virtue of the blood of Christ! Let them find a better ground to build their hopes of pardon upon: But do thou lay thy foundation on this rock, and the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.
Second doctrinal inference.—How strange and unreasonable is the doctrine of the popish church, who while they profess to believe the religion of Christ, yet introduce many other methods of atonement for sin beside the sufferings of the Son of God, and the atonement which Jesus has made.
Every time they celebrate the Lord’s-supper, and the priest communicates the consecrated bread to his deluded followers, they suppose there is a fresh propitiation made for sin: Therefore they call it the sacrifice of the mass, and imagine that their unscriptural representation of this holy ordinance, is a real propitiation, not only for the sins of the living, but for those that are dead also. Whereas St. Paul assures us; Heb. ix. 28.—Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. Heb. x. 14. By one offering he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified. I confess, this practice, of theirs in the mass, looks something like a pretence of honour, to the name and death of Christ; because, they declare, the mass is but, as it were, a repetition of the very sacrifice of Christ himself: Though that is expressly contrary to the language of scripture; for “this man Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down at the right-hand of God;” Heb. x. 12. because his single sacrifice was all-sufficient, and needs no repetition.
But, besides this, they have many other methods of atonement which men perform, and which they add to the atonement of Christ. What are all their imposed penances, their pilgrimages on bare feet, the scourgings of their own bodies, the garments of hair worn upon their flesh, and their multitudes of repeated Latin prayers? What are they all but toilsome and painful labours, invented by men, to make atonement for the sins of the soul?
Reflection.—“Blessed be the name of our God, who has delivered our nation from this bondage of iniquity, from these foolish yokes and burdens of superstition; these profane dishonours done to the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus our Saviour. We are ready to look on popery now as lying afar off, across the seas, as an evil thing at a great distance, and are not so much impressed with a grateful sense of our preservation from it. We are too soon forgetful of our narrow escape from this mischief, by the late revolution, and the protestant succession; by the arm of God, and by the two best of kings, William our deliverer, and George our defender. Had it not been for these providences of heaven, and these princes on earth, our land might have been filled with these superstitions, and they might have been imposed on us, under the penalties of imprisonment and poverty, torment and death. And how could we stand in the fiery trial? Awake, O my heart, and let my tongue awake into songs of praise and salvation, that I am not tempted or compelled to disgrace the blood of my Saviour by having other atonements for sin imposed on my conscience. And in the midst of thy praises to God, O my soul, drop a tear of pity on thy brethren, who dwell in the midst of these temptations, and in the language of christian sympathy, lift up a groan to heaven for them, and say, How long, O Lord, how long?”
But let my thoughts return home from the popish countries and their superstitions. It is not enough for me to renounce the inventions of men, as any part of my righteousness, to procure my pardon and acceptance in the sight of God, but even the duties which God himself has required, the duties of faith and love, of repentance and new obedience, must never stand in the room of the atonement of Christ. They are all poor defective works, and want to be sprinkled with the blood of his sacrifice! They were never designed to join with the obedience of Christ, in procuring the favour of an offended God. Have a care, therefore, O my soul, of resting in the best of thy holy services, or of making them a matter of merit, to introduce thee before his presence. When thou art raised nearest to heaven in the practice of christian graces and duties, fall down before the throne, confess thy unworthiness, and say; Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, and plentiful redemption by the blood of Jesus. There lies all my hope.
Thus I have finished the two inferences for instruction, I proceed now to those which more immediately relate to our practice. This blessed doctrine of the atonement of Christ, runs like a golden thread through the whole of our religion: It unites the several parts of it in a sweet harmony, and casts a lustre over them all. Let us then particularly survey some of the various practical uses to which it may be applied.
1. It is a solid foundation, on which the greatest of sinners may hope for acceptance with God, when they return to him: It is a sufficient ground for their firm trust in Christ as a Saviour, and a reviving cordial against sinking in despair.
