make it my business to consider his perfections, as to this part of his excellency, what he had from the womb, Luke" i. 35. what received growth and improvement, as to exercise in the days of his flesh, Luke ii. 52. with the complement of them all, in glory, the whole would tend to the purpose in hand. I am but taking a view of these things in transitu. These two things lie in open sight to all at the first consideration; all grace was in him, for the kinds thereof; and all degrees of grace for its perfections; and both of them make up that fulness that was in him; it is created grace that I intend, and therefore I speak of the kinds of it; it is grace inherent in a created nature, not infinite, and therefore I speak of the degrees of it.

For the fountain of grace the Holy Ghost,' he received not him by measure;' John iii. 34. and for the communications of the Spirit, it pleased the Father that in him 'should all fulness dwell;' Col. i. 19. that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. But these things are commonly spoken unto.

This is the beloved of our souls, holy, harmless, undefiled; full of grace and truth; P full to a sufficiency for every end of grace; full for practice, to be an example to men and angels as to obedience; full to a certainty of uninterrupted communion with God; full to a readiness of giving supply to others; full to suit him to all the occasions and necessities of the souls of men; full to a glory not unbecoming a subsistence in the person of the Son of God; full to a perfect victory in trials over all temptations; full to an exact correspondency to the whole law, every righteous and holy law of God; full to the utmost capacity of a limited, created, finite nature; full to the greatest beauty and glory of a living temple of God; full to the full pleasure and delight of the soul of his Father; full to an everlasting monument of the glory of God, in giving such inconceivable excellencies to the son of man.

And this is the second thing considerable, for the endearing of our souls to our beloved.

3. Consider that he is all this in one person. We have

P John i. 16. 1 Cor. xi. 1. Eph. v. 2. 1 Pet. ii. 21. Matt. iii. 17. John i. 18, Heb. ii. 15. vii. 25. John i. 14, 15.

not been treating of two, a God and a man; but ofa one who is God and man. That Word that was with God in the beginning, and was God, John i. 1. is also made flesh; ver. 14. not by a conversion of itself into flesh, not by appearing in the outward shape and likeness of flesh, but by assuming that holy thing that was born of the virgin, Luke i. 55. into personal union with himself. So the 'mighty God,' Isa. ix. 6. is a child given to us; that holy thing that was born of the virgin, is called the Son of God;' Luke i. 35. That which made the man Christ Jesus to be a man, was the union of soul and body; that which made him that man, and without which he was not that man, was the subsistence of both united in the person of the Son of God. As to the proof hereof, I have spoken of it elsewhere at large; I now propose it only in general, to shew the amiableness of Christ on this account: here lies, hence arises, the grace, peace, life, and security of the church, of all believers; as by some few considerations may be clearly evinced.

(1.) Hence was he fits to suffer and able to bear, whatever was due unto us; in that very action, wherein the 'Son of man gave himself a ransom for many,' Matt. xx. 28. 'God redeemed his church with his own blood,' Acts xx. 28. and therein was the 'love of God seen that he gave his life for us;' 1 John iii. 16. on this account was there room enough in his breast to receive the points of all the 'swords that were sharpened by the law against us, and strength enough in his shoulders, to bear the burden of that curse that was due to us. Thence was he so willing to undertake the work of our redemption, Heb. x. 7, 8. 'Lo I come to do thy will, O God;' because he knew his ability to go through with it. Had he not been man, he could not have suffered, had he not been God,his suffering could not have availed either

a Qui propter homines liberandos ab æterna morte homo factus est, et ita ad susceptionem humanitatis nostræ, sine suæ majestatis diminutione inchoans, ut manens quod erat, assumensque quod non erat; veram servi formam, ei formæ, in qua Deo patri est æqualis, aduniret, ut nec minorem absumeret glorificatio, nec superiorem minueret assumptio; salva enim proprietate utriusque substantiæ, et in unam coëunte personam, suscipitur a majestate humilitas, a virtute infirmitas, a mortalitate æternitas, et ad rependendum nostræ conditionis debitum, natura inviolabilis, na-turæ est unita passibili, &c. Leo. Serm. 1. de nat. r Vind. Evan. c. 7.

Deus verus, et homo verus in unitatem Domini temperatur, ut quod nostris remediis congruebat unus atque idem Dei hominumque mediator, ex mori possit et uno, resurgere possit ex altero. Leo. ubi sup. Zech. xiii. 7. Psal. lxxxix. 19.

himself or us, he had not satisfied; the suffering of a mere man, could not bear any proportion to that which in any respect was infinite. Had the great and righteous God gathered together all the sins that had been committed by his elect from the foundation of the world, and searched the bosoms of all that were to come to the end of the world, and taken them all, from the sin of their nature, to the least deviation from the rectitude of his most holy law, and the highest provocation of their regenerate and unregenerate condition, and laid them on a mere holy, innocent, creature; O how would they have overwhelmed him, and buried him for ever out of the presence of God's love? Therefore doth the apostle premise that glorious description of him to the purging of our sin; He hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power, hath purged our sins; Heb. i. 2, 3. It was he that purged our sins, who was the Son and heir of all things, by whom the world was made, the brightness of his Father's glory, and express image of his person; he did it, he alone was able to do it. God was manifested in the flesh,' 1 Tim. iii. 16. for this work; the sword awaked against him that was the fellow of the Lord of hosts; Zech. xiii. 7. and by the wounds of that great shepherd, are the sheep healed; 1 Pet. ii. 24, 25.

