Twenty-Five Lectures Upon the Lords Last Sermon and Conference, Lecture 19
THE XIX. LECTVRE, OF CHRISTS PRAYER BEFORE HIS PASSION.
IOHN, CHAP. xvi. VERS. 4.5.
4 J hauehave glorified thee on the earth: J hauehave finiſhed the worke which thou gaueſt mee to doe.
5 And nowe glorifie mee, thou Father, with thine owne ſelfe, with the glorie which I had with thee before the world was.
WEe hauehave heard (Welbeloued in the Lord Ieſus) ſundry arguments that the Lord Ieſus vſeth in his Prayer to his Father, to moue him to glorifie him. (For that is the petition, Glorifie thy Sonne.) The firſt argument was frō the time of his death, that was at hand: The time is come, ſayeth the Lord, therefore glorifie thy Sonne. The ſecond argument was from the glory that ſhould redound to the Father, if he ſhould glorifie the Sonne: Glorifie thy Sonne, Father, that thy Sonne may glorifie thee. The third argument was from that life euerlaſting, that hee ſhould giuegive to them whome the Father had once giuen to him, if hee were once glorified: Glorifie mee, ſayeth hee, that J may giuegive life euerlaſting to them whom thou haſt giuen mee. Then hee letteth vsus ſee, that it cannot bee poſſible that he can giuegive life to any man, except he firſt bee glorified. Life euerlaſting ſtandeth firſt in the knowledge of the Father, that onelyonly true God: Then it ſtandeth in the knowledge of the Sonne, that hee is ſent of the Father, that hee is Ieſus the Sauiour, that hee is Chriſt anointed, and the Mediatour betwixt God and man. Now, would he ſay to the Father, Except thou glorifie mee, neither thou, nor I, ſhall be knowne: and therefore, that life euerlaſting may bee giuen to man, it is needfull that I bee glorified. Thus farre hitherto.
Nowe in the beginning of this Text which wee hauehave read, wee hauehave the fourth argument from that glorie hee had giuen to the Father alreadie: Father, ſayeth he, J hauehave glorified thee on the earth, J have ended the worke that thou gaueſt mee to doe: what reſteth, but that thou glorifie mee? There muſt bee a meeting heere. The Sonne muſt glorifie the Father, and the Father muſt glorifie the Sonne. So yee ſee verie weightie argumentes of this petition, from the beginning: both the time craueth that the Father ſhould glorifie the Sonne, and then the great fruit that was to proceede thereof: for the Father ſhould want glorie, and the worlde ſhould want life, if the Sonne were not glorified. And laſt, yee ſee that verie obedience that the Sonne gaue to the Father in the Earth, requireth, that the Father ſhould glorifie him. The Sonne had glorified the Father in the worlde, and therefore the Father ſhould hauehave glorified the Sonne in the Heauens.
But to come to the laſt argument: J hauehave glorified thee, ſayeth the Sonne: This argument leaneth to a promiſe, which the Father made to the Sonne, ere euer hee was manifeſted in the fleſh. As hee would reaſon thus, Father, thou haſt promiſed, that if I ſhould glorifie thee, thou ſhouldeſt glorifie mee: but ſo it is, Father, that I hauehave glorified thee, therefore glorifie mee. This promiſe is often found in the olde Teſtament, in manie places thereof. Looke the hundreth and tenth PSALME, there it is ſaide, The Lord ſaide to my Lord, that is, the Father ſaide to the Sonne, (for both are the Lordes of this worlde,) ſit thou at my right hand, vntill the time that I make thine enemies thy foote-ſtoole. There is that promiſed glorie, That hee ſhould make him King ouer the worlde, and humble his enemies, ſpirituall and temporall, vnderunder his feete. So this is the glorie that the Sonne craueth.
