Exposition of John 17, Exposition · Part 35
JOHN 17.12.
That the Scripture might be fulfilled.
AND thus of our Saviours general aſſertion, that he had ſafely and entirely kept all thoſe that were beſtowed upon him by his Father; While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy Name; thoſe thou gaveſt me, I kept, and none of them loſt. And likewiſe of his particular exception of Judas, who here is called the ſon of perdition. None of them is loſt, but the ſon of perdition.
Now in the following words, that none might be offended at the loſs of Judas, or ſtumble at his ruine and deſtruction, our Saviour Chriſt goes on to ſhew, that as it was deſigned and fore-appointed in the eternal Councel and Decree of God, ſo it was fore-told in Scripture. It was not only fore-ordained, but it was fore-ſhewed too: So that in his deſtruction there fell out nothing otherwiſe, then as it was expreſly and apparently declared before in Scripture. The Scripture was not croſt and contradicted in it, but verified and fulfilled, None of them is loſt, but the ſon of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But you will ask me what Scripture? where did the Word of God foretel the ruine and deſtruction of this wretched man: I anſwer, David propheſied clearly and expreſly of it many hundred years before, Pſal. 109.8. Let Satan ſtand at his right hand. When he ſhall be judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become ſin; Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Judas you know was ſelf-condemned, and ſelf-executed too, and ſo his days were few by that means. And when he had deſtroyed himſelf, his place and Office of Apoſtleſhip was ſupplyed by another. But you will ſay perhaps, Judas is not named by David in the fore-alleadged Pſalm. And therefore though the propheſie ſeem to agree to him and his condition, yet how are we aſſured that he is aimed at in particular in that prediction? Why, my Beloved, though the Prophet David do not name him, the Apoſtle Peter doth apply that Scripture to him, Act. 1.20. For having ſaid in the fore-going verſes, This Scripture muſt have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghoſt by David ſpake before concerning Judas: He comes at length to this in the alledged verſe, For it is written in the Book of Pſalms, Let his habitation be deſolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his Biſhoprick, or Charge, or Office … another take, ſo that when he was loſt and fell from his Apoſtleſhip, y… ſee, that Scripture was fulfilled.
And yet you muſt not apprehend the loſs of Iudas to be cauſed by that praediction; as if the Propheſie concerning him, did really contribute any thing by way of active operation and efficiencie to his deſtruction. Though I acknowledge the expreſſion of my Text may ſeem to look a little that way, None of them is loſt, but the ſon of perdition. And he is loſt that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But you muſt know, my Brethren, that he had been loſt, though his deſtruction had never been foretold in Scripture. He was not loſt the rather becauſe his loſs was propheſied, but it was propheſied becauſe he was before from all eternity appointed to perdition: And being propheſied, when the event fell out accordingly, it looked as if the propheſie had been the cauſe of his deſtruction: So that the particle [that] (as a very learned man obſerves upon the Text) Iudas was loſt [that] the Scripture might be fulfilled, denoteth not the true, but the appearing cauſe only. Yet thus much it ſuggeſts withall, which ſhall be our obſervation;
DOCTRINE. That whatſoever is foretold in Scripture, ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled.
The iſſue and event ſhall anſwer the prediction every way, in all reſpects. And therefore it is often noted, not in my Text alone, but elſewhere frequently, that ſuch and ſuch things came to paſs, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, as you may ſee that place for inſtance, Mat. 2.14, 15. Joſeph aroſe and took the child, and departed into Egypt, That it might be fulfilled which was ſpoken by the Prophet, ſaying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son: And after in the following verſe, Herod ſent forth and ſlew the children from two years old and under: Then was fulfilled that which was ſpoken by the Prophet, ſaying, In Rama was a voyce heard, Lamentation and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, becauſe they are not. And ſo in many other places the Apoſtles very carefully obſerve the punctual and exact accompliſhment of the antient Propheſies; and ſpeak ſometimes in ſuch a manner, as if things came to paſs for no other cauſe but this, becauſe they were foretold in Scripture, and that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Whereas indeed they had been done, though they had never been foretold, becauſe they were fore-determined; only they would have us know, that whatſoever is foretold ſhal certainly be done in Gods time: It is eaſier ſaith our Saviour, for Heaven and Earth to paſs away, then for one title of the Word of God to fail, Luk. 16.17. that is, to miſs of execution and accompliſhment: Fail it may in the Letter and Paper of it, but not in the fulfilling of it; No, ſaith our Saviour, Heaven and Earth ſhall paſs away, but my Word ſhall not paſs away; Mat. 24, 35. Heaven and Earth are more inconſtant and variable, then my Word is; and therefore the Apoſtle Peter, ſpeaking of the Propheſies of Scripture, ſaith that they are ſure, 2 Pet. 1.19. We have, ſaith he, a more ſure Word of Propheſie, whereunto ye do we… …hat ye take heed: Not as if the Prophets words or writings were in th…ſelves more ſure then the Apoſtles, but to the Jews they were more ſure; For they received the Prophets words and writings, but they rejected the Apoſtles. Well, ſure the writings and predictions of the Prophets are you ſee, we may reſt ſafely upon them, and conclude, That whatſoever is foretold, &c. And it muſt needs be ſo my Brethren: For
The Author of the Propheſies is unchangeable and true, and conſeſequently, whatſoever he foretels, or any Meſſenger of his from him, muſt ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled.
