A Discourse of the Two Covenants, Book 3 · Chapter 4 · Section 2
SECT. II. The Actions undertaken by God the Father in this Covenant.
§. 1. GOD the Father has ſpoken of himſelf diſtinctly, and has taken upon himſelf ſome appropriated acts, and hath in them made over himſelf unto the Saints for their conſolation and ſalvation, which we ſhall demonſtrate unto you in theſe particulars. 1. All things begin at God the Father, he is firſt in order of working, as he is in the order of ſubſiſting; he was the firſt Plotter and Mover in this great work of mans ſalvation; for the Son ſaith, He can do nothing of himſelf in it, Joh. 5.19.but what he ſees the Father do; and therefore Luke 24.9. Chriſt calls it his Fathers buſineſs: as though Solomon built the Temple, yet the Platform was revealed unto David, and by him was left unto his ſon; ſo though Chriſt, this Solomon was to build the Temple, the man whoſe name is the Branch, yet the Platform of all was laid by the Father; and therefore he is in Scripture every where ſaid to have the firſt and the great hand therein: and I ſhall reduce theſe to two heads. (1) The Actions that are undertaken by the Father. (2) The Relations in which the Saints ſtand unto the Father.
1. The Actions, that according unto Scripture-acceptation the Father has undertaken, and theſe are of two ſorts. (1) There are ſome acts that are eternal and before time. (2) There are ſome that are done by the Father in time. 1. The actions of the Father before all time, and they are theſe. (1) He did from Eternity purpoſe to glorifie himſelf in the Son; for the Father will be glorified in the Son, Phil. 2.11. The great end of all the acts of Chriſt, and of all his life is this, that every tongue might confeſs,Joh. 14.13. That Jeſus is the Lord, unto the glory of God the Father; for this is the higheſt way of glorifying the Father, and therefore Chriſt knowing that to be the Fathers end, that he might ſhew himſelf to be the Fathers ſervant, he did aim at this end, and it was always in his eye in all things that he did, I ſeek not mine own glory, but the glory of him that ſent me, Joh. 8.50. There is one that ſeeks not his own glory, and therefore Heb. 1.2, 3. he is called foreign, which is the ſhining forth of the glory of the Father; for his great aim was from Eternity to be glorified in his Son; and therefore 1 Cor. 11.7. Chriſt is ſaid to be the image and glory of God, and the woman the mans glory, the head of Chriſt is God. Now glory is the manifeſtation and the ſhining forth of ſome ſupereminent and tranſcendent excellency. And it was an argument of great excellency that was in man, that all the creatures were created for man, and put in ſubjection unto him; but the higheſt honour of man was the woman, who was created in the ſame nature, having a reaſonable ſoul, as himſelf had; and ſouls know no ſexes, being created after the ſame image, and unto the ſame glory with himſelf, and yet this glorious creature ſhould be created for man, and put in ſubjection unto man, for the woman was created for the man: ſo alſo God hath great glory by all his creatures, for Prov. 16.4. He made all things for himſelf; and he has a more ſpecial honour from the reaſonable creatures, the Angels and the Saints; but yet the top and the higheſt of God the Fathers glory is, that the Son, who thought it no robbery to be equal with God in glory, yet ſhall give up himſelf to the glory of the Father; and this is a far greater glory than the Father has by all the creatures in Heaven and Earth. And there is a double glory that the Father did ſeek by the Son: (1) That the Son himſelf ſhould give him glory, ſhould ſeek his glory in all things, reflect all his own glory upon the Father, and attribute all to him, and be content to veil his own glory, that the glory of the Father might appear. (2) He has the glory of all that glory that is given to the Son by the Saints, it's all ultimately reſolved into his glory who is the Father, as all the promiſes of God in Chriſt are in him Yea, 2 Cor. 1.29.and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us, Phil. 2.11. All the confeſſions and acknowledgments that are made unto Chriſt, do all of them redound unto the praiſe and glory of God; for the more the Son is glorified, the more it redounds unto the glory of the Father, whoſe glory the Son ſeeks in all that he does; and therefore in every reſpect the Father is glorified in the Son: and this was the great plot that God made from everlaſting. (2) The Fathers purpoſe was to glorifie the Son in the Saints, that he might make him the head of both the Creations of God. [1] To them that ſtood; ſo he is the head of all Principalities and Powers, that they ſhould all hold of him; and ſo they ſhould all honour the Son as they honour the Father;Col. 2.10. and therefore it's ſaid Heb. 1.6. the Angels do worſhip him; and ſo Angels are round about the Throne, Rev. 5.11. The Father will receive glory from no creature, but it ſhall be by the Son; for the great glory of the Father we muſt ſtill remember comes in by him, and all the honour that they do unto the Son redounds unto God the Father. [2] As for them that ſhould fall, as well as thoſe that ſtood:Joh. 5.23. Joh. 17.10. All men muſt honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, and he that honours not the Son, honours not the Father; and therefore Chriſt ſays, All thine are mine, and mine are thine, I am glorified in them; ſo that all the glory that the Son had, its foundation was laid in the plot and purpoſe of the Father. I ſpeak of his manifeſtative glory; as for his eſſential glory, he had that from himſelf, as he is God of himſelf, and was therein equal with God; and did no more receive his glory from another, than he did his eſſence from another; but having one and the ſame eſſence, they muſt needs have one and the ſame glory; but as for the glory that he hath amongſt the creatures and from them all, it's from and by the plot of God the Father: to this end was Chriſt the head of both Creations.Eſay 42.1. Eph. 1.4. (3) The purpoſe of the Father was to glorifie the Elect, which he choſe to himſelf out of both Creations; and therefore 'tis ſaid Epheſ. 