Nowe, Brethren, in verie deede, the Sonne of God might hauehave claimed juſtlie that promiſe that the Father made to him, vnderunder the condition of obedience, becauſe the obedience of the Sonne of God, Ieſus Chriſt, was perfect: which obedience being the ground of the promiſe, juſtlie hee might claime that glorie, by reaſon that the promiſe was perfectlie fulfilled. But to come to vsus: There was no man ſince the fall of Adam, that dare be bolde, except they bee vtterlie impudent, to claime anie life or grace of God, by vertue of this condition of obedience, and to ſay, Lord, I hauehave done this, therefore Lord, giuegive me life. There is no fleſhe, no, not the beſt renewed man that euer was, that hath that freedome, that can ſaye this, By vertue of my merite giuegive mee life. Looke what Paul, a renewed man, ſayeth of himſelfe, Philipp. 3. verſ. 9. I …ſteeme all to bee but dongue, that I may gaine Chriſt. For why? Brethren, there is no fleſh, except that man Ieſus Chriſt, that euer hath had, or will hauehave, that perfect obedience, which meriteth anie grace at Gods hands. This ſhall ſtand, though all the worlde would riſe againſt it, with the Pope, and that whole rabble: Therefore it commeth to paſſe, that none, either who is, was, or ſhall bee, ſhall bee made righteous in the preſence of God, or gette life euerlaſting, but they who paſſe from the condition of workes, (that is called the Legall couenant,) and take them onelie to that promiſe made in the blood of Ieſus Chriſt; and ſeeke not life by vertue of their workes, but onelie by vertue of the blood of Ieſus Chriſt. I denounce, in the Name of Ieſus Chriſt, if thou ſeekeſt not life onelie by that blood, thou ſhalt neuer ſee nor taſte of life. If thou begin to ſeeke grace by thy merites, thou ſhalt neuer get it, becauſe thou treadeſt downe vnderunder thy feete, the blood of Chriſt, and renounceſt it, and takeſt thee to thy peltrie.
But yet let vsus marke the words better: I hauehave glorified thee, Father: that is, I hauehave put an ende to that worke thou gaueſt me, the faire worke of the redemption of man, the faireſt worke that euer was: yea, fairer than the creation of the worlde. Nowe howe is this hee ſayth, I hauehave ended it, ſeeing hee had not ſatisfied, and was not crucified, and the end of this worke was founded on the Croſſe of Ieſus Chriſt, and that bitter ſuffering? The anſwere is eaſie: He ſpeaketh of the worke to come, as though it were paſt alreadie, for the certainty of it: for it was moſt ſure, he behoued to ſuffer, and alſo for the nearneſſe of it: for his death & latter paſſion was at hand. Another queſtion: How is it that hee ſayeth, J hauehave glorified thee already, in time paſt, when as hee ſaide before, Father, glorifie thy Sonne, that hee may glorifie thee, in the time to come? They ſtand very well together: for the Sonne, the Lord Ieſus, hee both glorified his Father, before he was glorified by his Father; and alſo when he was glorified by his Father, both the times, he glorified his Father: But ſee the difference: The Lord Ieſus glorified the Father, before hee was glorified of the Father, in that moſt humble obedience he gaue to his Father: there was neuer a man humbled vnderunder the Father as he. In that obedience he gaue to the Father, the mercy & louelove of the Father ſhined in the world in his humility. The worl…e wondered that euer there ſhould hauehave beene ſuch a mercy and ſuch a louelove of God to man. And they who wil look to this humble man, the Lord Ieſus, they will wonder, that euer there ſhould hauehave beene ſuch a mercy to man. If thou look wel to the obedience and humbleneſſe of the Son, thou ſhalt wonder at the louelove of the Father toward vsus; who humbled his owne Son, not onelyonly as a ſeruant, but to the vile death, the accurſed death of the Croſſe, for our cauſe, as Chriſt himſelfe ſayth, Iohn, 3. verſ. 16. The Father hath ſo loued the worlde, that hee hath giuen his onelie begotten Sonne for it, that all, that belieue in him, ſhould hee ſaued, and none periſhe. What man will giuegive his onelie begotten ſonne to ſaue another? Nowe this commendeth the louelove of God, ſayeth Paul, Rom. 