' The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord,' Isa. xi. 2. God the Father fits Jesus Christ for the work of redemption by a large effusion of the graces and gifts of the Spirit upon him. The Spirit of the Lord shall not only come upon Christ, but rest and abide with him. The Holy Spirit shall take up in a more special, yea, singular, manner its per- petual and never-interrupted or eclipsed residence with him and in him. God the Father promises that Christ shall, in his human nature, be filled with all the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, that he may be as an everlasting treasure, and as an overflowing fountain, to all his people. So Isa. xlii. 1, ' Behold my servant, whom I up- hold ; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth : I have put my Spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles,' So Isa. Ixi. 1, ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.' So John iii. 34, ' God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.' Christ, as mediator, is endued with the Spirit for the discharge of that ofiice ; and though Christ as man hath not an infinite measure of the Spirit, though indeed in that person the fulness of the Godhead dwells, as being God also, for that were to be no more man, but God, yet the gifts and graces of the Spirit are poured out upon the man Christ in a measure far above all creatures. Col. ii. 10 ; for though every believer be complete in him, yet, for what is inherent in him, they have but some gifts of the Spirit, 1 Cor. xii. 4 ; Eph. iv. 7 ; but Jesus Christ had all sorts of gifts. They had gifts for some particular uses, but he had gifts for all uses ; they have a measure of gifts which are capable of increase, he above measure, so much as the human nature is capable of, which, though it be finite in itself, yet it cannot be measured nor compre- hended by us. So much is imported in that, ' God giveth not the Spirit by measure to him,' being understood of his manhood ; though, as we said, if we speak of his person, he hath the Spirit infinitely and without measure. Col. i. 19, and ii. 3, 9. This fulness became Christ as man, that he might be a fit temple for the Godhead, and as a mediator, that he might be the universal head of his church and storehouse of his people, that from him, as from a common person, spiritual root or principle, the Holy Ghost with his gifts and graces might be com- municated to us. ' He received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them,' Ps. Ixviii. 18 ; 'Of his fulness we receive grace for grace,' John i. 16 ; ' The first Adam was a living soul, but the second Adam is a quickening spirit,' 1 Cor. xv. 4.5. In the man Christ Jesus there is a treasury and fulness of grace and glory for us ; he is the lord-keeper of all our lives, of all our souls, of all our comforts, and of all our graces ; and he is the lord-treasurer of all our spiritual, durable, and eternal riches, 2 Tim. i. 12. We lost our first stock by the fall of Adam, Prov. viii. 18. God put a stock into our own hands, and we soon proved bankrupts and run out of stock and block. Now since that fatal fall, God will trust us no more ; but he hath out of his great love and noble bounty put a new stock of grace and glory for us into the hands of Jesus Christ, who is mighty, who is able to save to the uttermost, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Isa. ix. 6 ; Heb. vii. 25 ; Col.
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ii. 3. Christ was more capable, by infinite degrees, of the fulness of the Holy Ghost than mere men were or could be ; and his employment being also infinitely beyond the employment of men, the measure of the Holy Ghost's fulness in him must needs be accordingly beyond all measure. Hence, by way of emphasis, Christ is called ' the anointed one of God,' John xii. 15 ; Acts iii. 22, 23. The kings, priests, and prophets among the Jews, who were anointed, were in their unction but types of Christ, who is the great king, priest, and prophet of his church, and anointed above them all, yea, and above all the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and believers under the new testament ministration. In Christ there is all kind of grace, and it is in him in the highest and utmost degree, that he might be able to manage all his offices, and finish ' that work which God gave him to do,' John xvii. 4 ; and God hath filled him with his Spirit, that he might successfully bring about the redemption and salvation of sin- ners. But,
Secondhj, God the Father promiseth to invest Jesus Christ with a three/old office, and to anoint him and furnish him with ivhat- ever loas requisite for the discharge of those three offices — viz., his prophetical, priestly, and kingly offices, Isa. Ixi. 1-3, and xxxiii. 22. Christ never forced himself into any of these offices, he never intruded himself into any one office, he never run before he was sent, he never assumed any office till his Father had signed and sealed his com- mission, John vi. 17. Whatever Jesus Christ had acted without a commission under his Father's hand had been invalid and lost, and God would one day have said to him, * Who hath required this at thy handP'i Isa. i. 12. 'In order to our spiritual and eternal recovery out of sin and misery, it was absolutely necessary that whatever Christ did act as a priest, prophet, or king, he should act by the authority of his Father, by a commission under the broad seal of heaven : Heb. v. 5, ' So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high-priest ; but he that said unto him. Thou art my Son.' These two conjunctions, ovrw kol, ' so also,' being joined together, are notes of a reddition, or later part of a comparison, which is the application thereof. This application may have reference either to the general proposition, thus, ' As no man taketh this honour unto himself,' so also, nor Christ ; or to the particular instance of Aaron, thus, ' As Aaron took not to himself that honour ; so, nor Christ.' Both tend to the same end. The high-priesthood was an honour ; for Christ to have taken that to himself, without a commission from his Father, had been to glorify himself, by conferring glory and honour upon himself This negative, that ' Christ glorified not himself,' is a clear evidence that Christ arrogated no honour to himself. Christ would not arrogate honour to himself, but rather wait upon his Father, that he might confer upon him what honour he saw meet. Christ glori- fied not himself to be made a high-priest ; but his Father glorified him, in ordaining or commissionating him to be the high-priest. In short, to be made a high-priest is to be deputed or appointed