1.4. He has choſen us in him before the foundations of the world were laid. He choſe him as the head, and the Elect as the body:Eph. 1.9, 10. He has made known unto us the good pleaſure of his will, according as he purpoſed in himſelf to gather together all things unto one, whether things in heaven, or things on earth. There is a Myſtery in the Goſpel which is called the hidden Wiſdom, which God hath ordained before the world unto our glory; it was free grace to mind the glory of the Elect next to the glory of his own Son,1 Cor. 2.7. and that as the Son ſhall glorifie him, ſo alſo the glory of the Son ſhall come in by the glory of the Saints; and the Son ingaged, who was the Lord of glory, to bring many ſons to glory by this, becauſe therein ſhould his own glory conſiſt; for at the day of Judgment the great glory of Chriſt ſhall be in his Saints, He ſhall come to be glorified in his Saints, and be admired in them that believe, &c. And if he did look upon man as fallen, he need never have taken up ſuch a purpoſe as this is; for being enemies, he had a priſon that was large enough to have held them all,Eſay 10. ult. for Tophet was prepared of old, he hath made it deep and large, and he needs not their ſervice nor their friendſhip, he could have deſtroyed them, and, as John Baptiſt ſaith, Of theſe ſtones he could raiſe up children unto Abraham. But yet it was the loving-kindneſs of the Father, that did think thoughts of peace towards them, and he had an eternal purpoſe of good will: and as the Father will be glorified in the Son, ſo ſhall the Saints alſo; and therefore they are ſaid to be elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 1 Pet. 1.3. and the plot is in Scripture commonly attributed unto the Father. (4) It was God the Father that made the motion unto Chriſt the Son, who called him and appointed him unto this work, Joh. 8.42. I came not of my ſelf, it was an honour that Chriſt did not take upon himſelf, Heb. 5.5. But he that ſaid, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, he doth ingage him in the work by the higheſt relation, and the greateſt obligation that can be, as he was his gift, ſo he muſt be obedient unto the Father in this thing;Heb. 10.6, 7. and therefore In the volume of the book it is written of me, that I ſhould do thy will O God, and this is intended in theſe two expreſſions, Prov. 8.22, 23. foreign he poſſeſſed me, Prov. 8.22, 23.for the ſervant is part of his maſters goods; and therefore it's ſaid, That he is his money, Exod. 21.21. Now as ſoon as the Son became in the purpoſe of the Father his ſervant,foreign immediately he poſſeſſed him, and he is called the beginning of all the ways of God towards the creature. The firſt ſtep of all the good will that was towards the creature, and all the goings forth of God towards him was laid in the Son, he is the beginning of his way: and it is ſaid foreign I was ſet up from everlaſting, it's the ſame word in Pſal. 2.6. I was anointed from everlaſting, it is ſpoken in the purpoſe and intention of God; for the efficacy of it took not place till after the Fall, neither was he actually anointed, till he in the humane nature received the Spirit without meaſure, and was anointed with the oyl of gladneſs above his fellows. (5) He propoſed it unto the Son by way of a Covenant; for the Covenant was originally made with Chriſt,Eſay 49. Gal. 3.6. and ſo 2 Tim. 1.9. there is a promiſe of eternal life, not unto us, but unto him; and alſo in Tit. 1.2. eternal life that was given us before the world began; he did appoint him the office that he ſhould undertake, him has God the Father conſecrated, and ſanctified the ſervice that he ſhould do, Joh. 10.18. I lay down my life, and this commandment I received of my Father. And to ſhew the intention of the Fathers Spirit in it, he did ſwear, that he ſhould be a Prieſt, and it was the word of the Oath made him ſo to be; For him hath God the Father ſealed. Heb. 7.27. Joh. 6.26.And it was by this Covenant that moſt properly Chriſt became the ſecond Adam, 1 Cor. 15.47. As the Lord made a Covenant with the firſt Adam for an image and an inheritance, which he was to tranſmit unto his poſterity; ſo alſo he did with the ſecond Adam: only here was the difference; though the firſt Adams conſent to the Covenant was voluntary, yet he being a creature, and ſubject to a Law, when the mind of God was made manifeſt in a Covenant, and to deal with him in a Covenant-way, it had been his ſin to withdraw his conſent. But now the Son being God equal with the Father, it was every way free with him to have conſented unto the terms of this Covenant, or not; but he did it freely, Lo I come to do thy will, O God. (6) In this Covenant he did appoint unto his Son what glory he ſhould have, and what glory and grace the Saints ſhould have: He hath given us eternal life, 1 Joh. 5.11.and this life is in his Son: ſo that all the grace that ever ſhould be communicated to the