5. verſ. 8. that when wee were enemies, Chriſt died for vsus. Who is hee that will die for his enemie? or what father will giuegive his ſonne for him? So, neither man nor Angel is able to comprehende the thouſande parte of the louelove which the Father bare to the worlde, in humbling his onelie begotten Sonne. So the Sonne glorified the Father in his humiliation. Then againe, when the Sonne was glorified of the Father, after he was raiſed from the dead, and aſcended to the Heauens, and ſet at the right hand of his Father, in that glory incomprehenſible, the Sonne glorified the Father in that exaltation: as hee glorified him before in his humiliation, ſo doeth he in his exaltation: and hee glorified the Father in his exaltation, by reaſon that there appeared ſuch a wonderfull power in God, in exalting Chriſt in our nature, that was ſo humbled in the graue. And when the worlde ſaw, that the body of the man Ieſus Chriſt, was raiſed vp ſo gloriouſly, they wondered, that euer there ſhould hauehave beene ſuch a power in GOD: All the Angels in Heauen gotte neuer ſuch a Reuelation of the power of GOD, as then when the LORD IESVS was raiſed vp from the death to life. Not onelie raiſed hee a dead man vp from death, but hee raiſed him vp in ſuch a wonderfull highneſſe, that he made him King ouer all kinges▪ and aboue all Angels, and gaue him ſuch a Name, that at the Name of Ieſus all knees ſhould bow, of men and Angels, of all things vnderunder the earth, and aboue it: and that all tongues ſhould confeſſe, that Ieſus Chriſt is the Lord of Lords, and God of all glory. Paul to the Epheſians, Chap. 1. verſ. 20. when hee ſpeaketh of this power, hee will not ſimply call it a power, but he ſaith this, According to the effectualneſſe of his ſtrong power, which hee vttered in Chriſt, when hee raiſed him from the dead: that is the firſt degree: and placed him at his right hand, that is the ſecond degree. There appeareth the power of God, in exalting him in our nature, to ſo high a glory. It appeared not ſo great at the creation, as then when hee exalted the Man Ieſus Chriſt. Wouldeſt thou knowe the power of God? Looke to that exaltation, and thou ſhalt ſee it ſhine in a greater meaſure, than in any thing that euer was wrought. Men by nature would ſee things to rauiſh them to admiration: but I tell thee, if thou wouldeſt wonder at any thing, wonder at theſe things, at the humiliation of Ieſus Chriſt, and at the exaltation of Ieſus Chriſt: the wonderfulleſt doctrine that euer ſounded in the worlde. So when thou heareſt of the death of Chriſt, and of his exalting, wonder; for ſuch a wondering ſhall worke ſaluation. Let vsus ſee all the wonders of the world, neuer one of them ſhall worke life or ſaluation, but that wonder. The anſwere may bee otherwayes. The Lord when he was in the world, hee glorified the Father in his propheſie and Prieſthood: hee is that annointed Prophet, Prieſt, and King: So he being Prophet, Prieſt, and King, hee glorified the Father in the Earth, chiefely in his propheſie, hee teached aye in the world: he glorified alſo the Father in his Prieſthood: he aye ſuffered: neuer a day, paſſed by, from his birth, vntill his latter breath, without ſome ſuffering. But in his Kingly office, hee glorified the Father when hee was exalted, and raiſed vp to the Heauen, and ſet downe at the right hand of that Majeſty: and that is the office in this houre, in the which the Sonne of God glorifieth his Father, in ſitting there as a King of Heauen and Earth, reigning in the middeſt of his enemies, with a great yron rodde, battering them in pieces, like a potte-ſhard: and that ſame rodde of yron, ſhall neuer leaue them, till it bruiſe them downe. There was neuer a King ſo glorious, as he is at the right hand of the Father: and when wee ſhall ſee him in that Princely Throne, wee ſhall ſay, wee neuer ſaw glory in this world to that glory. And when the conqueſſe which the Lord Ieſus is making in Heauen, and in Earth, (for the enemies are not yet altogether ſubdued: no, the day paſſeth not, but he maketh ſome conqueſſe,) when it ſhall bee ended, I ſay, hee ſhall render vp that Kingdome into the hands of the Father. 