Efficacious Grace, Manton on Luke 19:10

II. In what sense Christ is said to seek and save such. Here is a
double work seeking and saving.

1. What is his seeking ? It implieth

[1.] His pity to us in our lost estate, and providing means for us, in that he doth not leave us to our wanderings, or our own heart s counsels, but taketh care that we be brought back again to God: John x. 16,
Other sheep have I, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. It is spoken of his care to bring in his own among the gentiles ; he will in due time convert and bring
in all that belong to the election of grace. Christ hath not only a care of those that are already brought in, but of those who are yet to be brought in ; they are his sheep, though yet unconverted, in respect of his eternal purpose; and his heart is upon them when they little think of him, and his love to them. So the Lord Jesus appeared in the vision to Paul: Acts xviii. 10, Fear not, I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee ; for I have much people in this city.

He doth not say, There are much people, Corinth was a populous city,and it is good casting out the net where there are store of fish ; but, / have much people. It is not meant of those Corinthians that were already converted to God, for at that time there were few or none, for all those at Corinth that were converted were converted by Paul : 1 Cor. iv. 15, Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you
through the gospel. Or if some few were already converted, Paul was not afraid of them. But there are much people, viz., who were elected by God, redeemed by Christ, though yet wallowing in their sins ; such as these he findeth out in their wanderings.

[2.] His seeking implieth his diligence and pains to reduce them : Luke xv. 4, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and
seeketh after that which was lost till he find it? It requireth time and pains to find them, and gain their consent. A lost soul is not so easily recovered and reduced from his straying ; there is many a warning slighted, many a conviction smothered, and tenders of grace madein vain, till they are taken in their month : Isa. Ixv. 2, I have spread out my hands all the day long unto a rebellious people, as requiringaudience.

I evidence this two ways

(1.) Christ is said to seek after us by his word and Spirit.

(1st.) By his word, he cometh as a teacher from heaven, to recall sinners from their wanderings. At first he came in person : I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, Mat. ix. 13.



SERMONS UPON LUKE XIX. 10. 159

Besides his giving repentance as prince and lord of the renewed estate, or dispenser of the grace of the gospel, there is his calling to repentance ; and Christ was very painful in it, going up and down, and seeking all occasions to bring home poor creatures to God. Thus he was now calling home to God Zaccheus, a publican ; so the woman of Samaria, when he was faint and hungry, John iv. 34, he telleth her his meat was to do the will of him that sent him, and to finish his work/
To seek and save lost souls was meat and drink to Christ. So still he doth send ministers, giving them gifts, and inspiring them with a zeal for God s glory and compassion over souls, that with all meekness they may instruct those that oppose themselves, if peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, &c., 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26. Now these are to be instant in season and out of season, 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; as the woman lighted a candle to seek her lost groat, Luke xv. 8. So Christ causeth the candlestick of the church to be furnished with burning and shining lights, men of prudence, zeal, and holiness, and compassion over souls, that he may at length gain on a people. And indeed Christ never lights a candle but he hath some lost groat to seek.

(2d.) By his Spirit striving against and overcoming the obstinacy and contradiction of our souls. By his call in the word he inviteth us to holiness, but by his powerful grace he inclineth us. Man is averse from God ; he resists not only external offers, but internal motions, till by his invincible grace he changeth our hearts, and so in the day of his power we become a willing people : Ps. ex. 3, Thy people are willingin the day of thy power. It is the good shepherd that bringeth home the sheep upon his own shoulders rejoicing, Luke xv. 5.

(2.) This seeking is absolutely necessary ; if he did not seek them, they would never seek him. It is our great duty to seek after God ; the scripture calleth for it everywhere : Isa. Iv. 6, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. By the motions of his Spirit he urgeth us thereunto : Ps. xxvii. 8, When thou saidst, Seek ye my face. The course of his providence inviteth us ; both afflictions : Hosea v. 15, In their afflictions they will seek me early ; and mercies : Acts xvii. 27, 28, That they should seek the Lord, if
haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us : for in him we live and move, and have our being/ And his people are described to be a generation of them that seek him,
Ps. xxiv. 6. Yet if Christ had not by his preventing grace sought us,we could never seek after him : Isa. Ixv. 1, I am found of them that sought me not. I prevented their seeking of me, by sending and seek ing after mine own first. Christ beginneth with us first : 1 John iv. 19,
We love him, because he first loved us. He chooseth us before wechoose him : John xv. 16, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you/ He seeketh us first before we seek him ; for we are fugitives and
exiles, our hearts are averse from God, and there is a legal exclusion inthe way. Sweetly Bernard to this purpose, God will be sought
that he may be found, and found that he may be sought. We cannot seek him till we find him ; we may return to him, but we cannot prevent him ; for he pitied our misery, and sought us, when we had
neither mind nor heart to seek him.