Saints here, and their glory hereafter, it ſhould be all laid up in him, as in a common Treaſury: It pleaſed the Father that in him ſhould all fulneſs dwell; in him are hid all the treaſures of wiſdom and knowledge. And when the Saints enter into happineſs, they do but enter into their maſters joy, all is laid up in Chriſt for them. And God doth appoint Chriſt what glory he ſhould have for his perſonal glory,Phil. 2.10. That he ſhould be exalted at the right hand of the Majeſty on high, and have a name given him above every name, and that he ſhould be glorified in the Saints, and admired in them that believe; Joh. 5.the Father has given him to have life in himſelf, that he may quicken whom he will, and hath given him power to execute judgment, becauſe he is the Son of man. (7) The Father did appoint him the ſouls that he ſhould ſave; for Joh. 17.10. All thine are mine; I pray not for the world, but thoſe that thou haſt given me, &c. The Father and the Lamb have each of them a book of life, and they do anſwer one another;Rev. 13.8. for every ſoul that God would have ſaved, he did give unto the Lord Chriſt by Covenant: ſo that as he did meaſure out ſuffering to Chriſt, and ſins too, for he had our ſins unto a number laid upon him; ſo he did ſouls alſo that he was to bring to glory; and he knew all the ſouls that were given him of the Father, and the travel of his ſoul is ſeen in them. (8) The Father appointed all the degrees of grace they ſhould have here, and of glory hereafter. Chriſt is but a Steward to diſpenſe that eternal life which is laid up in him to that end. There is a meaſure of the age in the body of Chriſt,Joh. 5. Eph. 4.12. and the meaſure is appointed by the Father, and ſo are the meaſures of glory alſo, Mat. 20. It is not mine to give, ſays Chriſt, but it ſhall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. (9) The Father did ingage unto the Lord Chriſt, that the ſervice which he ſhould do, ſhould be accepted for the Saints, and that he would delight in it: It pleaſed the Lord to bruiſe him, &c. When thou ſhalt make his ſoul an offering for ſin, he ſhall ſee his ſeed, and ſhall prolong his days, the pleaſure of the Lord ſhall proſper in his hand. (10) The Father did ingage himſelf to fit him for the work he was to do: Then ſaid I, Lo I come, Heb. 10.7, 8.as in the volume of the book it's written of me, to do thy will, O God; ſacrifice and offering thou wouldſt not, Pſal. 40.5.but a body haſt thou prepared me. And Eſay 42.6. I the Lord have called thee in righteouſneſs, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a Covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. Pſal. 16.8, 9.I have ſet the Lord always before me, becauſe he is at my right hand, I ſhall not be moved, therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoyceth, my fleſh alſo ſhall reſt in hope, &c.
2. There are ſome acts that take place in time, though the decree and purpoſe of them was from everlaſting; and theſe acts of the Father either concern Chriſt or the Saints, they are acts that are more immediately terminated in him, or in us.
1. The Acts of the Father which do more immediately concern Chriſt are theſe. 1. When the fulneſs of time appointed by the Father was come, then he ſent him into the world, and that which was before only in Decree and Covenant, he doth now put in execution, Gal. 4.4. When the fulneſs of time was come, God ſent his Son made of a woman, &c. So that the ſending Chriſt into the world was God the Fathers act:Luther. mos Scripturae eſt tempus exactum ac finitum impletum dicere, the Decree of his coming into the world was from everlaſting, and the Son did ingage himſelf unto it by Covenant from everlaſting; but yet there was a ſet time appointed by the Father when this ſhould actually be put in execution, and when that time was come, and fully accompliſhed, then God the Father did put this great plot in execution; and therefore when Chriſt came into the world he is ſaid to come out from the Father, Joh. 16.28. I came forth from the Father, and came into the world. And again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. So that the Son's taking our fleſh is done in obedience to the Father, and he is ſaid to be ſent unto that end: the Father did not only ſend him in reference to the office that he did undertake being made fleſh, but he did alſo ſend him to take fleſh, Non ideo miſſus Filius, quia Verbum caro factum eſt, ſed ideo miſſus, ut Verbum caro fieret, The Son was not therefore ſent, becauſe the Word took fleſh, but therefore ſent, that the Word might take fleſh, Auſtin. Why did not Chriſt come ſooner into the world, but in the laſt days? The reaſon in reſpect of Chriſt was, becauſe the time was not come that was determined by the Father, and he was as well obedient in the time of his coming, as in the coming it ſelf, his obedience was ſeaſonable, it was in the fulneſs of time. But why did not God the Father ſend his Son ſooner into the world? As it is not for us to know the times and the ſeaſons, ſo it is not for us to inquire into the reaſon of them. Bernard gives this reaſon, Cùm magis eſſet neceſſarium, tunc primò ferret auxilium: all ways had been uſed, and all means tryed, and all in vain, and now non apparebat Angelus, non loquebatur Propheta, &c. The Scepter was departed, Prophecy ceaſed, and all ways of intercourſe and converſe between God and man ſeemed to be at an end, now is the ſeaſon to recover loſt man; now therefore the Father did appoint him to come into the world, and he ſaith, Lo I come to do thy will, O God.