1. Cor. 15. verſ. 24. When death is ouercome, and the Deuill, (for death is not yet ouercome,) he ſhal render all into the hands of the Father, and there ſhall not be an enemie, but all ſhall be caſten down, and all the Choſen ſhall treade downe the neckes of Emperours. Wee marke one thing, ere we goe to the next verſ. for our vſe, to draw this to our ſelues. This is the proteſtation which the Lord maketh a little before his death: Hee proteſteth, that aboue all things in Heauen or in Earth, hee ſought the glory of his Father, euen to his owne death. Now well is that man, who whē the hour of death is drawn neare, is able to ſay in any meaſure, Lord, I hauehave glorified thee: and howbeit it be with great infirmity, Lord, I hauehave honoured thee in my life. Yee ſee, olde men will reckon of things paſt: if they hauehave bene notable inſtruments in any thing, they will talk & ſay, I hauehave done this and that. But alas! if thou hadſt won kingdoms, al auails not, if thou canſt not ſay, Lord, I hauehave ſought to glorify thee. Away with all the world, and with all the felicity of it, and all thou haſt ſuffered and done in it, if thou canſt not ſay, when thou art going out of this world, I ſtroue, at the leaſt, to glorifie thee. And at the leaſt, if thou, who haſt bene a notable ſinner, canſt not ſay, Lord, forgiue me, I hauehave bene a ſinner, and hauehave not repented in time, now I repent, & craue thee mercy: if thou canſt not ſay this, wo is thee, if thou hadſt conqueſſed as much as Alexander the great Monarch, if thou hadſt conqueſſed all the world. I tell thee the trueth, if thou goe out of the world without one of theſe two, woe ſhalbe to thee that euer thou came in the world, thou ſhal neuer ſee life. But there is a great difference betwixt the proteſtation of the Lord Ieſus, & all the proteſtations that we can make: J hauehave glorified thee, ſaith the Son, therfore glorify thou me. The Son might hauehave ſoght glory, becauſe of the excellency of his perſon: but as for vsus, wee may not craue glorification for our obediēce to God, becauſe it is imperfect: away awaye, with that ſtinking merite of the Papiſtes: awaye with the creature, that will attribute ſuch a ſtinking merite to it ſelfe. Therefore thou muſt ſay, Lord, I craue nothing for my merite, but onelie for grace: for when thou haſt done all that thou canſt doe, thou art but an vnprofitable ſeruant: and ſaye, I will creepe vnderunder the winges of thy merciemercy. But if thou come to claime anie thing with a conceite of thy merite, ſuppoſe thou hadſt done workes to glorifie thy God, builded Kirkes, and made Bridges, &c. if thou acclaime anie thing for it, and wilt ſtand vp, and ſaye, I hauehave done this, thou ſhalt goe awaye without grace. The Phariſie may ſtand for an example of this. There was neuer ſuch a pride, as to a ſtinking creature to ſtand vp before that Tribunall, with a conceit of his merite: If thou ſtandeſt vp ſo, I pronounce, the effect of that merite of thine ſhall bee condemnation.
When he hath vſed ſo many arguments to the Father, to glorifie him, then he concludeth his petition in theſe wordes, Therefore, Father, glorify me with thy ſelfe: that is to ſay, Not in the Earth: I hauehave glorified thee in the Earth, but the glory that I ſeek, is not in the earth, but in the Heauens, wherein I would reigne: not in the Earth, as an earthly Prince, but in the Heauens, at thy right hand. The place maketh much. It is vnpoſsible that there can be ſo much glorie in the Earth, as in the Heauens. The glory of all the Kinges in the world, is nothing to that which we ſhall hauehave with Ieſus Chriſt in the Heauens. The glory which Adam had, in that glorious and earthly Paradiſe, was nothing in reſpect of that glory which wee ſhall hauehave, when we ſhall be lifted vp in the Heauens. Looke howe farre diſtance is betwixt Heauen and Earth, as farre ſhall our glory ſhine aboue that glory: no compare of the darkeſt Starre, with the Sun. So compare that glory of Adams, with the glory we ſhal hauehave with Ieſus Chriſt: & look how far the Sun paſſeth in glory aboue a Starre, as farre we ſhall paſſe that glory, and ſurmount aboue it.
