Scripture, and is to be taken more largely, or more strictly, even as
the truth or argument, for the sake of which it is made use of, will
bear. Wherefore, that we may the better understand the mind of Christ
in the use of it here, we must consider, that it is limited and
restrained only to those that shall be saved, to wit, to those that
shall come to Christ; even to those whom he will “in no wise cast out.”
Thus, also, the words all Israel, is sometimes to be taken, although
sometimes it is taken for the whole family of Jacob. “And so all Israel
shall be saved” (Rom 11:26). By all Israel here, he intendeth not all
of Israel, in the largest sense; “for they are not all Israel which are
of Israel;” “neither because they are of the seed of Abraham, are they
all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God;
but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Rom 9:6-8).
This word ALL, therefore, must be limited and enlarged, as the truth
and argument, for the sake of which it is used, will bear; else we
shall abuse Scripture, and readers, and ourselves, and all. “And I, if
I be lifted up from the earth,” said Christ, “will draw ALL men unto
me” (John 12:32). Can any man imagine, that by ALL, in this place, he
should mean all and every individual man in the world, and not rather
that all that is consonant to the scope of the place? And if, by being
“lifted up from the earth,” he means, as he should seem, his being
taken up into heaven; and if, by “drawing ALL men after him,” he meant
a drawing them unto that place of glory; then must he mean by ALL men,
those, and only those, that shall in truth be eternally saved from the
wrath to come. “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he
might have mercy upon all” (Rom 11:32). Here again you have all and
all, two alls; but yet a greater disparity between the all made mention
of in the first place, and that all made mention of the second. Those
intended in this text are the Jews, even all of them, by the first all
that you find in the words. The second all doth also intend the same
people; but yet only so many of them as God will have mercy upon. “He
hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon
all.” The all also in the text, is likewise to be limited and
restrained to the saved, and to them only. But again;—
The word “giveth,” or “hath given,” must be restrained, after the same
manner, to the same limited number. “All that the Father giveth me.”
Not all that are given, if you take the gift of the Father to the Son
in the largest sense; for in that sense there are many given to him
that shall never come unto him; yea, many are given unto him that he
will “cast out.” I shall, therefore, first show you the truth of this;
and then in what sense the gift in the text must be taken.
First, [ALL cannot be intended in its largest sense.] That ALL that are
given to Christ, if you take the gift of the Father to him in the
largest sense, cannot be intended in the text, is evident—
1. Because, then, all the men, yea, all the things in the world, must
be saved. “All things,” saith he, “are delivered unto me of my Father”
(Matt 11:27). This, I think, no rational man in the world will
conclude. Therefore, the gift intended in the text must be restrained
to some, to a gift that is given by way of speciality by the Father to
the Son.
2. It must not be taken for ALL, that in any sense are given by the
Father to him, because the Father hath given some, yea, many to him, to
be dashed in pieces by him. “Ask of me,” said the Father to him, “and I
shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession.” But what must be done with
them? must he save them all? No. “Thou shalt break them with a rod of
iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psa 2).
This method he useth not with them that he saveth by his grace, but
with those that himself and saints shall rule over in justice and
severity (Rev 2:26,27). Yet, as you see, “they are given to him.”
Therefore, the gift intended in the text must be restrained to some, to
a gift that is given by way of speciality by the Father to the Son.
In Psalm 18 he saith plainly, that some are given to him that he might
destroy them. “Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies; that I
might destroy them that hate me” (verse 40). These, therefore, cannot
be of the number of those that are said to be given in the text; for
those, even ALL of them, shall come to him, “and he will in no wise
cast them out.”
3. Some are given to Christ, that he by them might bring about some of
his high and deep designs in the world. Thus Judas was given to Christ,
to wit, that by him, even as was determined before, he might bring
about his death, and so the salvation of his elect by his blood. Yea,
and Judas must so manage this business, as that he must lose himself
for ever in bringing it to pass. Therefore the Lord Jesus, even in his
losing of Judas, applies himself to the judgment of his Father, if he
had not in that thing done that which was right, even in suffering of
Judas so to bring about his Master’s death, as that he might, by so
doing, bring about his own eternal damnation also.
“Those,” said he, “that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them
is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be
fulfilled” (John 17:12). Let us, then, grant that Judas was given to
Christ, but not as others are given to him, not as those made mention
of in the text; for then he should have failed to have been so received
by Christ, and kept to eternal life. Indeed, he was given to Christ;
but he was given to him to lose him, in the way that I have mentioned
before; he was given to Christ, that he by him might bring about his
own death, as was before determined; and that in the overthrow of him
that did it. Yea, he must bring about his own death, as was before
determined, and that in the overthrow of him that did it. Yea, he must
bring about his dying for us in the loss of the instrument that
betrayed him, that he might even fulfil the Scripture in his
destruction, as well as in the salvation of the rest. “And none of them
is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be
fulfilled.”
