\st. He is luldte in the glory of his Deity, and ruddy in the pre- ciousness of his humanity. " His teeth are white with milk, and his eyes are red with wine," Gen. xlix. 12. Whiteness (if I may so say) is the complexion of glory. In that appearance of the Most High, the " Ancient of days," Dan. vii. 9, it is said, " His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool;" — and of Christ in his transfiguration, when he had on him a mighty lustre of the Deity, "His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light," Matt. xvii. 2; which, in the phrase of another evangelist, is, "White as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them," Mark ix. 3. It was a divine, heavenly, surpassing glory that was upon hhn, Rev. i. 1 4. Hence the angels and glorified saints, that always behold him, and are fully translated into the image of the same glory, are still said to be ia white robes.^ His whiteness is his Deity, and the glory thereof.
' Isa. xi. 1; Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15; Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12.
^ 'il; nili xaXos orccv ix-' ^""^ <rii<l>pova, T^arov /aiv u^os ai,iov TV^a-vvidc;. — 1 orphyr. Ill
Isag. IndeSiietoniusdeDomitiano. "Commendaiise verecuiidia orisadeo sentiebat, ut apud senatum sic quondam jactaverit; usque adhuc certe animura meuin pro- bastis etvultum." — Sueton. Doniit., cap. xviii. "Formse elegantia in Rege laudatur, non quod per se decor oris niagni aestiniari debeat, sed quia iu ipso vultu stepe relu- ceat geuerosa indoles." — Calvin, in loc. ' Rev. iii. 4, 5, vi. 11, vii. 9, 13, xix. 14. VOL. II. 4
50 OF COMMUNION WITH THE SON JESUS CHRIST.
And on tills account the Chaldee paraphrast ascribes this whole passage unto God. " They say," saith he, " to the house of Israel, ' Who is the God whom thou wilt serve?' etc. Then begau the concfresfation of Israel to declare the praises of the Ruler of the world, and said, ' I will serve that God who is clothed in a garment white as snow, the splendour of the glory of whose countenance is as fire." He is also ruddy in the beauty of his humanity. Man was called Adam, from the red earth Avhereof he was made. The word here^ used points him out as the second Adam, partaker of flesh and blood, because the children also partook of the same, Heb. ii. 14. The beauty and comeliness of the Lord Jesus in the union of both these in one person, shall afterward be declared.
2dli/. He is ivhite in the beauty of his innocency and holiness, and ruddy in the hlood of his oblation. Whiteness is the badge of inno- cency and holiness. It is said of the Nazarites, for their tyjiical holi- ness, " They were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk," Lam. iv. 7. And the prophet shows us that scarlet, red, and crimson, are the colours of sin and guilt; whiteness of innocency,^ Isa. i. 18. Our Beloved was "a Lamb without blemish and without spot," 1 Pet. i. 19. " He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," 1 Pet. ii. 22. He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," Heb. vu. 26 ; as afterward will appear. And yet he who was so white in his inno- cency, was made ruddy in his own blood ; and that two ways : — Natu- rally, in the pouring out of his blood, his precious blood, in that agony of his soul when thick drops of blood trickled to the ground, Luke xxii. 44 ; as also when the whips and thoms, nails and spears, jDOured it out abundantly : " There came forth blood and water," John xix. 34. He was ruddy by being drenched all over in his own blood. And 'morally, by the imputation of sin, whose colour is red and crim- son. " God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin," 2 Cor. v. 21. He who was white, became ruddy for our sakes, pouiing out his blood an oblation for sin. This also renders him graceful: by his whiteness he fulfilled the law ; by his redness he satisfied justice. " This is our Beloved, O ye daughters of Jerusalem."
^dly. His endearing excellency in the administration of his king- dom is hereby also expressed.^ He is white in love and mercy imto his own; red with justice and revenge towards his enemies, Isa. Ixiii. 3; Rev. xix. 13.
There are three things in general wherein this personal excellency
■ a--si l-;-^ •■-rn Cant. v. 10.
^ '' Alii caiuliduin cxpomint esse jiuris ot proliis, rubruin ct criicntinn reproLis ad COS puiiiendos ut Isaia, cap. Ixiii. dioitur, TC^^.zhh a^s i'"".^ Cur rubent vesti-
nu'iila tua? quod nostri iiiiuus recte de Cliristi passione expommt." — Morcer. in loc. 3 Ruv. vi. 2.
OF COMMUNION Y/ITH THE SON JESUS CHRIST. 61
and grace of tlie Lord Christ doth consist: — (1st.) H.is fitness to save, from the grace of union, and the proper necessary effects thereof. (2dli/.) His fuhiess to save, from the grace of communion; or the free consequences of the grace of union. {2>dly) His excellency to endear, from his complete suitableness to all the wants of the souls of men : —