IsA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 373
culpa, because it made way for such a Redeemer as Christ, because it made way for his redemption ; as the apostle said, Rom. iii. 5, ' Our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God.' And such efficiency there was about evil, though not of evil, that God might bring good out of it, and dispose of it for the advantage of his own counsels and intents. And so he may be said to awake the sword against the shepherd that was his fellow, as justly pursuing the effect of his own decrees.
The reasons of this point are : —
1. Because all things fall under his decrees and the care of his pro- vidence, and therefore certainly this matter of Christ does. See that place, Eph. i. 11, he 'worketh all things after the counsel of his own will ;' the meaning is, there is nothing done in the world but God may be said to work it ; he doth it by counsel and by the counsel of his own will, in a wise order and freely, as God pleaseth and as he seeth best. God's will and counsel is the ground of all things. Mark the generality of the expression, all things ; nothing so low and frivolous but God's will taketh cognisance of it ; nothing so wicked but God will order and dispose it for good : Mat. x. 29, ' Not a sparrow shall fall upon the ground without your Father ; and every hair of your head is numbered.' Nothing so sinful as Judas's act and Pilate's, yet it was determined ; God's hand and counsel intended it. Whatever is done is done in reference to some foregoing decree.
2. Because this was the special design and contrivance of heaven to bring forth Christ into the world; all other dispensations looked this way. Adam's fall, God's providence through so many ages, did but tend to help on this great birth, and therefore this design of Christ is called by the apostle, Eph. iii. 10, ' The manifold wisdom of God.' All that variety and intermixture of ])rovidences was but in pursuance of his design : 1 Tim. iii. 16, ' Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.' This was the great contrivance, the masterpiece of heaven, that discovered most of God to the creatures. It was much wdien God made man after his ow^n image and likeness, the wonder of nature ; yet it was more when God made himself after our image. That is a wonder indeed. The apostle would have it carried above all exce[)tion by all Christians. There- fore, it was especially in heaven designed by God.
Object. How is the creature to blame, then, for smiting and bruising of Christ ? Or if to blame, how is God clear ? It Avas by his ordi- nation and appointment.
Ans. 1. For the creatures' blame ; they are faulty : —
[1.] Because God's secret thoughts and intents are not their rule. Hidden things belong to God ; and it is he that worketh according to the counsel of his own will. You must look to the counsel of his word. Though God got a great deal of glory, yet that was no thanks to them that crucified Clirist ; for because they crucified him, the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost, to their ruin and desolation, 1 Thes. ii. 16.
[2.] They had other ends, though God turned it for good : Acts ii., 'With wicked hands ye have taken, and crucified, and slain ;' Isa. x. 7, ' Howbeit he mcaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so ; but
374 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [IsA. LIII. 10.
it is in his lieart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.' Judas's end was f::ain, Pilate's to please the people, the high priests' to wreak their malice ; but God had other ends in it, the salvation of fallen man.
[8.] God's decrees did not compel them to evil; it implieth things will be, though it doth not eflect them — there is no necessity of con- straint and compulsion, though there be of infallibility. God taketh not liberty from the creatures, nor contingency from the second causes; they act their own way, though God turneth it to his own ends ; they were carried to it by their wickedness. This is the plain decision of the matter.
2. For the justifying of God when he judgeth. His justice cannot be impeached, because he iufuseth no evil, enforceth to no evil, only ordaineth what shall be ; his goodness cannot be impeached for suffer- ing things which he can turn to such advantage for his own glory and the creature's good. And, therefore, as the sun shineth upon a dung- hill without having his beams polluted by it, so God's ordination taketh in the sin of the creatures without any blemish to itself. God's decrees are immanent in himself, working nothing that is evil in the creatures. Other things might be said, but I would not perplex the matter.
APPLICATION.
Use 1. It serveth to give check to curiosity. Men are bold in their inquiries, and cavil at such dispensations. Though you cannot see the reason of them, yet rest in God's appointment: ' It pleased the Father to bruise him.' You shall find in scripture this is made to be the last result of all difficulty, the pleasure and will of God : Col. 1. 19, ' It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.' If you would know the reason why the second person should be chosen, and enriched with the fulness of the Godhead, it pleased the Father. ISo for God's liberty in dispensing mercies to babes, passing by wise men : Mat. xi. 2G, 'Even so, Father, because it pleaseth thee.'