(2.) Hence doth he become an endless, bottomless fountain of grace to all them that believe. The fulness, that it pleased the Father to commit to Christ, to be the great treasury and storehouse of the church, did not, doth not, lie in the human nature considered in itself; but in the person of the Mediator, God and man. Consider wherein his communication of grace doth consist, and this will be evident. The foundation of all is laid in his satisfaction, merit, and purchase; these are the morally procuring cause of all the grace we receive from Christ. Hence all grace becomes to be his ;" all the things of the new covenant, the promises of God, all the mercy, love, grace, glory promised, became, I say, to be his. Not as though they were all actually invested, or did reside and were in the human nature, and were from thence John xvi. 14, 15.

really communicated to us, by a participation of a portion of what did so inhere; but they are morally his by a" compact, to be bestowed by him, as he thinks good, as he is Mediator, God and man, that is, the only-begotten Son made flesh, John i. 14. from whose fulness we receive, and grace for grace.' The real communication of grace is by Christ sending the Holy Ghost to regenerate us; and to create all the habitual grace, with the daily supplies thereof in our hearts, that we are made partakers of; now the Holy Ghost is thus sent by Christ as Mediator, God and man, as is at large declared, John xiv. 15, 16. of which more afterward. This then is that which I intend by this fulness of grace that is in Christ; from whence we have both our beginning, and all our supplies, which makes him as he is the Alpha and Omega of his church, the beginner and finisher of our faith, excellent and desirable to our souls. Upon the payment of the great price of his blood, and full acquitment on the satisfaction he made, all grace whatever (of which at large afterward), becomes in a moral sense his, at his disposal; and he bestows it on, or works it in, the hearts of his, by the Holy Ghost, according as in his infinite wisdom he sees it needful. How glorious is he to the soul on this consideration? that is most excellent to us which suits us in a wanting condition; that which gives bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, mercy to the perishing. All our reliefs are thus in our beloved. Here is the life of our souls, the joy of our hearts, our relief against sin, and deliverance from the wrath to come.

(3.) Thus is he fitted for a mediator, a daysman, an umpire, between God and us; being one with him, and one with us, and one in himself in this oneness, in the unity of one person. His ability and universal fitness for his office of mediator are hence usually demonstrated. And herein is he Christy the wisdom of God and the power of God.' Herein shines out the infinitely glorious wisdom of God; which we may better admire than express. What soul that hath any acquaintance with these things falls not down with reverence and astonishment? How glorious is he that is the beloved of our souls? What can be wanting that "Isa. liii. 11, 12. John i. 16. Col. i. 19, 20. y 1 Cor. i. 24.

x Heb. xii. 2. Rev. i. 11.

pe

should encourage us to take up our rest and peace in his bosom? Unless all ways of relief and refreshment be so obstructed by unbelief, that no consideration can reach the heart to yield it the least assistance, it is impossible but that from hence, the soul may gather that which will endear it unto him with whom we have to do. Let us dwell on the thoughts of it. This is the hidden mystery, great, without controversy; admirable to eternity. What poor, low, rishing things, do we spend our contemplations on? Were we to have no advantage by this astonishing dispensation, yet its excellency, glory, beauty, depths, deserve the flower of our inquiries, the vigour of our spirits, the substance of our time; but when withal our life, our peace, our joy, our inheritance, our eternity, our all lies herein, shall not the thoughts of it always dwell in our hearts, always refresh, and delight our souls?

(4.) He is excellent and glorious in this; in that he is exalted, and invested with all authority; when Jacob heard of the exaltation of his son Joseph in Egypt, and saw the chariots that he had sent for him, his spirit fainted and recovered again, through abundance of joy and other overflowing affections. Is our beloved lost, who for our sakes was upon the earth, poor and persecuted, reviled, killed? No! he was dead, but he is alive, and 'Lo, he lives for ever and ever, and hath the keys of hell and death:" our beloved is made a lord, and ruler; Acts ii. 36. He is made a king; God sets him his king on his holy hill of Sion; Psal. ii. 6. and he is crowned with honour and dignity, after he had been made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death; Heb. ii. 7-9. And what is he made king of; 'all things are put in subjection under his feet;' ver. 8. And what power over them hath our beloved? 'All power in heaven and earth;' Matt. xxviii. 18. As for men, he hath power given him over all flesh; John xvii. 2. And in what glory doth he exercise this power? He gives eternal life to his elect; ruling them in the power of God, Micah v. 3. until he bring them to himself; and for his enemies, his arrows

b Gen. xlix. 10. Numb. xxiv. 17. 19. Psal. ii. 1-9. lxxxix. 19-24. cx. 1-3. Isa. xi. 1, 2. xxxii. 1, 2. liii. 12. lxiii. 1—3. Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. Dan. vii. 13, 14. Luke ii. 11. xix. 38. John v. 22, 23. Acts ii. 35, 36. v. 31. Phil. ii. 9--11. Eph. i. 20—–22. Rev. v. 12--14. xix. 16.