Christus in corde, or, The mystical union between Christ and believers considered in its…

The second is this, there is a conformity in sufferings; they that are in Christ are made conformable to his death, Phil. 3.10. There are two things in this conformity; There is a conformity to his sufferings in the mortification of sin, Our old man is crucified with him, Rom. 6.6. We suffer in the flesh, ceasing from sin, 1 Pet. 4.1. What Christ ⟨p. 289⟩suffered in his pure flesh by way of expiation, that those that are in him suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. Was he arraigned and condemned to die? they serve sin so. He was charged with blasphemy, they charge it upon sin, which in its rebellion blasphemes Gods Sovereignty; in its turpitude, his Holiness; in its secrecy, his Omniscience; in its ingratitude, his Goodness; in its folly, his Wisdom; and in all, his glory. He was charged to say, That he could destroy the Temple; they charge it upon sin, which hath laid those souls, which were made to be Temples of the Holy Ghost, in spiritual ruins. The mind of fallen man lies in darkness; the will in the chains of concupiscence; the affections in the grave of earthly things. They adjudge sin unto death as being the greatest of evils. Was he stripped? they deal so with sin. They unveil and undress it, pluck off its false colours, disrobe it of all its pomps and shadows of seeming goodness, and make it appear in its ugly hue and nakedness, so that it looks as it is, sinful sin, and an evil of evils, a thing most worthy to be crucified. Was he nailed to the Cross? they nail sin there, they restrain the inward corruption, that it cannot go at large, and riot in open scandals; no, nor steal out in an evil thought, but it will be arrested in its passage to the will; they ⟨p. 290⟩set guards within and without, that it may not creep in by the ports of sense, nor rise up out of the deep of the heart. Within there is a watch over the thoughts, and without over the sensible objects. There are such nails of restraint, that it cannot move or stir it self, but it dies away by little and little. Was he pierced? they pierce sin, and let out the vital blood; I mean the love and joy, and delight of it. It is a prodigious thing in their eyes to love that which crucified their dear Saviour, and makes war upon their good God; to joy in that which hath been their sorrow, and set the whole Creation a groaning about their ears;