Man-hood too God hath highly exalted him saith the Apostle Phil. 2.9 Him Who why Jesus Christ both God and Man in his divine and humane Nature As for the former his divine Nature though that be utterly incapable of an intrinsical improvement of the Glory of it yet so far forth as it was humbled for the Administration of his Office so far it was accordingly advanced again Now he abased himself as he was God not by putting off his Glory but by permitting it to be ecclipsed and overshadowed with the similitude of sinfull flesh and to be humbled under the form of a servant even as the brightness of a Candle is hidden in a dark and close Lanthorn so that declaratorily he is in that respect exalted he is declared to be the Son of God by Power in rising from the dead and returning to his Glory As for the humane Nature that is properly exalted For being joyned to the God-head it hath an ample and immediate claim to all the Glory which from the God-head might be communicated to it and conferred upon it So that however while our Saviour Christ continued here the Exigence of the condition and the office which he had assumed and undertaken made him a man of sorrows and of sufferings and intercepted as it were the beams of the divine Glory from shining in the other nature so that there was no form nor beauty in him Yet having finished that Dispensation there was by vertue of the intimate Association of the Man-hood with the God-head a giving out or a Communication of all the Glory from the Deity which the other Nature was capable of And this is that which Jesus Christ desireth of his Father in my Text And even as by the Spirit of Holiness he was filled with Treasure of Wisdom and Knowledge and Grace and thereby fitted for the office of a Mediatour and made the Head and Ruler of the Church So likewise by the Spirit of Glory he is filled with unmatchable perfections beyond the Comprehensions of all other Creatures Being not only full of Glory but having in him all the fulness of Glory which a created nature joyned to an infinite and endless fountain could receive The God-head of our Saviour was at the right hand of the Father from Eternity But now the Man-hood of our Saviour is exalted to the same condition I say not to the same measure but to the same condition of Majesty and Glory with it God hath raised him from the dead and that you know must be as he is man and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places Eph. 1.20 That is he set him up above all other things or persons in the next place to himself And therefore it is added in the following words Far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come In which respect it is that God will have him worshipped with divine and religious Adoration and that by the very Angels Heb. 1.6 Of which the humane Nature single is not capable but that it shineth with the God-head in this high Glory Much might be added for the proof of this that even the Man-hood of our Saviour participateth of the Glory whereof c. Now to open it a little more particularly and distinctly to you Beloved you must know that the Man-hood of our Saviour comes not by nature to partake of this Glory Look upon the humane Nature as considered in it self and so it hath no right to it It is by Grace then that the Glory of the God-head is communicated to it and that by a double Grace the Grace of Union and the Grace of Dispensation First The Man-hood of our Saviour participateth of the Glory of the God-head by the Grace of Union It comes to be Partaker of it by its unutterably near and intimate Association with the God-head in the same person For so the God head and the Man-hood as you know are joyned together in such a tie as cannot fully be expressed Not as a man and a wife are joyned together who notwithstanding their Conjunction continue two distinct persons But as the body and the soul make one man so God and man make one Christ And as the glory of the soul by reason of the nearness of the Union redoundeth to the glory of the person and consequently of the body too even so the Glory of the God-head redoundeth to the Glory of the Man-hood in the person of our Saviour So infinitely near is the Conjunction that both the Natures cannot chuse but share together And as the God-head was in some respect abased in being joyned to the Man-hood being ecclipsed and shadowed with the meanness and the imperfections of it Even so the Man-hood on the other side is honoured and advanced in being joyned to the God-head and consequently shining with the Glory of it Secondly The Man-hood of our Saviour participateth of the glory of the God-head by the Grace of Dispensation from the Father He hath made it to partake of that Glory And therefore he hath raised it up and set it at his own right hand He hath highly exalted it he hath crowned it with Glory and Honour The Father if you mark it hath always had a mind to set up his Son Christ Not so much as he is God for so indeed he doth not need it But as Man and Mediatour he hath endeavoured every way to raise him and advance him and make him glorious in the eyes of all the world And this is that which the Apostle Peter notes Acts 3.13 The God of our Fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus whom ye delivered up and denyed the holy one Though you abused him and abased him yet God hath glorified him It is by him and his means that he is raised to such Glory Vse 1 Now is it so that even the Man-hood of our Saviour participateth of the Glory whereof the God-head hath been c. Here then we may take notice of the high Advancement of our nature in the person of our Saviour The very Glory of the God-head is in a sense communicated to it Our nature shareth with the God-head in such incomparable and transcendent Glory as can by no means be exprest It is many ways advanced and set up in Jesus Christ But this my Brethren is the heighth and top of all that in him dwelleth the fulness of the God-head bodily as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.9 Not that the God-head is confined or circumscribed within the narrow limits of our Saviours flesh or that his body is co-extended with the God-head as Ubiquitaries dream But the God-head dwels in Christ as Bernard speaks not umbrativè by external signs and shadows and tokens of his presence as once Christ dwelt in the material Temple not effectivè by the effects and operations of its Grace as now it dwels in the bodies of the Saints who in the
same respect are called the Temples of God But in him dwels the God head bodily that is really united to the humane nature to the body of our Saviour And herein Christ hath no Peer It is an high and matchless honour which no other Creature is capable of By which our nature is advanced in him above all other things and persons in the world besides Vse 2 Is it so that even the Man-hood c. Then as we may take notice here of the advancement of the nature so of our personal advancement too as many of us as belong to Christ For all the Glory of the God-head with which the Man-hood shines is for us and our advantage If he sanctifie himself it is for our sakes as his own expression is And so if he glorifie himself it is for our sakes too It is for our sakes that he prayes And now O Father Glorifie me with thy self with the Glory c. For all his Mediatour-ship throughout is with some respect to us And so it is for our sakes that this unparalelled and matchless Glory is conferred upon him Why you will ask me what is our advantage by it I answer It is very great for we poor men if we be members of the Lord Christ do share in this incomparable Glory of the Man-hood of our Saviour and that partly in fruition and partly in assured expectation First Partly in Fruition for the present we share in this incomparable Glory of the Manhood of our Saviour For as the Man-hood of our Saviour shareth in the glory of the God-head so we my Brethren share in the Glory communicated from the God-head to the Man-hood of our Saviour by reason of our Union to them both in the person of Christ Jesus And even as we are punisht in that Christ is punisht and sanctified in that Christ is sanctified so we are glorified in that Christ is glorified We shine with the incomparable and dazling Lustre of the God-head in that Christ shines with it And as we sit in Christ in heavenly places Eph. 2.6 so we are glorified in Christ with the same glory which he had with God the Father before the world was because he is invested with it as our Head in our flesh on our behalf In him God having raised him up and glorified him he hath glorified us with the very same glory In him we took possession of it So near and so indissoluble is the union between Christ and us that the Divine and Godlike glory wherewithal he shines is truly ours The members cannot choose but share in the glory of the head Secondly we share in this incomparable glory of the Manhood of our Saviour by assured expectation For as his glory in answer to the Prayer of our Saviour is now already communicated to the Manhood so far as it is capable of it So we are certain that the glory of the Man-hood of our Saviour shall one day be communicated to us so far as we are able to receive it We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him And that these vile bodies shall be conformed to his glorious body Phil. 3.21 And this should have a double operation and effect upon us 1. First it should make us to despise the shame of this world though we be trampled under foot and made the dung and the off-scouring of the Earth as this is many times the portion of the Saints our spirits should not droop or sink within us No we should bear them up in spight of all the ignominy and contempt that men pour out upon us and all the venom that they spit against us We should endure the reproach and despise the shame while we think of this glory We should not reckon of a little undeserved shame with men while we consider that we shall shortly shine with the glory of God 2. Secondly it should cause us so to walk that we be not in any thing a shame to Christ whom God hath made so glorious and who will shortly make us so glorious In whom the humane nature is advanced to such honour as to partake of the glory of the Godhead Mark what the Apostle saith Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot So may I say on this occasion shall I take the nature of Christ the Nature which our Saviour in his Person hath so highly dignified and make it in my person the nature of a Devil Suppose a Prince should marry with a mean woman would he endure to see those of her nearest kindred her Brethren and her Sisters live like Scullions and like Strumpets in his own eye Now Christ my Brethren hath assumed our Nature into a nearer union with himself then that of marriage a union which death it self was not able to dissolve For when the soul was separated from the body the Godhead was not separated from the one or from the other It was the Lord that lay buryed in the grave and he that ascended into heaven was the same that came down from heaven And shall we then defile this nature by wantonness intemperance and vile affections which Jesus Christ hath so honoured to take into so neer a union with himself and to cause it to partake of the glory of the Godhead Especially if we expect hereafter in our persons to partake of this glory Oh let us learn to keep our vessels in all holiness and honour And as we look hereafter to be like him so in the mean time let us purifie our selves as he is pure JOHN 17.6 I have manifested thy Name unto the men which c. WE have been very long upon the first Part of our Saviours Prayer and now at length it is ended and dispatched Charity begins at home and so our Saviour Christ began with his Petitions for himself For that hath been the substance of his Prayer hitherto that as he hath been humbled and abased with men so now he might be glorified with his Father And this he urges very hard with many pressing arguments and so he ceases to solicite any further for himself Charity begins at home as I have said but it doth not end there Our Saviour is not satisfied to put up his Petitions to his Father for himself but in the next place he becomes a Suitor also for his Church And here he prayes for his Apostles and Disciples then about him the members of the present Church And then for those who were after to be called by their preaching the members of the Church to come In the first place he prayes for his Apostles and Disciples then about him the members of the present Church who were already called and sanctified whom God had given him out of the world I pray for them saith he I pray not for the world In the second place he prays for those who were after to be called by their preaching the members of the Church that was to come in vers