Let the crimes of a creature be never so great and heinous, yet the atonement of the Son of God is equal to them all. Let the defilements and stains of the soul be never so deep and crimson, the blood of Christ has a strange and divine virtue to wash them away, and to make the sinner white as snow, even in the sight of a holy God. Rev. vii. 14. They washed their garments, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This is a faithful saying, as St. Paul tells Timothy, and worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief; 1 Tim. i. 15. And our Saviour assures us, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men; Mat. xii. 14. because that he knew that he could make compensation to divine Justice for all this guilt. Therefore all sorts of blasphemers and criminals shall be forgiven, but those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit in his highest attestations to this gospel, and utterly refuse this atonement of Christ. 1 John i. 7. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin; it is a divine sacrifice, and all-sufficient propitiation, extensive as our iniquities.
Jesus is an able and an almighty Saviour, so that the vilest of sinners need not despair, if they are but willing to return to God, and come unto him, that they may be saved in his own way. The deepest wounds that were ever made in the conscience by sins, against light, and against love, sins of long continuance, sins of old obstinacy and repeated backslidings, sins of the blackest aggravations, may all be healed by applying the blood of Christ. Awake, arise, O sinner, fly to the hope that is set before thee? In vain will you try a thousand remedies, this is the only relief. A soul stung with the guilt of sin, as with a fiery serpent, must look up to Jesus hanging on the cross, there alone can he find healing and life.
Reflection.—“And what is my state? and what is my present case? Am I a sinner under the first awakenings of conscience? Is my spirit filled with dreadful apprehensions of an offended God, and of a law that pronounceth curses and death? Am 1 enquiring, What shall I do to flee from the wrath to come? Does the load of all my past offences lie heavy upon me? Are my sins gone over my head as a heavy burden, too heavy for me to bear? Does Satan the tempter and the accuser, terrify and hurry me with despairing thoughts? Does he tell me that my crimes are too big to be forgiven? But Satan is a liar from the beginning. The gospel of Christ is divinely true. I come to Jesus as a great High-priest in the blood of his atonement: I come weary and heavy laden, under a sense of the guilt of past sins, and the remaining power of them in my soul. O Jesus fulfil thy promise, and give rest to my labouring and wounded spirit! Speak a word of peace and pardon to a sinking creature, and raise and receive him to hope and salvation. I am worthy to perish for ever, but thy death is worthy to procure life for me. Here I rest my heavy-laden soul, and with humble hope I wait for thy mercy.
“Or, am I a professor of religion that have fallen under great decays and wretched backslidings? Are old terrors and agonies returned upon my conscience with redoubled smart and anguish? Do I see my guilt? My shameful wanderings, my loathsome iniquities? Do I seem as it were to be cast out from God? And does he seem to shut the door of heaven against my prayers? Yet I will not despair: I will come in the name of Jesus the great atonement. Wash my guilty soul, O blessed Redeemer, with thy blood, and I will look again toward the holy temple. I will lift up a humble eye toward an offended God. Thy sacrifice is ever fresh in the power and virtue of it. The Lamb as it had been slain, appears in heaven with the marks of his sacrifice. I return with a broken heart to my heavenly Father: I return trembling and hoping in the merit of that everlasting atonement, and wait for restoring grace.
“Or, am I endeavouring to walk closely with my God, in all the duties of holiness, but daily infirmities break out, daily follies and guilt attend me? I make sore complaints indeed, because of the perpetual workings of indwelling sin; yet I will not despair. I love the word of God, and I read it to keep me from sinning: But St. John assures me if any man sin through the weakness of nature, and the prevalence of daily temptations, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus the righteous; 1 John ii. 1, 2. And he is an effectual Advocate, because he is a propitiation for our sins; and he pleads in the virtue of his own blood. O may I ever maintain a constant exercise of faith on the Son of God, as my great High-priest! May I keep up a lively and delightful sense of the all-sufficiency of his atonement upon my spirit, that this which is the glory of my religion, may also be the daily life of my soul.”
II. This doctrine of atonement for sin, should be used as a powerful motive to excite repentance in every heart where sin hath dwelt. Repentance and forgiveness are joined together in the commission of our exalted Saviour; Acts v. 31. Grace is a sweet and constraining motive to duty. There is abundant encouragement for sinners to repent and mourn before God for their past transgressions, because the blood of Jesus has provided pardon for them. 1 John i. 9. If we confess our sins, God is faithful to his own word, and just and true to his Son Jesus, to forgive such offenders, and his blood will cleanse us from our sins. The fallen angels are not called and encouraged by divine mercy, to repent of their heinous rebellions; for there is no Saviour, there is no atoning sacrifice provided for them.
Reflection.—“And is there such an atonement made? And are there such pardons provided for such guilty wretches as I have been? Is God reconciling himself to men, and reconciling men to himself, by the blood of Jesus? Then let my soul mourn for all her follies, all her past iniquities. Let me be covered with shame, and lie in the dust at the foot of God. O let him speak peace and forgiveness to me, through the blood of Christ. I remember my guilt, and am confounded, and open my mouth no more to vindicate myself: I am overwhelmed with this amazing instance of divine love: God has sent his Son to die for me, and is pacified toward me, for all that I have done against him. O wretched creature that I am, that ever I should rebel against a God of such compassion! Against a God, who all this while had such kind designs towards me, and was making his own way to reconciliation and peace, through the blood of his own Son! I find now by sweet experience, what I have been often told by other christians, that the most kindly workings of true repentance, arise from the sense of a forgiving God, and a dying Saviour.”
III. Let us use this atonement of Christ, as our constant way of access to God in all our prayers. This is the only safe method of address to the mercy-seat: It is ordained for this very purpose, to help a sinner near to God; Heb. x. 19, 21, 22.—Having therefore, brethren, boldness to come into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,—and having a High-priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart. He is ascended to heaven before us, he is entered within the veil in virtue of his sacrifice: he has bespoke acceptance for our persons before the throne, and a favourable audience for all our prayers. Whatsoever we ask of the Father, we must ask it in his name, and especially in the name and virtue of his great atonement: All the blessings that God has to bestow, are purchased by his sufferings.
Reflection.—“Remember, O my soul, and be humble; remember thou canst not be a welcome guest even at the throne of grace, unless thou art sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. The God whom thou hast offended, is a great God, and a terrible, a God of holiness, like a devouring fire; a God of awful majesty and severe justice, who will by no means clear the guilty, without some recompence for his broken law. Dare not to approach him therefore, but under the protection of the blood of his Son: Christ is set forth as our propitiation through faith in his blood. If thou bring the atonement of Christ in the hand of thy faith, thou shalt find sweet and easy access: And when thou art filled with inward sorrows, thou mayest pour them all out, and spread thy complaints and thy burdens before the eyes of thy God, with inward consolation and hope.
“Lord, I have sinned, but thy Son has suffered: I come to the throne of grace in his name. My offences cry for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus speaks better things, and cries louder for peace and pardon. Let the voice of that blood which has made full satisfaction for the vilest sins, prevail over all my unworthiness. Let the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne be honoured this day, by introducing a guilty creature with all his complaints and sorrows into thy awful presence, and thy divine favour. Let me obtain grace in the hour of my distress and necessity: And, O that I may find such success, and such ease of soul, in drawing near to God by the blood of Christ, that on all occasions I may run to this refuge, and maintain humble and constant communion with God my Father, in this new and living way of access. May this earthly and foolish spirit of mine, never be such a stranger as it has been at the mercy-seat, since the door of approach is always open, since I have so glorious an introducer.”
IV. We should use this atonement of Christ, as a divine guard against temptation and sin; 1 Pet. i. 15, 18, 19. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation—for ye are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Reflection.—“And has this soul of mine, which was in slavery to sin and the power of Satan, been redeemed by the death of the Son of God? and shall I run back to my old slavery, and give myself up again to the reign and tyranny of sin? Has this guilty and polluted soul been washed in so precious a laver as the blood of the Son of God? And shall I defile myself again? Shall I return with the dog to his vomit, or with the swine that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire?” 2 Pet. ii. 22. It was sin that cost my Redeemer so dear, that cost him agonies and death: And shall I indulge such an enemy in my heart, and obey it in my practice? God forbid! How shall I that am dead to sin, by my interest in a dying Saviour, live any longer therein? Rom. vi. 2. It is a scandal and reproach to this blessed doctrine of atonement, if I should ever dare give a loose to my iniquities, while I profess faith in the blood of Christ. Grant, O Jesus, that I may never turn this adorable grace of thine into wantonness.