1. The Author of the Propheſies as well as other parts of Scripture is unchangeable, He is the Lord that changeth not, Mal. 3.6. He is yeſterday, to day, the ſame for ever, Heb. 13.8. And therefore what be ſaith muſt come to paſs; men ſay ſometimes that they will do a thing to day, which yet they alter and revoke again to morrow. But if God ſay a thing to day, he will ſtand to it firm to morrow, he will not change his reſolution; He is not as man that he ſhould lye, and as the ſon of man that he ſhould repent.
But he hath ſeemed to repent, Object. and to change his reſolution in many things foretold in Scripture: For inſtance, he foretold by Jonah that Nineveh ſhould be deſtroyed, at the end of forty days, Jonah 3.4. yet when they were expired, he did not as he had foretold, ſo that he altered in appearance; yea it is ſaid expreſsly, that he repented of his Commination, ſo that he brought it not to execution; God repented of the evil which he had ſaid, that he would do unto them, and he did it not, Jonah 3.10.
For clearing this,Sol. you may remember that univerſal rule which God lays down, for the better underſtanding of all Prophetical Praedictions in a way of Commination, Jer. 18.7. The ſum is this, that they have all of them annexed to them, or implyed at leaſt, if not an expreſt condition: And ſo had this againſt the Ninivites; Yet forty days and Niniveh ſhall be deſtroyed; conceive it, if they be not humbled, that was the reſerved condition. But they were humbled & repented; though they were preſerved, God did not otherwiſe then he determined, and yet indeed he is ſaid to have repented becauſe he did ſo that he ſeemed to repent: For as a man if he have threatned that thus and thus he is reſolved to do, and after do not ſo, if he have power, is ſaid to change his mind, and to repent of what he ſaid: Even ſo the Lord when he had threatned Niniveh, and had concealed the condition, becauſe he ſpared it afterwards, and did not juſt according the letter of the Commination, is ſaid to have repented, becauſe he ſeemed to do that which in a man would have diſcovered change and alteration of his reſolution. And even as anger is aſcribed to the Lord, Non per affectum, ſed per effectum, as the Schoolmen ſay; The paſſion or affection of it is not properly attributed to God, but the effect and fruit is, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay it. Even ſo repentance is not in the nature of the Lord, but the effect and iſſue of it is uſually aſcribed to him. The recalling or undoing of a thing which as far as we could judge by his words, or by his works, or our deſerts, or any other evidence that was before us, ſeemed unto us to have been his intent and purpoſe to have done.
2. And as the Author of the Propheſies, as well as other parts of Scripture, is unchangeable, ſo he is true; Yea, He is the God of Truth, as the Prophet David ſtiles him, Pſal. 31.5. And therefore that which he foretells muſt be accompliſhed and fulfilled. Obſerve it well, my Brethren, the Prophet doth not ſay, He is the true God in himſelf, and in his nature, but he is the God of Truth in his diſcoveries, and in his revelation of himſelf to men. All that comes from him is truth; He is the faithful and the true witneſs, Apoc. 3.14. Not only true and faithful as a God, but true and faithful as a witneſs. In all the teſtimonies that he gives of himſelf, or of his Son, or of his works already done, or intended to be done, there is nothing elſe but truth. He cannot be the Author of a falſehood, it is impoſsible, as the Apoſtle tells you, Heb. 6.18. It is impoſsible that he ſhould lye. He can aſſoon deny himſelf, put off his Deity, ceaſe to be God, as father an untruth; and therefore that which he foretels muſt be accompliſhed in his ſeaſon.
