* I, -whose power is boundless and infinite, will so befriend and support theet that all thy enemies shall not be able to hurt thee. Marlot, on th.is place.
SERM. III. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 51
bring it to an happy issue, Isa. liii. 10. " He shall see his seed, he " shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall pros- " per in his hand." He shall not begin, and not finish ; he shall not shed his invaluable blood upon hazardous terms ; but shall see and reap the sweet fruits thereof ; as the joyful mother forgets her pangs, when she delightfully embraces and kisses her living child.
Fourthly, The Father promiseth to accept him in his work, though millions should certainly perish, Isa. xlix. 4. " Surely (saith he) " my work is with the Lord." And, verse 5. " I shall be glori- " ous in the eyes of the Lord." His faith hath therein respect to this compact and promise. Accordingly, the Father manifests the satisfaction he had in him, and in his work, even while he was about it upon the earth, when there came such a " voice from the " excellent glory, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am " well pleased."
Fifthly, As he engaged to reward him highly for his work, by exalting him to singular aud super-eminent glory and honour, when he should have dispatched and finished it. So you read, Psal. ii. 7. " I will declare the decree ; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou " art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." It is spoken of the day of his resurrection, when he had just finished his sufferings. And so the apostle expounds and applies it, Acts xiii. 32, 33. For then did the Lord wipe away the reproach of his cross, and invest- ed him with such glory, that he looked like himself again. As if the Father had said, now thou hast again recovered thy glory, and this day is to thee as a new birth-day.
These are the encouragements and rewards proposed and pro- mised to him by the Father. This was the joy set before him," (as the apostle phraseth it in Heb. xii. 2.) which made him so pa- tiently to " endure the cross, and despise the shame."
And in like manner Jesus Christ restipulates, and gives his en- gagement to the Father ; that, upon these terrns, he is content to be made flesh, to divest, as it were, himself of his glory, to come under the obedience and malediction of the law, and not to refuse any, the hardest sufferings it should please his Father to inflict on him. So much is implied in Isa. 1. 5, 6, 7. " The Lord hath open- " ed mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away " back ; I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them " that pulled off the hair ; I hid not my face from shame and spit- " ting : For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be " confounded ; I have set my face as a flint, and I know that I a shall not be ashamed." When he saith, I was not rebellious, *nnra he meaneth, I was most heartily willing, and content to
58 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. III.
accept the terms ; for there is a Meiosis in the words, and much more is intended than expressed. And the sense of this place is well delivered to us in other terms, Psal. xl. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. " Then a said I, Lo I come, I delight to do thy will, O God, thy law is " within my heart."1 O see with what a full consent the heart of Christ closeth with the Father's offers and proposals ; like some echo, that answers your voice twice or thrice over. So doth Christ here answer his Fathers call, " I come, I delight to do thy ii will ; yea, thy law is in my heart. " And thus you see the arti- cles to which they both subscribed, or the terms they agreed on.
(5.) I will briefly shew how these articles, and agreements were on both parts, performed, and that precisely and punctually. For, (1.) The Son having thus consented, accordingly he applies him- self to the discharge of his work. He took a body, in it fulfilled all righteousness, even to a tittle, Matth. iii. 15. And at last his oul was made an offering for sin, so that he could say as it is, ?John xvii. 4. " Father, I have glorified thee on earth, I have " finished the work thou gavest me to do." He went through all the parts of his active, and passive obedience, cheerfully and faithfully. (2.) The Father made good his engagements to Christ, all along, with no less faithfulness than Christ did his. He pro- mised to assist, and hold his hand, and so he did; Luke xxii. 23. " And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthen- " ing him." That was one of the sorest brunts that ever Christ met with ; this was seasonable aid and succour. He promised to accept him in his work, and that he should be glorious in his eyes ; so he did : for -he not only declared it by a voice from heaven, Luke iii. 22. " Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well " pleased •" But it was fullv declared in his resurrection and as- cension, which were a full discharge and justification of him. He promised him that " He should see his seed," and so he did ; for his very birth-dew was as the dew of the morning; and ever since his blood has been fruitful in the world. He promised glo- riously to reward and exalt him ; and so he hath, Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11. and that highly and super-eminentlv, " giving him a name " above every name in heaven and earth." Thus were the articles performed.
(6.) Lastly, When was this compact made betwixt the Father and the Son? I answer, it bears date from eternity. * Before this world was made, then were his delights in us, while as yet we had no existence, but only in the infinite mind and purpose of God,
* Antequnm ab omnibus retro senilis tempora fluere inciperent, decrcvk Deus hanc nnhis 'alutis gratiam per Christum conferre : i. e. From all eternity. God decreed to bestow on us the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
SERM. III. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 59
who had decreed this for us in Christ Jesus, as the apostle speaks, 2 Tim. i. 9- What grace was that which was given us in Christ be- fore the world began, but this grace of redemption, which was from everlasting thus contrived and designed for us, in that way which hath been here opened ? Then was the council, or consul- tation of peace betwixt them both, as some take that scripture, Zech. vi. 13.
Next let us apply it to ourselves.