What a glory is this he ſeeketh? Glorify me with that glory, Father, which I had from all eternitie: that is, Glorifie me with that glorie of the Sonne of God, the glorie of the ſecond perſon of the Trinitie: glorifie mee with thine owne glorie, which is promiſed mee: and glorifie mee with all thy glorie. The Sonne may claime all the glorie of the Father, and the Father hee communicateth not with the Sonne a parte of his glorie, but the whole glorie of GOD.
Now, Brethren, yee ſhall marke ſome things ſhortly: Certainlie … no man nor no Angel, that can bee capable of this matter, that concerneth the incomprehenſible glorie of the Father, and of the Sonne: and therefore wee marke this ſhortlie: Firſt, wee ſee this, what a glory this is that the Sonne ſeeketh of the Father: this I tolde you in the beginning: It is not ſo much the glory of the nature of man, as it is that glory that the Lord had with the Father from all eternity. Then yee ſee another thing: yee ſee the Sonne of God, the Lord Ieſus, ere euer he came down into this Earth, he was in the forme of God, and thought it no robberie to be equall with God. Hee is the Sonne of God, equall in power and Majeſty with the Father. Let the Heretiques hang themſelues, who would depriue the Lord Ieſus of his Godhead: our fai…h ſhould not bee grounded on him, if he would be no warrand to our faith, and if he were not God bleſſed for euer.
Then yee ſee, how the Lord Ieſus, the Sonne of God, paſſed from that glory which hee had with the Father, for a time, and made himſelfe (as the Apoſtle ſayeth) of no reputation. Wee would not bee content of this, none of vsus all, to deject our ſelues altogether: yea, euen the fillieſt of vsus: yet the Sonne of God made himſelfe of no reputation nor eſtimation. Marke this: thinke not that the Sonne of God, the Lord Ieſus, euer renounced that glory which hee had with the Father: no, not then, when hee was ſoreſt humbled: no, not then, when he was hanging on the Croſſe, he renounced not his glory, as Cyrillus ſayth, Miſſio, & obedientia, non tollunt aequalitatem potentiae & eſſentiae: that is, The ſending and obedience, taketh not away the equalitie of glorie and eſſence. Marke it well, and be not deceiued: Howe then paſſed hee from this glory? This is an higher matter than we can conſider, yet wee ſhall expreſſe it in ſome meaſure: The Sonne of God, equall with the Father, ſuffered for a time that glory to bee obſcured with the habite of a ſeruant, the habite of man: the glory of the Sonne of God was made of no reputation, thorow the taking on of a ſlough. Howe agree theſe two, the mortall and corrupt fleſh, and the glory of God? Will not that ſlough of our nature obſcure the glory of God? Then againe, the glory of God, in the Sonne of God, is obſcured with the moſt vile death, the death of the Croſſe: and this was the higheſt degree of his obedience: Yet hee neuer quiteth himſelfe of this glory. I will vſe a ſimilitude: Yee ſee the Sunne ſhineth faire and bright: and if a thicke blacke cloude ſhould paſſe in betwixt vsus and the Sunne, the Sunne abideth in his owne nature, and the cloude taketh nothing away of the brightneſſe of the Sunne; only it obſcureth the Sunne to our ſight, that we cannot perceiue the ſplendor of it: It is euen ſo with the Sonne of God, that glorious Sunne of righteouſneſſe; when he taketh firſt vponupon him the cloude of our nature, and ſecondly the cloude of death, the glory of the Sonne of God is no more impared by this, than the Sunne is impared in his light by the cloude. When the Sonne of God tooke vponupon him the cloude of our nature, for the ſaluation of mankinde, hee kept himſelfe cloſe, and he vttered not himſelfe in that nature of God: for if he had vttered himſelfe in that force and glory proper vntounto him, he had beene glorified at his firſt incarnation, and then the redemption of man had not bene done. All the Iewes and Phariſees could neuer hauehave touched him, if hee had not humbled himſelfe in the nature of man. Looke to this, and in the meane time gather howe much wee are beholden vntounto him. What King would hauehave humbled himſelfe ſo? No, there is no King who would hauehave put on a Beggars weed for a ſlaues cauſe; let bee to humble himſelfe ſo far. Now looke how we are indebted to him: yea, if it were a thouſand liues, it is too little to giuegive for him who hath ſo humbled himſelfe for vsus.