2. God the Father did ever ſince the Fall command the Son to undertake the actual adminiſtration of all things, and all was done by him as God, and as having the government upon his ſhoulders ever ſince the Fall: for (1) the Kingly office of Chriſt immediately took place as ſoon as the Prieſtly office;Rev. 13.8. and therefore 'tis ſaid Joh. 5.23. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, he has given all things into his hand. So that it was he that continued man in his being, and the uſe of his reaſon; for elſe the day that he did eat he was to dye; but Joh. 1.9. He it is that inlightens every man that comes into the world; it's ſpoken of Chriſt after the Fall, and it is ſpoken of him, becauſe he was made fleſh: it is an act of Chriſt that is common to all mankind, which can be nothing elſe but the light of reaſon, and thoſe common principles of natural light that mankind is endued with. (2) He it was that caſt Adam out of Paradiſe, and plucked him out from the Tree of Life, he it was that made void the firſt Covenant in reſpect unto any hope of life by it, and ſet an Angel to keep the way to the Tree of Life, which was the firſt office that Chriſt did appoint unto the Angels after he had actually undertaken his government, and was to further the deſign of the Goſpel, by ſhutting man out of hope of having life and ſalvation by the former Covenant, which they had broken. (3) He it was that gave to the old world the Spirit of Prophecy;Rev. 19.10. Jude 14. for it is the teſtimony of Jeſus, Enoch the ſeventh from Adam propheſied of theſe, ſaying, Behold the Lord cometh with thouſands of his Saints, &c. for the diſcovery of the will of God, and for the gathering of that ſmall harveſt that he had out of the world of ungodly men, &c. (4) They being gathered, and there being but few, and the Earth being overſpread and filled with violence, he it was that brought the floud upon the world,Gen. 6.3. and deſtroyed it: My Spirit ſhall not ſtrive, whoſe Spirit? 1 Pet. 3.19, 20. By which Spirit he went and preached unto the Spirits which now are in priſon, who ſometimes were diſobedient in the days of Noah. They were then men upon Earth, but they are now Spirits in priſon. (5) He gave the Law, and he did appoint and inſtitute all thoſe legal ways of worſhip, and all thoſe types and ſhadows of the Law, which were but praeludia humanitatis, preludes of the humanity, that it might be repreſented unto the faith of his people as lively as might be, till the fulneſs of time appointed by the Father was come, Heb. 12.25. (6) He it was that brought Iſrael into Canaan, and planted them a Church there unto himſelf; Eſay 5.1, 2. I will ſing unto my well-beloved a ſong of my beloveds concerning his vineyard, foreign which is generally conceived to be a name given unto the Meſſiah, and he had a vineyard in a fruitful Hill, he fenced it, and gathered out the ſtones, planted it with the choiceſt Vine, and built a Tower in the middle of it, and made a Wine-preſs therein: and all this is the act of him whom he doth call my Beloved.
3. The Father did prepare the nature that Chriſt was to aſſume unto union with himſelf:Heb. 10.5. Burnt offering hadſt thou no pleaſure in, but a body haſt thou prepared me, he that called him to be a Sacrifice, he did prepare a body, &c. foreign, by this is included the ſoul alſo, that very individual nature, though formed by the Holy Ghoſt, yet according to the appointment of the Father;Col. 2.9. for in him was the fulneſs of the Godhead bodily to dwell, that is, he was to take our nature thus prepared into a perſonal union with himſelf, ſo that not only that Chriſt ſhould take the nature of man, but that very individual ſoul and body that he was to take was appointed and prepared by God the Father, which he would have to be as a Sacrifice to himſelf, and unto him he would give this grace of union, that it ſhould become one with the ſecond Perſon in the Godhead.
4. This very humane nature thus prepared by the Father, and by the Son thus aſſumed, the Father did fill with all habitual grace,Col. 1.19. Col. 1.19. It pleaſed the Father that in him ſhould all fulneſs dwell, the meaning is, not only that he ſhould have fulneſs of grace in himſelf, but ſuch a fulneſs alſo that he might convey and communicate unto us, that all the fulneſs of the creatures ſhould be derived from him,Joh. 1.16. That of his fulneſs we may receive grace for grace; he hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son: and he is therefore ſaid to receive the Spirit without meaſure, becauſe he has the Spirit ſo as to fill all the Saints, the Spirit ſo as to diſpenſe the Spirit: this cannot be ſpoken of Chriſt as God, for ſo he cannot receive the Spirit, and ſo he cannot receive grace; but it's ſpoken of him in reference to his humane nature, which the Father prepared and anointed, as he ſaith, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord hath anointed me, he cannot be ſaid to be anointed as God, but as he is Mediator; and therefore there is a double grace comes from the Father upon this nature of Chriſt, a grace of Ʋnion, and a grace of Ʋnction alſo; ſo that though the Godhead of Chriſt were infinitely holy, yet his Godhead doth not qualifie the humane nature; but he being the Fathers ſervant, and the grace that was to be diſpenſed, was by the appointment of the Father; therefore it is the Father that laid up this grace in the humane nature of Chriſt, as in a common Treaſury, making him a ſecond Adam, that he might diſpenſe it unto us.
5. Having in this manner prepared him, the Father did ſend him forth into the world, and owned him before the world to be his Son: at his Baptiſm, Mat. 3. ult. A voice came from Heaven, ſaying, This is my beloved Son: and in his Transfiguration, Mat. 17.5. it was again repeated, and 2 Pet. 1.17. God the Father gave him glory, when there came ſuch a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleaſed. God the Father did declare him to be the Son of God with power, partly by the doctrine that he preached, for no man ſpake as he ſpake, he ſpake of heavenly things as one that had ſeen them; for he came down from Heaven, as one that came out of the boſom of the Father; and alſo by the Miracles that he wrought the Lord did give a teſtimony to him to be the Son of God, by opening of the eyes of the blind, healing the ſick, raiſing the dead, &c. So that the Father did eminently owne him to be his Son before all the world, that men might believe in him, which is a thing of mighty concernment to us; and Heb. 1.6. when he brings his firſt begotten Son into the world, he ſaith, Let all the Angels of God worſhip him; ſo that he is owned by the Father before men and Angels, as the perſon that it was the deſign of the Father to ſet up as the Head of all Principalities and Powers for the happineſs of his Saints, and the glory of God the Father.