V. The atonement of Christ is an argument of prevailing force to be used in prayer, when we plead for the aids of the blessed Spirit; when we ask for his sacred influences to enlighten, to sanctify, or to comfort our souls. The Spirit flows down to us in the blood of Christ.
Reflection.—“Holy Father, thou hast not withheld thy Son Jesus, but hast given him to die for me, and wilt thou not give me thy Spirit to live in me, and to raise me to a divine life? Even when I was dead in trespasses and sins, my blessed Saviour poured out his own soul to death, that I might be recovered to thy favour; and shall I not have thy image impressed upon me by the Spirit, that I may appear before thee in the beauty of holiness? Shall I be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and have my errors forgiven, and shall I not have divine light bestowed upon me, that I may not wander afresh in the ways of error and darkness! Is my guilt cancelled, and are my iniquities removed by the great atonement of the Son of God, and wilt thou not bestow thy sanctifying Spirit upon me, to guard me from renewed guilt and fresh iniquities? Lord, have I not fled to lay hold on the hope set before me? Hast thou not forgiven all my sins? And shall not the Spirit the Comforter, speak peace to my soul, and fill me with hope and joy in believing? Wilt thou deny thy Spirit to any creature, for whom thy Son has poured out his invaluable life and blood?”
[If this sermon be too long, here is a proper pause.]
How great and desirable are the advantages that we have found already to be derived from this gospel of atonement? May our souls possess and improve them all? But there are still more treasures of divine grace to be dug out of this golden mine: It is an inexhausted fountain of duties and blessings. I proceed therefore to point out more of them to the eye of faith.
VI. We should use this doctrine of propitiation for sin by the death of Christ, as an everlasting spring of holy love to God the Father, and to his Son Jesus Christ. Great and unspeakable was the love of God the Father; 1 John iv. 10. “Herein is love; not that we loved him, but he hath loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.” Great and unspeakable is the love of Jesus the Saviour; “it has heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths in it which pass our knowledge;” Eph. iii. 18. For, “when we were enemies, he died to reconcile us to God;” Rom. v. 10. The great and blessed God had no richer gift than his Son, and he bestowed his Son upon us. Christ Jesus himself made his flesh and soul an offering for our sins. It was a spring of divine love that arose from the bosom of God, and runs through all this sacred transaction in many blessed streams: It runs through all the length of time into a long eternity. How should this melt and soften our hearts, into returns of love to the great God, and to his Son Jesus Christ. We love him, saith the beloved apostle, because he first loved us; 1 John iv. 19.
Reflection.—“And what shall I do to raise my love to God my Father, and my blessed Redeemer? When I was a stranger and an enemy, God reconciled me to himself, by sending his Son to die for me. How hard is this wretched heart of mine, that it feels no more powerful impressions from this amazing love and compassion of God to a rebel creature? What sorrows, what indignities, what bitter scoffs, what loads of reproach, what inward and unknown agonies of soul, what a shameful and painful and cursed death, did the blessed Son of God endure for my sake: And can I forbear to love him? Alas! how cold are my affections! How feeble and languid is my zeal! What poor sorry returns do I make for these infinite condescensions of divine love! Warm my heart, O Jesus with this love, and inflame all my affections. O may all the powers of my soul exert their utmost diligence in the service of the Son of God, that has redeemed me! His love was stronger than death: and shall it not constrain me to love him? Did he lay down his life for my sake, and shall I not lay out and employ my life with all my talents and capacities to his honour? Blessed Jesus, I grieve, I mourn, I am confounded that I feel no more of the constraining influences of thy dying love, to make all my duty and obedience easy and delightful.”