[Second, Those intended as the gift.]—The gift, therefore, in the text,
must not be taken in the largest sense, but even as the words will
bear, to wit, for such a gift as he accepteth, and promiseth to be an
effectual means of eternal salvation to. “All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out.” Mark! they shall come that are in special given to me; and they
shall by no means be rejected. For this is the substance of the text.
Those, therefore, intended as the gift in the text, are those that are
given by covenant to the Son; those that in other places are called
“the elect,” “the chosen,” “the sheep,” and “the children of the
promise,” &c. These be they that the Father hath given to Christ to
keep them; those that Christ hath promised eternal life unto; those to
whom he hath given his word, and that he will have with him in his
kingdom to behold his glory.
“This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at
the last day” (John 6:39). “And I give unto them eternal life; and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
Father which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28). “As thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and
they have kept thy word; I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are
thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” “Keep through
thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as
we are.” “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast
given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John
17:1,6,9,10,24).
All these sentences are of the same import with the text; and the alls
and manies, those, they, &c., in these several sayings of Christ, are
the same with all the given in the text. “All that the Father giveth.”
So that, as I said before, the word ALL, as also other words, must not
be taken in such sort as our foolish fancies or groundless opinions
will prompt us to, but do admit of an enlargement or a restriction,
according to the true meaning and intent of the text. We must therefore
diligently consult the meaning of the text, by comparing it with other
the sayings of God; so shall we be better able to find out the mind of
the Lord, in the word which he has given us to know it by.
[THE PERSON GIVING, THE FATHER.]
“All that the Father giveth.” By this word “Father,” Christ describeth
the person giving; by which we may learn several useful things.
First, That the Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is
concerned with the Son in the salvation of his people. True, his acts,
as to our salvation, are diverse from those of the Son; he was not
capable of doing that, or those things for us, as did the Son; he died
not, he spilt not blood for our redemption, as the Son; but yet he hath
a hand, a great hand, in our salvation too. As Christ saith, “The
Father himself loveth you,” and his love is manifest in choosing of us,
in giving of us to his Son; yea, and in giving his Son also to be a
ransom for us. Hence he is called, “The Father of mercies, and the God
of all comfort.” For here even the Father hath himself found out, and
made way for his grace to come to us through the sides and the
heart-blood of his well-beloved Son (Col 1:12-14). The Father,
therefore, is to be remembered and adored, as one having a chief hand
in the salvation of sinners. We ought to give “thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light” (Col 1:12). For “the Father sent the Son to be the
Saviour of the world” (John 4:14). As also we see in the text, the
“Father giveth” the sinner to Christ to save him.
Second, Christ Jesus the Lord, by this word “Father,” would familiarize
this giver to us. Naturally the name of God is dreadful to us,
especially when he is discovered to us by those names that declare his
justice, holiness, power, and glory; but now this word “Father” is a
familiar word, it frighteth not the sinner, but rather inclineth his
heart to love, and be pleased with the remembrance of him. Hence Christ
also, when he would have us to pray with godly boldness, puts this word
“Father” into our mouths; saying, “When ye pray, say, Our Father which
art in heaven;” concluding thereby, that by the familiarity that by
such a word is intimated, the children of God may take more boldness to
pray for, and ask great things. I myself have often found, that when I
can say but this word Father, it doth me more good than when I call him
by any other Scripture name. It is worth your noting, that to call God
by his relative title was rare among the saints in Old Testament times.
Seldom do you find him called by this name; no, sometimes not in three
or four books: but now in New Testament times, he is called by no name
so often as this, both by the Lord Jesus himself, and by the apostles
afterwards. Indeed, the Lord Jesus was he that first made this name
common among the saints, and that taught them, both in their
discourses, their prayers, and in their writings, so much to use it; it
being more pleasing to, and discovering more plainly our interest in,
God, than any other expression; for by this one name we are made to
understand that all our mercies are the offspring of God, and that we
also that are called are his children by adoption.
[Import of the word GIVETH.]—“All that the Father giveth.”
This word “giveth” is out of Christ’s ordinary dialect, and seemeth to
intimate, at the first sound, as if the Father’s gift to the Son was
not an act that is past, but one that is present and continuing; when,
indeed, this gift was bestowed upon Christ when the covenant, the
eternal covenant, was made between them before all worlds. Wherefore,
in those other places, when this gift is mentioned, it is still spoken
of, as of an act that is past; as, “All that he hath given me; to as
many as thou hast given me; thou gavest them me; and those which thou
hast given me.” Therefore, of necessity, this must be the first and
chief sense of the text; I mean of this word “giveth,” otherwise the
doctrine of election, and of the eternal covenant which was made
between the Father and the Son, in which covenant this gift of the
Father is most certainly comprised, will be shaken, or at leastwise
questionable, by erroneous and wicked men: for they may say, That the
Father gave not all those to Christ that shall be saved, before the
world was made; for that this act of giving is an act of continuation.
3 But again, this word “giveth” is not to be rejected, for it hath its
proper use, and may signify to us—
1. That though the act of giving among men doth admit of the time past,
or the time to come, and is to be spoken of with reference to such
time; yet with God it is not so. Things past, or things to come, are
always present with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ: He “calleth
those things which be not,” that is, to us, “as though they were” (Rom
4:17). And again, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world.” All things to God are present, and so the gift of the
Father to the Son, although to us, as is manifest by the word, it is an
act that is past (Acts 15:16).
2. Christ may express himself thus, to show, that the Father hath not
only given him this portion in the lump, before the world was, but that
those that he had so given, he will give him again; that is, will bring
them to him at the time of their conversion; for the Father bringeth
them to Christ (John 6:44). As it is said, “She shall be brought unto
the king in raiment of needle-work;” that is, in the righteousness of
Christ; for it is God that imputeth that to those that are saved (Psa
45:14; 1 Cor 1). A man giveth his daughter to such a man, first in
order to marriage, and this respects the time past, and he giveth her
again at the day appointed in marriage. And in this last sense,
perhaps, the text may have a meaning; that is, that all that the Father
hath, before the world was given to Jesus Christ, he giveth them again
to him in the day of their espousals.
Things that are given among men, are ofttimes best at first; to wit,
when they are new; and the reason is, because all earthly things wax
old; but with Christ it is not so. This gift of the Father is not old
and deformed, and unpleasant in his eyes; and therefore to him it is
always new. When the Lord spake of giving the land of Canaan to the
Israelites, he saith not, that he had given, or would give it to them,
but thus: “The Lord thy God giveth thee—this good land” (Deut 9:6). Not
but that he had given it to them, while they were in the loins of their
fathers, hundreds of years before. Yet he saith now he giveth it to
them; as if they were now also in the very act of taking possession,
when as yet they were on the other side Jordan. What then should be the
meaning? Why, I take it to be this. That the land should be to them
always as new; as new as if they were taking possession thereof but
now. And so is the gift of the Father, mentioned in the text, to the
Son; it is always new, as if it were always new.
“All that the Father giveth me.” In these words you find mention made
of two persons, the Father and the Son; the Father giving, and the Son
receiving or accepting of this gift. This, then, in the first place,
clearly demonstrateth, that the Father and the Son, though they, with
the Holy Ghost, are one and the same eternal God; yet, as to their
personality, are distinct. The Father is one, the Son is one, the Holy
Spirit is one. But because there is in this text mention made but of
two of the three, therefore a word about these two. The giver and
receiver cannot be the same person in a proper sense, in the same act
of giving and receiving. He that giveth, giveth not to himself, but to
another; the Father giveth not to the Father, to wit, to himself, but
to the Son: the Son receiveth not of the Son, to wit, of himself, but
of the Father: so when the Father giveth commandment, he giveth it not
to himself, but to another; as Christ saith, “He gave me a commandment”
(John 12:49). So again, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the
Father that sent me beareth witness of me” (John 8:18).
Further, here is something implied that is not expressed, to wit, that
the Father hath not given all men to Christ; that is, in that sense as
it is intended in this text, though in a larger, as was said before, he
hath given him every one of them; for then all should be saved: he
hath, therefore, disposed of some another way. He gives some up to
idolatry; he gives some up to uncleanness, to vile affections, and to a
reprobate mind. Now these he disposeth of in his anger, for their
destruction, that they may reap the fruit of their doings, and be
filled with the reward of their own ways (Acts 7:42; Rom 1:24,26,28).
But neither hath he thus disposed of all men; he hath even of mercy
reserved some from these judgments, and those are they that he will
pardon, as he saith, “For I will pardon them whom I reserve” (Jer
50:20). Now these he hath given to Jesus Christ, by will, as a legacy
and portion. Hence the Lord Jesus says, “This is the Father’s will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39).
[THE FATHER’S INTENT IN GIVING.]
The Father, therefore, in giving of them to him to save them, must
needs declare unto us these following things:—
First, That he is able to answer this design of God, to wit, to save
them to the uttermost sin, the uttermost temptation, &c. (Heb 7:25).
Hence he is said to lay “help upon one that is mighty,” “mighty to
save” (Psa 89:19; Isa 63:1) and hence it is again, that God did even of
old promise to send his people “a Saviour, a great one” (Isa 19:20). To
save is a great work, and calls for almightiness in the undertaker:
hence he is called the “Mighty God, the wonderful Counsellor,” &c. Sin
is strong, Satan is also strong, death and the grave are strong, and so
is the curse of the law; therefore it follows, that this Jesus must
needs be, by God the Father, accounted almighty, in that he hath given
his elect to him to save them, and deliver them from these, and that in
despite of all their force and power.