6. The Father did appoint how long he ſhould live upon earth, and what death he ſhould dye: He was delivered by the determinate counſel of God; and therefore Chriſt tells them,Act. 2.23. My hour is not yet come, and that is given as the reaſon, why they that were ſo malicious had not ſeized upon him ſooner, it was becauſe his hour and the power of darkneſs appointed by the Father was not yet come; he was to dye a crucified death, being made a curſe for us; for it's written, Curſed is every one that hangs on a tree, Gal. 3.13.
7. The Father alſo becomes Chriſts Executioner. It is true, ſin did not only ſet God againſt us, but all the creatures alſo; and therefore Chriſt ſtanding in our ſtead, he ſhall have men to be his enemies, and they ſhall ſeek to deſtroy him, he ſhall be delivered into the hands of men, and they will ſerve the turn to deſtroy his body, but it is no more that they can do; but it is the ſoul of man that was the great Traitor againſt God, and men cannot reach the ſoul to afflict it; therefore it pleaſed the Father to bruiſe him, when he made his ſoul an offering for ſin; and therefore his great ſatisfaction being there, his great purchaſe is made thereby; for it is ſaid, He ſhall ſee of the travel of his ſoul, which then mainly begun in the garden, though it's true all his life time he had been a man of ſorrow, but ſpecially when he cryed out foreign, &c. yet he had then ſome lucida intervalla, but in the three hours darkneſs, when he fought it out between God and him alone, then the Lord did inlarge his faculties for wrath, and poured it out abundantly, when all the graces of Chriſt did act to the higheſt, to take hold of God, and to uphold himſelf. To have been in Abrahams boſom then when he was about to ſlay his ſon, even his only ſon, and ſeen what ſtrivings of heart, and rendings of bowels, what great grief poſſeſt Abraham at that time, how ſhould a man of compaſſion have been affected! But there was much more love in God to his Son Chriſt, and yet to bruiſe him was that which he delighted in: it was unto him a ſweet ſmelling ſavour, when he was offered up upon the Croſs: God that doth not delight in the death of a ſinner, yet he doth delight in the death of a Son, that the ſinners may live and be ſaved eternally.
8. God the Father being in this manner ſatisfied by his Sacrifice, he doth raiſe him from the dead: he is ſaid to be raiſed by his own Godhead, that is the Spirit ſpoken of Rom. 1.4. & Heb. 9.14. he himſelf ſaith, I have power to lay down my life, Joh. 10.18.and I have power to take it again, he received a commandment from the Father concerning both; but he is ſaid to be raiſed by the Father, becauſe he was by the Father as a Judge condemned as an offender and malefactor, executed, caſt into the priſon of the grave, which I underſtand by that in Eſay 53.8. Now the debt being paid, the Father doth grant him a deliverance, and ſends an Angel, a publick Miniſter of Juſtice, to manifeſt that his debt is paid, and the Father ſatisfied thereby; and therefore it is unto the Father that he did look for it,Pſal. 16.10. thou wilt not leave my ſoul in ſtatu ſeparato, in a ſeparate ſtate, nor my body in the grave, &c. thou wilt not ſuffer thy holy One to ſee corruption.
9. God the Father gave him glory, and exalted him far above all Principalities and Powers, and might, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come.Eph. 1.21. He has a glory that he is inveſted with above all the Angels in Heaven as he was Man; whiles he was upon earth he was made lower than all the Angels for a little while, but now he has more glory as he is Man than all the Angels are capable of; as he has more grace than they have, therefore he muſt needs have more glory, and that as he is Man; by this means he is gone to Heaven as our Fore-runner, to take poſſeſſion for us: Joh. 14.2. I go before, ſays he, to prepare a place, and therefore it is expedient for you that I go away.
Acts 2.33.10. He receives the fulneſs of the Spirit from the Father: Chriſt waited for the promiſe of the Spirit as well as we, for the full accompliſhment of it; for as the faculties of Chriſt were inlarged, ſo did his grace exalt it ſelf, though he was always full of grace and truth; and therefore as he was ſaid to grow here, in all things he was like unto us, only without ſin, ſo in the growth and in the degrees of the perfection of his humane nature; therefore when he came to Heaven his faculties were inlarged, as ours ſhall be; and ſo there is the fuller meaſure of his receiving the Spirit in glory, than he had when he was here upon earth; for when he was here on earth he knew not the day of Judgment: Of that day knows no man, no not the Son, while he was upon earth, but when he came to Heaven it was revealed unto him; it was firſt revealed to Chriſt, and by Chriſt unto his Servant John, and therefore he did himſelf open the book, which was ſealed to him, as well as it was unto us, but he did open it, and looked therein, &c. They were ſuch diſcoveries as the Lord did not communicate unto the humane nature of Chriſt, till he came to glory, and then his knowledge (as alſo his grace) was perfected; therefore Joh. 7.39. that's given as the reaſon why the Spirit was not yet given in its fulneſs,Joh. 7.39. becauſe Chriſt was not yet glorified, he did not fully diſpenſe it unto us, becauſe he had not in fulneſs received it; for every promiſe is firſt made unto him, and in him unto us, and it is firſt fulfilled in him, and through him in us alſo.