VII. This doctrine carries in it a strong persuasive to that love and pity which we should shew on all occasions to our fellow-creatures. When the apostle John had magnified the love of God, in that he had sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins: He makes this inference, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another; 1 John iv. 11. And in the foregoing chapter, iii. 16. he raises this inference of love to a sublime degree: Because God hath laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But how can any person make a pretence to christianity, who hath the goods of this world, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him? verse 17. How can such an hardened and cruel heart pretend that the love of God dwells there?
This blessed truth of the forgiveness of sin through the propitiation of Christ, demands of us the duties of forbearance and forgiveness, of kindness and tenderness to men. “Be ye kind one to another, and tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you;” Eph. iv. 32. Shall Christians bite and devour each other, shall they rage against each other with bitter reproaches, shall they quarrel, and grieve, and wound each other who were once fellow-slaves in the chains of guilt, and death, and were redeemed together by the voluntary death of the Son of God? Shall they who have known and tasted such divine compassion, imitate the rage, and malice, and envy of hell, rather than the heavenly example of the blessed Jesus?
Reflection.—“And hast thou never felt the influence of this divine truth, O my soul, this blessed doctrine of atoning love? Dost thou swell with anger? Dost thou resent every supposed injury? Dost thou indulge a spirit of revenge? And do thy thoughts contrive mischief to men, while the thoughts of the Son of God are all tenderness and compassion towards thee? Had he resented all thy iniquities, had he meditated vengeance for all thy crimes, he had never laid down his life to rescue thee from hell, and thy state and thy case had been miserable without hope.
“Hast thou no pity for the poor, when their necessities and groans cry aloud for thy relief? The Son of God did not deal thus with thee: He expended the riches of his love upon thee, even his unsearchable riches of grace: And when no other price was sufficient to redeem thee from death, he gave up himself for thee, and made his own soul an offering for thy sins.—Remember therefore, when provocations to anger are set before thee, and thou feelest the inward rising passion, remember the death and love of the Son of God, remember the price of thy forgiveness.”
VIII. Patience under heavy afflictions, is another divine lesson that we should learn from this doctrine of the atoning death of Christ; and not patience only, but holy joy in the midst of earthly sorrows may be derived from the same spring. Rom. v. 1, 2, 3, 8. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;—we rejoice in hope of the glory of God; and not only so, but we glory in tribulations,—because God has commended his love towards us at this rate, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
Reflection.—“Why then should my spirit be overwhelmed under the troubles of this life? Surely the mercies which I enjoy are infinitely greater than all my sorrows. God has redeemed my soul from hell by the blood of his Son. Lord, I would suppress all repining thoughts; I am humble, I am thankful; and though thou visitest me with chastisements, to reduce me from my follies, thou hast not laid on me the burden of my sins, nor called me to the hard and dreadful work of answering the severe demands of thy broken law. This burden thy own Son has borne; this work he has performed. The cup of common sorrows which my heavenly Father puts into my hand, shall I not drink it! It is not a cup of such anguish and terror as the Son of God drank up for my sake. Why should a creature saved from hell, be impatient and uneasy at any of the little sufferings which he sustains here on earth!
“This is not only a powerful argument to compose my soul to resignation under troubles, but even to raise me to holy joy. Surely he that has loved me, and has given his own Son up to death for me, does not afflict me willingly, nor grieve my spirit beyond what he sees necessary. He transacts all his affairs with me according to that covenant of love whereby he ordained his Son to die for me; and he will bestow upon me every good thing in its proper season: He that spared not his own Son, but gave him up to die for us, shall he not with him freely give us all things; Rom. viii. 32.
“Bless the name of thy God, O my soul, let my heart be filled with thankfulness, and my lips with praise: He has distinguished thee, my soul, by peculiar blessings. He has made no such preparation of an atonement for angels, those heavenly creatures, when they sinned against him, but they are cast down into chains of darkness, and why am not I cast into chains of darkness too? He has not revealed this grace to several large heathen nations: They know nothing of a Redeemer: But he has revealed his Son to me, in the glory and grace of his atonement He has raised me to the hope of eternal life, by the death and the resurrection of Jesus his Son. Let all my murmurings and impatience be silent for ever. The worst of my present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed, the glory purchased by the sufferings of Christ;” Rom. viii. 18.
IX. The doctrine of the atonement of Christ gives us a blessed invitation to the Lord’s-supper, where Christ crucified is set forth before us in the memorials of his propitiation.
The propitiation of Christ is of so constant and universal use in the whole of our religion, that our blessed Lord would not suffer us to live without some sensible tokens and signs of it, and these are to be frequently repeated to the end of the world; and therefore he has given a most express and positive command; Luke xxii. 19. This do in remembrance of me. And the apostle Paul; 1 Cor. xi. 29. where he teaches the Corinthians this ordinance, assures them, As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Our blessed Lord has not given us such a peculiar memorial of any of his other actions or offices as he has of his priesthood and sacrifice.
Reflection.—“And shall I not do honour to the memory of my dying Saviour? Shall I refuse to remember my great High-priest, and his propitiation for sin, in the way and manner in which he has enjoined me? Do I not trust in the death of Christ for my salvation, and shall I not glory in his cross, and profess it before the world? Do I not stand in daily need of this bread of life which was broken for my sake, and shall I reject the memorials of his broken body, when his flesh and spirit were made an offering for my guilt: Do I not hope for forgiveness through his blood, and shall I not drink this cup of reconciliation which he has mingled! I have learned by the gospel, the excellency and virtue of the propitiation of Christ, to cancel my iniquities, and shall I not receive this propitiation in all the methods of his own appointment? Shall I dare to say, it is enough for me to read it in the bible, and to hear it in the ministry of the word, and to meditate on it in private, when my Lord has given me an express command to receive it also in those emblems and sensible figures of bread and wine, and has sanctified them for this very purpose? Is this a kind return to him that died for me?
“Blessed Redeemer, forgive all my omissions, my delays my careless or slothful neglects of this holy ordinance of thine, and all my sinful indifferency about it. O scatter all my doubts, banish all my excuses, and bring me to thy holy table as a penitent and humble disciple, as a worthy and joyful receiver; there let me join with my fellow-christians and remember thy dying love.”
X. We may use this doctrine as our most effectual defence against the terrors of dying; and as our joyful hope of a blessed resurrection.
The atonement of Christ is a divine support in the agonies of death. At such a season a thousand past iniquities will sometimes crowd in upon the memory, and fill the soul with horror, and perhaps Satan the accuser makes a dreadful assault upon the conscience at the same time, and torments the spirit with painful agonies: But the most formidable terrors, the sharpest agonies find a relief here, the very sting of death is taken away by the death of Christ; 1 Cor. xv. 56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin to condemn us is the law of God: but thanks be to God through Christ Jesus, who hath answered the demands of the condemning law, and taken away the sting of death by his atoning sacrifice.
We may now venture into the presence of a holy and righteous God, laying fresh hold of the atonement in a dying hour by a living faith, and having our departing spirits sprinkled with the blood of Christ. It was this very blood in the virtue of which Jesus himself was raised from the dead; Heb. xiii. 20. The God of peace brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. It was in the virtue of this blood that he ascended and appeared before God in heaven; Heb. ix. 12. Christ by his own blood entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Did the cursed guilt of our sins bring the Son of God down from heaven to earth, did it smite him to death, and lay him low in the grave? But the power of his complete atonement has broken the bonds of death and the grave; this has brought him back to life again, and has raised him from earth to heaven; and by the same blood of his cross he has opened an effectual way for our rising from the dead, and our final admission into the place of blessedness. As Aaron the Jewish high-priest might not dare to venture into the holy of holies without the blood of expiation, so Christ our great High-priest, when he had once taken our sins upon him, might not ascend to heaven into the presence of God, till in the language of scripture he could carry his blood with him, till he could shew a full atonement. Now that very same blood and sacrifice which gave Christ himself a joyful admission into heaven, who was the great Shepherd and the Representative of his people, will also give every one of his sheep a safe and glorious entrance into the presence of God. This we may hope for with a chearful heart, when our departing spirits are called away from this lower world. And for the further joy of our faith, we should remember also, that in the virtue of the same blood we shall be raised from the grave: The grave shall obey the voice of him that died for us; for he has ransomed us from the power of it. Then the soul and body of every disciple of Christ shall be introduced with divine acceptance to dwell where Jesus is, and to behold his glory; John xvii. 24.