Nowe laſt, yee ſee in what ſenſe and meaning the Sonne of God ſeeketh this glory: Hee ſeeketh not a glory which hee had not the time that he ſought it; for he had i… …wayes, from all eternity. He ſought not alſo to bee quite of the nature of man; for then hee ſhould not hauehave bene our Sauiour. Hee ſeeketh not to be quite of the firſt cloude, but of the ſecond. He ſeeketh to be quite of death, and hee ſeeketh that that Godhead ſhould glorifie the Sonne of man, that the beames of that Godhead ſhould ſtrike out, and glorifie the nature of man. And indeede, howe ſoone that Godhead that dwelt in him, began to vtter it ſelfe, when his head was lying low in the graue, then the man getteth vp, and life commeth into our nature. And next, when the Godhead vttered it ſelfe in that nature, then that man is lifted vp to the Heauens. And laſt, when the Godhead vttered it ſelfe, the man Chriſt is placed at the right hand of the Father, and that nature of man ſhineth in ſuch ſort, that it paſſeth all the glory of the Angels. This is very comfortable: Thou wilt ſay, What recks me of all this glory? and what is that to mee? Howbeit that that man be glorified, yet I abide here in the earth, a vile body: what recks mee if the worlde were glorified, if I got not a ſhare of it? Now, wilt thou take but once holde of that nature of man, and once fix thine eye vponupon it? that is, Wilt thou belieue in Ieſus Chriſt, God and man? ſet thine heart on him, that he firſt died for thee, and ſecondly that he roſe for thee: belieue that all this was once done for thee; then certainly, as ſure as the nature of man in Ieſus died, and was glorified, as ſure thou ſhalt bee glorified: and as ſoone as thou toucheſt him, the glorie shall ſtrike out, and ouerſhaddow thee in this life: when thou lookeſt into the mirrour of his Goſpel, (for wee ſee him here but in a mirrour,) it ſhall ouer-ſhaddow thee, I ſay: but when faith ſhall be changed into ſight, and wee ſee him face to face, and ſit fore-anent him, and looke to his glorious face, thoſe glaunces which ſhall proceede from him, (as it is ſaide to the Philippians, CHAP. 3. VERS. 21.) ſhall transforme thy vile bodie, and ſhall conforme it to his glorious bodie. There is ſuch an effectualneſſe in his power, whereby hee ſubdued all thinges, that if thou ſhalt gette a ſight of him, hee ſhall chaunge thy bodie in a moment, and hee ſhall make it to ſhine more brighter than the Sunne. Onelie belieue, ſo long as thou art heere. A man who hath faith in him, ſhall ſee this glorie. If thou getteſt not a ſight of Chriſt by fayth in this worlde, thou ſhalt neuer ſee him heereafter to life and glorie. So let vsus belieue, and ſtirre vp euerie one of vsus another, with exhortations, that as euer wee would ſee glorie, wee belieue in Ieſus Chriſt: To whome … the Father, and holie Spirit, bee all honour, glorie, and pray … world without ende.
AMEN.