11. God the Father has put him into the actual adminiſtration of his government as he is man, Dan. 7.14. all Angels, Principalities and Powers being made ſubject to him; and ſo much his ſitting at the right hand of the Father does imply,1 Pet. 3. ult. namely the actual adminiſtration of all things, and that as he is man; for he muſt as well rule as man, as he ſhall judge as man: as he is God in proſecution unto the Covenant that God the Father made with him, ſo this Kingdom has been in the hand of the Son ever ſince the Fall, and ſo it's true, that the Father judges no man, but the Son has all judgment committed to him; but while he was man here, he was in a ſtate of humiliation, and it was the time of his miniſtery; but in Heaven is the time of his Magiſtracy, and the Lord hath now made him to be both Lord and Chriſt; and now he doth actually rule the world as man, whereas before his aſcenſion he could not; for as he was man he received not himſelf up into glory: and this is the glory that the Father did promiſe to give him, and to glorifie him with himſelf therein before the world was, that that nature which he ſhould take ſhould be exalted above all creatures, and the actual government of all things ſhould be committed thereupon unto him, and ſo as man he is made the head of all things for the Churches ſake, Eph. 1.21, 22.
§. 2. But there are ſome Acts of God the Father that more immediately reſpect the Saints, and are terminated on them, and they are alſo very many, as, 1. the work of Vocation, when men are turned from darkneſs to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,Joh. 6.44. that's attributed unto the Father, Joh. 6.44, 45. No man can come to me except the Father draw him; he that has heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. To come to Chriſt is to believe in him, as appears verſ. 35. He that comes to me ſhall never hunger, and he that believes on me ſhall never thirſt. He expounds coming to him by believing in him; for he knew who they were that believed not, verſ. 64. And therefore ſaid I unto you, No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. And the Lord ſpeaks not of the will here, no man will come, but of the power, foreign, no man can come. There is a diſpute between us and the Arminians about the power of nature unto acts of grace; and they ſay there is auxilium ſufficiens, ſufficient grace which God gives unto all men; but Chriſt in the Text denies any ſuch power, he ſaith, No man can come to me, except the Father draw him. What is this drawing? It is not a forcible act by which violence is offered upon the will of man; and yet it's called drawing, becauſe it's an act of almighty power: the words note the ſweetneſs and the efficacy of grace, grace works powerfully, and therefore God is ſaid to draw, and it works ſweetly, and therefore man is ſaid to come, as if he were not drawn, trahitur animus & amore, &c. it doth conſiſt in a ſpiritual illumination of the underſtanding, and in an effectual perſwaſion and determination of the will; for it is a drawing, that is, a teaching, as the next verſe makes it manifeſt; and in this is the foundation of eternal life, as it is in us begun: all this was in the purpoſe of God towards him, but the man was dead in treſpaſſes and ſins as well as others, without Chriſt, and without God in the world; and therefore the Saints actually converted, are ſtiled by the Apoſtle, the called according to his purpoſe. Rom. 8.29.But how is this work attributed to God the Father, that the power and the act of believing and of cloſing with Chriſt is from him, the teaching and the drawing is the Fathers act? Here I meet with a deep ſilence amongſt all Interpreters, only I find this to be offered by Kemnitius, That the grace that we receive is laid up in Chriſt by God the Father, and in the Goſpel Chriſt is but God the Fathers Servant; and therefore though grace be given unto us by Chriſt, yet it is by the appointment of the Father, and Chriſt is only the Fathers Servant in it, and ſo the principal efficient of faith is God the Father, though you do receive it immediately from Chriſt. This is true, that all the grace that we receive from Chriſt all our days here, and all the glory we ſhall have to Eternity, was by the Father laid up for us in Chriſt, and in the whole work Chriſt is but the Fathers Servant; but why in a ſpecial manner is this work of the Father appropriated unto the work of converſion and vocation? The ground of it I conceive to be this: In the Covenant that paſſed between Chriſt and the Father, the Lord did require this ſervice of him, that he ſhould lay down his life, and give himſelf for the Elect, he gave himſelf a ranſom for many, and he did make him a promiſe, that he would give thoſe ſouls unto him again. Therefore as in the fulneſs of time the Lord did give Chriſt for them, Ʋnto us a Child is born, Iſa. 9.6. Joh. 4.10.unto us a Son is given, and ſo he is called by way of eminency the gift of God; for though he were promiſed from the beginning of the world, yet he was not actually given and exhibited till the laſt days; ſo there is a time alſo when God the Father muſt fulfil this promiſe unto Chriſt, to give ſouls unto him, as he has given himſelf for them, in obedience to the Father. Now when are ſouls given unto Chriſt? It is when they come to him, and believe in him, they are not actually any part of his charge till then; and therefore they are ſaid to be without Chriſt, they have no actual relation to Chriſt, or Chriſt to them,Joh. 4.10. for the union between Chriſt and the ſoul is matrimonial, and it is the Father that gives them each unto other; and therefore marriage between Adam and his wife is made a type and reſemblance of it, or rather myſtery, called by the Jews Cabala, Eph. 5.33. This is a great myſtery, but I ſpeak of Chriſt and the Church: ſo that it's God the Father that gives Chriſt to the ſoul, and gives the ſoul unto Chriſt, he it is that doth joyn them in a marriage-covenant for ever. Therefore as when the time appointed by the Father was come, he ſent his Son actually into the world; ſo when the time of love is come, that a ſoul ſhould be converted, who before lay polluted in his blood, then doth God the Father ſend his Spirit in Chriſts name into the ſoul, who doth