Reflection.—“Why then art thou so terrified, O my soul, at the thoughts of dying? Why all these shudderings of the flesh, and these agonies of spirit at the apprehensions of death and the grave? Are the sins of thy life great and numerous? Do they throng in upon thy conscience, and fill thy thoughts with tumult and terror? Remember the time, the dark and dismal hour, when Jesus thy Saviour bore all those very sins in his own body on the tree: There the demands of Divine Justice were all answered, and sin has now no power to condemn the saint, nor has death power to hurt him in his best interests;” Rom. viii. 34. “Who shall condemn? It is Christ that died, yea, rather has risen again, as a complete conqueror over death.” And is not Christ thy Head, thy Redeemer and the Captain of thy salvation?
“Let me call to mind the solemn seasons of transaction between Christ and my soul. Have I not resigned myself to him as an all-sufficient Saviour, to deliver me both from the guilt and the power of every sin? Have I not trusted in the blood of his atonement, and felt the quickening power of his Spirit as the fruit of his blood? Has he not raised me to a new life? What if the mortal body must die, because it has sin in it, yet my Spirit shall live because Christ is my righteousness. Fear not then, O my soul, but go chearfully through the gates of death when he calleth thee. Jesus has taken away the terrors of that dark passage. He has deprived death of its sting, and sanctified the grave for a sweet sleeping place. Awaken all the powers of thy faith, and triumph over the conquered enemy. The justice of God is become thy friend, and death can do no mischief to the friends of God, reconciled by the blood of Jesus. Look forward and behold thy great Fore-runner ready to introduce thee into the presence of his Father and thy Father, his God and thy God, with exceeding joy. Bid a joyful farewell to flesh and sense, those busy tempters; farewell to time and this world, and all things that are not divine and holy. Turn thy back on all visible objects, close thine eyes with a smiling countenance, forget earth for ever, and enter into the heavenly mansions.”
XI. The view of Christ as our propitiation, is not only a safe defence against the terrors of death, but it is a divine allurement toward the upper world. There lives our dear Redeemer, our blessed and beloved Lord, who ransomed our souls from sin and hell. There he reigns on the throne as king of glory, who once hung on the cross as our sacrifice of atonement: The Lamb of God in the midst of the throne, with the signals of his death upon him. The sight of these signals shall open all our springs of love: Joy, love, and gratitude shall fill the departed spirit: As soon as we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord who died for us.
Reflection.—“O happy day and happy hour indeed, that shall finish the long absence of my beloved, and place me within sight of my adored Jesus! When shall I see that lovely, that illustrious Friend, who laid down his own life to rescue mine, his own valuable life to ransom a worm, a rebel that deserved to die. He suffered, he groaned, he died: but he rose again, the blessed Saviour arose, he lives, he reigns exalted over all the creation. Faith beholds him risen, and reigning, but it is through a glass, it is at a distance, and but darkly. I wait, I hope for a more divine pleasure; it is a delight worth dying for, to behold him face to face, to see him as he is, to converse with his wondrous person, and to survey his glories. Alas! my soul is too patient of this long distance and separation. O for the wings of love, to bear my spirit upward in holy breathings! Methinks I would long to be near him, to be with him, to give him my highest praises and thanks for my share in his dying love. I would rise to join with the blessed acclamations, the holy songs of the saints on high, while they behold their exalted Saviour. How sweet their songs! How loud their acclamations! This is the man, the God-man who died for me! This is the Son of God, who was buffetted, who was crowned with thorns, who endured exquisite anguish, and unknown sorrows for me, who was scourged, and wounded, and crucified for me! This is the glorious Person, the Lamb of God, who washed me from my sins in his own blood. Blessing, honour, and salvation to his holy name forever.” Amen.