The Agony of Christ, Part 5

Before we get to the next part….Some of you may be wondering how long this guy preached. Sermon times ranged from 30 minutes to an hour. You might be thinking, “this seems longer than an hour,” and you would be right. Edwards preached this one sermon in several parts or units, not all at once. Even he knew that the mind can only take what the butt can endure.

At this point, Edwards has covered the first of 2 main points: That Christ’s agony “consisted in that sore conflict that his soul then had with those terrible views that he then had.” Here begins his application of that point.

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Application

1. Hence we may learn how dreadful Christ’s last sufferings were. We learn it by the dreadful effect that only the foresight of them had upon Christ in his agony. His last sufferings were so dreadful that the view that Christ had of them beforehand made his soul sorrowful unto death, amazed him, overwhelmed him, and amazed him; as it is said he began to be sore amazed in the sight [of them]. The very sight of those last sufferings were so very dreadful as to sink his soul down into the dark shadows of death, so that his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death, and yea so dreadful was the sight, that in the sore conflict his nature had with it such a sweat as probably never any man was before or since, for he was all in a bloody sweat his body all over covered with clotted blood that had been forced through his pores through the violence of his agony, and if only a foresight of the cup was so dreadful, how dreadful was the cup itself; how far beyond all that can be expressed or uttered or conceived? Many of the martyrs have endured extreme tortures, but from what has been there is all reason to think that these all these are a mere nothing to the last sufferings of Christ on the cross.

   And what has been said affords a convincing argument that the sufferings that Christ endured in his body on the cross though they were very dreadful, yet were the least part of his sufferings; besides those he endured sufferings in his soul that were immeasurably vastly greater, for if it had been only those sufferings that he endured in his body though they were very dreadful, we can’t conceive that the forethoughts of ’em would have had such an effect on Christ. Many of the martyrs have for ought we know have endured as much tortures in their bodies as Christ did, many of the martyrs have been crucified as Christ was and yet their souls have not been so overwhelmed there has been no appearance of such amazing sorrow and distress of mind either at the sore thoughts of their sufferings or in their actual. [end of first preaching unit]

2. From what has been said we may see the wonderful strength of the love of Christ to sinners. What has been said shows the strength of his love two ways:

   1). That is was so strong as to carry him through that agony that he was then in. The sufferings that he then was actually subject to was dreadful and amazing as has been shown, and how wonderful was his love that lasted and was upheld still. The love of any mere man or angel would doubtless have sunk under such a weight and never would have held out such a conflict in such a bloody sweat as that of Jesus Christ and the anguish of Christ’s soul at that time was so strong as to cause that wonderful [love].

   2). The strength of Christ’s love more especially appears effect on his body, but his love to poor help unworthy enemies was stronger. The heart of Christ at that time was full of distress, but it was fuller of love to vile worms; his sorrow abounded, but his love did superabound; Christ’s soul was overwhelmed with grief and the shadows of death, but this [suffering] was from a love to sinners in his heart sufficient to overflow the world and overwhelm the highest mountains of its sins. Every [one of] those great drops of blood that fell down to the ground were a manifestation of an ocean of love in Christ’s heart.

   But the strength of Christ’s love more especially appears in that when he had such a full view of the dreadfulness of the cup that he was to drink he would, even [though] so amazed him he would nothing not withstanding even then take it up and drink it; then seems to have been the greatest and most peculiar trial of the strength of Christ’s love to sinners, when God set down the bitter potion before him and let him see what he had to drink if he persisted in his love to sinners and brought him to the mouth of the furnace that he might see its fierceness and have a full view of it and have time then to consider whether he would go on and suffer for the flames of this furnace for such unworthy creatures. This was as it were a proposing it to Christ’s full consideration what he would do, as much as if it had been said to him then when he has such an dreadful sight of his sufferings, “Here is the cup that you are to drink of unless you will give up your undertaking for sinners and can bear to leave ’em to perish as they deserve, will you take this cup and drink for them, or no? Here is the furnace that you are to be cast into if they are saved. Either they must perish or you must endure this for them. Here you see how terrible the heat of the furnace is you see what pains you must endure tomorrow and be apprehended for and bound in as a malefactor in order to them this hour; unless you give up the cause of sinners, vile sinners. What will you do? Is your love such that you will go on? Will you cast yourself into this dreadful furnace of wrath?” Christ’s soul was overwhelmed with the thoughts, his feeble human nature shrank at the dismal sight, it put him into such a dreadful agony as you have heard; but his love to sinners held out.

   Christ would not undergo those sufferings needlessly he desired. If sinners could be saved without, if there was not an absolute necessity in of his suffering of ’em in order to sinners salvation, he desired that the cup might pass, but if sinners that he had set his love upon could not, agreeable to the will and honor of God, be saved without his suffering of it, he chose that the will of God should be done, he chose to go on and suffer it, as dismal as it appeared to him. And this was his final conclusion after the dismal conflict of his poor feeble human nature and struggle with the frightful thoughts after he had had the cup in view and had seen how amazing it was for so long a time, the least part of an hour together, yet he finally resolved he would bear it rather than those poor sinners that he had loved from all eternity should perish. When the dreadful cup was before him, he did not say within him, “Why should I who was happy, am so great a person, so honorable, and one infinitely more honorable than all the angels of Heaven go to plunge myself into such dreadful amazing torments for poor worthless worms that deserve to perish forever, that deserve to be hated and not loved by me? Why should I who have been happy from all eternity in the enjoyment of the Father’s love, go to cast myself into such a furnace for them that never can requite me for it, never have so much as sought my love? Why should I yield myself to be thus crucified by the weight of divine wrath for them that are my enemies, have no love to me and are my enemies, that don’t desire any union with me, and never did and never will do any thing to recommend themselves to me? What shall I get by ’em? What shall I be the richer for having saved a number of poor perishing vipers and haters of God and me, who deserve to have divine justice glorified in their destruction?” But this was not the language of Christ’s heart in those circumstances, but on the contrary, his love held out, he drew up a conclusion even then in the midst of his agony to yield himself up to God’s will and to take the cup and drink it, and he would not flee to get out of the way of Judas and those that came with him though he knew they were coming, but that hour delivered himself voluntarily up into their hands when they came with swords and staves to apprehend him, and he could have called upon his Father who would immediately have sent many legions of angels to repel his enemies and hence delivered him; but he would not do it, and when his disciples would have made resistance he would not suffer ’em, as you may see in the 26^th chapter of Matthew v. 51-56. And when and Christ instead of hiding himself from Judas and the soldiers, he told ’em when they seemed to be something at a loss, that he was the person that he they sought and he told ’em so twice; and when they seemed still being seized with some terror on their hands, he told ’em so again and so yielded himself up into their hands to be bound by them, after he had shown ’em that he could easily resist ’em if he pleased when he threw ’em backward to the ground by a words speaking, as you may see the account in the 18^th chapter of John 3^rd v. and following.

   Thus, consider how mighty, constant, and victorious was the love of Christ, and the special trial of his love above all others in his whole life, seems to have been in the time of his agony. For though his sufferings were greater afterwards when he was on the cross, yet he saw before clearly what those sufferings were to be in the time of his agony; and that seems to have been the first time that ever the man Christ Jesus had a clear view what those sufferings were, and after this the trial was not so great because the conflict was over, the thing was his human nature had been in a struggle with his love to sinners, but his love had got the victory, the thing upon a full view of his sufferings had been concluded, and accordingly he actually went through with those sufferings.