(2.) We are affectionately to meditate on the sufferings and death of Christ, which are signified thereby. Meditation is a great part of the work we are to be engaged in, and the death of Christ is the principal subject thereof; accordingly we are to consider his condescending love in giving his life a ransom for us; and, in order to our being affected therewith, and to excite our admiration and thankfulness for it, we must contemplate the divine excellency and glory of his Person; which adds an infinite value to every part of his obedience and sufferings. We must also consider the kind of death he died; which is called his being wounded, bruised, Isa. liii. 5. cut off Dan. ix. 26. and is represented as that which had the external mark of the curse of God annexed to it; upon which account he is said to have been made a curse for us, Gal. iii. 13.
We are also to consider the character of the persons for whom he laid down his life; who are described as being without strength, or ability to do what is good, and ungodly, and so open enemies to him, Rom. v. 6, 8, 10. and therefore there was nothing in us that could induce him to do this for us. We are also to consider, that he died in our room and stead, as bearing our griefs, and carrying our sorrows, Isa. liii. 4. and being delivered for our offences, Rom. iv. 25. And we are also to consider the great ends designed thereby, as God is hereby glorified, his holiness and justice in demanding and receiving a full satisfaction for sin, illustrated in the highest degree; so that he declares himself well-pleased in what Christ has done and suffered, Matt. iii. 17. and well-pleased likewise, as the prophet expresses it, for his righteousness’ sake, Isa. xlii. 21. We are also to consider the great advantage that we hope to receive thereby, as being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, Rom. v. 9. This is therefore the highest inducement to us, to give up ourselves entirely to him.
3. We are, in this ordinance, to stir up ourselves to a vigorous exercise of those graces that the nature of the ordinance requires: And accordingly we are,
(1.) To judge ourselves; as the apostle says, If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged, 1 Cor. xi. 31. and this we ought to do, by accusing, condemning, and passing sentence against ourselves, for those sins which we have committed against Christ, whereby we were plunged into the utmost depths of misery, in which we should for ever have continued, had he not redeemed us by his blood. We are also to acknowledge our desert of God’s wrath and curse; so that if he should mark iniquity, we could not stand, Psal. cxxx. 3. and this sense of sin ought to be particular, including in it those transgressions which are known to none but God and ourselves; as we ought to make a particular application of the blood of Christ for the forgiveness thereof. This is certainly very suitable to the nature of the ordinance we are engaged in, wherein Christ is set forth as a sacrifice for sin, and we are led, at the same time, to be duly affected with our malady, and the great remedy God has provided; which will have a tendency to enhance our praise and thankfulness to him, who loved us, and gave himself for us.
(2.) We are to exercise a godly sorrow for sin, which is the ground of all that distress and misery which we are liable to: This ought to take its rise from the corruption of nature, from whence all actual sins proceed; and we are to bewail our sins of omission, as well as commission; our neglect to perform duties that are incumbent on us, as well as those sins that have been committed by us with the greatest presumption, deliberation, wilfulness, and obstinacy, which contain in them the highest ingratitude and contempt of the blood of Christ, and the method of salvation by him. And this sorrow for sin ought to produce those good effects of praying and striving against it, endeavouring to return to God, from whom we have backslidden. The apostle calls it, sorrowing after a godly sort; and speaks of it as attended with carefulness, that we may avoid it for the future; clearing of ourselves, so that we may either be encouraged to hope that we have not committed the sins which we are ready to charge ourselves with, or, that the guilt thereof is taken away by the atonement that Christ has made for us. It ought also to produce an holy indignation, and a kind of revenge against sin, as that which has been so prejudicial to us; as likewise a fear of offending; a zeal for the glory of God, whom we have dishonoured; and a vehement desire of those blessings which we have hereby forfeited. This sorrow for sin ought to proceed from an inward loathing and abhorrence of it; and the degree thereof ought to bear some proportion to its respective aggravations, and the dishonour we have brought to God thereby; which would be an effectual means to incline us to abhor ourselves, and repent in dust and ashes.
This is very agreeable to the nature of the ordinance we are engaged in, since nothing tends more to enhance the vile and heinous nature of sin, than the consideration of its having crucified the Lord of glory; which is to be the immediate subject of our meditation therein. We read that Christ, in his last sufferings, was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, Matt. xxvi. 38. which could not proceed from the afflictive view that he had of the pains and indignities he was to suffer in his crucifixion; for that would argue him to have a less degree of holy courage and resolution than some of the martyrs have expressed when they have endured extreme torments, and most ignominious reproaches for his sake: Therefore his sorrow proceeded from the afflictive sense that he had of the guilt of our sins which he bore. If therefore he not only suffered, but his soul was exceeding sorrowful for our sins; this ought to excite in us the exercise of that grace in this ordinance, in which it is brought to our remembrance.
(3.) We are to hunger and thirst after Christ; which implies in it an ardent desire of having communion with him: Thus the church says, With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit will I seek thee early, Isa. xxvi. 9. and the Psalmist compares this to the hunted hart, that is ready to die for thirst, which pants after the water-brooks, Psal. xlii. 1. This arises from a deep sense of our need of Christ, and farther supplies of grace from him, and is attended with a firm resolution that nothing short of him shall satisfy us, as not being adapted to supply our wants. Such a frame of spirit is agreeable to the ordinance we are engaged in, since Christ is therein represented as having purchased, and being ready to apply to his people, those blessings which are of a satisfying and comforting nature.
(4.) We are to feed on Christ by faith, and thereby receive of his fulness, as he is frequently represented in scripture, under the metaphor of food: Thus he styles himself, The bread of life, John vi. 35. and the blessings he bestows, are called, ‘The meat which perisheth not, but endureth to everlasting life,’ ver. 27. and the gospel-dispensation is set forth by a ‘feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined,’ Isa. xxv. 6. Thus our Saviour also represents it in the parable, Matt. xxii. 4. in which he commands his servants to invite those that were bidden to the marriage-feast, by telling them what things he had prepared for their entertainment, as an encouragement to their faith. Thus we are to consider that fulness of grace that is in Christ, (when drawing nigh to him in this ordinance,) of merit, for our justification, of strength to enable us to mortify sin, and resist temptations, of wisdom to direct us in all emergencies and difficulties, of peace and comfort, to revive and encourage us under all our doubts and fears, and to give us suitable relief when we are ready to faint under the burdens we complain of. All these blessings are to be apprehended and applied by faith, otherwise we cannot conclude that they belong to us; and nothing can be more adapted to this ordinance, wherein Christ is represented as having all those blessings to bestow, which he has purchased by his blood, and these are signified or shewed forth therein.
(5.) We are, in this ordinance, to trust in the merits of Christ, or to exercise an entire confidence in him, who, by his death, has purchased for us all spiritual and saving blessings. This ought to be attended with an humble sense of our own unworthiness, as being less than the least of all God’s mercies, Gen. xxxii. 10. and as deserving nothing but his fierce wrath for our iniquities. And, since he has paid a full and satisfactory price of redemption for us, and thereby procured the blessings that we had forfeited, which have a tendency to make us completely happy, we ought to lay the whole stress of our salvation on him, as being sensible that he is able to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by him, Heb. xii. 25.
(6.) We are to rejoice in Christ’s love, which is infinitely greater than what can be in the heart of one creature towards another: This love of Christ has several properties;