And as the Author of the Propheſies is unchangeable and true, ſo the Word of God it ſelf, of which the Propheſies are part, is ſo alſo. The Word of God is unchangeable and true, even as God himſelf is, and therefore all the Propheſies and the Praedictions of it muſt be accompliſhed and fulfilled.
1. The Word of God is an unchangeable, an unalterable Word; when he hath ſaid a thing, and ſaid it abſolutely, that muſt ſtand, there is no revocation of it in the ſenſe that he hath ſaid it. Thy Word, O Lord, ſaith holy David, is ſetled in heaven, Pſal. 119.89. It is an Eſtabliſhed thing, never to be removed again. And therefore it is ſaid to be ſetled in heaven; There are great changes here below continually, but there is none above in heaven: and there the Word of God is ſetled above the reach of any alteration. All fleſh is graſs, ſaith the Apoſtle, 1 Pet. 1.24. all the glory of man, as the flower of graſs; the graſs withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.
2. And as it is unchangeable, ſo it is true; yea, it is the Word of Truth. It is an Epithite that is impoſed upon it often: Thy Word is true from the beginning, ſaith the Pſalmiſt to the Lord, Pſal. 119.160. And ſo it ſhall be to the end. And therefore it is added preſently, The judgements of the Lord endure for ever, not in their being only, but their truth. You know the Scripture is often called a teſtimony, or a witneſs: Either it is a teſtimony that the Father gives us of the Son, or that the Son gives us of the Father; either it is a witneſs to us of things that have been done, or elſe (which is a little ſtronger) it is a witneſs to us of things that ſhall be done. Now this is a condition abſolutely neceſſary to a teſtimony or a witneſs, that it declare the truth and nothing elſe. Or elſe how ſhall it be depended and relyed upon? and ſo how ſhall the Scripture be the Word of Faith, as it is called, unleſs it be the Word of Truth? How ſhall this teſtimony challenge faith from us, unleſs it utter truth to us? How ſhall it be believed, if it be not wholly true? and therefore truth is frequently aſcribed to it as a witneſs: The teſtimonies of the Lord are ſure, ſaith David, Pſal. 19.7. That which they tell, hath been; and that which they foretell, ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled.
Ʋſe 1 And this by way of uſe and application, may ſerve for terror in the firſt place unto thoſe againſt whom there is any thing foretold in Scripture, in a way of Commination: for it ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled. How ſhould they tremble for fear of God, and how ſhould they be afraid of his judgements, though only hanging in the threatning? How ſhould their hearts diſſolve within them, when they hear his threatning words denounc't againſt them? How ſhould the Adulterer tremble when he hears that flaming Commination, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge! how ſhould the drunkard tremble when he hears thoſe dreadful woes that are denounced to drunkards, up and down the Prophets everywhere? How ſhould the wretched worldling tremble, when he hears that dreadfull threatning, that no covetous perſon hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Chriſt and of God? How ſhould the lier, and the dogg that barks and ſnarls and ſnaps at holineſs, and the unclean wretch tremble when they hear that ſuch ſhall have their everlaſting portion in the lake that burns with fire and brimſtone! And ſo for other ſinners againſt whom there are heavy things foretold in Scripture, how ſhould they ſhake and quiver, when they read and hear them!
But alas there are abundance who ſteel and fortifie their hearts againſt them, who give no credit to the threatnings of the word, as if they were but bruta fulmina, but empty cracks: who when they hear them thundred out againſt them, ſay with Iſrael, Jer. 5.12. It is not he, neither ſhall evil come upon us, nor ſhall we ſee ſword or famine. Oh my beloved, do not belye the Lord in this faſhion; do not delude your own ſouls. Believe it, Judgement is towards you, as the Expreſſion is, Hoſea 5.1. although it be not actually upon you. The wrath of God commeth, it is a comming ſtill, and in the end, depend upon it, it will come home. What do you think that if you do ſuch things, you ſhall eſcape the vengeance of God? No, be aſſured that if you perſevere without repentance, you ſhall feel it with a witneſs. There is not any thing denounced againſt you in the Scripture, but ſhall be fulfilled upon you to the utmoſt.
