388 Christ's transfiguration. [Ser. V.
wrongs : Eom. iii. 25, ' Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remis- sion of sins that are past ; ' (2.) No further price for what they need : 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, 'Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the ]irecious blood of Christ, as of a lamb with- out spot and blemish.' The repentance of a sinner is pleasing to him, there is joy in heaven : Luke xv. 7, ' Joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that is converted.' A feast was made at the return of the prodigal : ' As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner.' Our conversion is more pleasing to God than our destruction.
(3.) He is pleased with the execution and management of it by Christ. He carried himself in the office of the mediator according to what was enjoined him : John viii. 29, ' I do always the things that please him.' John V. 30, ' I can of myself do nothing ; as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just ; because I seek not my will, but the will of the Father which sent me.' And did finish all that was necessary for the redemption of the elect before he died : John xix. 30, ' When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished : and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.' Evidences of this are his resurrection from the dead: Acts v. 30, 31, ' The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.' Heb. xiii. 20, ' The God of peace brought again the Lord Jesus from the dead, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.' As pacified in Christ, ' received into glory,' 1 Tim. iii. 16. Certainly God is well pleased, since he hath given not only a discharge, but a reward. The gift of the Spirit, for renew- ing the heart of man, which is the great pledge of God's being satis- fied : John vii. 39, ' This he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified ; ' a sure evidence that our ransom is paid : Acts v. 32, ' And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Ghost, which he hath given to them that obey him.' A sacrifice of infinite value and esteem.
[2.] That he is well pleased with us who have an interest in him. In our natural estate we are all displeasing unto God. Whatever we are in the purpose of his decree, we must look upon ourselves as we are in the sentence of his law ; so ' Children of wrath,' Eph. ii. 3 : ' Ene- mies by our minds in evil works,' Col. i. 21 : ' Estranged from the womb,' Ps. Iviii. 3 ; so that all of us were cut ofi" from the favour of God, obnoxious to his wrath ; this is our miserable condition by nature, that we were no way pleasing to him, ' for without faith it is impos- sible to please God,' Heb. xi. 6. A sinner as a sinner can do nothing acceptable ; indeed, God having found a ransom, is placahiUs, but not placatus, not actually reconciled to us till we are in Christ ; and he is placandus antequam j^^acendus, to be appeased before he can be pleased ; he is not actually reconciled till we are in Christ.
(2.) Awakened sinners are not easily satisfied, so as to look uppn themselves as pleasing unto God ; for the conscience of sin is not easily laid aside, nor is the stain soon got out. And though the grant be
Mat. XVII. 5.] Christ's transfiguration. 389
passed in heaven, yet we have not the sense of it in our own hearts ; for it is the blood of Christ can only do it : Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ofiered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? ' The carnal offer thousands of rams, and rivers of oil, and ' the fruit of the body for the sin of their soul,' Micali vi. 6, 7. They would give anything for a sufficient sin-offering ; yea, the renewed and pardoned have not so firm a peace as to be able always to look upon themselves in a state of well-pleasing, therefore often beg that God would dissipate the clouds and cause the light of his countenance to break forth upon them : Ps. Ixxx. 19, ' Turn us, 0 Lord God of hosts ; cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.' ►So that when there is a grant of pardon, and peace, and access to God, we have not always the sense.
(3.) Yet the ground is laid. As soon as we have an interest in Christ, God is well pleased with us ; if you consent to his mediation, and take him in his three offices, as a prophet, priest, and king. As a prophet, hear him ; the business is put out of all question, that God will love you because he loved Christ. When you depend on him as a priest, you have reconciliation and access to God : Kom. v. 1, 2, ' Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ : by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand.' When you subject yourselves to him as a king, Col. i. 13, ' He hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.' Christ is dear to God, and to him all the subjects of his kingdom are dear also. So that if you will be more explicit in your duty, you may be more explicit in your comforts ; if you will receive his doctrine, so as it may have authority over your hearts ; if in the anguish of your souls you will depend on the merit of his sacrifice, and give up your- selves to live in a constant obedience to his laws ; you will find him to be a dear Son indeed, one very acceptable with God, for you also will be accepted with him, for his sake.