''2. It shall j/rosjier. It ^ijoeth in the way of a promise ; it is part of God's covenant with Christ to relieve your souls from doubts and fears ; you may go and urge it to him — Lord, was it not thy covenant that thy pleasure sliould prosper in the hands of Christ? This is thy j)lcasure. Christ urgeth this covenant, and therefore you may m-ge it : John xvii, 4, 5, ' I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work thou gavest mo to do. And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had witii thee before the world was.' Tell him Christ observed his ordinances to a tittle; you may plead promises though not ])erformances ; you may plead Christ's merit, though not your own. But to the word, shall prosper. This signifieth to break through, or pierce through. Alas ! all diffi- culties are nothing. They are but as a fly upon the wheel, that cannot hinder the motion, liage and opposition will not hinder the collec- tion and gathering the church of Christ. The devil, sin, and all the ])Owers of darkness, shall not hinder the reconciling of a soul to Christ. The will of the Lord shall break through. Death nor the grave shall not hinder the glory of Christ. Mountains are nothing to Christ. God's pleasure is not retarded by difficulty ; it breaketh through all.
3. In his hand. Our hands would fail us, nay, be withered and decay. What is the reason discomfort seizeth upon men ? They would have the will of God prosper in their own hands, like the monk that hopes to subdue corruption by his own vows, niltil videt prosperum : Gal. ii. 20, ' I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' It is not in our hands, but in the hand of Christ. Oh that our souls would look up to him in the sense of our own weakness ! Christ's hand is a strong hand : John x. 28, ' No man shall ])luck his sheep out of his hand.' The sheep are safe when in the hand of Christ, esi)ecially when upheld by God : Isa. xlii. 6, ' I will hold thine hand, and keep thee.' It is not Christ as man only, but as u[)held by the power of the Godhead. As a man, he himself is subject to agonies and con- sternations: Ps. Ixxxix. 21, ' With whom my hand shall be estab- lished, and mine arm shall strenijthen him.'
THE ELEVENTH VERSE.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall he saiisjied : hy his knotvledge shall my righteous sei-vant justify many ; for he shall hear their iniquities.
The prophet goeth on in describing the glorious effects of the cove- nant of God with Jesus Christ, and his obedience and humiliation answerable thereunto. God the Eathcr's part was to bestow privi-
ISA. LIII. 11.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 401
leges, grace, and glory, and every good thing upon believers ; and God the Son's part was to obey, and suffer, and die, to submit himself to all kind of labour and travail of spirit for our sakes : for God being about to deal with us in mercy, would first deal with Christ in justice ; and the state of the work of redemption was so laid, that, as Suarez proveth well, our grace and glory was due to Christ injustice, as the reward of his merit. Much was spoken before what God would do, and what Christ might expect in case.he would lay down his soul as an offering for sin ; he should ' see his seed, prolong his days, and God's pleasure should prosper in his hands.' And the prophet here goeth on in repeating the same thing, only addeth words more particular and significant, that he might more fully and expressly draw out the sense and meaning of the former privileges to your apprehen- sions : ' He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.' In these words three things are asserted : —
1. Christ's travail of soul in the work of our redemption.
2. The certainty of success : he shall see ; that is, reap the wished and expected fruits of his labour and sorrows, which is the comfort and salvation of poor creatures.
3. His contentment therein : he shall he satisfied. He counts the salvation of lost sinners to be satisfaction enough for all his pains. You may take the words as relating to God's decree, or to the execu- tion of it.
[1,] As to God's decree, the foregoing verse intimateth the com- pact and bargain between God the Father and the Son ; there were articles of agreement stated between them. Now when Christ came to consider what he should give, and what he should gain, he pro- fesseth he is satisfied, and abundantly pleased with the terms pro- pounded. Our Lord Jesus made no blind bargain. He knew from all eternity what it would cost him to save sinners; he had leisure enough to cast up his accounts. And when he foresaw the tempta- tions of the wilderness, and the agonies of the garden, the ignominy of the cross, the vile usage of his body, and the travail of his soul, yet saith our dearest Kedeemer, I will go down and suffer upon these terms ; I am satisfied out of all this, if a few broken-hearted creatures may be brought home to God.