diſcover the beauty of Chriſt and the free grace of God the Father, how ready and willing he is to beſtow him; and the manifeſtation of this grace of the Father is made effectual to the ſoul, not only to perſwade, but alſo to enable it to accept of Chriſt upon the terms that he is offered. And upon this ground the work of vocation is mainly attributed unto the drawing and the teaching of the Father; becauſe as they were in the purpoſe of God, and in the Covenant between Chriſt and the Father given to him from all Eternity, ſo they are by the Father actually given to him in the fulneſs of time, that is, when the time of their converſion appointed by the Father is come; and therefore the inlightning of the ſoul in this work is attributed unto the Father, 2 Cor. 4.6. God that commanded light to ſhine out of darkneſs, hath ſhined in our hearts, &c. and by the ſame almighty Word that he did that work in the Creation, he doth ſhine into our hearts, diſcovering Chriſt unto us and the glory of God; all the incommunicable Attributes of God are gloriouſly ſet forth in the Man Chriſt Jeſus, and ſo the power by which the ſoul is enabled to believe, is the power of God the Father, Eph. 1.17, 19. That the God of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the Father of glory, would ſhew you what is the exceeding greatneſs of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the mighty power which he wrought in Chriſt, when he raiſed him from the dead: ſo that if any ſoul be brought home unto Chriſt in a work of vocation, it is by the almighty working of God the Father, and you are to acknowledge his grace, as well in giving you unto Chriſt, as in giving Chriſt unto you.
2. In the work of Reconciliation: though all the perſons were wronged by ſin, their eſſence and glory being but one, yet the ſuit againſt ſin doth mainly in Scripture run in God the Fathers name, God has reconciled us unto himſelf by Jeſus Chriſt; 2 Cor. 5.18.and God was in Chriſt reconciling the world to himſelf. This was properly the act of God the Father, Rom. 5.10. When we were enemies, we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled ſhall we be ſaved by his life: Col. 1.19, 20.it pleaſed the Father that in him ſhould all fulneſs dwell, as being to reconcile all things to himſelf, &c. What is it to reconcile? It is properly amicitiam diremptam reſarcire, to ſet them all at one again, who were before friends, but now at variance amongst themſelves. God is an enemy unto all men by nature, the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, and we are enemies unto God, and are deeply rooted in enmity, in our minds, both by ſecret flattery, and by open hoſtility, every way, foreign,Col. 1.21. Rom. 1.30. haters of God; but now God is no more an enemy unto us, but he loves us with the ſame love that he loves the Son, Joh. 17.23. and they are no more enemies unto God, but they are called the friends of God, and the Lords poſſeſſion, the Fathers inheritance is in the Saints, Eph. 1.18. The riches of his inheritance in the Saints. Thus it is God the Father that offers reconciliation, when you are a great way off he doth run to meet you, and he doth fall upon your neck, and kiſs you, and he lets you ſee, that he has forgotten all the wrong done to him,Cupit amari. Austin. and that though the earth be his, and the fulneſs thereof, yet he is taken with nothing ſo much as with your love; it is to gain your love that he doth all that he does, and he it is that is the perſon in whom you are properly reconciled, and with him properly the peace in Scripture is ſaid to be made, for the Son is the Peace-maker, Shiloe, he makes peace by the blood of his Croſs, and it is by his Spirit that we have acceſs unto the Father; therefore reconciliation is properly unto God the Father, and herein is the ſoul properly made the friend of God, the enmity being ſlain thereby.
3. Juſtification is properly the act of God the Father, putting upon a Believer the righteouſneſs of Chriſts not imputing his ſin; for he that made Chriſt to be ſin for us, he it is alſo that makes us the righteouſneſs of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. ult. and it is by his grace that you are juſtified freely, who did ſet forth Chriſt to be a propitiation, Rom. 3.24, 25. There is a double act of God the Father in the work of Juſtification. (1) There is an Imputation of righteouſneſs, Rom. 4.6. Bleſſed is the man to whom God imputes righteouſneſs without works. There is a righteouſneſs that is wrought by Chriſt, called the righteouſneſs of God, becauſe the Godhead gave an efficacy and an excellency thereunto, and this under the ſecond Covenant by virtue of our union with him is counted ours, as our ſins were by the Father counted his, and it is this counting of the Father that is truly imputation; and ſo much the word in the Greek doth properly ſignifie; ſo that though Chriſt had no ſin, yet through the Covenant between him and his Father, our ſin is counted his, and though we have no righteouſneſs, yet by virtue of union his righteouſneſs is counted ours;Rom. 3.24. and ſo it being an act of grace, for we are juſtified freely by grace, ſo it's true, juſtitia noſtra eſt indulgentia tua. (2) There is Remiſſion of ſin, that is,Rom. 4.8. a non imputation, Bleſſed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes no ſin, &c. that is, though we be ſinners in our ſelves, yet the Lord doth not count us ſo, but looks upon us as pure and unſpotted in his ſight: it's true, that the righteouſneſs wrought for us is the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, he brought in everlaſting righteouſneſs, Dan. 9.24. But how ſhall this become ours? This is by an act of God the Father, imputing his righteouſneſs unto us, and that is counting his righteouſneſs ours, and he looking upon us as being one with him; and though it is true that we are ſinners, and every ſin hath a guilt naturally and neceſſarily going with it, for there is a difference between reatus perſonae and reatus poenae, guilt may be ſeparated from the perſon, but it can never be from the ſin; now the Lord will not impute ſin in the guilt of it unto the perſon; but though he doth ſin, and that doth carry a guilt with it, yet it ſhall not be charged upon the perſon for ever.
