That which I shall next fix upon is that eminent place of John, chap. vi. 37-40 : "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me 1 will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sceth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day." Our Sa- viour acquaints us with the design wherewith he came from heaven :
III.] THE IMMUTABILITY OF THE DIVINE PURPOSFS. 189
it was "not to do his own will," — that is, to accomplish or bring about any private purposes of his own, distinct or different from them of his Father, as he was blasphemously charged by the Jews to do, — but he came to do the will of God, " the will of him that sent him." The " will of God" which Christ came to fulfil is sometimes taken for the " commandment which he received from the Father" for the ac- complishment of his will. So Heb. x. 9, " I come to do thy will, O God," — that is, to fulfil thy command ; as it is expressed, Ps. xl. 8, " Thy law is within my heart." " Thy law, all that thou requirest at my hand as mediator, I am ready to peiform." On this account is Christ said to " take on him the form of a servant," Phil. ii. 7, — that is, to become so indeed, in the assumption of human nature, that he might do the will of him that sent him. For which reason, also, his Father expressly calls him his servant: Isa. xlii. 1, " Behold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon him : he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." He is the servant of the Father in the accomplishment of that work for which the Spirit was put upon him. And verse 19, " Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as ray messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is jDerfect, and blind as the Lord's ser- vant." God gives him in command to fulfil his will, which accord- ingly he performs to the utmost. Again; the " will of God" is taken for his purpose, his design, decree, and good pleasure, for the fulfill- ing and accomplishment whereof the Lord Christ came into the world. And this appears to be the sense and importance of the words in this place, from the distinction which is put between the will of the Father and any such private will of Christ as the Jews thought he went about to establish, [namely, that] it was some design of his own. In opposition whereunto he tells them that he came to do the will, — that is, to fulfil the counsel, purpose, and design, — of the Father. However, should it principally be taken for the command of God, yet there is, and must needs be, a universal coincidence and oneness in the object of God's purposing and commanding will in all com- mands given unto Christ; because all of them shall certainly and in- fallibly by him be fulfilled, and so the thing certainly accomplished which is commanded. What now is the will, purpose, aim, design, and command, of the Father, whose execution and accomplishment is committed to the Lord Christ, and which he faithfully undertakes to perform, as he was faithful in all things to Him that appointed him ? For the clearing of this, let these two things be observed: — 1. Who the persons are concerning whom this will of God is. And those he de- scribes by a double character: — (1.) From their election, the Father's giving them to him : " All which he hath given me," John vi. 39 ; that is, all his elect, as our Saviour expounds this very expression, chap. xvii. 6, "Thine they were, and thou gavest them me;" — "Thine
190 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP.
tliey were in eternal designation, thou having 'chosen them before the foundation of the world/ and thou gavest them to me for actual re- demption, to deliver them from every thing that keeps them at a distance from thee." (2.) From their faith or Lelieving, which he calls " seeing the Son, and believing on him," chap. vi. 40. The persons, then, here designed are elect believers, persons chosen and called of God. 2. What next, then, is the will of God concerning them? This also is set out both in general and in some particulars: — (1.) In general, That none of them be lost; that by no means whatsoever, by no temptations of Satan, deceits of sin, fury of oppressors, weak- ness or decay of faith, they perish and fall away from him, verse 39. This is the will, the design and purpose of God ; this he gives to Jesus Christ in command for to accomplish. (2.) In particular. That they might have everlasting life, verse 40; that they be preserved to the enjoyment of that glory whereunto they are designed ; that they may be 7'aised up at the last day, and so never be lost, neither as to their being nor well-being. Of these two, verse 40, everlasting life is placed before the resurrection or raising of believers at the last day ; plainly intimating that the spiritual life, whereof in this world we are partakers, is also, as to its certain, uninterruptible continuance, an everlasting life, that shall never be intercepted or cut off. That, then, which from this portion of Scripture I argue is this : God hav- ing purposed to give eternal life to his elect believers, and that none of them should ever be lost, and having committed the accomplish- ing and performance of this his good-will and pleasure unto the Lord Jesus, who was faithful unto him in all things, and endued with power (all power from above) for that end, they shall certainly be preserved to the end designed. The favour and love of God in Christ shall never be turned away from them ; for his " counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure."