Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 399

 

QUEST. THIRD. What it was for him to come to be a Saviour.

To further handle this question, I must first show—First. What it is to be a Saviour. Second. What it is to come to be a Saviour. Third. What it is for Jesus to come to be a Saviour. To these three briefly—

First. What it is TO BE a Saviour. 1. A Saviour supposed some in misery, and himself one that is to deliver them. 2. A Saviour is either such a one ministerially or meritoriously.

Ministerially is when one person engaged or is engaged by respect or command from superiors to go and obtain, by conquest or the king's redemption, the captives or persons grieved by the tyranny of an enemy. And thus were Moses and Joshua, and the judges and kings of Israel, saviors—' Thou delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou hardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gave them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies (Neh 9:27). Thus was Jesus Christ a Saviour; he was engaged by respect and command from God to obtain, by conquest and redemption, the captives or persons grieved. God sent his Son to be 'the world's Savior' (John 4:42).

Meritoriously is when the person engaging shall, at his own proper cost and charge, give a sufficient value or price for those he redeemed. Thus, those under the law were redeemed by the redemption money—' And Moses gave the money of those that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons' (Num 3:46-51). And thus was Jesus Christ a Saviour. He paid full price to Divine justice for sinners, even his own precious blood—' Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18,19).

And forasmuch as, in man's redemption, the undertaker must have respect, not only to the paying of a price, but also to the getting of a victory; for there is not only justice to satisfy, but death, devil, hell, and the grave, to conquer; therefore hath he also by himself gotten the victory over these. He abolished death (2 Tim 1:10) and destroyed the devil (Heb 2:14,15). He hath been the destruction of the grave (Hosea 13:14). He hath gotten the keys of hell (Rev 1:18). And this, I say, he did by himself, at his own proper cost and charge, when he triumphed over them upon his cross (Col 2:14,15).

Second. What it is TO COME to be a Saviour.

1. To come to be one, one is supposed to be ordained and fore-prepared for that work. 'Then said he, Lo, I come; a body hast thou prepared me (Heb 10).

2. To come to be a Saviour supposed one commissioned or authorized to that work—' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me,' authorized me, 'to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised' (Luke 4:18). And upon this account, it is that he is so often called Christ, or the Anointed One; the anointed Jesus, or Jesus the Anointed Saviour. 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.' 'This Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.' He 'testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ,' 'and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving' by the Scriptures 'that this is very Christ' (John 11:27; Acts 9:22, 17:3, 18:5); the very anointed of God, or he whom God authorized and qualified to be the Saviour of the world.

3. To come to be a Saviour, supposed a resolution to do that work before he goes back—' I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hidden from mine eyes' (Hosea 13:14).

And as he resolved, so he hath done. He hath purged our sins (Heb 1:3). By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified (Heb 10:14). He hath obtained eternal redemption for them (Heb 9:12; 2 Tim 1:10; Heb 9:26; Col 2:15; Heb 6:18-20).

Third. I now come to the third question: What is it for Jesus to come to be a Saviour?

1. It is the most significant discovery of man's misery and inability to save himself from that place that ever was made in the world. Must the Son of God himself come down from heaven? Or can there be no salvation? Cannot one sinner save another? Cannot man by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him? Cannot an angel do it? Cannot all the angels do it? No, Christ must come and die to do it.

2. It is the most significant discovery of the love of God that the world has ever had, for God so to love the world as to send his Son! For God so to commend his love to the world and send it to them in the blood of his Son! Amazing love! (John 3:16; Rom 5:8).

3. It is the most significant discovery of the condescension of Christ that ever the world had, that he should not come 'to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many' (Matt 20:28). That he should be manifest for this purpose, 'that he might destroy the works of the devil' (1 John 3:8). That he should come that we 'might have life and that we might have it more abundantly' (John 10:10). That the Son of God should 'come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:10). That he should not come 'to judge the world, but to save the world' (John 12:47). That 'Christ Jesus should come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief' (1 Tim 1:15). That he should 'love us, and wash us from our sins in his own blood' (Rev 1:5). What amazing condescension and humility is this! (Phil 2:6-9).