In a word It is constancy in doing and suffering that crowneth a Christian It is not promised to Beginners but to such as continue Beloved Here are many of you that have done many things and suffered many things for God Many that have taken pains in holy Duties in Hearing Praying Fasting c. Oh let not all be cast away let not all that you have done or suffered be in vain I say as the Apostle John 2.8 Lose not the things that you have wrought It is a sad and lamentable thing to see a man come home even to Heaven-gate and for want of one step more to tumble back again into Hell If you end your works well you shall have very good wages you shall receive a full Reward He that continueth to the end shall be saved Mat. 24.13 If you be faithfull to the death you shall receive the Crown of life Apoc. 2.10 And if you thus hold out in Gods work till the Period of your lives when you shall come to die you may conclude with God as Christ doth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now O Father Glorifie me with thy self And you may sing your dying song with the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the righteous Judge shall give me And thus we have at length dispatched three of the Arguments with which our Saviour presseth and enforceth the great Petition that he makes to God the Father And we are now descended to the fourth and last and it is drawn Ab aequo from the Equity of that which he petitions for and the right he had to it Nay He affirmeth that he had not only Jus ad rem but more then so he had Jus in re too He had not only Right and Title to the Glory which he prayes he may be made Partaker of but he had the possession of it and that from all Eternity JOHN 17.5 And now O Father Glorifie me with thy own self with the Glory which I had with thee before the world was SO that our Saviour pleads Prescription for the Glory he desires and for which he is a Suitor in my Text he had it as he tells the Father here time out of mind indeed before all time before the world was And therefore though he hath in some respect been out of the possession of it for awhile he hopes he shall recover it again with his Fathers good liking The only difficulty lies in this what Glory Jesus Christ intends in this place whether the Glory of his God-head or the Glory of his Manhood of his divine or humane nature And it will be the harder to resolve because against either of them there is appearingly a very strong exception It should seem he could not mean the Glory of his God-head for that he had never lost A man would think he would not mean the Glory of his Man-hood for that he never had and therefore could not pray for the Recovery or the Restitution of the one or of the other he could not say to God the Father with relation to his God-head Glorifie me with the Glory which I had with thee before the world was because he had that Glory with the Father still when he made that Prayer he was co-equal co-essential with him still and consequently he was infinitely glorious with him still He could not say with relation to his Man-hood Glorifie me with the Glory which I had with thee before the world was because the humane nature came to have a being but a little while ago It was assumed by our Saviour many ages since the world was and so could have no Glory with the Father before the world was So that it cannot be intended of the God-head or the Man-hood if you take either of them severally and distinctly by it self It s true the God-head of our Saviour seemed to be devested of the Glory which it had from everlasting when he assumed the mean condition of a servant and so in that respect he might desire the restitution of it but if you mark it well the God-head never lost the Glory which it had with God the Father though it might seem to lose the Glory which it had with men It was not humbled really but in regard of declaration only and that with reference to men and not to God who is not carryed by appearances And that which Christ desires is that his Father would glorifie him with himself with the same Glory which he had with him before the world was Besides Our Saviour prayes as man and not as God for God doth not worship God and 't is incongruous that the Man-hood should become a Suitor for any thing to be conferred upon the God-head And therefore to avoid the rocks on either side the sum of this Petition of our Saviour to his Father must be this that as his God-head had been glorious with himself from everlasting so now his Man-hood might be glorious too That the Glory which he had as God together with the Father from Eternity might be communicated to his Man-hood so far as it was capable of it in such a measure as it could receive it That God would raise him up and set him in his humane nature at his own right hand in heavenly places and make him glorious even as he was man in the eyes of all the world And this is clearly that which Christ intendeth in his Prayer here And now O Father Glorifie me with thine own self with the Glory which I had with thee before the world was Glorifie me with thy self as I am man or as I am God-man with the Glory I had with thee as I am God before the world was I was glorious with thy self as I am God from Everlasting and now let me be glorious with thee as I am God and Man too In one nature I was glorious from Eternity viz. in my divine Nature and now let me be glorified in my divine and humane Nature too let me be glorified in my person Now this Petition of our Saviour you must consider did undoubtedly prevail with God the Father for he was always heard in every thing that he desired of him his Father never put him off with a denial And then the point to be observed is this DOCTRINE That even the Man-hood of our Saviour participateth of the Glory whereof the God-head hath been seized together with the Father from Eternity Jesus Christ as he is man shares in some measure and proportion in the Glory of the God-head There is a social Glory as the Schoolmen call it of our Saviours humane Nature which it partaketh with the God-head and which it could not have without it The Glory which the God-head had alone from Everlasting is now communicated to the person consisting of the two Natures both of the God-head and the
God hath exalted him to be a Prince to his People and so to give them as a King as once Araunah said to David in a Magnificent and Royal way And this he hath done to advance him and to make him glorious that as all comes from him so all may be ascribed to him It appears that God hath a design c. as by the offices in which he puts him so by the gifts and the abilities which he endues him with for the discharge of those places To put a person in an office who is not qualified and fitted for it who is not able to discharge it is to dishonour him and make him despicable in the eyes of others God doth not so with Jesus Christ and therefore as he makes him King and Priest and Prophet so he enables him to the performance and execution of these offices As he appoints him to them so he annoints h m with gifts and graces and abilities that he may go through with them with credit as we use to say both to the honour of his Father and himself He is the head of the body the Church saith the Apostle Colos 1.17 And to this end it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell as it is added there in that place It appears that God c. in that he makes the fulness of the God-head dwell in him Others are Partakers of the divine nature but he is partaker of the Divine Essence Others are Partakers of the properties of God but he is partaker of the God-head it self Others are partakers of the grace of God but he is partaker of the God of grace And therefore the Apostle saith not that in Christ dwelleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Divinity but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Deity In him dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head bodily Col. 2.9 Not that the Godhead is confined or circumscribed within the narrow limits of our Saviours flesh or that his body is co-extended with the God-head as Ubiquitaries dream But the God-head dwells in Christ as Bernard speaks not Vmbrative not by external signs and shadows and tokens of his presence as once he dwelt in the material Temple not effective by the powerfull operation of it not only by the Graces of it as it dwelleth in the bodies of his Saints who therefore are called the Temples of God But in him dwells the God-head bodily that is it is really united to the humane nature to the body of Jesus Christ And herein Christ hath no Peer It is a high and unmatchable honour which no other Creature is capable of by which he is advanced above all other things and persons in the world besides John 17.1 Glorifie thy Son Reas 1 IT hath been the design and purpose c. that he might make him some requital for the abasures and indignities which he suffered in the world A great part of our Saviours passion my beloved consisted in the great dishonour that was done to him and in the scorn and the derision and the contemptuous usage which he suffered even from the vilest and the worst of men If you survey it in the Gospel storie and lay it altogether all the affronts and jears and taunts and uncivil imputations that were put upon him you will admire that the glorious Son of God should ever stoop so low for our sakes yet this he did for the accomplishment of that great work to which he was appointed by the Father And therefore God in recompence hath set him up again and raised him to the height of dignity and glory And that he did it on this very ground we learn from the Apostle Paul Phil. 2.7 8. and following verses He made himself saith the Apostle there of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself And what of this why therefore God hath highly exalted him exalted him and exalted him highly as it is added in the next words therefore because he was abased And hence our Saviour useth this as an enforcing argument when he desireth to be glorified by his father viz. Because he had been formely dishonoured and brought low For this is cleerly intimated in the words John 17.4 5. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now O Father glorifie me with thy self The works of Christ were some of Ministry and service and abasure in the office of obedience and suffering for the Church and some of power and majesty in the protection and exaltation of the Church and those were to foregoe these He ought to suffer and so enter into glory Luke 24.26 There was a necesse in it a necessity of Gods decree who had appointed and designed it to be so of Gods justice which must be satisfied by obedience before he would be pacified with men or in the person of their head and advocate advance them to his glory Of Gods word in the prediction of the Prophets who had fore-shewed and prophecied that it must be so And hence saith Christ in the fore-cited text I have finished my work the work of my humiliation and therefore now I pray thee glorifie me with thy self Let my exaltation follow I should not look to be exalted if I had not first been humbled But seeing I have done the service let me have the recompence since I have undergone the one let me be raised to the other It hath been the design c. that he himself might be glorified by it Reas 2 His utmost aim is that he may be honoured in the honour of his Son Brethren the Lord in all his works I speak it reverently is a self-seeker he seeks himself in every thing he doth and it is very fit he should because there is no end above himself nor better then himself And if we had no higher end my brethren then our selves we might seek our selves too In all his actions he hath an eye upon his own glory And so he hath in this which we are speaking of the exaltation and advancement of his Son And therefore with this Argument our Saviour urgeth this desire of his Father glorifie thy Son Why should I glorifie thee might the father say what shall I get by it Thou shalt get honour by it saith our Saviour and therefore I beseech thee to glorifie me upon this account Father glorifie thy Son that thy Son also may glorifie thee I cannot glorifie thee much in this abasure and contempt but if thou glorifie me once it shall come back again upon thee by reflection I will be sure to honour thee again And therefore I beseech thee do it for thy own sake and in relation to thy own glory Now is it so my brethren that it hath been the design c. then certainly Vse 1 it is a bold adventurous part for any man to dishonour Jesus Christ and to cast contempt upon him Whoever doth it runs a
