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NOw was it, that God the Father called forth His Son to perform the Office of the Me∣diator; that in Him all those that should be Saved, might be Chosen. Concerning this Call of God the Father in a special sort, the Apostle is clear; No man taketh this honour
unto himself; but he that is called of God, as was Aaron: So also Christ glorifyed not himself to be made an High-Priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, to day have I begotten Thee, He called Him unto this Honour. Christ thrust not Himself into this Office; but He came to it by the Will of God the Father, and by his Appointment: For it pleased the Father by Him to Reconcile all things to Himself; and Him that God the Father sealed: And why? but the more to assure us of the good will of God to save us, seeing he hath called his Son un∣to it: For therefore will he accept of all that Christ should do for us, as that which he him∣self hath ordained.
And now was it, that God the Son embraced the Call of the Father, and undertook the Office of Mediatour: Then said I, Lo I come. No question, it was Truth from Ever∣lasting: Th•• Lord God opened mine Ear, and I was not Rebellious, neither turned away back. And, As the Father gave Me Commandment, even so I do. No sooner the Father called, but Christ accepts the Office to which He was designed by the Father: This is plain by those words, Him that God the Father sealed; sealed by Ordination, and sealed by Quali∣fication, and sealed by way of Investiture; as Publick Officers are invested in their Places by receiving their Commissions under Seal. And it must needs be so; because whatso∣ever the Father wills, the Son wills also: I and My Father are One, saith Christ: How One? Why, One in Will, and One in Power, and One in Nature. 1. One in Will: That appears in the words precedent, concerning Christ's Sheep; My Father gave them Me,— and I give unto them Eternal Life: They are both agreed to save Christ's Sheep; the Father is willing, and Christ is willing: Look how much the Will of the Father is in it; so much the Will of the Son is in it: For He and the Father are One. 2. One in Power: That appears likewise in the words precedent; These Sheep shall never perish, (saith Christ) neither shall any Man pluck them out of My Hand: My Father is Greater than All, and no Man is able to pluck them out of My Father's Hand. Here is first the Power of Christ, and all in Him en∣gaged for the Salvation of His Sheep; that, if he have any Power in Him, and be able to do any thing, not one of them shall Perish: And he gives the Reason of the Prevalency of his Power, from his Father's Power, engaged as much as his own in this Business; they are alike fast in his Hands, and in his Father's Hands: For He and the Father are One. 3. One in Nature: And of this, I suppose, are the words more especially understood: The Father and Son are both of one Nature, of one Essence, of one Being: And this is not only an Argu∣ment that they did both agree, and were like to agree in that Great Transaction of saving Souls; but that they can never disagree: Two that essentially have Two Wills, though for the present agreeing in One; yet they may come to disagree, and will not the same Thing; but if essentially they have but One Will, it is impossible then but that they ever must agree. —So then, the Father from Everlasting calls the Son to the Office of Me∣diatour: [q. d. Come My Son, the Son of My Joy, and high Delight; My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased: There's a Thought in My Heart to communicate My Self out of this Aloneness everlasting, unto some-what else; and My Thought, or Purpose, or Intention, lies in this Order: First, I intend My own Glory, then Christ, then the Church, then the World; thus is My Providence to dispose every thing so much more principally & timely, by how much it is more Excellent: Next to My Glory, & the manifestation of it, I will have a Christ; and this Christ shall be the chief Pattern of the Election of Grace: & next to Christ the Head, I intend a Body, and this Body I will Predestinate to be made like, or to be conformed to the Image of My Son. And now behold, I call Thee to the Office of Mediator; Thou art My Son, to day (even in this Day of Eternity) have I begotten Thee; and to day (even in this Day of Eternity) do I call Thee to this Honour, to be an High-Priest for ever. And as the Father calls, so the Son from Everlasting, accepts the Office to which He is designed by the Father: [q. d. Come, Is that the Voice of My Everlasting Father? Why, Loe I come; in the Volume of the Book, it is written of Me to do Thy Will, O God: This is My Mind; yea, and this shall be My Mind for ever: When I am Incarnate, this shall be My Meat, to do the Will of Him that sent Me, to finish His Work. Glorious Father, Thy Will is My Will: I seek not Mine own Will, (as if I had a Will distinct from Thine) but the Will of My Father. Now therefore, I accept this Honour: Be it to Me, or be it with Me, even as Thou pleasest. This Call of the Father, and Answer of the Son, is fully confirmed by that Saying of Christ; I was set up from Everlasting.
But concerning the Particular Passages of these Treaties betwixt God, and Christ, to save Souls, I shall shew: 1. The Project. 2. The Counsel. 3. The Fore-knowledge. 4. The Purpose. 5. The Decree. 6. The Covenant. We shall find all these in our first Period, in that Eternity, before all Times, until the Creation.
Heb. 5.4, 5.
Heb. 5.4, 5.
Col. 1.10, 11. John 6.27.
Heb. 10.7. Isa. 50.5. John 14.31.
John 6.27.
John 10.30.
Ver. 28.
Ver. 28, 29.
Heb. 10.7.
John 4.34.
John 5.30.
Prov. 8.23.