4. Adoption, that alſo is properly an act of God the Father upon a Believer; a man made one with Chriſt, 1 Joh. 3.1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath ſhewed unto us, that we ſhould be called the ſons of God. Adoption is properly an act of God the Father graciouſly receiving a man into the number of his ſons, and giving him his Spirit, the priviledges and the inheritance of a ſon: ſo that though it is by Chriſt that we have this foreign, Joh. 1.12. that is, becauſe Chriſt is the Son; therefore we being made one with him, we alſo become ſons of God by the Sonſhip of Chriſt, only his Sonſhip is natural, and ours by grace, as our union is, and by this means the Father of Chriſt is our Father alſo, Joh. 20. I aſcend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God, &c. yet is it an act of God the Father, that doth receive us as ſons, by virtue of our union with him, who is the Son of the Father. Now conſider the benefit we have by it. (1) We have the ſpirit of ſons, Rom. 8.15. before we had but the ſpirit of a ſervant, a ſpirit of bondage. (2) We receive the honour of ſons, Joh. 8.35. Th… ſervant abides not in the houſe always, but the ſon abides always: ſo we are of the family and of the houſhold of God, and he is not aſhamed to be called our Father. (3) We have the boldneſs and the acceſs of ſons, Eph. 3.12. We come not as ſervants to a maſter, as guilty perſons to a Judge, but as children unto a father. (4) We have the Inheritance of ſons; for being ſons we are heirs, Rom. 8.17. Coheirs with Chriſt, and ſo may claim Heaven by a double right, by virtue of the purchaſe made, and the price paid for it, and alſo becauſe we are ſons, and therefore the inheritance doth belong to us, for all the ſons of God are heirs of God alſo.
5. We have alſo acceptation with God, Eph. 1.6. He has made us accepted in the beloved, foreign, it is to embrace a man with love and ſpecial favour and acceptation, which doth proceed from this love; and this alſo in the Scripture is double. (1) To their perſons, he had reſpect unto Abel, and the Lord tells Cain, If thou doſt well thou ſhalt be accepted, Gen. 4.4.that when they do come before God he doth reſpect them above all the world beſide, to him will I look, Eſay 66.2. I will caſt a more favourable eye upon him than upon all the world beſide; whereas the perſon of a wicked man, as well as his ſervice, is an abomination to the Lord. (2) To their ſervices, Pſal. 17.14. Let the words of my mouth be acceptable in thy ſight. It is that which the Lord does promiſe, Exod. 28.38. that their Sacrifices ſhould be accepted before the Lord, what they do doth pleaſe him, and he doth not reject any of their ſervices, as he doth other mens. It's ſaid,Mal. 3.3. He ſpreads the dung of their ſacrifices upon their faces, Mal. 3.3. It doth imply two things. 1. That the Lord doth reject their Sacrifices with indignation, as if they had offered dung in their ſolemn feaſts. 2. Summo dedecore eos afficiam, I will ſpread the higheſt reproach on them, ſo Mercer; as you do unto a man, when you caſt dung in his face, the Lord will reject their ſervices, and inſtead of honouring them in them, he will caſt ſhame upon them alſo; whereas the ſervices of the Saints are [1] accepted ordine ſupernaturali as flowing from a heavenly and ſupernatural principle, and [2] ad vitam aeternam ordinata, ſervices appointed unto an eternal reward. Other mens ſervices are not thus accepted, but as they come from a principle of nature, ſo they ſhall have no higher reward, they ſhall riſe no higher than the head of the ſpring from whence they flow.
6. There is a Communion alſo that the people of God have with the Father, 1 Joh. 1.3. Our fellowſhip is with the Father and with his Son Jeſus Chriſt. There is a communion that the Saints of God have diſtinctly with all the perſons when they receive mercy from them all, and rejoyce in the love of them all, and they do return to them again all the glory of the grace of them all; as faith is diſtinctly to be exerciſed upon all the perſons, ſo the ſoul ſhould ſtrive to have a diſtinct fellowſhip and communion with all the perſons. (1) A man ſhould pray to the Father: for ſaith Chriſt, Your Father knows that you have need of all theſe things. (2) You are to give thanks to the Father, who has bleſſed you with all ſpiritual bleſſings. (3) You are to rejoyce in his love: ſays Chriſt, I will love him, Eph. 1.3. Joh. 14.21, 23.and he ſhall be loved of my Father. I ſay not that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himſelf loves you: you are in his boſom, receive all gifts from him as from a Father, and come to him as to a Father, as one that has communion with him and acceſs to him as unto a Father. (4) Glory in the witneſs of the Father;Joh. 5.7. for there are three that do bear witneſs in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and theſe three are one, you are not only to have the Spirits teſtimony and ſeal upon your evidences, but the Fathers alſo bearing witneſs in your ſouls, teſtifying unto you the adoption of ſons. There is a glorious communion that the Father gives unto his people, as Chriſt had with the Father, ſo may you alſo in and through him.