ISA. LIII. 10.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 379
his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.' He shall have a special and certain care of his tender flock. Besides, where they •want strength, he shall lend his own strength, and so sweetly lead and guide thera by his counsel, till he has brought them to his glory, that is in his commission and charge : John vi. 40, ' And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.' This is the Father's charge, who doth as it were say thus to his Son, If you will engage yourself to me, here is the work you are to do ; you must leave your glory and become my servant ; I have fitted a body for you, and you shall fulfil the law, and live in meanness and misery, and then yield up yourself to an accursed death, that so you may merit my favour for these persons Avhose names I give you : and then you shall oblige yourself to enlighten and quicken them by your Spirit, that tlieir bondage may be removed : and then you shall cherish them, and comfort them, and support them, especially the weak ones among them, until you have perfected them, and brought them to glory. This is the sum, and this was the will of the Father, and the charge given to Christ : so tliat whatsoever Christ acted as Mediator, he acteth as Grod's servant.
2. Now, the work being proposed, God promiseth what he should expect by way of encouragement and reward for it ; and that is this,— that in case Christ will undertake all this, he shall not want help, he shall have the Spirit : Isa. Ixi. 1, ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ;' and that he should have the Spirit without measure, not by drops, as the creatures have. And that he should have all countenance ; God would not forget his relation in the meanness of his disguise : ' I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son,' Heb. i. 5. And because empty relations are nothing worth, God would not only be a Father in title, but dispense all fatherly care and respects to him, so that though he meet with opposition and discouragements, he should be borne up against the brunt of them : Isa. xlii. 4, ' He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law.' He shall still have the best. His judg- ments and law shall be set up ; and sorry, impotent men shall but ex- press their malice ; they shall not wreak and satisfy it, for the Lord will be with him : Isa. xlii. 4, ' He shall not fail nor be discouraged ;' the meaning is, he will mightily come in for his assistance. x\nd then, after all this, he shall be full of success and triumph : ' He shall see his seed,' and God's pleasure shall thrive in his hands. He shall have anything, a kingdom that knoweth no end and no limits : Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession.' He shall have power over his adversaries to use them at pleasure, to dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel is shattered into pieces by an iron mace. Alas ! what is an earthen vessel to an iron mace ? And then the bowing and stooping of all creatures before him : Phil. ii. 9, 10, ' Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.' God hath promised not only to break the stoutest back, but to bow the stiffest knee ; and wherefore ? because he undertook this work by
3S0 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
covenant. And then, after all this, an entrance into glory : Luke xxiv, 26, ' Ought not Christ to have sufiered these things, and to enter into glory ? ' Bo was he tlius engaged to do by covenant. And besides, Christ was encouraged by promises not only to liis person, but for his people. As a sufhciency of grace: Col. i. 19, ' It i)leased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell.' And also a power to justify them : ' By liis knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.' To sanctify, enlighten, and glorify them : ' All things are delivered me of my Father,' Mat. xi. 27. So that you see what God would do for Christ, in case he should take that burden and charge upon him. Thus you see the matter proposed by God the Father.
Secondly, Kow you shall see that this is accepted by God the Son ; the work is undertaken with reference to those terms.
1. The work is undertaken. God the Son, being equal to the Father, could not have been commanded and overruled to any service ■without a voluntary susception and concurrence of his own ; and there- fore, upon this discovery of the will of God, Christ sweetly concurred and consented to it : Ps. xl. 7, 8, ' Lo, I come ; in the volume of thy book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, 0 God.' And he professeth in another place, John iv. 34, ' My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.' It was a gladsome tiling to him, as the hours of repast are to an ordinary man. As for the impetration, God w^ould have him lay aside his glory. And it is said, Phil. ii. 7, ' And made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,' incarnate; ' He was found in fashion of a man.' It was his Father's will that he should endure reproaches and injuries : Isa. 1. 5, G, ' The Lord hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away my back : I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair ; I hid not my face from shame and s])itting.' Christ offered himself to all these indignities, being bound to it. He would not be rebellious against his Fatlier's motion. Then to do our works ; thei-efore he is said to be obedient. And then to pay our debts ; and therefore he is said to be obedient to the death of the cross, Phil. ii. 7. Then for the ap[)lication of the merit; he inviteth the weary, Mat. xi. 28. He enlighteneth the blind, dispossesseth Satan, sets the captive free, Mark v. 18. Pitieth the faint : Luke xv. 5, ' And when he had found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing.' lie bringeth liome the weary uj)on liis own shoulders, and at length bringeth them to glory : John vi. 40, ' And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will rai.se him at the last day.'