Christ descended that he was sent down from heaven And that of Christ in the forecited place is very notable to this purpose John 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the son of man which is in heaven He was then come down from heaven he was then upon the earth when he spake these words and yet he addeth he was then in heaven too even the son of man who is in heaven He speaks not of his manhood or his humane nature that was not come down from heaven for it had never been there at that time And therefore he intends it manifestly of his Godhead in which he was come down from heaven and yet he was in heaven too at the very same time But how was he come down if he were there that is the great scruple Not really but in regard of declaration Answ He seemed to descend from heaven when he took our nature on him assumed a despicable and a low condition and walked up and down upon the earth like other men It looked as if he had forsaken heaven and was come down to dwell with men as John 1.14 The word saith he was made flesh and dwelt amongst us For there the Godhead is in Scripture said to be where it appears where it is manifested and declared to be And therefore seeing Christ appeared in the flesh and was God manifested in the flesh who was till then in heaven and did not shew himself on earth in such a manner and in such a way he is said to have descended to be sent down from heaven to earth And so as Bernard speaks acutely Non venit qui aberat sed apparuit qui latebat He came not who was absent but appeared who was hid And this prevents the answer to the second Querie whither it was that Christ was sent what was the terminus ad quem of this Mission His Father sent him down in the sense before expressed into this lower world And hence he calls himself him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world John 10.36 And the Apostle Paul accordingly affirms that he descended into the lower parts of the earth Ephes 4.9 That is as Beza and some others understand it he took up his abode and residence upon the earth which is the lowest of the elements the lowest part of this world The great enquiry is What errand and what business Jesus Christ is sent into the world about with reference to which he is stiled in my Text Jesus Christ whom God hath sent And this to say it in a word my Brethren he was sent to be a Mediator and a Reconciler between God and man to make up all the breaches and all the differences between his Father and his people So that you see he was dispatched upon a sweet errand And here he had a double business and a double work to do To make Peace and to preach Peace First he was sent to make Peace to do and suffer all that was necessary to compose the business between God and man To satisfie his Father and to pacifie his Father and so to make him friends with his people And therefore God is said by him to reconcile even all things to himself all things reconcilable Col. 1.20 And he is said in the very same verse to have made peace by the blood of his Cross This is the errand that he came upon In this respect he is stiled our peace the Author and procurer of it And he is called the Messenger the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3.1 to shew us that the Message that his Father sent him in was to bring men into a Covenant and agreement with himself And this he did while he took all the matter of the Controversie between him and them out of the way paid all the debts of his people cancelled all the bonds and bills that were against them and nailed them to his Cross in the view of men and Angels Col. 2.14 That all the world might know that all the matters in debate between God and them were ended and that he had no more against them And when he had done this he cryed out Consummatum est The business which my Father sent me in and which I came into the world about is finished Secondly he was sent to preach Peace As to procure and purchase it so to reveal and publish it to his people And truly if he had not done the latter the former would have been to no purpose And hence the Father hath dispatched him down into the world to do both as to make Peace as a Priest so to preach Peace as a Prophet To let his people know there is a Peace obtained or else how should it profit them if they should never hear of it God hath annointed me to preach saith Christ himself Luke 4.17 To preach what To preach the Gospel which is the doctrine of attonement to heal the broken-hearted to preach deliverance to the captives as it is added there in that place Indeed he was appointed and designed to be the great Prophet the great Preacher and Revealer of the will of God to men And therefore the Apostle tells us That God who in former times spake to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in the last daies spoken to us by the Son He was designed you see to be the Fathers spokes-man to the world to tell them what his mind is to preach the Gospel the word of reconciliation to them This was a great part of the errand which his Father sent him in and therefore he is said to speak by him And Christ himself acknowledges in this respect My doctrine is not mine saith he but his that sent me John 6.0 And when he had dispatched this part of his Embassie too he told his Father I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do And what was that work you have it in verse 6. I have revealed thy name saith he unto the men which thou hast given me out of the world I have made known thy mercy to the Church how ready and inclinable thou art to pardon them and to be at peace with them And now I have done this the business thou hast sent me in is ended I have no more to do in this world And thus you see what business and what errand Christ is sent about Now for the last thing how he is qualified for the dispatch of this business and the delivery of this errand you must know that he is fully qualified every way And you will easily conceive that God would never send his Son into the world upon a business which he could not manage and which he was not able to go through withall And therefore as he hath sent forth his Son so he hath qualified him absolutely for the business he hath sent him in both with authority and with ability He hath qualified him with authority as his Embassadors and Messengers
the lower world to save those whom the Father hath bestowed upon me All them and none but them I must be wholly ruled by him in this business By this time I suppose the point is fully cleared That Jesus Christ was ordered by his Father c. And it was fit he should be so the reasons of congruity are such as these Reason 1 As Man he was the Fathers Creature and therefore fit he should be ordered by the Father It is but reason that the Creature should be in every thing disposed and regulated by the will of the Creator That he that gives it being should give it Law to guide the motions and the operations of the being That he that makes it should govern it and rule it too And that it should be wholly at his pleasure and dispose from whom it hath its esse and its operari And therefore seeing Jesus Christ if you respect his humane nature is a Creature it stands with reason that he should be wholly regulated and disposed according to the pleasure of his Father Reason 2 And as he is the Fathers Creature so in the second place he is the Fathers servant So that he cals him Isa 42.1 Behold my servant And servants are to do their Masters will and not their own they are in every thing to be ordered by their Master And therefore it is very notable that God the Father having called our Saviour servant speaketh of him so as one that would be regulated and disposed by him Behold my servant whom I uphold he shall shew judgement to the Gentiles he shall not strive nor cry c. A bruised reed he shall not break and so on Thus and thus he shall do and this he shall not do saith God the Father He is my servant and I will order him at my pleasure And so our Saviour Christ himself professes upon all occasions that he will be obedient to the Father as a servant ought to be and that he will do nothing any otherwise then he would have him Vse 1 Is it so that Jesus Christ was ordered by his Father in the work he did in this world And first of all in the work of satisfaction Here then we may behold and wonder at the admirable condescention of our blessed Saviour that being God co-equal with the Father he should in his assumed nature stoop so low and submit himself so far for our sakes It s true my Brethren as he was a man he was wholly to be ordered in matter of obedience by his Fathers will so far as it was manifested in the Law which he hath universally imposed on all mankind And this if he assumed the nature he was not able to avoid But this work of satisfaction by his bloody death and passion was another thing It was not any way required of him by the Law of nature nor did it lie upon him as he was a man but it was that in which he willingly submitted to be ordered by his Father for our redemption and salvation And therefore he is said to give himself to death for us as you may see that place for instance Gal. 2.20 He loved us and gave himself for us To offer up himself Heb. 7.27 To humble himself and become obedient conceive it passively obedient to the death yea the death of the Cross So that he was not forced in this respect you see to obey his Fathers order He was not humbled and made obedient but he humbled himself and became obedient and that to the death And this he clearly intimateth in that speech of his Joh. 10.18 No man takes my life from me I have power to lay it down that is to lay it down of choise and free election so that I cannot be constrained to it and I have power to take it up again And certainly if he had power to take it up again when he had lost it then he had much more power to keep it while he had it And hence his death is called a sacrifice because he voluntarily submitted to it He gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God This death of his arose not out of the Condition of his Nature neither was it inflicted on him by an excess of strength in those that brought him to it But he submitted to it in obedience to his Father and in love to his people Ah my Beloved what a miracle of mercy was there in this Condescention That Jesus Christ should stoop in this to be ordered by his Father His obedience to the death the death of the Cross was not of necessary duty as his obedience to the Law was for that his very Nature call'd for but it was of humility He stooped below himself in this obedience he humbled himself and became obedient And now my Brethren should not we stoop and should not we be humbled as Christ was The Father ordered him to suffer for us and he readily and willingly obeyed that order Suppose he order us to suffer for our Saviour Christ again shall we not willingly obey his order too as Christ did Shall Christ take up his Cross for us and shall not we take up our Cross for him I do not say we should draw crosses and afflictions on our selves but if they come upon us for our Saviours sake we should not take them as imposed on us but we should set our shoulders to them and cheerfully submit our selves to bear them But oh the tenderness of men to suffer any thing for Christ If crosses and afflictions and persecutions come upon them for his sake how do they murmur and repine Ah my Beloved remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who when he was equal to God he humbled himself and became obedient c. And will you grumble at a little shame a little trouble a little loss of outward things for his sake Oh my Beloved learn at length to be ordered as Christ was To suffer willingly for him who suffered willingly for you And to make you willing to it I shall present you but with two Considerations 1. First though you should suffer much remember yet the time of suffering is not long The season from our Saviours Incarnation even to the final dissolution of the World as some expound it is but an hour as the Apostle John calls it And alas what are our lives but as it were a little minute of that hour And shall we be so facile and tender to sink under so short a suffering I say to you of suffering as once our Saviour Christ of watching Can you not suffer with him one hour What is your patience out so soon will it not hold for one hour Are you so quickly weary of so short a Cross Oh be ashamed of such unworthy Cowardise as this is 2. Consider if you suffer with him conceive it willingly and in sincerity you shall also reign with him 2 Tim. 2.12 There is no ordinary way to come to reign
already which is a very usual thing in Scripture In such a manner spake the holy Prophet David as a Type or Figure of our Saviour long before him Psal 22.16 They have pierced my hands and feet my garments they have parted and cast lots upon my vesture They had not done it then but it is spoken by anticipation And so our Saviour I have finished the work which thou hast given me to do I am about it and I shall as certainly go through with it as if it were already perfect and consummate Others conceive our Saviours meaning to be only this I have finished the work viz. in purpose and in preparation In that I have laid the ground-work and foundation of it I have assumed the humane nature I have preached the Gospel freely I have by my Reproofs and Miracles and many other ways sufficiently exasperated and enraged the Jews to crucifie me and so to make an end of this business And consequently I have done as much as lies in me to finish it and to bring it to perfection The plainest and most genuine Exposition as it shews to me is that of Calvin which Beza and some others after him have rested in And it is to this purpose I have finished the work that is as if our Saviour Christ had said I have as good as finished it My death and passion is at hand I am now ready to be offered up so that my work is upon the matter ended And thus because the Consummation of it was so near approaching he minds his Father of it as a thing that was already perfectly accomplished and fulfilled I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Well then my Brethren finish it he did you see he pleads it to his Father and so accordingly the Point on which I shall insist is this DOCTRINE That Jesus Christ did not do his work by halves but he went through with the business that was committed to him by his Father He did not enter on it and desist again he did not give it over when he had begun and leave it incompleat and inconsummate No he followed and pursued it till he had made an end of it till he had brought it to perfection It is his own assertion of himself who is the faithful and the true witness and that in Prayer to his Father I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do So that we need no other testimony to induce us to believe it He tells us in another place that it was