^ Esth. V. 3 ; Mark vi. 23 ; Isa. xlix. 6 ; Mat. xxviii. 18 ; Phil. ii. 10, 11 ; Ps. xl. 6-8. * The Scriptures are called the Book of the Battles of the Lord, Num. xxi.—Riqjertus.
332 THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION
is, the devil,' Heb. ii. 14. God, by way of threatening, told Satan that the seed of the deceived woman should overmatch him at last, and should break in pieces his power and crafty plots. He gives Satan leave to do his worst, and proclaims an open and an utter enmity between Christ and him. From this scripture some conclude that Christ cove- nanted from eternity to take upon him the seed of the woman, and the sinless infirmities of our true human nature ; and under those infirmi- ties to enter the lists with Satan, and to continue obedient through all his afflictions, temptations, and trials, to the death, even to the death of the cross, Phil. ii. 8, 9. And that God the Father had covenanted with Christ, that in case Christ did continue obedient through all his sufferings, temptations, and trials, that then his obedience to the death should be accounted as full satisfaction to divine justice for all those wrongs and injuries that were done to God by the 'sins of man. Christ must die, or else he could not have been the mediator of the new cove- nant through death, Heb. ix. 15, 16. But,
(2.) The second scripture is that, Isa. xlii. 6, ' The Lord hath called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.' Thus God speaks of Christ. In this chapter we have a glorious pro- phecy of Christ our Eedeemer. Here are four things prophesied of him : (1.) The divine call, whereby he was appointed to the work of our redemption: ver. 1, 'Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon him : he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.' Jesus Christ would not. yea, he could not, he durst not, thrust himself upon this great work, or engage in this great work, till he had a clear call from heaven. (2.) Here you have the gracious carriage and deportment of Christ, in the work to which he was called ; this is fully set down, vers. 2-4, ' He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.' He shall come clothed with majesty and glory, and yet full of meekness : ' a bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench ; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.' In the words there is a meiosis,^ ' he will not break,' that is, he will bind up the bruised reed, he will comfort the bruised reed, he will strengthen the bruised reed. Christ will acknowledge and encourage the least degrees of grace ; he will turn a spark of grace into a flame, a drop into a sea, &c. : ' He shall not fail, nor be discouraged.' These words shew his kingly courage and magnanimity. Though he should meet with opposition from all hands, yet nothing should daunt him, nothing should dismay him ; no afflictions, no temptations, no sufferings should in the least abate his courage and valour. (3.) The divine assistance he should have from him that called him. This is set down in two expressions : ver. 6, ' I will hold thy hand, I will keep thee.' Divine assistance doth usually concur with a divine call. When God sets his servants on work, he uses to defend and uphold them in the work. (4.) The work itself to which Christ was called. This is expressed under divers phrases : ver. 6, 7, ' To be a light to the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and to be a covenant to the people.' In these last words you have two things
^ Same as litotes, as before. — G.
VERY CLEARLY AND LARGELY OPENED. 333
observable ; the first is one special part of Christ's oflfice : ' He was given for a covenant/ Second, The persons in reference to whom this office was designed : ' a covenant of the people.' One end why God the Father gave Christ out of his bosom, was, that he might be a covenant to his people. Christ is given for a covenant both to the believing Jews and Gentiles. As he is ' the glory of the people of Israel,' so he is ' a light to lighten the Gentiles.' In this scripture last cited, you have the Father's designation and sealing of Christ to the mediatorial employment, promising him much upon his undertaking it, and his acceptation of this office, and voluntary submission to the will of the Father in it : ' Lo, I come to do thy will,' Heb. v. 4, 5 ; Ps. xl. 7, 8 ; John X. 17, 18. And these together amount to the making up of a covenant between God the Father and his Son ; for what more can be necessary to the making up of a covenant than is here expressed ? But,
(3.) The third scripture is that, Isa. xlix. 1, ' Listen, 0 isles, unto me ; and hearken, ye people, from far ; The Lord God hath called me from the womb ; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.' ^ These words are spoken in the person of Christ ; he tells us how he is called by his Father to be a mediator and Saviour of his people. Jesus Christ would not take one step in the work of our redemption till he was called and commissionated by his Father to that work. God the Father, who from eternity had fore-assigned Christ to thisjoffice of a mediator, a Kedeemer, did, both while he was in the womb, and as soon as he was come out of it, manifest and make known this his purpose concerning Christ both to men and angels. Christ did not thrust himself, he did not intrude himself at random into the office of a Redeemer : ' No man takes this honour to himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron,' Heb. v. 4, 5. So Christ took not upon himself the office of a mediator, a Saviour, but upon a call and a commission from God. The sum is, that Christ took up the office of a Redeemer by the ordinance of his Father, that he might fulfil the work of our redemption unto which he was destinated. Ver. 2, ' And he made my mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft ; in his quiver hath he hid me.' Christ having avouched his Father's calling of him to the work of man's redemption, he gives you a relation in this verse of God's fitting and furnishing of him with abilities sufficient for so important a work, together with his sustaining and supporting of him in the performance of the same. Here are two similitudes or com- parisons : (1.) That of a ' sharp sword ;' that of a bright and ' sharp arrow,' to shew the efficacy of Christ's doctrine.^ The word of Christ is a sword of great power and efficacy for the subduing of the souls of men to the obedience of it, and for the cutting off of whomsoever or whatsoever shall oppose or withstand it. Christ was not sent of the Father to conquer by force of arms, as earthly princes do ; but he conquers all sorts of sinners, even the proudest and stoutest of them,