2. To save them. Two ways is Christ a saviour merito et efficacia, by merit and by power. We are sometimes said to be saved by his death, and sometimes to be saved by his life : Eom. v. 10,
If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
There is the merit of his humiliation, and the efficacy and power of hisexaltation. He procureth salvation for us by his meritorious satisfaction, and then applieth it to us by his effectual and invincible power.

Here I shall do two things (1.) I shall show why it is so ; (2.) Ishall prove that this was Christ s great end and business.

First, Why it is so.

1. With respect to the parties concerned. In saving lost creatures, Christ hath to do with three parties God, man, and Satan.

[1.] With God. God s wrath was to be pacified by the blood of his cross : Col. i. 20, Having made peace through the blood of his cross,by him to reconcile all things to himself. His blood was to be shed
on earth, and represented and pleaded in heaven. Now thus he came to save us, that is, to die for us, and give his life a ransom for many here upon earth : Mat. xx. 28, x The Son of man is come not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom formany. In heaven it is represented: Heb. ix. 24, For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

[2.] The next party is man, who is to be saved, who is guilty andunholy. His guilt is removed by Christ s substituting himself in man s stead, and bearing his sins. But man by a foolish obstinacy is apt to
turn the back upon his own mercies, so that there needeth the efficacyof the Spirit of Christ to gain his consent, as well as the merit and mediatorial sacrifice of Christ to reconcile him to God. We are so
prepossessed with a false happiness, and biassed by sinful inclinations,so indisposed for the waiting for and receiving of the offered mercy in that humble and submissive way wherein God will dispense it, that unless Christ save us by a strong hand we are not likely to be the better for the tender of the gospel to us : John vi.44, No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him ; and
ver. 65, No man can come to me, except it were given him of my Father ; and John v. 40, Ye will not come unto me that you might have life. So that as we are deservedly cut off by the law, so also we are become morally impotent, and averse to the undeserved, free, and gracious tenders of the gospel ; and having wilfully pulled upon ourselves just misery, we do obstinately reject free mercy tendered to us
upon the terms of the gospel. We are lost before unless Christ satisfy the old covenant, and we are lost again, unless he qualify us for the privileges of the gospel. And as the gospel transcends the law, so our
disobedience to the gospel doth so far exceed in evil our disobedience to the law; so that We are doubly lost, utterly lost, unless Christ help us.
works of Manton vol.18

 

Manton and those like him see at once the hand of God in irresistibly drawing those elect sheep.
Notice he has no trouble describing the unsaved persons and their desperate need of God.
His mind goes directly goes to scriptural passages showing the determination of the Great Shepherd seeking each and everyone that He intends to save.

 

2. With respect to the parts of salvation. There is redemption and
conversion, the one by way of impetration,
[ to obtain by request, or entreaty]
the other by way of application. It is not enough that we are redeemed, that is done without us upon the cross; but we must also be converted, that is real redemption applied to us. We must again recover God s favour and image ;
his image was first lost, and then his favour : so is our recovery ;

first we recover his image : Titus iii. 5, He hath saved us by the washing
of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost ; that is, put us
into the way of salvation.

Sanctification is spoken of as a principalbranch of our salvation :
Mat. i. 21, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins ; he hath his name and office for that use. And then, recovering the image of God, we also recover his favour, are adopted into his family, are justified and freed from the guilt of sin : Eph. ii. 8, By grace ye are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

 

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost

LUKE xix. 10.

SECONDLY, I am to prove that this was Christ s great end and business.

1. It is certain that Christ was sent to man in a lapsed and fallen
estate, not to preserve us as innocent, but to recover us as fallen. The
good angels are preserved and confirmed in their first estate, they are
kept from perishing and being lost. And so would Adam have been
saved, if God had kept him still in a state of innocency ; but our salva
tion is a recovery and restoration, being lost and undone by the fall :
rom. iii. 23, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ;
that is, lost the perfection of our nature and the consequent privileges.