his meat and drink to do the the will of him that sent him and to finish his work Joh. 4.34 He was about the work of the Conversion of the woman of Samaria and many of the people of the City with her and he was so intent upon it that he would neither eat nor drink till he had done it And as the Father put his work into his hands to this end that he might go through with it and dispatch it as he himself acknowledges John 5.36 Where he stileth it the work which God had given him to finish so he did accordingly And therefore when he came to die he cryed out it is finished Iohn 19.30 The work of Gods Commission and of Mans Redemption and Salvation is accomplisht so that I have no more to do in this world In which respect perhaps is that expression Heb. 2.10 It became him for whom are all things that is the Father to make the Captain of our Salvation perfect through sufferings Perfect as a Mediator and as a reconciler between God and Man because when he had suffered once his work was perfect so that there could be nothing added to it to make it more consummate and compleat The point is plain c. Yea but it seems there was something yet behind Object there was a remainder if not of the active at least of the passive obedience of Christ which was a part if not the greatest part of his work Or else what is the sence of the Apostle in those words of his Col. 1.24 I now rejoyce in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions or sufferings of Christ All was not finished then it seems it was not so compleatly ended but there needed some addition For clearing this my Brethren you must know there is a twofold passion of Christ the one in his proper and natural Answ the other in his mystical Body The one in his own flesh the other in the flesh of his members The one for the Redemption and the Reconciliation the other for the Edification and Confirmation of the Church The first sort of sufferings may be stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the former afflictions of Christ indured in his own flesh of which we have read at the 22. ver You hath he reconciled through death in the body of his flesh The latter sort are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the after afflictions of Christ endured in the flesh of his members in the verse now cited I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh Now my Beloved there is nothing behind of that first sort of sufferings of Christ endured in his own flesh for the Redemption of the Church There is nothing wanting to them there is no such indigency or failing in them as to need a supplement or a supply by the after afflictions of Martyrs or Saints No my Beloved the Passion of our Saviour is compleat and full he finished it himself upon the Cross It was the last word that he spake before he yeelded up his soul into the hands of God the Father And since it was his last his dying word the sin were the greater if we should not believe him But there is much behind of the latter sort of sufferings of Christ endured in the flesh of his members And these are more and more compleated every day For even as the Father did determine the number and measure of the sufferings of Christ which he should endure in his natural body which he accordingly accomplished and fulfilled So he hath also determined the number and measure of the sufferings of Christ in his mystical body which they accordingly must accomplish and fulfill So that every persecution and affliction that any of his members suffer abates the number and the tale lesseneth the heap of those afflictions And hence it was that the Apostle Paul rejoyced because he filled up that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ in his mystical body This comforts me and cheers me yet that by the trials and the troubles that are now upon me I make up the remainder of the sufferings which God the Father hath appointed Christ to undergo although not in himself yet in his members I rejoyce in my sufferings because I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh Vse 1 Now is it so that Jesus Christ did not do his work
farewell of our Saviour in my Text his own departure and his Disciples stay behinde him His own departure and now I am no more in the world but I come to thee his Disciples stay behinde him but these are in the world and are to continue so for that is intimated in the words Christ must go and they must stay so that a dolefull separation is at hand If Christ had been to have remained among them here or if he would have taken them up with himself into the other world it had been well they had been together still But Christ is now about to go and they must not go with him Begin we with the first particular suggested in the words the departure of our Saviour and now I am no more in the world but I come to thee And here you have the terminus à quo the term from which he goes and that is from this lower World Now I am no more in the world And the terminus ad quem the term to which he goes to the presence of his Father but I come to thee I am no more in this world this lower world beneath Heaven He speaks of that which is approaching and at hand as if it were already acted and accomplished for it is evident he was in this world when he uttered these words And it is usual with the Holy Ghost in the Scripture to speak of instant things as done already And so our Saviour in my Text I am no more in this world q. d. I am as good as gone already the time of my departure is at hand Now this our Saviour doth not here affirm of himself as he is God for so he doth not neither can he go or come He filleth every place at once and consequently cannot move in that respect from place to place But he speaks it of himself as he is man and in relation to his bodily and fleshly presence So he is now to be no more in this world he is to leave it and depart from it But whether is he then to go if he do not tarry here Why to his Father as you have it in the following words I come to thee Why was he absent from his Father here Was there a distance between his Father and himself while he remained in this World Was not the Father present with him everywhere Yes he was in his Fathers presence every where but not in his immediate presence where he reveals and shews himself in the fulness of his glory that is confined to the heaven of the blessed And thither is our Saviour now about to go to the Immediate presence of his Father as accordingly he did in a short time after I am no more in the world but I come to thee So that the Point to be observed is this DOCTRINE That Jesus Christ as he is man is gone out of this lower world to the immediate presence of his Father Though he were once yet he is now no more in this world no he is gone up far above all heavens as the Apostle Paul speaks Eph. 4.10 above all that we see to the Heaven of the blessed And therefore David speaking in the person of our Saviour saith Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell neither shalt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption but shalt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.10 11. Thither is our Saviour gone to the immediate presence and to the right hand of the Father And there are witnesses enough of this while they beheld saith the Evangelist Acts 1.9 that is the Apostles assembled together as you may see in the foregoing part of the Chapter While they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight And that must be as he was man in which respect alone he was in sight before he was withdrawn from them And after Stephen saw the heaven opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God Acts 7.56 He saw Jesus Christ there in his Humanity and as he is the Son of man And there he must continue in his humane Nature until he come again to Judgement as the Apostles were certified by the Angels as soon as he was taken from them Acts 1.11 Why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him going into heaven And this is that which the Apostle intimateth in his Sermon to the Jews Acts 3.20 21. He shall send Jesus whom the heaven must receive until the time of restitution of all things Indeed my Brethren Christ was once manifested in the flesh appeared in his humane Nature in the World but now he is departed hence and received up to glory as the Apostle Paul speaks 1 Tim. 3.16 So that the point is plain you see That Jesus Christ as he is man is gone out of this lower c. But wherefore did he not continue here Why did he leave this lower World Let us see the reasons of it and they are many and of great importance some of them concern himself and some of them concern his Church we will survey them in their order Reason 1 Jesus Christ as he is man is gone c. because it was expedient for himself that he should be exalted after he had been abased and glorified after he had been dishonoured This World you know was the place of his abasure and humiliation in which he was to be emptied of his glory and to be made of no reputation And so accordingly he was despised and slighted and scornfully entreated here The other world my Brethren was the place in which he was to have his recompence for these abasures and to be glorified after all the shame and ignominy and contempt which the world had poured upon him And therefore when he had been throughly humbled here it was expedient for him to be received up to glory to be translated to the immediate presence of his Father where his transcendent exaltation was to be And this he intimates in his Petition John 17.5 And now O Father glorifie me with thy self q.d. I see there is no glory for me till I come to thee this is the place of my abasure and therefore I beseech thee take me to thy self that I may have glory with thee Reason 2 Jesus Christ as he is man is gone c. because he hath no more to do here He came into the world about business and that business he hath ended and dispatched and why then should he tarry in it any longer This world is not such a place in which one would be willing to continue longer then he hath work to do in it Indeed as long as Jesus Christ had any business to dispatch he was very well contented to stay here But assoon as that was ended he
was desirous to be gone and to return to him that sent him And therefore this he urgeth very hard when he enrreats his Father to receive him to him self I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Joh. 17.4 q. d. If I had not done the work for which thou hast dispatched me down into this lower world I should be willing to continue here But I have gone through with it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have made an end of it so that I have no more to do in this world and therefore I beseech thee let me come away to thee Jesus Christ as he is man is gone c. because as he hath no more to Reason 3 do here so he hath very much to do there and therefore is gone thither where his business lies He is called his Fathers servant very often in the Scripture And truly my Brethren he is a diligent and faithful one assoon as he hath done his work in one place away goes he unto another he doth not love to stay and idle there where he hath no work to do but where his business and employment is there is the place that he desires to be And hence it is my Brethren that he went away into the other world because he had much work to do there But you will ask me what that work was I answer 1. He was to triumph there over his Enemies and ours This was a necessary and important business and it was not to be done compleatly here in this world at least not till and in the very act of his departure and this is that which the Apostle pointeth at Ephes 4.8 When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive He did it not before or after but in that article of time when he ascended when he returned to his own Countrey then he led his Captives with him Even as those Conquerers of old among the Romans when they returned back to Rome after some glorious victory were wont to bring their Captives with them which they had taken in the wars and to lead them by their Chariots in a victorious and triumphant way So Jesus Christ when he had conquered Sin and Death and Hell and was returning out of this world to the immediate presence of his Father to the Country whence he came he did it in a glorious and triumphant way He did not steal away out of the world as if he had ashamed of that which he had done or suffered there as if he had been overcome No he went away triumphing as one that having absolutely conquered and beaten all that stood against him brings along his prisoners with him 2. Jesus Christ is gone away c. that he might send down his Spirit to his people That was another work he had to do the Spirit was not to come down till he came up and therefore he ascended that the Spirit might descend abundantly upon his people And this is that of which he mindeth his Apostles and Disciples when he was about to leave them Joh. 