And he gave us testimony of this his might, when he was employed in
that part of our deliverance that called for a declaration of it. He
abolished death; he destroyed him that had the power of death; he was
the destruction of the grave; he hath finished sin, and made an end of
it, as to its damning effects upon the persons that the Father hath
given him; he hath vanquished the curse of the law, nailed it to his
cross, triumphed over them upon his cross, and made a show of these
things openly (2 Tim 1:10; Heb 2:14,15; Hosea 13:14; Dan 9:24; Gal
3:13; Col 2:14,15). Yea, and even now, as a sign of his triumph and
conquest, he is alive from the dead, and hath the keys of hell and
death in his own keeping (Rev 1:18).
Second, The Father’s giving of them to him to save them, declares unto
us that he is and will be faithful in his office of Mediator, and that
therefore they shall be secured from the fruit and wages of their sins,
which is eternal damnation, by his faithful execution of it. And,
indeed, it is said, even by the Holy Ghost himself, That he “was
faithful to him that appointed him,” that is, to this work of saving
those that the Father hath given him for that purpose; as “Moses was
faithful in all his house.” Yea, and more faithful too, for Moses was
faithful in God’s house but as a servant; “but Christ as a Son over his
own house” (Heb 3). And therefore this man is counted worthy of more
glory than Moses, even upon this account, because more faithful than
he, as well as because of the dignity of his person. Therefore in him,
and in his truth and faithfulness, God resteth well pleased, and hath
put all the government of this people upon his shoulders. Knowing that
nothing shall be wanting in him, that may any way perfect this design.
And of this he, to wit, the Son, hath already given a proof. For when
the time was come, that his blood was, by Divine justice, required for
their redemption, washing, and cleansing, he as freely poured it out of
his heart, as if it had been water out of a vessel; not sticking to
part with his own life, that the life which was laid up for his people
in heaven might not fail to be bestowed upon them. And upon this
account, as well as upon any other, it is that God calleth him “my
righteous servant” (Isa 53:11). For his righteousness could never have
been complete, if he had not been to the uttermost faithful to the work
he undertook; it is also, because he is faithful and true, that in
righteousness he doth judge and make work for his people’s deliverance.
He will faithfully perform this trust reposed in him. The Father knows
this, and hath therefore given his elect unto him.
Third, The Father’s giving of them to him, to save them, declares that
he is, and will be gentle, and patient towards them, under all their
provocations and miscarriages. It is not to be imagined, the trials and
provocations that the Son of God hath all along had with these people
that have been given to him that saves them: indeed he is said to be “a
tried stone;” for he has been tried, not only by the devil, guilt of
sin, death, and the curse of the law, but also by his people’s
ignorance, unruliness, falls into sin, and declining to errors in life
and doctrine. Were we but capable of seeing how this Lord Jesus has
been tried even by his people, ever since there was one of them in the
world, we should be amazed at his patience and gentle carriages to
them. It is said, indeed, “The Lord is very pitiful, slow to anger, and
of great mercy.” And, indeed, if he had not been so, he could never
have endured their manners as he has done from Adam hitherto. Therefore
is his pity and bowels towards his church preferred above the pity and
bowels of a mother towards her child. “Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea,
they may forget, yet will I not forget thee,” saith the Lord (Isa
49:15).
God did once give Moses, as Christ’s servant, an handful of his people,
to carry them in his bosom, but no further than from Egypt to Canaan;
and this Moses, as is said of him by the Holy Ghost, was the meekest
man that was then to be found in the earth; yea, and he loved the
people at a very great rate; yet neither would his meekness nor love
hold out in this work; he failed and grew passionate, even to the
provoking his God to anger under this work. “And Moses said unto the
Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?” But what was the
affliction? Why, the Lord had said unto him, “Carry this people in thy
bosom as a nursing father beareth the suckling child, unto the land
which thou swarest unto their fathers.” And how then? Not I, says
Moses, “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too
heavy for me. If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of
hand, and let me not see my wretchedness” (Num 11:11-15).
God gave them to Moses, that he might carry them in his bosom, that he
might show gentleness and patience towards them, under all the
provocations wherewith they would provoke him from that time till he
had brought them to their land; but he failed in the work; he could not
exercise it, because he had not that sufficiency of patience towards
them. But now it is said of the person speaking in the text, “That he
shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and
shall gently lead those that are with young” (Isa 40:11). Intimating,
that this was one of the qualifications that God looked for, and knew
was in him, when he gave his elect to him to save them.