VeR. 23.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 79
and affections. We were never in the bosom of God, to know his heart ; but the only Son of God, that came out of his bosom, he hath told us tidings of it, and hath bidden us come boldly and call him Father. ' When ye pray, say, Our Father.'
(2.) Likeness is another ground of love. God loveth Christ, not only as his Son, but as his image, he being ' the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,' Heb. i. 3. So he loveth the saints, who are by grace renewed after his image : Col. iii. 10, ' And that ye put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him ;' and who are thereby made ' partakers of the divine nature,' 2 Peter i. 4. We lost by Adam the image of God and the favour of God ; now, first his image is repaired in us, then his love and favour is bestowed on us ; without this we could not be lovely in his eye, for we are amiable in the sight of God by reason of that comeliness he has put upon us.
[2.] There are like properties.
(1.) It is free. So was God's love to Christ's manhood ; as much of his substance as was taken from the virgin was chosen out of grace. Christ for his whole person deserved love, but as to his human nature, he was himself an object of elective love as we are ; and this being as- sumed into the unity of his person, Christ was set apart by God for the work of mediation : Isa. xlii. 1, ' Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon him.' Choice supposeth the preferment or acceptance of one, and refusal of another ; so was Christ chosen as man. This the virgin acknow- ledgeth : Luke i. 48, ' He hath regarded the low estate of his hand- maid.' He had done her an honour, the greatest that was done to any of his servants, among which she acknowledged herself the un- worthiest. So much of the substance of the virgin as went to the person of Christ, and his human soul, was chosen out of mere grace. Nay, in his divine person there was a choice which is to be referred to the wisdom and pleasure of the Father : Col. i. 19, * It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.' The same account as is given of our salvation : Mat. xi. 25, 26, ' I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.' So is God's love to us free and undeserved ; his love is the reason of itself ; he loved us be- cause he loved us : Deut. vii. 7, S, ' The Lord did not set his love on you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any peo- ple ; but because the Lord loved you.' There is the last cause, God's act is its own law and reason, we can give no other account.
(2.) It is tender and affectionate. There is a full complacency and dehght in Christ : Mat. iii. 17, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.' His heart was taken up with him, he was full of contentment in him ; as a husband is called ' the covering of the eyes,' because a woman should look no further. So Prov. viii. 31, ' I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.' So tenderly affec- tioned is God to the saints : Isa. Ixii. 5, ' As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee ;' then affections are in their reign and height. So tender is God of his people : Zech. ii.
80 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XL.
8, ' He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye.' The eye is the most tender part, and so is the apple of the eye. Can there be a more endearing expression ?
(3.) It is eternal. Christ as mediator was loved before the founda- tion of the world in God's purpose : John xvii. 24, ' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory that thou hast given me; for thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world.' And in loving Christ he loved us ; and in choosing Christ as head of the church, the members were included in that election, for head and body cannot be severed. This grace was given us in Christ before the world be- gan : 2 Tim. i. 9, ' Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling ; not according to our works, but according to his own pur- pose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.' Some are not called as soon as others, but all are loved as soon as others, even from eternity. God's love is as ancient as himself, there was no time when God did not think of us, and love us. We are wont to prize an ancient friend ; the ancientest friend we have is God, who loved us not only before we were lovely, but before we were at all. He thought of us before ever we could have a thought of him ; after we had a being in infancy, we could not so much as know that he loved us ; and when we came to years of discretion, we knew how to offend before we knew how to love and serve him ; we cared not for his love, but prostituted our hearts to other things. Let us measure the short scantling of our lives with eternity, wherein God showed love to us. As to our beings, we are but of yesterday ; as to the constitution of our souls, we are sinners from the womb; and when we are convinced of it, we adjourn and put off the love of God to old decrepit age, when we have spent our strength in the world, and wasted ourselves in deceitful and flesh-pleasing vanities. Now it should shame us when we remember God's love is as ancient as his being. Some look after God sooner than others ; but if you look after God never so soon, God was at work before us ; those that began earliest, as Josiah, John Baptist, find God more early providing for their eternal welfare.