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away and why so For if I do not go away the Comforter the Holy Spirit will not come While I am with you in the flesh you are so taken up with carnal and fleshly apprehensions of me that you are made incapable of great degrees measures of the Spirit And therefore I must even go away from you that I may send the Spirit to you And so accordingly he did as the Prophet David takes notice Psal 68.18 He ascended upon high and he received gifts for men gifts to bestow on men that the Lord God might dwell among them A strange expression he ascended from them to this end that he might remain and dwell among them Yes he ascended from them in his body that he might dwell among them by his Spirit or by those gifts which he received for men in the preceding words Well then you see he is departed from us not to forsake us but to dwell among us He hath withdrawn the presence of his Body that he might dwell among us by the presence of his Spirit According to that sweet and pretious promise made to his Disciples when he was ready to depart from them Mat. 20.28 Behold I am with you always c. 3. Jesus Christ gone away c. that he might intercede for his people Why you will tell me so he might and so he did while he was resident in this world he offered up strong cries to God and that not for himself alone but for his Church and members too Yea the Chapter we are handling is the Prayer of our Saviour in the behalf of his people so that he might have interceded for them by vocal supplication had he remained still in this world and had he never gone hence Yea but he could not then have interceded for them by personal appearance as he doth now And therefore he is gone to heaven that he may appear in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.24 And is it not a comfort to us to consider that we have such a choise and pretious friend there That we have such an Advocate in Court continually at all times and in all causes That he is always by his Father in his Body and his humane Nature wherein he suffered for his people You know he bare our sins in his body on the tree and in that crucified body he appeareth in the presence of his Father So that he is at hand on all occasions to shew his Father all his wounds and all his scars all the prints and all the marks of his bitter bloody sufferings Oh Father may he say when there is any thing in agitation for his people any supplication for them or any accusation laid against them remember what I have endured for them in this flesh of mine what I have suffered for them in this body here before thee look upon these wounds and scars and for my sake be gratious to them do not deny them their Petitions do not reject them for their unallowed and bewailed imperfections 4. Jesus Christ is gone away c. to make heaven ready for us that so we may be presently admitted when we come And this our Saviour Christ himself who best knows yeelds as the reason of his departure from his Apostles and Disciples when he was about to leave them saith he I go to prepare a place for you Joh. 14.2 when our Saviour Christ entred heaven and passed into the immediate presence of his Father he took possession of it in our name and stead and left it open after him to all his Members He hath in this respect prepared it for us that he hath made it ready to receive us And when we are ready too he will come and receive us to himself that where he is there may we be also as it is added in the fore-alleadged place Joh. 14.3 5. Jesus Christ is gone away
blood of Bulls and Goats But now it is confirmed by the blood of Christ himself which is a better and a more effectual confirmation And this is that which the Apostle shews at large Heb. 9.16 and in the following verses So that the blood which ratified the Old Testament was but the shaddow and the Type of that which ratifies the new and therefore this hath the advantage of the other I must confess that the Old Testament was ratified by the death of Jesus Christ in destination for so he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world But this is ratified by the death of Christ in actual execution which is if not in it self to us at least a cleerer and a better confirmation Gospel truth excelleth for the operation of it it hath effects transcendently beyond all other truth that ever was revealed to the world I shall name but two only suggested in those two great Gospel Epithites the word of grace the word of life 1. Gospel truth works grace Not common grace and common sorrow and humiliation and repentance as the Law doth but saving grace And therefore it is called the word of grace Acts 20.32 It is so exclusively it worketh grace alone without the help and the assistance of the Law in that business Something the Law may do towards us indeed but it doth nothing in the work of grace Of his own will begat he us saith the Apostle by the word of truth that is the Gospel James 1.18 That only that is properly and strictly sanctifying truth Sanctifie them with thy truth 2. Gospel truth infuseth life and that no other truth can do The Law indeed can kill but it cannot make alive It is the Ministry of death and condemnation The Gospel only is the Ministry of life and of Salvation And therefore this exceeds the other and surpasseth it in glory as the Apostle shews at large 2 Cor. 3.6 7 c. In this respect we find the Gospel called the word of life 1 John 1.1 because it is the word that worketh life It is the quickning word that raises men from death to life to the life of grace in this world and to the life of glory in the world to come And thus I think we have sufficiently cleered the point the word of God especially the Gospel is the truth Proceed we now to make some application of it according to the divers branches of the point in order I shall but touch upon the first because I would no be prevented in the second Is it so my brethren that the word of God is all truth then certainly Vse 1 it ought all to be believed This truth on Gods part calls for faith on ours For what is faith but the belief of truth as the Apostle Paul defines it 2 Thes 2.13 He hath chosen us to Salvation through Sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth So that if the word be truth it ought to be believed by us And this our Saviour Christ insinuates in his expostulation with the Jews John 8.46 If I say truth why do you not believe me Though that which is delivered in the word of God be never so improbable never so much above corrupt reason never so impossible to a humane apprehension yet it admitteth not of doubtfull Disputation and Expostulation but rather calls for absolute belief And therefore they are deeply to be censured who give no credit to the word of truth further then their private spirits close with it who do not answer Gods truth with their faith They read it and they hear it preached but they yield no assent to it No they oppose it and dispute against it they are meer Scepticks in religion There are a multitude of such in these times They consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to godliness as the Apostle Paul speaks 1 Tim. 6.3 4. Whereas they that have ever felt the saving power of Gods word have their thoughts captivated to it and will say as the Apostle we can do nothing we can speak nothing against the truth 2 Cor. 13.8 These men upon the other side when they hear the truth of God delivered to them speak against it contradicting and blaspheming as the stubborn Jews did Acts 13.45 They do not only ask with Mary how shall this be A question not of opposition but of inquisition Luke 1.34 But even peremptorily determine they can never be And thus they belye the Lord like those of whom the Prophet speaks Jer. 5.12 This in a word for application of the former member of the point We shall now apply the latter Vse 2 Is it so that the word of God especially the Gospel is the truth Is Gospel truth excelling truth Then let us give it the preferment before any other truth both in our inquisition and our acceptation Let us dive into it most and let us value and prize it most First Let us give it the due preferment in our inquisition let us dive into it most and labour more to be acquainted with it then with any other truth Let us read those books let us hear those Preachers and let us nourish those studies which help us most to this knowledge let us make this our main endeavour to be seen in Gospel truth let us undervalue and neglect all other knowledge incomparison of this It is the dangerous mistake of the greater part of men who had rather be acquainted with the matters of the world and to be skild in secular and humane learning then in the doctrine of the Gospel How do abundance plod to dive into the secrets and depths of nature and set their wits upon the tenter-hooks to search into the mysteries of Arts and Trades how do they beat and work their brains to get abundance of experience and skill in worldly dealings and employments but take no pains at all in hearing reading meditation to dive into the mysteries of Jesus Christ Tell me my beloved have you ever among all your earnest strivings after insight either into humane knowledge or into matters of the world been half so studious and industrious to search into this Gospel truth to be acquainted with Christ Jesus who is the subject of the Gospel to know that he was born and lived and dyed for you to know him and the virtue of his resurrection not by speculation only but experience raising you up to newness of life to know that he loved you and gave himself for you Alas the hearts of a great many of you cannot choose but tell you that you have hardly ever spent a serious thought on this And the very best among us cannot choose but say that we have been too slight and careless in our enquiries into this knowledge Ah my beloved had we the spirit of the Apostle Paul or of those blessed Angels who desire to peep and pry into the Gospel truth as you may
be sanctified By consecration a person or a thing is made holy when it is set apart for holy uses In this respect the Sabbath day is holy in this respect the Temple the Utensils and Vessels of the house of God in this respect the Priests were holy Thus all the first born of the Jews were holy and set apart for God And therefore having charged Moses to sanctifie the first born thus he explains it afterwards Exod. 13.2 12. Thou shalt set them apart to God and in a word thus all the Sacrifices and oblations under the Ceremonial Law were holy they were consecrated things For consecrated things are sanctified things as I might give you instances enough in that particular Thou shalt annoint them saith the Lord speaking of Aaron and his Sons Exod. 28.4 and thou shalt consecrate and sanctifie them that they may Minister unto me in the Priests office So after speaking of the Ramm of consecration Aaron and his Sons shall eat it saith the Lord to consecrate them and to sanctifie them Exod. 29.33 Now all the question is in which of these respects our Saviour here is said to sanctifie himself whether by way of qualification or of consecration I must acknowledge I have heretofore conceived it in the former way as in a way of qualification that he made himself holy by the communication of the gifts and graces of the holy spirit to his humane nature For though it be a certain truth that Christ was not neither could be made holy of not holy privatively as man who by the fall had wholly lost his holiness is sanctified and made holy by regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost Yet it is very manifest that Christ was sanctified and made holy of not holy negatively for there was once a time when Christ as man had not this holiness inherent in his humane nature because there was a time viz. before his incarnation when his humane nature had not a being in the world And thus Christ was sanctified for his Apostles and Disciples sake his peoples sake That they might be sanctified That is he was endued abundantly with the gifts of holiness and the graces of sanctification to this end that he might communicate them and dispense them to his people and that they might be sanctified by this means That of his fulness they might all receive and grace for grace So that this looks extreamly well you see as the meaning of the Text. And for their sakes I sanctifie my self that they also might be sanctified through the truth But yet I find interpreters even universally running in another stream and understanding it of being sanctified in a way of consecration The former I suppose they leave because indeed it is not consonant to Scripture phrase For Jesus Christ to say as man that he sanctified himself in a way of qualification That is to say that he endued himself with the sanctifying gifts and graces of the holy spirit It is usually affirmed that God the Father sanctified him That it pleased the Father that in him should all the fulness of the holy spirit dwell Col. 1.19 That God even his God did annoint him with the oyl of his spirit Psal 45.7 And therefore he is called him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world John 10.36 Besides it seems not to be congruous that Christ should pray his Father to sanctifie his Apostles and Disciples because for his part he had sanctified himself with the graces of the spirit to this end that they might be sanctified by communication of those graces to them And therefore I shall run down with the common stream of exposition and understand our Saviour here to tell his Father that he sanctified himself by way of Consecration That he set himself apart to be a Priest an Altar an Offring and a Sacrifice to God the Father for the sins of his people And that to this end that they might be sanctified by this means Not only that they might be justified but that they might be sanctified too And sanctified through the truth through the effectual revelation of the Gospel