RECONCILIATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. A SERMON. And (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.-COL. I. 20. THAT God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, is the sum of, and the theme which the gospel dilates upon, 2 Cor. v. 19; and the title the apostle gives therefore to the doctrine of the gospel is, The word of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ,' &c.; that is, that God the Father had from everlasting made this his special business, which he hath plotted, and been desirous to bring about; and that though all things are of him,' ver. 18, yet this above all the rest. And that God the Father hath appointed Christ as the means to accomplish it, with full satisfaction made to his justice. God was in Christ,' &c. God the Father's part I have already handled out of another scripture, more proper to that argument, and how far it was advanced by him. First, By taking up a strong and unalterable resolution, to gather in one the sons of men, scattered from him, Eph. i. 9, 10. It is declared to be the mystery of his will, which he purposed in himself, according to his good pleasure;' and as this text tells us, it pleased him.' It had been his full meaning, his everlasting intent and purpose, yea, a matter of the greatest delight to him; as Jer. ix. 24, shewing mercy, on the earth, not in hell, therein is my delight. This purpose was fed with delight, and therefore vanished not. And the greater men are, the greater delights they use to have; and this being God's, must needs be a matter of infinite moment and consequence, his heart being in it so much, and he being set upon it. Secondly, This purpose lay not idle in him, but set him a-work, his wisdom a-work, and out of those his infinite depths, found out and invented a way and means of effecting our reconciliation, even the incarnation and death of his own Son; before the wound was given, provided a plaster and sufficient remedy to salve all again, which otherwise had been past finding out. For we, who could never have found out a remedy for a cut finger (had not God prescribed and appointed one), could much less for this. It being a case of that difficulty, supposing his justice resolving to have full satisfaction; which, as it passed all the creature's power to make, so it passed their skill and thoughts to find out how and by whom it might be effected. The devils, they could not imagine any way, no more for us And than for themselves, and therefore tempted man, thinking him, when he had sinned, sure enough, and hell gates so strongly locked, that no art could find or make a key to open them, a power to break them open. Adam, poor man! he trembled, knew not which way to turn himself, and thought God would have flown upon him presently. The good angels, they know it but by the church, Eph. iii. 10. In this strait aforehand God set his depths a-work to find out one, in and by whom all this might be accommodated, and (to allude to Abraham's speech) 'provided himself a sacrifice' unknown to us. Thirdly, It hath been shewn that he, to manifest his seriousness in it, called his Son to it; whom, Fourthly, We have shewn at his entreaty to have been fully willing, and undertook it. I shall at this time, in handling of these words, give the second part of this story; and that is, to lay open Christ's part, in whom it now lies to be performed. And to this end I have chosen this text, which tells us that all fulness dwells in him for the effecting of it. As, 1. A fulness of fitness. 2. Of abilities. 3. Of faithfulness. 4. Of righteousness, now it is performed. 5. Of acceptation of his person, and what he hath done. 6. A fulness of duration of the merit of what he hath done for ever. 1. First, He had fulness of fitness in him, being fitted so with such a body as hath been described; a fulness of fitness in his person, to be a mediator and reconciler for us. Now the choice of a fit person, and his fitness, is more especially required and respected in a business of mediation than in anything else, avails as much as wisdom, power, or anything else; for indeed it is the foundation of all, and often for want of a fit person, the force of a mediation is enervated, and avails not, though other sufficiencies concur to effect it. Now to shew this peculiar fitness, A mediator,' the apostle says, is a mediator not of one,' but of two parties at least, Gal. iii. 20. The parties here, betwixt whom reconciliation is to be made, are God and man, 1 Tim. ii. 5. Why? Can you then have a fitter person than one that is both God and man ? And such a person is Jesus Christ become, that he might be a fit mediator. 'There is,' says the apostle, but one God, and but one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.' There could be but one so fit a mediator. To this end, therefore, the apostle tells us, in Heb. ii. 16, that he took the seed of Abraham to himself,' ériλaμCáverai, took our nature into one person with himself; called therefore a tabernacle, which God pitched, and not men,' Heb. viii. 2, and chap. ix. 11, not of this building,' of the hands of men. Men must have no hand in it. For this is required to fit a mediator, or an umpire, Job ix. 33, that he be able to lay his hand on both;' which phrase notes out, (1.) That he be an indifferent person between both, ready to distribute with an equal hand, to both their due. (2.) That he hath an interest, a hand, or prevailing stroke with both; power to deal between both. (3.) That he be fit to communicate to them, for the benefit of his mediation else is vain. Now all these are in Christ, as thus fitted. (1.) For the first, Heb. ii. 16, the apostle shewing how he took our nature on him, not of angels; in the 17th verse he gives this as the reason, 'It behoved him,' &c. And why did it behove him? That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.' That is, hereby he comes to be a fit, meet high priest. 'It behoved him,' perλs, which notes out fitness. And why fit? The words shew, there were two parties whose cause was to be committed to him, God and the people's. There were things pertaining to God, who was the party wronged by the sins of the people; and there was reconciliation or atonement for their sins to be made. God, he was to have his due, though they had reconciliation; therefore, in regard of the things pertaining to God, faithfulness was required; in regard of things pertaining to the people, mercy. If he had been only man, he might have ended it with detriment and wrong to God. That therefore he might be faithful to him, it was fit he should be God, and so tender of his cause, that he might see such a satisfaction first should be made as was his due, and what pertained to him; for God put all the glory of his justice into his hand. He had need be God who had such a trust committed him; God would not trust a mere man again. And, secondly, he had our souls and salvation committed also to him; and therefore it was behoveful for us that he should be man, to be merciful and pitiful to us; that he might be sensible of the pains human nature was to be put to, and so, out of experimental kindly pity, moved to make an atonement. (2.) Secondly, Hereby he was one that was peculiarly fit to deal with both, and to have a hand and stroke in both, and both with him. For now, as Zech. xiii. 7, he is become the man, God's fellow;' and so, more than man. He had not else been meet to deal with God; it had been robbery in a mere man to have arrogated such an equality, which yet was not in him, Phil. ii; for as God says, Jer. xxx. 21, who but he could 'draw nigh to me,' so near as thus, to mediate? Who durst attempt, or presume, or engage his heart to do it? But him, being my fellow, I will cause to draw nigh unto me;' and there is no unfitness, no disparagement in it, which, if he had been but a creature, would have been. And, secondly, he being the man, God's fellow, we may draw nigh to him, and he to us. For why, as in the same Jer. xxx. 2, he comes out of the midst of us.' So also, Heb. iv. 14, 15, see what a fit high priest, by this, he is made for us, so as we may boldly draw near, ver. 16, to the throne of grace; that is, seeing we have a great high priest, not simply a high priest, but a great high priest, no less than Jesus, the Son of God, who may draw nigh to God for us. But you might say, This is too high a priest, too great for us to draw nigh to; therefore he adds, 'But yet he is not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,' that is, is a man as we are, and therefore subject to the same feeling of pain and miseries, which (as God) he is not; and therefore we may come boldly to him and make our moan, &c., as in the 16th verse. (3.) And, thirdly (which is a reason beyond all this), by this peculiar fitness of his, he is fitted to communicate the benefit of his mediation to us, which without it he had not done; and therefore this fitness of his is a matter of great consequence and moment. Now the benefit we were to receive by his mediation, was to have righteousness from him, so as to appear in God's sight without sin, and so to be brought into favour, and that so great as to be the sons of God. Now, in that the Son of God took our nature, he was fitted to do this; for, |