Chapter II
That it was necessary for our mediator to be God. He could not otherwise
have been present at the making of the eternal covenant of redemption. None but God could have the power to bestow such great blessings as are
those of the covenant. None but God could be the object of our trust, faith, and hope, and obedience. None but God could be sufficiently able to succour
us at all times.
That Christ the Son of God was the only fit person to be the mediator,
will appear plainly to us upon these considerations :
v.insider that it was fit that he who thus made a covenant for
I. If you
us should be pr&sent at the making of it, and at the first striking of the
bargain, and should be privy to the plot, and know the bottom of God s
counsel in it, and the depth of all his secrets, and should know for whom and what he was to purchase, and upon what conditions ; now then this
plot and covenant, having been as ancient as eternity, even an everlasting covenant, and it being requisite that God should have our mediator by him from eternity, with whom he might strike it for us, and also that he should know all God s secrets, and be admitted into all his counsels from eternity, therefore no creature could be capable of this. For who of them hath been
his counsellor ? And who knows his depths of election, which are past
finding out ? as Rom. xi. 33, 34, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and
his ways past finding out ! ver. 34, For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his counsellor ? God may say to all the creatures
as he said to Job, Where were you when the plot of redemption was laid, and the platform thereof drawn, and the book of life penned, and the names
of my redeemed ones put in ? None but he whose name is Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, and everlasting Father, as Isa. ix. 6, was
capable of all this ; which names of his are put into that promise of him as
mediator, because it was requisite that our mediator should be all this. And now he being the mighty God, he might be of counsel with God from
eternity, he was present at the first pricking down our names, and foreknew
all God s choice. He stood at God s elbow and consulted with him whose
88 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK II.
names to put in ( Then I was by him, says he, Prov. viii. 30), and so became their everlasting Father, begetting them in the womb of eternal
election.
II. If we consider the conditions of the covenant, no mere creature was
fit to undertake them ; neither those on God s part, nor those on ours.
1. Not those on God s part. Was it fit that a mere creature should be God s executor, and have power to leave such legacies, as the promises of
hjaven, pardon of sin, &c., are ? Without whom, and without whose blood,
all those promises had been of no force, but had been nothing worth ; as Heb. ix. 15-18,
< And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testa
ment, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the pro mise of eternal inheritance. Ver. 16,
* For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Ver. 17,
* For a tes tament is of force after men are dead : otherwise it is of no strength at all
whilst the testator liveth. Ver. 18, Whereupon neither the first testa ment was dedicated without blood. Was it fit that a mere creature s hand and seal should be required to God s own will and testament, or else it could not be of force ? Certainly it was too much. And therefore the
apostle, ver. 14, having shewed how Christ by the eternal Spirit offered
up himself (that is, by his Godhead, &c.), he adds, ver. 15, For this cause he is the mediator of the new testament. Hence it was that he became the founder of it, that he was the eternal Spirit, God immortal,
else he had not been capable of being mediator of such a testament ; a testament also, whereby he not only was to undertake to make satisfaction, and to make good
* all God s legacies, but to make good in us the condi
tions on our part, by writing the law in the heart. For that is the new
* For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them
covenant, as Heb, viii. 10, 11,
: ver. 11, And they shall not
a God, and they shall be to me a people
teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. And if
the mediator had not engaged to do this, God would not have dealt with
him, for he will make sure work in the covenant, since it was to be a cove nant ordered in all things, and sure ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, Although my house be not so with God ; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure : for this is all my salvation, and all my
1 And what creature could do
desire, although he make it not to grow.
this ? Or was it fit that God should put so much trust in any creature, who
* finds folly in his angels, and puts no confidence in his saints ? God would not vouchsafe to treat or trade with any mere creature, upon so high and
deep engagements, nor enter into partnership with them, to share alike, as
in that covenant thus made God and the mediator of it were to do.
2. The part which we bear in the covenant, and our actings in it, ren dered it unmeet that any but the Son of God should have the administration
of it committed to him. For,
First, If we consider what is the business and acts of our faith, it will be
evident that it was fit and requisite that our mediator should be such a one
as we might rely upon, and trust in. Now was it fit that any mere creature should be made and set forth to us as the object of our faith ? And yet it
is that faith which is the most suitable condition for the covenant of grace ; as iiom. iv. 1C, It is therefore of faith, that it might be by grace ; and sura
CflAP. II. J OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 89
to all the seed. And that faith must pitch upon our mediator as upon a
corner-stone laid by God, as a sure foundation (as Paul and Peter speak), BO as he that believeth might not come to be ashamed : 1 Pet. ii. 6, Where
fore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious
: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Would it then have been, or could any arm of flesh have thus secured us, or under-propped our hearts ? Or was it fit that any crea
ture should be propounded to us, as the object of our faith as justifying, and
* set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood/ and mediation ; and so we to be justified by faith in him (as the apostle s expressions are in Rom. iii.) ? No, this is an honour not fit to be put upon any creature ;
BO be
no, not on all the angels and saints. Take, not Peter only (on whom the
papists say the church is built), but the whole church and family of God in heaven and earth, and we say indeed, that we believe the catholic church, but not
* in the catholic church ; we believe only in God, and in Jesus
Christ. Any creature had been too weak a foundation to build the faith of the church upon ; they could not have borne the weight of it. And there
fore, 1 Tim. iii. 16, when the apostle had said, God manifested in the
flesh, he adds, believed on in the world, for if he who was manifest in the flesh had not been God, he could not have been the object of faith. And, indeed, it was fit for us that we should have one whom we might fully
trust, and whose sufficiency might answer all our fears. For if a creature had been our mediator, we would have been afraid of a miscarriage in the
business, as there was such a cause of fear whilst the concern was in the hands of our father and head, Adam ; and we should still have feared that
the devil might overcome us and him again ; and though he had held out many years, yet we would have been afraid that one day he might fail and have perished. Besides, we should continually have feared, that the guilt of our sins weuld revive again in our consciences, for conscience being sub
ject to God only, no mere creature therefore could still it, or purge it ; but
it is the eternal Spirit alone that can do it, as the apostle shews, Heb. ix.
14, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? And it is God alone that can subdue
: Micah vii. 18, 19, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth
iniquities
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. Ver.
19, He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will subdue our iniquities ; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Therefore, to take away all fears, it was fit that our reconciler should be God. And therefore, Isa. xxxv. (throughout which the coming of Christ is
foretold) ver. 3, Strengthen you (says the prophet) the feeble hands,
&c., . . . say unto them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not :
behold, your God will come with vengeance, namely, to destroy the enemies
* God will come with a recompence ; and then again he speaks it, he will come and save you ; arid he goes on
of your salvation ; he says it again,
* Then the eyes of the blind shall be
to shew his kingdom, ver. 5, 6, 7,
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Ver. 6, Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing
: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. Ver. 7,
* And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water : in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass, with roods and rushes. Any other saviour would have needed salvation himself,
40 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK II.
except him who is salvation itself, and so Christ is called : Luke ii. 28-30,
* Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, ver. 29, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word :
ver. 80, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. The second condition is obedience, even that we should wholly give up ourselves to his service for ever, which also comes in in our indentures, and
is mentioned in the covenant on our parts, and which, out of thankfulness, we could not but perform, as a due to him that should be our mediator. For he that should have reconciled us must have bought us, and so deli vered us from death and hell ; and if so, we must then by all right and
equity have been his servants for ever. Now surely, God would not have us so obliged to any mere creature, as wholly to serve and obey it ; and
therefore it was fit that none but God himself should save and buy us out ; 1 Cor. vii. 23, Ye are bought with a price
: be not the servants of men. To prevent which inconvenience, God himself would redeem us, that we
might serve none but him : Him only shalt thou serve, for it is his due. The apostle also judgeth it an equal thing that men should live to him who
died for them, to redeem them from death. Thus, 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, We thus judge, saith he, that in that he died for all, they who live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them. It was
therefore no way fit that any mere creature should be employed in this work. It was fit that none should do so much for us, but only he who made us ; for to justify us, and to restore us out of this miserable, lost condition, was more than at first to create us. For our misery was worse than a not-
being ; and should it ever be said that a creature had done as much for us
as God did at the first ?
Thirdly, Besides all this, would we not have had such a Saviour (to choose) as might know our hearts, and be able to succour us ? on whom we might rest securely, that he knows God s mind, and searcheth the deep
things of him, and who is his counsellor? And therefore, when he speaks to us kindly, we may be sure God means us good, and in whose face we may read God s mind. Would we not have such a Saviour as might have an unlimited power over all flesh to defend us, so that nothing shall be able
to withstand our salvation ? As John xvii. 2, As thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. Now such an one must be God, who can save not only the
body, but the soul too. All the creatures, as they can destroy the body
only, so they can save the body only ; and of the two it is more easy to
destroy than to save. When the people of Israel were to be led into
Canaan, and so to be carried through the wilderness, and through many enemies and difficulties, they hearing (Exod. xxxiii. 2) that an angel should
go before them, and drive out the Canaanites (ver. 3), and that God would not himself immediately go up with them, it is said, that all the people mourned because of this; yea, and Moses also (at the 12th verse) was
fearful of a mere angel s conduct, his heart was not secured thereby, as it would have been if God himself would have been pleased to go with them. And therefore he says to God,
* Thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. And yet God had told him that an angel should. But Moses seemed not to understand God, but would have had another answer.
Thus, when we are fearful and cannot trust to the conduct or undertaking of one employed for us, we use to say, to a friend that puts it off and sends
another, You leave me, and send I know not whom with me ; that is, one
that I am not secure of, one in whose sufficiency I cannot rest for the per-
CHAP. III.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 41
formance. And this therefore (ver. 4) is called evil tidings. In Exod.
xxiii. 20, before this, there was an angel promised to go before them, namely, Christ the angel of the covenant, who indeed was God (for, ver. 21, he says,
My name is in him ), and then the people s hearts were quieted. So
that some think that this other angel in the 23d* chapter was but some mere created angel, whom when they heard to be substituted in God s stead
to be their leader, then they mourned ; and then Moses also complained. However, if it were the same angel, yet they understood it and conceived of
it to be a creature, and not the Son of God. By which you see that the
people desired that no creature, no, not an angel, should be their leader
(though one angel could destroy a host of men in a night), but they would have God himself or none. And so if we had been to have chosen a
captain of our salvation, a head and governor to bring us unto glory, as the apostle speaks, Heb. ii. 10, and withal had known that there was
speech in heaven of, and so a possibility, of having the Son of God for this our captain, how would we have said as he did of Goliath s sword, There
* Can we find such another one as this ? And on the contrary, if God had instead of him
is none like to this saviour ! Or as they of Joseph,
sent but an angel to redeem us, how would we have mourned, as the people there did, and as John did, Rev. v. 4 ; and have said as Moses, We know not whom thou wilt send with us ? We will therefore conclude with that which God speaks, Isa. xliii. 11, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Saviour.