to them which is called the truth in Scripture Or truly sanctified as it is rendred in the Margine not only in the Type and Figure as the Offrings and Sacrifices of the Ceremonial Law but in reality and truth And on this ground our Saviour prayes his Father to sanctifie his Apostles and Disciples that he might not be disappointed of his great end for which he sanctified himself and made himself an offring to his Father Sanctifie them with the truth And why so Why for their sakes I sanctifice my self I set my self apart to be a Sacrifice to thy justice that they also might be sanctified with the truth The words thus opened yield us out two Observations First Jesus Christ did willingly and freely set himself apart to be an Offring and a Sacrifice to God the Father Secondly he did this for his peoples sakes and that to this end that they might be sanctified by this means DOCTRINE 1. Jesus Christ did willingly and freely set himself apart to be an Offring and a Sacrifice to God the Father He was not forced to become an Expiation for the sins of men No he did it of himself and of his own accord I sanctifie my self saith our Saviour in my text by consecration So he is said to offer up himself Heb. 7.27 To humble himself and to become obedient conceive it passively obedient to the death even the death of the Cross Phil. 2.8 T is true indeed the death and passion of our Saviour was necessary if we look to God the Father and his eternal Counsel and Decree for he was slain in that respect i. e. appointed to be slain from the beginning of the world It was determined to be done as the Apostle speaks Acts 4.28 And therefore it behoved him to suffer as himself speaks Luke 24.46 and he must be lifted up upon the Cross an unavoidable necessity was laid upon him John 3.14 And as his death was necessary if we look to God the Father so it was violent my Brethren if we look to men With murderous and wicked hands they slew him Acts 2.23 They kild and crucified the Lord of glory But if we look to Christ himself his death and passion was a voluntary thing to which he willingly resigned and yielded up himself His life was not extorted from him but he laid it down himself John 10.17 He was delivered up to death by God the Father Acts 2.23 He was delivered up by Judas and the Jews too Mat. 27.2 And yet he freely yielded up himself he loved us and gave himself for us Gal. 2.20 he gave himself for us an Offring and a sacrifice to God Ephes 5.2 He sanctified himself for our sakes and set himself apart to this hard and sharp service so that the Point is plain you see That Jesus Christ did willingly and freely set himself apart to
be not the same Person And in this sense it is impossible for Christs Disciples to be so one in God and Christ as God and Christ the Father and the Son are the one of them in the other Well then our Saviour speaks here of the oneness which is between his Father and himself as he is the Mediator and as he is the Head of his Church For so they are both one as Jesus Christ himself speaks Joh. 10.30 And in another place he uses the very same expression in my Text and tells us that he is in the Father and the Father in him Joh. 14.10 Now the Father is in Christ as he is Mediator of the Church and Christ is in the Father in the same respect that is they are both one especially three ways 1. By Hypostatical union of the Manhood to the Godhead in the Person of our Saviour for the Manhood being joyned to the Godhead in the Person of the Son it must be mediately joyned also to the Father to whom the Son as God is joyned in the nearest tye that can be We have no higher phrase you know my Brethren to express the closest union then to affirm of two that they are one they two are are one and we cannot say more There is a union between faithful friends for there is one heart in two bodies as the Philosopher expresses it There is a nearer union between man and wife for they two are one flesh as the Apostle Paul speaks Ephes 5.31 and therefore they have one name But there is the nearest union between the Father and the Son for they two have one Essence one Nature one Name And so the Godhead being joined to the Manhood in the Person of our Saviour that Manhood by and through that God-head must needs be neerly and indissolubly joyned to God the Father 2. God the Father and the Son are one by dear affection Thus they are in one another and they live in one another as it were by inexpressible and tender love which they bear to one another How doth the Father love the Son beyond expression and that as he is Mediator for under that capacity he speaks of him Isa 42.1 and he seems to glory in it Behold my servant mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth and in another place he gives this attestation out of heaven to him Mat. 3 17. This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased q. d. I have some other children that I love well but This is my Beloved Son above the rest take notice of him this is he And hence he lays him in his bosome next his heart Joh. 1.18 acquaints him with his counsels tells his secrets to him entrusts him with the revelation of them sets him in the highest place next to himself advances him above yea far above all principalities and mights and Dominions and puts more honour on him then he doth on all the creatures And hence the Son is often speaking of the Fathers love to him and on the other side professes his affection to the Father and he would have the world to know it too Joh. 14.31 That the world may know that I love the Father so do I. So that you see here is union of dear love 3. The Father and the Son are one by unexpressable agreement and consent together Though they be divers yet they never differ No they continually mind the same things they will and nill the same things love and hate the same things and this agreement is between the Father and the Son not only as the Son is God but as the Son is Man and Mediator too The will of Jesus Christ as he is Man in all respects accordeth and consenteth with the will of God the Father Or if it were not so it must be sinful and irregular and therefore he submitted still yea even in those things which were against the Nature that he had assumed Not my will but thine be done And thus you see how the Father is in Christ as he is Man and Mediaator and how Christ as Mediator is in God the Father how they are both one viz. by hypostatical union by dear affection by unexpressable agreement and consent together Now we shall easily discover how he would have his Apostles to be one in his Father and himself which is the second thing to be unfolded in the point It is the will of Jesus Christ that his Disciples should not only be one among themselves but that they also should be one in God in the Father and the Son This is the special thing for which he prays That they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us 1. Then as the Father is in Christ as Mediator and Christ as Mediator in the Father by the Hypostatical union so Christ would have his Disciples to be in both of them by the mystical union That as the Manhood of the Son is mediately in God the Father in being joyned to the Godhead of the Son which is one with God the Father so we should also be mediately in the Father in being joyned to the Godhead and the Manhood in the Person of Christ That we should be in the Father by and through Jesus Christ And so indeed are all the members of the body mystical by reason of their union with the Lord Christ Christ is one with God the Father and we are one with Jesus Christ and therefore in a sense we are one with God the Father Jesus Christ is in the Father and we are in Jesus Christ Ephes 1.10 We all are gathered into one in him and therefore we are also mediately in the Father And hence it is that all the Saints are said not only to be one among themselves and to be one in Christ but also to be one in God the Father as in my Text you see I pray for them saith Christ that shall believe on me that they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us not one among themselves but one in us Not in me only but in thee too Not one in me but one in us So that you see believers all of them are in the Father by the Son 2. As God the Father and the Son are one by dear affection so Christ would have all his Disciples to be one both with the Father and himself in the very same manner He would not have them only to be one among themselves by love but he would have them also to be one in God by love He would have their hearts to live in his Father and himself by unexpressible and choice affection That they should find no rest no quiet anywhere but in God and Christ only To be so closely and indissolubly joyned to the Father and himself that nothing in the world should be able to divide them to separate them from the love
thus of the first Argument with which our Saviour prosecutes his suit to God the Father that his Disciples might be all one Which hath been taken from the furtherance that this neer unity of theirs would be to his own entertainment in the world JOHN 17.22 And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one THE second follows now in order to be handled And it is taken from the end at which he aimed in glorifying his Disciples in giving them the glory which he had received from God the Father and this was that they might be one And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one q. d. Since I have glorified them so much as I have done to this end that they might be one I pray thee Father let me not be disappointed of my purpose but let me have my end in this business Two things we have to be considered in the words First Christs communication of the glory which he received from the Father to believers The glory which thou gavest me I have given them And secondly the end of this communication that they may be one even as we are one At this time I shall make a little entrance on the first of these and that is Christs communication of the glory which he received from the Father to believers The glory which thou gavest me I have given them If there be any question what glory is intended by our Saviour here whither that which he as God enjoyed together with the Father from eternity Or that which he as Man and Mediator of the Church received from the Father It is apparently resolved in the words themselves The glory which thou gavest me Christ hath no glory given him as he is God but as he is Man and Mediator he hath much bestowed upon him by the Father Now that which he receives as man he communicates to men he gives it out again in some sence and in some degree to true believers to all the living members of his body As he affirmeth here expresly the glory which thou gavest me I have given them Them whom Why them that believe on me as you shall easily discern if you observe the series of the Text Neither pray I for those only but c. That they may all be one c. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them So that we have two Observations cleerly pointed at in these words First God the Father hath bestowed much glory on the Son as he is Man and Mediator of the Church Secondly The self same glory which the Son as Man receives from God the Father he communicates again and gives it out in a sort to all believers DOCTRINE 1. God the Father hath bestowed much glory on the Son as he is Man and Mediator of the Church You see he hath the Sons receipt to shew for it the glory which thou hast given me saith Christ It is his own acknowledgement in writing here that he hath glory given him by God the Father Indeed my brethren God the Father hath honoured Jesus Christ exceedingly Heb. 1. per tot for that is the intention of the whole Chapter as I have shewed you largely on the first verse to which I shall refer you for further prosecution of this Point and so I pass on to the second Observation DOCTRINE 2. The self same glory which the Son as man receives from God the Father he communicates again and give it out in a sort to true Believers That which he receives as man he communicates to men as he partakes it in the humane nature so to the humane nature he dispenses it again to all the members of his body This is the thing which he affirms expresly to his Father in my text The glory which thou hast given me I have given them q. d. As thou gavest it me for them so I have given it to them I have not kept it in my own hands but have as freely parted with it as I did receive it I have been true to thee and them in this business Now for the through cleering of the Point I shall review the glory which God the Father hath bestowed upon the Son as Man and Mediator of the Church and that in all parts and branches of it And then proceed to shew you particularly and distinctly that this very glory in all the parts and branches of it Christ hath dispensed again in some degree to true believers And when I have done this I hope it will be evident that the self same glory c. Then the Son as man receives most honourable titles from the Father as I have shewed you formerly at large he calls him King he calls him Lord. Yea not Lord Adonai alone but Lord Jehovah which is indeed the highest and most glorious Title that belongs to God himself But doth Christ make these Titles over now to true believers yes my beloved all of them without exception As God makes him a Prince so he makes them Princes And as God makes him a King so he makes them Kings as the Church acknowledges Apoc. 1.6 He hath made us Kings to God As God calls him Jehovah so he calls the Church Jehovah at least she is so called by his means by reason of her union with him For even as Jer. 23.6 it is said of Jesus Christ This is his name by which he shall be called Jehovah our righteousness so Jer. 33.16 it is said of true believers of the Church which consists of true believers This is her name by which she shall be called Jehovah our Righteousness A man would think Christ should have kept this glorious and transcendent title to himself concerning which the Lord professes Isa 42.8 I am the Lord I am Jehovah for it is Jehovah there not Adonai or Elohim that is my name that is in a sence my proper and peculiar name and my glory the glory of that name will I not give unto another But when the Father gives it unto the Son as Mediator he doth not give it to another for he is one with God the Father and when the Son as Mediator gives it to the Church he doth not give it to another neither She is so neer him that he will have her one way or other to partake with him in this high glory The Son as man receives much glory from the Father as in the Titles which he gives the Son so in the Titles which himself assumes in relation to the Son In the New Testament as I have shewed you he calls himself no more the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the Father of Israel but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ He calls himself no more the Lord their God that brought them out of land of Aegypt but the God that brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ Now
