had engaged in, that it is faid, His delights were with the fons of men, rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, even the places where his fick patients lay. It was not for any pleasure that he took in habitable places; nay, it was not places, but perfons in fuch and fuch a place: Some of my fick patients lie in this corner of the world, and fome of them in that corner; fome of them lie among the ifles, and uttermoft parts of the earth; fome of them lie in yonder ifle of Britain, fome of them in Scotland; and, may I not fay, fome of them lie in Fife, and fome of them in Dumfermline? He rejoiced in the habitable places of the earth, where he had fick patients to vifit and heal; his delights were with the fons of men: For his heart was engaged in his work; he heartily confented to it from all eternity. And though eternity cannot be divided into parts, yet, to fpeak after the manner of our conception, he spent the reft of that eternity in rejoicing in the thoughts of it.

But more particularly, that his heart was engaged, will appear, if you confider, 1. That not only did he give his hearty confent from all eternity, but fo foon as ever he had created the world by his Almighty arm, then presently he falls about this work and bufinefs: For he was flain from the foundation of the world. It is true, he came not perfonally for the space of about four thousand years from the beginning of the world; but though he came not in Perfon, yet he came by Proxy: The infinite wifdom of God thought fit to order matters fo, that many a facrifice was fent to be a fhadow of this good thing that was to come, and many a fervant did he fend to affure them that he was a coming. 2. When the fulness of time was come, that he appeared on

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the stage of this earth, he fhewed in the whole courfe of his life, how much his heart was engaged in his mediatorial work. When he was yet a child, and his parents loft him, and found him in the temple, and began to chide with him: What, fays Chrift, Luke ii. 49. How was it that ye fought me? wift ye not that I must be about my Father's bufnefs? Never did a hungry man delight more in meat, than Chrift delighted in the work of our redemption: It was his meat and drink to do the will of him that fent him. 3. That his heart was engaged in the work, appears from his zeal against every thing that had a tendency to hinder his going on to the hardest and highest part of his work. What can be more expreffive of a heart engaged in the work, than that paffage you have? Matth. xvi. 23. There Peter began to rebuke Christ, when he spake of his fuffering; Be it far from thee, Lord. One would think, that Chrift would have taken this in good part, and that it was love in Peter: But we never read that Christ took any thing fo ill. He turned about like a man in the greatest paffion, and fays, Get thee behind me, Satan: Never was fuch a word heard from the mouth of Chrift, and that spoken to a faint. It is Peter's voice, but the devil hath tuned it? What would become of an elect world, if I should ftop here? Get thee behind me, Satan. His heart was engaged to the work. 4. It appears from his longing to pay the debt which he had engaged to pay: I have a baptifm to be baptized with, and how am I ftraitned until it be accomplished? He longed to be plunged over head and ears, as it were, in the ocean of divine wrath; and when it came near to the time of his death, it is noted, Luke xix. 18. He went before afcending

afcending up to Jerufalem, as a child that is going with his friends to a place where he defires to be, runs out before, as being fond to be forward; fo Christ went before, and all the way he was talking of it to them, as we ufe to talk of what we pant after: Yea, when it came near to his fuffering, he cannot forbear telling his difciples, that with defire he defired to eat that paflover, wherein he saw as in a glafs how he was to fuffer. And when Judas went forth to betray him, he faid, What thou dost, do quickly, John xiii. 27. and when he was gone, he rejoiced, and faid, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him: He reckoned the work done, because the inftrument that fet all a-work was gone out. And, at the end of the 14th chapter of John, he brake off, as it were, in the midst of his fermon, and fays, Arife, let us go bence. Of all works, preaching was most pleasant to him; but behold he breaks off, and goes out, that he might be taken and crucified, that the occafion might not be flipt. And then he does not stay till Judas found him out: No, he goes forth to the place where Judas and his band were, and offered himself a willing facrifice. When they faid, We feek Jefus of Nazareth, he anfwers, I am he, John xviii. 4, 5; and when Peter would have refcued him he bade him put up his fword, faying, The cup which my Father hath given me to drink, fhall I not drink it? Yea, when he was beaten and buffeted, how did he give his back to the fmiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair? He was led as a lamb to the flaughter, and as a sheep before his hearers is dumb, fo he opened not his mouth. Yea, when hanging on a crofs, he had enough to provoke fo great a fpirit to have rescued himself, when they cried, Come

Come down, and we will believe thee; if thou canft fave thyself, we will believe that thou canst fave others: Nay, fay they, be faved others, but bimfelf be cannot fave. He might, like a Sampfon, have broken down the pillars of heaven and earth about their ears; but he bears all patiently. And then, how his heart was engaged, appears in the very laft act: He bowed his head, and cried out with a joyful heart, it is finished; the work which my Father gave me to do, is finifhed; the work which I engaged my heart unto, is finished: And fo he gave up the ghoft, committing his fpirit into his Father's hands, as a pledge and token that the engagement was fulfilled. And now, this work being accomplished, fhall we not think that his heart is as much engaged to the work of redemption by power, as it was to the work of redemption by price? Yea, He hath entred into heaven, now to appear in the prefence of God for us, Heb. ix. 24. If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; how much more, being reconciled, Shall we be faved by his life? He that was dead is alive, and lives for evermore; and he ever lives to make interceffion for us. He lives to apply by the power of his fpirit, what he purchased by the price of his blood. Thus you fee the fingularity of the fact, both as to the matter and manner of it; and how his heart was engaged to approach unto God: And fo far is he from repenting of the bargain, that never a repenting thought has been in his heart to this day, with refpect to the whole of this work.

4th Head. The fourth thing propofed, was, to give the reasons of the doctrine, why Chrift did fo heartily come under this engagement, together with the reasons of our faith about it; or, why it is, that

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Jehovah's teftimony is added in these words, faith the Lord. Who is this, &c. faith the Lord. Now, as to the first of thefe, viz. the reason why Christ did fo cordially engage in this work; there are these four reasons efpecially that I would offer. ft, He engaged his heart, from obedience to his Father's command; I delight to do thy will, O my God. God the Father chofe him to this fervice; Behold my fervant whom I have chofen, mine elect, &c. and he authorized him in it, and caused him to approach. This commandment have I received of my Father. 2dly, He engaged his heart, from zeal to his Father's glory. Tho' the whole creation of men and angels had been offered up as a whole burnt-offering, it would not have repaired the honour of God for one fin whereby his honour is impaired: But Chrift's engagement is what brings more glory to God, than if all mankind had stood, or yet fallen a facrifice to divine juftice; therefore Christ, from a zeal to his Father's glory, did come under this engagement; the zeal of God's houfe did eat him up. By this engagement all the attributes of God are glorified: God had a mind to fet out his love and mercy to the utmost, and herein it is done more than any other way, John iii. 16. God fo loved the world, &c. We may behold here the heighth and depth, and length and breadth of the love of God, in taking his Son out of his bofom, where he lay from eternity, and giving him for us. He looked over all the copies of his love, grace and mercy that he had written in all his former works, and found them fhort of the thing: therefore it is his will to write his love in letters of blood, upon him who is an infinite spirit with himfelf: And that this may be done, he gives him a

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