[2.] It is not only that complacency which he taketh in the holiness of his people. In the holiness of his people there is amor bcnevoleniue, a good-will and happiness to the unconverted ; and there is amorplacenlicc, his delight in them as they are holy, because of the suitableness of their nature : Isa. Ixii. 4, 5, ' Thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, for the Lord delighteth in thee. And as a bridegroom rejoicetli over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.' When we are drawn into a near relation to God, there is another love, for we are in another state; and Zeph. iii. 17, ' He will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love.' His love putteth a comeliness upon his peo})le, — there is the ground of God's delight. So, for tlieir j)rosperity, it is said, Ps. XXXV. 27, ' Let the Lord be magnified, which hath plea.sure in the prosperity of his servant.' He is glad to see when they are holy, and when they do well.
2. Positively. The formality of the expression implieth more : he is satisfied, he accounts our well-being a suiftcient recompense for all his pains, and all the travail of his soul well bestowed, though he hath been at that expense for it. It is natural and kindly for a good man to do good, and to rejoice in others' good. But now for Christ to count it a saving bargain, if with the expense of his all he may promote the wel- fare of others ; this is the delight and the contentment here spoken of. Christ did not reckon of the charges, so he might gain sinners to God.
The reasons of the point : —
1. Because this was his work, his personal work; every person of the Godhead is refreshed in his work. God the Father, his personal work is creation, — the first mercy we received, and so proper to the first person. Now, it is said, Exod. xxxi. 17, ' In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh he rested and was refreshed;' not in point of weariness, but in point of delectation. It was a re- freshment to God the Father, to see all the creatures disposed into their apt cells and places, as the fruit and effect of his goodness, wisdom, and power. He delighted himself in the survey of his work. So God the Spirit is grieved with the resistance and opposition he meeteth with in our hearts, Eph. iv. 30, but gratified and delighted with our obedience to his sanctifying work. And likewise the second person, when he seeth of the travail of his soul, what a numerous in- crease his death will bring in, he is refreshed and satisfied. Christ hath his rest as God hath his rest : he took great complacency and delight in the salvation of poor sinners, as the fruit of all his labours.
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2. His love was the cause of all : his love to the Father, and his love to the saints.
[1.] His love to the Father, to see him fully glorified. When Christ came into the world, it was sung by the angels : Luke ii. 14, ' Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will towards men ;' John xiii. 31, ' Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.' Our comfort is not only concerned in the salvation of the elect, but God's glory. He would have been but half discovered to the world if we had only been created and not redeemed : we should have known but half his goodness, for that goodness which was mani- fested in creation was in order to some other thing. God did not create us merely that he might create us, but that he might com- municate himself to us, and manifest more of his glory, and that we might see more of his wisdom, and goodness, and power. These were in part discovered in making the world, but much more in the gospel : there is much of his wisdom seen in making the creatures, but much more in the mystery of redemption, in bringing God and man together — justice and mercy together, ' which the angels desire to look into,' 1 Peter i. 12. We see his power in making us out of nothing, in dis- solving the works of the devil, loosing the bands of death, raising the dead. His goodness is seen in giving the world, in giving Christ, in giving eternal life. Christ saith in love to his Father, I am satisfied ; I see it will be a way wherein the glory of God will be much pro- moted.
[2.] Love to poor lost sinners.
(1.) They are dearly bought : they are his own ; and having loved them so as to buy them, he will love them to the end. The saints are the purchase of his blood, and therefore they are called ' the purchased possession,' Eph. i. 14. Things dearly bought are much esteemed and valued. The church, which he hath purchased with his precious blood, he paid dear for it — expended his royal blood for it. The Lord Jesus forgets all his agonies and sorrows, because this was it he tra- vailed for, and the end which he pursued.