believed for the present or should believe in after times If he had said I am in them and thou in me exclusively this would not have been properly applyed to them which had believed in former times supposing that I am excludeth I have been or should believe in after times If he had said I shall he in them and thou in me this could not have been properly applyed to them which had believed or did believe So that which way soever he had fully set it down he had seemed to exclude past believers or present believers or future believers which he had no intent to do And therefore he doth purpo ely express it so as I conceive that he might take in all of them without exception I in them and thou in me to which you may add have been are and shall be I have been in them that did believe I am in them that do believe and I will be in them that shall believe That so they may be all of them by this means closely linkt together One special end of my inhabitation in believers past present and to come of this inhabitation in my self the Mediator between thee and them is this That they may all be one yea that they may be perfect in one therefore I beseech thee Father let us have our end in this business For Explication of the words we have three things to be enquired and resolved First how Christ as Mediator is in true believers Secondly how God the Father is in Christ as Mediator Thirdly how the Mediator being in believers and God the Fathers being in the Mediator do serve to this great end whereof our Saviour speaks viz. to make believers one yea to make them perfect in one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one I shall be brief upon the former two because they are more easie to be apprehended and the third indeed is the main thing in the Text. As for the first of these How Christ as Mediator is in true believers I suppose you are not to seek of this He is in true believers by his Spirit And that not by the Essence of the Spirit for so he is no more in one man then another but by the operation and effects that is the gifts and graces of the Spirit and especially by faith which is the grace that gives them the denomination of believers And therefore Christ is said expresly to dwell in the heart by faith Eph. 3.17 As for the second thing proposed how God the Father is in Christ as Mediator for clearing this you must remember that which hath been often hinted that God the Father all along this prayer of our Saviour is taken for the whole God-head Now in our Saviours humane Nature the whole Godhead dwells as the Apostle shews Col. 2.9 In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily Others are partakers of the Divine Nature as the Apostle speaks 2 Pet. 1.4 but he is partaker of the Divine Essence Others are partakers of the properties of God but he is partaker of the Godhead it self Others are partakers of the grace of God but he is partaker of the God of grace And therefore the Apostle saith not that in Christ dwelleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Divinity but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Godhead And that the fulness all the fulness of it In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily Because it is indeed and really united to the humane Nature to the body of Christ Jesus as I have somewhere noted heretofore You see how Christ is in believers and how God is in Christ Now for the third and last particular proposed how their being each in other doth serve to this end mentioned in my Text viz. to make believers one yea to make them perfect in one I in them and thou in me that they may be perfect in one This will need a little further Explication That Christ is in believers by his Spirit to this end that they may be one among themselves and with the Father and the Son is very manifest in Scripture But is God in Jesus Christ to this end Yes my Beloved to this end God had never been in Christ as Mediator but that believers might be joyned to himself in and by and through Christ True my Beloved the Father had been in the Son as God however so he was from everlasting But God had never been in Christ as Man and Mediator but for effecting this union so that as the Apostle saith God was in Christ reconciling the world the world of believers so I may say as well God was in Christ uniting the world the same world of believers to himself Originally they are disjoynted and divided each from other and which is worst of all from God But down comes Christ and dwells in all of them together and down comes God and dwells in Christ that so they may be all one I in them and thou in me that they may be perfect in one Not only that they may be one but that they may be perfect in one what doth our Saviour mean by that expression That they may be perfect in one Truly nothing else but this as I conceive that they may so be one that there may be a perfect union There is a two-fold perfection a perfection of parts and a perfection of degrees The first of these is specially intended here that there may be a perfect union in regard of parts that is that all the parts that should be joyned may be joyned together Therefore am I in all of them saith Christ here and thou in me that am in all of them I in them and thou in me that they may be perfect in one that there may be such a union to which no part that should be joyned is wanting so that there can be nothing added to it in regard of parts at least to make it more consummate and compleat If I were not in them though they were never so indissolubly joyned among themselves that would not be a perfect union for there would be Christ wanting If thou wer 't not in me as Mediator though I were never so indissolubly joyned to them that would not be a perfect union neither for there would be God wanting And therefore I in them saith Christ I have been in them that did believe I am in them that do believe and I will be in them that shall believe to the end of the world And thou in me thou hast been art and wilt be still in me that they may be perfect in one That they may be so one that there may be a perfect union You see the meaning of the words as far as I have attained There might be many things observed which have been divers times insisted on from other places The doctrine proper to the Text is this DOCTRINE That the perfection of believers union stands in this that
wished to true Believers then to be with Christ in heaven To be in heaven where they shall be absolutely and compleatly holy and happy where they shall never sin and where they shall never suffer any more where holiness and happiness shall be both perfect where there is fulness of joy and pleasure for evermore and to be with Christ there of whose immediate prefence true believers are inavoidably debarred as long as they remain in this world While they are at home in the body they are absent from the Lord as 2 Cor. 5.6 But when they come to heaven they shall be with him they shall have the compleat and full fruition and enjoyment of him which is the greatest happiness that can be To be with Christ is best of all 1 Phil. 23. To be with Saints on Earth is good though they be imperfect here and though by reason of their imperfections they be the less delightfull and the less beneficial to us To be with Saints in heaven is better because they are perfect there There are the spirits of just men made perfect But to be with Christ there is best of all This is so good that there is nothing better there is no higher happiness attainable by any creature And therefore Christ would have his people to enjoy it to be in heaven where himself is because he loves them with a love of benevolence 2. Jesus Christ would have his people to be in heaven where himself is because he loves them with a love of complacency because he takes delight in them and friends that delight in one another think it not sufficient to be present each with other by the presence of their hearts and spirits No if it be possible they will be present each with other in their bodies too as you may see in Jonathan and David what shifts they made to come together So Jesus Christ who loves his people out of measure is not content that he is with them in his spirit and that they are again with him in their spirits No this is not enough but he must have their bodies with him too he must enjoy their company in heaven or else it is not well there Christ is not fully satisfied till he enjoy the sweet Society of his beloved Saints in heaven with whom he hath such intimate and dear acquaintance while they are here upon earth And hence he beggs his Father for them to bring them to the same place where himself is as if he could not live in heaven without them Father I will that c. 2. There is a second reason added in the Text which I shall handle Reason 2 only under that consideration Father I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am And why so might the Father ask him Why that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me as it is added in the next words That they may see the lustre which I sparkle with The glory of Christs humane nature in heaven is exceeding great The Evangelist who saw it through the dimm spectacles of humane frailty endeavours as he can to set it forth Saith he his Countenance was as the Sun that shineth in his strength Apoc. 1.16 But this was but a short resemblance Our Saviour Christ who knew it better carries it a little higher The Son of man saith he shall come in the glory of the Father Mat. 16.27 In comparison of whose incomparable lustre and transcendent brightness the Sun it self is but a shaddow Now Christ would have his people be in heaven where himself is that they may see this glory which he sh nes withall But why would he have them see it what shall they gain by it 1. While they see it they cannot but exceedingly rejoyce in it It cannot but transport them even to an extasie of joy to see him whom they love so infinitely sparkle forth with such dazling raies of glory Oh will the poor believer say This is my head my husband whom my soul loveth that is become so out of measure glorious There was a time when he was black and when there was no form nor beauty in him when wretched men made him vile and ignominious and when they hid their faces as if they were ashamed of him But now he shines forth as the Sun that hath been masked with a gloomy cloud This is he that died for me that shed his blood for me that loved me and gave himself for me Oh how my heart is ravished to behold his glory 2. While they behold it as they shall rejoyce in it so they shall partake of it And that especially two wayes both by union and reflection First they shall partake of it by union for being one with Jesus Christ they cannot choose but share together with him in his glory And as the glory of the members redoundeth to the glory of the head in which respect it is that the Apostle saith that Christ shall be admired in all them that believe So on the other side the glory of the head redoundeth much more to the glory of the members Secondly And as they shall partake hereof by union so also by reflection when they see Christ while they behold the glory of the Lord they shall be transformed into the same image from glory to glory Their vile bodies shall be conformed to his glorious body Phil. 3.21 And while they see him as he is they shall be like him as the Apostle John insinuates 1 Epist 3.2 They shall bear the very image of the heavenly Adam 1 Cor. 15.48 And as the face of Moses shined when he had been with God upon the Mount so when we come to be with Christ in heaven and to behold his glory there we shall reflect it back again and so shall shine together with him in the same glory And this is another reason why Christ will have his people to be with him that they may see his glory and seeing may partake of it both by union and reflection Use Now to descend to application Is it the will of Christ c. Here then you see the singular and extraordinary happiness of Christs people If they were alwayes to remain to set up their perpetual abode in this world it would be very sad with them It is a vale of tears a most uncomfortable place especially to Christs people in which they are not like to have a quiet hour almost as long as they remain in it But now the comfort is that it is the will of Christ that they that are bestowed upon him by his Father shall not alwayes stay here that he will have them come to heaven where himself is That he will not alwayes leave them in this vale of tears but he will one day bring them to a place of joy there to enjoy himself for ever to keep no longer at a distance from him but to be with him where he is To be with Christ in any