And Secondly, it ſerves for ſweet and pretious comfort to the Ʋſe 2 Church, ſince all the good that is foretold in Scripture, ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled. You that are members of the Church, look over all the Book of God, collect together all the promiſes contained in it, from the beginning of it to the end; conſider all the choice and pretious mercies that are contained in thoſe promiſes, and ſatisfie your ſouls with a certain expectation of them all. There is not one of all thoſe promiſes ſhall fall unaccompliſhed to the ground, or fail of execution in the Lords time. And therefore look on all the good things promiſed there as ſure mercies, (ſo they are called the ſure mercies of David) which ſhall not fail you when the ſeaſon comes. And when you meet with any thing that ſpecially concerns you in ſuch a caſe or ſuch a condition, that might be a ſupport and comfort to you in affliction and the like, Oh give not way to one unbelieving thought, do not forſake your own mercies. Remember it is the word of the Lord, which (as the Angel ſaid) ſhall be fulfilled in its ſeaſon.
And ſo for any good thing that is foretold in Scripture to the Church, as there are glorious things you know foretold concerning it in after times, that God will raiſe it to an admirable ſtate of glory and felicity, which while the world continues, ſhall not be overthrown again: Let us not make any queſtion but they ſhall abſolutely and compleatly be accompliſhed and fulfilled. And therefore let us ſtrengthen and confirm our hearts in the aſſured expectation of it, and let us put thoſe promiſes in ſuit in our Petitions, as Iſaiah in the ſame caſe, Chap. 62.1. And let us ſtand upon our watch-towers waiting for the execution of them. Let us account it our eſpecial happineſs, that we live under promiſes that ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed, though they ſhould be never fulfilled in our time. Let us embrace them as the Fathers did, yea though they be afar off. Oh let us hugg them and take eſpecial joy and comfort in them. And though the Lord ſhould take us hence, before he bring them into act and execution, yet let us cheer our hearts with the apprehenſion of the happineſs and glory that ſhall be upon the Church, after we are dead and gone. And ſo dye with our arms full of promiſes, and our hearts full of faith, and our ſouls full of comfort.
Ʋſe 3 To paſs on to a third uſe; Since this is ſo that whatſoever is foretold in Scripture, ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled: whatſoever is foretold in a way of Commination, or in a way of Conſolation, by way of threatning or by way of promiſe: Let us endeavour to believe both, and act our faith upon them. Let us work up our hearts to give a firm and full aſſent to all the threatnings, and to all the promiſes, though that which is delivered in the Scripture either way be never ſo improbable, never ſo much againſt corrupt reaſon, never ſo impoſſible to a humane apprehenſion. Let us depend upon it, that the word of God ſhall be fulfilled to the very utmoſt. Let us imitate the faith of the antient Saints of God, as I ſhall give you ſome examples of it in reference to both of theſe, both to the threatnings and the promiſes of Scripture.
As for the threatnings, That which the Lord denounced to Noah, that he might publiſh it to all the world, that he would utterly deſtroy all fleſh from off the earth, and by a flood of water too, was as improbable as any thing almoſt could be, as like to be derided by the wiſe men of the world; Yet Noah being warned of God, believed it, and ſo accordingly prepared the Ark, as you may ſee, Heb. 11.7. And ſo that Commination by the Prophet Jonah was almoſt incredible, that Nineveh ſo flouriſhing, ſo glorious, and ſo great a City, ſhould be deſtroyed in forty dayes; and yet it is obſerved, to the praiſe of Nineveh that they believed God, that is, the word of God, his threatning meſſage ſent them by the Prophet, Jonah 3.5.
So for the promiſes of Scripture, how improbable ſoever, the Saints of old have cloſed with them. What an unlikely promiſe was it that was made to Abraham, that he ſhould have a Son when he was full a hundred years of age, and a ſeed that ſhould be as innumerable as the ſtars of heaven? and that by Sarah too, a withered and a barren woman? What ſtrong objections might they both have brought againſt it? And yet they did not argue, but believed that it ſhould be juſt as the Lord had ſpoken: as the Apoſtle ſpeaks of Abraham, Rom. 4.20, 21. He ſtaggered not at the promiſe of God, through unbelief, but was ſtrong in faith, giving glory to God. Yea, and of Sarah too, though ſhe were ſomewhat doubtfull and incredulous in the beginning, yet even of her he ſaith, She iudged him faithfull that had promiſed. That great and Maſter promiſe of the reſurrection of the body from the duſt, is far above the principles of nature and philoſophy, and therefore the Philoſophers at Athens laughed at it. Yet Job believed this ſeeming Paradox, as he profeſſes, Job 19.26. I know ſaith he, he uſes ſuch a word you ſee as intimates a full perſwaſion. I am confident of this, that though after mys kin worms deſtroy this body, yet in my fleſh I ſhall ſee God. And ſo let us, my brethren, whatſoever is foretold in Scripture, let us ſtedfaſtly believe that it ſhall ſurely be accompliſhed and fulfilled.