2. Out of this misery man is unable to deliver and recover himself.
Not able to reconcile or propitiate God to himself, by giving a suffi
cient ransom to provoked justice : Ps. xlix. 8, For the redemption of
the soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever ; that is, if it should lie
upon our hands. And man cannot change his own heart : Who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? Not one, Job xiv. 4. There
is no sound part left in us to mend the rest, this is a work for the
spiritual physician. We have need of a saviour to help us to repent
ance, as well as to help us to pardon.

3. We being utterly unable, God, in pity to us, that the creation of
man for his glory might not be frustrated, hath sent us Christ. First,
he was from the love of God predestinated to this end from all eternity,
to remedy our lapsed estate : John iii. 16, * God so loved the world, that
he sent his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life/ He was from all eternity appointed
by the Father to save sinners.

Secondly, he was spoken of and promised for this end in paradise, presently after the fall : Gen. iii. 15, Theseed of the woman shall bruise the serpent s head.

Thirdly, he was shadowed forth in the sacrifices and the other figures of the law ; therefore said to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
Rev. xiii. 8.

Fourthly, he was prophesied of by the prophets, as one
that should make his soul an offering for sin, Isa. liii. 10 ; as the
anointed one that should be cut off, not for himself, but to make an end
of sins, and make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness, Dan. ix. 27-29.

Fifthly, he was waited for by all the faithful, before his coming, as the consolation of Israel : Luke ii. 25,
And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,
and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel; John viii. 56, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
and he saw it, and was glad ; 1 Peter i. 10, Of which salvation the
prophets have inquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the
grace that should come unto you.

Sixthly, in the fulness of time the Son of man came, not at first to judge or sentence any, but to save the lost world : Luke ix. 56, For the Son of man is not come to destroy men s lives, but to save them ; John iii. 17, God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The errand of his first coming was to offer salvation to the lost world, and not only to offer it, but to purchase it for them : Johnxii. 47, I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
All these places show that at his first coming he laid aside the quality of
a judge, and took the office of a savior and a mediator; as a prophet,
to reveal the way of salvation; as a priest, to procure it for us by the
merit of his sacrifice; as a king, powerfully to bring us to the enjoyment of it. He did not come down to punish the ungodly world ; as

Gen. xviii. 21, I will go down now and see whether they have done
altogether according to the cry of it which is come up unto me ; and
so to put an end to transgression. But he would come with an offer of
peace and salvation, and during this whole dispensation leaves room
for faith and repentance.

Seventhly, when he was upon earth, you find him conversing with sinners, as the physician with the sick, to heal their souls ; and when the Pharisees excepted against this familiarity, as if it were against decency that so great a prophet should converse with the poorest and worst, he showeth it was needful for their cure.
When they objected, Luke xv. 2, This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with them, he defendeth himself by the parable of the lost sheep,
and lost goat, and lost son. So here, when they murmur at him
for being Zaccheus guest, he pleadeth his commission and great errand
into the world. So when a woman that was a sinner washed his feet with
her tears, he preferreth her before Simon a pharisee, Luke vii. 44-47.
He pleadeth his being a physician of souls when he sat at meat with
Matthew a publican, Mat. ix. 12. So those that would have the adulteress stoned, he said to them, John viii. 7, He that is without sinamong you, let him cast the first stone at her. He spake many parables against those that were conceited of their righteousness and despised sinners, Luke xviii. 9 ; the parable of the two sons, Mat. xxi.
28-31. Now all these show that his great work was to bring lost sinners
to repentance, that they might be saved.


Eighthly, after he had offered
himself through the eternal Spirit, that he might purge our consciences
from dead works, he went to heaven, and sat down at the right hand
of God, that he might powerfully apply his salvation.
Therefore it is said, Acts v. 31, Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission ofsins. So that still he is upon the saving dispensation till he come to
judgment ; then all are in termino, in their final estate, where they
shall remain for ever.

Ninthly, the ministry and gospel was appointed to give notice of this: 1 John iv. 14, And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Well,then, if Christ had not been willing to save us, he would never have laid down his life to open a way for our salvation, nor would he have sent his ambassadors to pray and beseech us to accept of his help.