in Paradise no we are branches of such a Vine as never withers we are members of such a head as never dies So that undoubtedly the life of Jesus in us although it be not priviledged from abatements and temptations yet it hath nothing in it that tends to utter dissolution Secondly the life which Jesus Christ bestows upon his people as it hath no inward principles of dissolution in it self so neither is there any outward force that can prevail against it to destroy it Christ will preserve and maintain it in us in spite of any opposition The world may set upon us and endeavour to extinguish this life of holiness and grace in us she may assault us with her violent tentations every way with promises and sweet insinuations on the one side with threats and bloody persecutions on the other But this we may relie upon the world shall never overcome us for Christ hath overcome the world And we must know that Christ hath overcome the world not for himself alone but for his members And as he overcame it for us so he doth overcome it in us too by his grace as the Apostle intimates 1 John 5.5 This is the victory that overcomes the world even your faith The Devil is a far more subtile and pernitious adversary then the world but yet he cannot overthrow this life of grace in any of the Saints The gates of Hell cannot so far prevail against them The Serpent can but bruise the heel of Christ and those that appertain to Christ he cannot touch the head or breast he cannot wound us in the vital parts or take away our life from us The flesh is the worst enemy of all in this respect because it is an inward Enemy and a mortal enemy Either that must die or we as the Apostle Paul insinuates Rom. 8.13 But here 's our Comfort now the the flesh shall die and we shall live Christ will destroy the flesh in us and he will put the Spirit into us and maintain the Spirit in us And by this Spirit we shall live and this life shall be eternal We shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting Gal. 6.8 So that the point you see is fully cleered The life which Jesus Christ bestowes c. For first it hath no inward principles of frailty in it self And secondly there is no outward force that can prevail against it to destroy it But here it may be you will interpose those words of the Apostle Jude in the 12th v. of his Epistle where he speaks of some Revolters who were twice dead for that is his expression there they are trees whose fruit withereth Object twice dead plucked up by the roots And how were they twice dead They were not dead at all in regard of their outward and natural life for they were then alive and working mischief in the Church and therefore out of question his intention must be this First they were dead in trespasses and sins Then for a while in some respect or sence they lived the life of Grace And afterwards they died again and so they were twice dead and how then is the Doctrine true The life which Christ c. For resolution of the Scruple you must know my brethren that a man may live the life of grace either in deed and truth or else in shew and appearance only The Church of Sardis lived in shew she had a name Answ our Saviour tells her that she was alive but she was dead Rev. 3.1 There was but a name of life she had a name that she did live but there was the reality of Death she was dead Now they that live in name only who have the shew and the appearance of the life of Christ may die in shew and in appearance too And therefore the Apostle speaking according to the common apprehension and conceit of men saith they were twice dead Once indeed and really before they gave so much as any outward evidence of life And then again in shew and in appearance when they lost that life of grace which both to others and themselves they seemed to enjoy Now is it so that the life which Jesus Christ c. This then should stay Vse 1 us and support us against the fear of those tentations which threaten us with the destruction of the life of grace It is a great affliction to the Saints sometimes when they are mightily assaulted by Satan and their own corruptions and even ready to be overcome they cry out with relation to their spiritual as Job with respect to his natural life What is my strength that I should hope What grace have I that I should hold out against such violent Encounters as these are How should I hope to live when my life is thus assaulted with such fiery darts without with such distempers noxious humours and such lusts within Oh but remember my beloved Christ gives eternal life to his people a life that is not subject to destruction either by inward weakness or outward violence If ever once you have it from him you can never lose it He that once lives the life of Christ can never die death hath no more dominion over him Is it so my brethren that the life of c. This then may clear and Vse 2 comfort us against the frailty and dissolution of the life of nature It 's true my brethren that is subject to decay it is a perishable life but this is an eternal life That may and will be lost indeed but this endures to all eternity And why then are we so afraid of death why doth it terrifie us and affright us so when it hath done its utmost we shall live for ever Why are we grieved and troubled when they die the death of nature who have the life of Christ in them Truly my brethren we may say of such as our Saviour of the Damsell they are not dead As Christ to Martha when she bewailed the loss of her dear brother Lazarus John 11.26 Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die He shall never die the death that overthrows the life of Christ the life of Grace for so you must conceive him there in that place q. d. Lazarus is a believer and therefore whatsoever thou maist apprehend he is not dead He is not dead in reference to that which is a Christians life indeed no true believer is capable of dying so whosoever liveth and believeth in me can never die It 's true my brethren such may lose the life of nature but that alas is but an image and a shadow and a shew of life The life of grace and holiness is life indeed he that liveth in sin is dead while he lives he that lives in holiness is alive when he dies and if the life of nature be not worth the name of life then certainly the death that overthrows no other but the life of nature deserveth not the name of death And hence the death of
true believers which strips them only of the life which stands in union of the body and the soul together and not of that which stands in union of them both to Christ is stiled a rest a sleep in Scripture not a death They only die indeed which go down quick to hell as the prophet David speaks who are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death who after many pangs and tortures suffered in the separation of the body from the soul are separated everlastingly from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Is it so that the life which Jesus Christ c. Oh how doth it concern Vse 3 us then my brethren not to satisfie our selves with the frail life of nature which may expire upon a suddain and let us sink into Eternal death but to make out after the life of Jesus Christ the life of grace which is above the reach and power of death which will not fail us but endure for ever We all have sparks of immortality within us and we have thoughts aspiring to Eternity we would not die if we could choose Oh let us labour then my brethren for the life of grace and this is an eternal life The life of nature is a fading thing it may be gone upon a suddain And it is a sad and dreadfull thing for an eternal soul to have nothing else between it and eternal woe and torture but such a fickle and perishable life which the next minute may be done and let him drop away to hell for ever Oh how suddainly may such perish and come to a fearful End but if we live the life of Christ that is a lasting and abiding life And though the natural life decay and though the body die and rot and turn to dust and putrefaction yet this will flourish and grow stronger still till it be perfected and made consummate in the life of glory And why then are our labours and endeavours wholly spent to nourish and maintain this transitory life with things that perish in the using which yet when all is done will fail and come to dissolution but never strive for the attainment of that life which is eternal It is a lamentable thing my brethren that the divine intentions of eternal minds should be laid out on nothing else but perishable things Now that you may attain this lasting and enduring life of grace I shall but give you two or three directions First You must strive for saving knowledge and seek to get your minds enlightned with the beams of truth The life of holiness and grace consists in light And hence saith the Evangelist that light viz. the light of saving knowledge from the son of God revealed and manifested in the Gospel was the life of men Iohn 1.4 And in the words immediately adjoyned to my text that he may give eternal life c. and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent It s true indeed there may be light of knowledge without any life of grace But there can never be the life of grace without the light of holy knowledge And therefore the Apostle speaking of the Gentiles saith they were strangers from the life of God they lived the life of men but they were strangers from the life of God the life of grace by reason of the ignorance and darkness that was in them And surely if we ever look to rise up from our graves of sin and stand up from the dead we must have light from Jesus Christ as the Apostle Paul insinuates Eph. 5.11 Secondly You must endeavour after faith which is the instrument and means of life by which it is conveyed from Christ to all his members And therefore we shall find that faith and life believing and living are joyned together the one as the fruit and effect of the other Whosoever liveth and believeth in me saith our Saviour Ioh. 11.26 id est Whosoever liveth by believing in me shall never die He that believeth in him that sent me hath eternal life saith Christ Iohn 5.24 and shall not come to condemnation but is passed from death to life These things are written that ye might believe that Iesus Christ is the Son of God and that believing ye might have life Joh. 20. ult I live saith the Apostle Paul and yet c. and the life which I live I live by the faith of the Son of God So that the grace of faith you see my brethren is the instrument of life it is the bond of union between Christ and all his members it is the Artery by which his Spirit is conveyed into us And therefore if you ever look to live you must labour after faith Thirdly that you may attain to saving knowledge and to justifying faith and consequently to this life of Christ you must attend upon the voice of Christ in the preaching of the Gospel For that is an effectuall means when God is pleased to concurr to raise men from the death of sin and to make them live to God And this is clearly intimated to us by our Saviour Christ himself John 5.25 The hour cometh saith Christ there when the dead the dead in sin shall hear the voice of the Son of God conceive it in the powerful preaching of the Gospel and they that hear it shall live And hence the word of Christ is called the word of life You see then what you are to do I say to you my Brethren as the Prophet to the Jews Isa 55.3 Hear with an obedient ear a flexible and yielding heart hear and your souls shall live And thus far of the thing to be dispenced by vertue of the power and the authority of Jesus Christ with which he is invested by the Father And this as you have heard is life yea it is Eternal life The manner or the way of dispensation comes next in order to be handled it is to be dispenced as a gift in the nature of a gift in a way of free donation that he should give Eternal life Not that he should communicate it or confer it only but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he should give So that you see my Brethren all is free both on the Fathers side and on the Sons The Father he is free to him that he may be free to others The Father gives him power that he may give his people life As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him There is no difficulty in the terms the point is obvious DOCTRINE That Jesus Christ doth freely give eternal life to his people They have it from him as a free gift He doth not sell they do not buy it or if they do it is as his own offer is without money and without price They have it from him out of bounty and not out of merit or desert