humble myself to the death of the cross, Phil. li. 8, I will ' tread the wine-press of my Father's wrath/ Isa. Ixiii. 3, I will fully discharge all the bonds, bills, and obligations that lie in open court against any of those whom by compact thou hast given me, Col. ii. 13-15, let their debts be never so many or never so great, or of never so long continu- ance, I will pay them all. There is no work so high, nor no work so hard, nor no work so hot, nor no work so bloody, nor no work so low, in which I am not ready to engage upon the account of my chosen : * Lo, I come, I delight to do thy will ; yea, thy law is in my heart.' Christ freely submits, not only to the duty of the law, but also to the penalty of the law, — not only to do what the law enjoins, but also to suffer what the law threatens ; the former he makes good l3y his active obedience, and the latter by his passive obedience, Gal. iv. 4, 5. This was the way wherein the Father, by an eternal agreement with his Son, would have the salvation of lost sinners brought about, and ac- cordingly Jesus Christ very readily complies with his F-ather's will and way, Titus i. 2. Christ, as mediator, had a command from his Father to die, which command he readily closes with : John x. 11, ' I am the good shepherd : the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep ;' ver. 15, ' I lay down my life for the sheep ;' ver. 17, ' I lay down my life, that I might take it again ;' ver. 18, 'No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself ; this commandment have I received of my Father.' Christ was content to be a servant by paction, that so his sufferings might be accepted for his people ; and certainly whatever God the Father put Jesus Christ upon in his whole mediatory work, that Jesus Christ did freely, fully, and heartily comply with : ' Lo, I come ; and I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do,' John xvii. 4. And had not Christ been free and voluntary in his active and passive obedience, his active and passive obedience would never have been acceptable, satisfactory, or meritorious. To go further to prove it, would be to light a candle to see the sun at noon. But,
[3.] Thirdly, Jesus Christ promises and engages himself that he ivill confide, depend, rely, and trust upon his Father for help and for assist- ance to go through with his loork a-notwithstanding all the wrath and rage, all the malice and oppositions, that he should meet with from men and devils: Heb. ii. 13, ' And again, I will put my trust in. him.' Christ's confidence in his Father was one great encouragement to him to hold out in the execution of his office ; and his confidence in God speaks him out to be a true man, in that, as other men, he stood in need of God's aid and assistance ; and thereupon, as others of the sons of men, his brethren, he puts his trust in God. The Greek phrase used by the apostle carrieth emphasis ; it implieth trust on a good persuasion that he shall not be disappointed. It is translated ' con- fidence,' Phil. i. 6 ; word for word it may be here thus translated, ' I will be confident in him.' i The relative ' him' hath apparent refer- ence to God, so as Christ himself, being man, rested on God to be supported in his works, and to be carried through all his undertakings, till the top-stone was laid, and the work of redemption accomplished. Christ had many great and potent enemies, and was brought to very
^ ^ffo/xai ireiroidus ^tt' avTCjj, Ps. xviii. 2 ; Isa. viii. 18.
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great straits ; yea, he and his were ' for signs and wonders in Israel ;' yet he fainted not, but put his trust in the Lord ; yea, his greatest enemies gave him this testimony, that ' he trusted in God ; ' and though they spoke it in scorn and derision, yet it was a real truth, Ps. xviii. 3-5 ; Isa. viii. 18 ; Mat. xxvii. 43. Christ's confidence in his Father was further manifested by the many prayers which, time after time, he made to his Father, Heb. v, 7. Another proof of Christ's confidence in Grod's assistance, even in his greatest plunges and his sharpest sufifer- ings, the prophet Isaiah will furnish us with : * The Lord God hath opened mine ear,' saith the prophet, ' and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked ofi" the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me ; therefore shall I not be confounded : therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me ; who will con- tend with me ? let us stand together ; who is mine adversary ? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me ; who is he that shall condemn me ? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment ; the moth shall eat them up,' Isa. 1. 5-9. Christ, as mediator, trusted God the Father to carry him through all difficulties and oppositions, till he had completed the great work of his mediation. Christ strengthens and encourages himself in the execution of his office against all hardships and oppositions, from his confidence and assur- ance of God's aid and assistance ; and by the same eye of faith, he looks upon all his opposites as worn out and weathered by him. Christ's faith, patience, and constancy gave him victory over all wrongs and injuries; so Isa. xlix. 5, 'My God shall be my strength.' Christ is very confident of his Father's assistance to carry him through that work that he had assigned him to. Christ, in the want of comfort, never wanted faith to hang upon God, and to call him his God : ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Mat. xxvii. 46. Christ was never forsaken in regard of the hypostatical union ; the union was not dissolved, but the beams, the influence, was restrained.! Nor in regard of his faith ; for though now he was sweltering under the wrath of God, as our surety, and left in the hands of his enemies, and deserted by his disciples and dearest friends, and under the loss of the comfort- ing and solacing presence of his Father, yet, in the midst of all, such was the strength and power of his faith, that he could say, ' My God, my God.' Christ, before the world began, having promised and en- gaged to the Father that, in the fulness of time, he would come into the world, assume our nature, be made under the law, tread the wine- press of the Father s wrath, bear the curse, and give satisfaction to his justice ;2 now upon the credit of this promise, upon this undertaking of Christ, God the Father takes up the patriarchs and all the old testament believers to glory. God the Father, resting upon the pro- mise and engagement of his Son, admits many thousands into those mansions above, before Christ took flesh upon him, John xiv. 2, 3.
^ As man he cries out, ' My God, my God,' &c., when as God he promiaeth paradise to the penitent thief. — Hilary.
' Titus i. 2 ; Gal. iv. 4 ; Isa. liiii. 3 ; Gal. iii. 13; Rom. viii. 3, 4.
VERY CLEARLY AND LARGELY OPENED. 393