And thus of the firſt argument or reaſon, with which our Saviour preſſeth and enforceth his petition to his Father, in behalf of his Apoſtles and Diſciples, that he himſelf would undertake the keeping of them; Holy Father, keep them through thy own name. Which hath been taken, as you may remember, from his own effectual preſervation of them during the time that he had been amongſt them. And therefore he would have his Father keep them now, becauſe he himſelf had kept them, and kept them very ſafe till now. While I was with them in the world I kept them.
Before our Saviour adds a ſecond reaſon to enforce this ſupplication and requeſt of his, he interpoſes a diſcovery of the end, why he preſents it, and why he is ſo earneſt in it: Saith he, I put up this Petition to thee while I am reſident in this world; I do it in the hearing of my Apoſtles and Diſciples, that they might have their comfort much encreaſed by this means. And now I come to thee, and theſe things I ſpeak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themſelves.
So that the words you ſee are the account our Saviour gives his Father of the Petition which he makes for his Apoſtles and Diſciples, or rather of the circumſtances of the making of it. Why he makes it in the world, why he did not defer the making of it till he came to heaven; and ſate down at the right hand of his Father, there to be an everlaſting Interceſſor for his people, but rather choſe to make it here before he went, in the preſence and the ears of his Apoſtles and Diſciples, while they were by, and hearkning to him. Theſe things, ſaith he, I ſpeak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themſelves. And here we have two things to be examined and reſolved.
What our Saviour means by his joy, which he would have fulfilled in his Apoſtles and Diſciples, why he calls it His joy, and not theirs. That they might have my joy fulfilled in themſelves, not their own joy fulfilled, but my joy fulfilled in them. And,
How this joy ſhould be fulfilled by his preſenting this Petition for them to his Father, in their hearing, before he left this world, which way this circumſtance ſhould tend ſo much, and be ſo available to the accompliſhment of that joy.
As for the firſt of theſe, our Saviour calls the joy which he would have to be fulfilled in his Diſciples, his ioy. Not that he was the ſubject of it, or that it was inherent in himſelf. But either, Firſt, becauſe he was the object of it, that they might have my ioy, that is to ſay, the joy which they take in me, fulfilled in themſelves. Or Secondly, as Calvin thinks, becauſe he was the author of it. That they might have my ioy, the joy which they have from me, fulfilled in themſelves.
But how ſhould this preſenting this Petition for them to his Father in their hearing, how ſhould this circumſtance conduce ſo much to the fulfilling of the joy within them?
Truly, my brethren, it might be very helpfull to it many wayes. Either as it manifeſted Chriſts affection to them, and his care of them, in which they could not but exceedingly rejoyce. What he would do in their behalf, when he was come to heaven, was not ſo clearly known to them. But this he did before he went, in their hearing, he earneſtly beſought his Father to take ſpecial care of them, to keep them through his own name; they heard it with their own ears, how earneſt and importunate he was, which could not chooſe but be an extraordinary comfort to them, that Jeſus Chriſt ſhould have ſuch dear and ſingular regard to them.
Or elſe it might fulfill their joy, as it aſſured them of their ſpecial preſervation, after Chriſt was gone from them.
There is no queſtion to be made, they were in many doubts and fears when he was about to leave them. And had he gone without diſcovering any care of their ſafety, their ſorrows would have been increaſed. If he had only prayed in ſecret for them to his Father, and deſired him to keep them, this would have added to their ſafety; but what would this have added to their joy? But when they heard him being ready to depart, to yield them up in ſuch a ſerious ſolemn manner to his Father, and to make this his laſt requeſt to him while he was here in this world, that he would keep them, this could not but aſſure them that they ſhould be kept, and ſo fill them full of joy. And hence our Saviour having put up that Petition for them, Holy Father, keep them through thy own name; And that becauſe while I was with them in the world, I kept them; Adds this immediately, and now come, I to thee: and theſe things ſpeak I in the world, before I come; I ſpeak them here among them, that my Diſcples being ear-witneſſes to my importunate and earneſt interceſſion for them, may have the joy, either which they take in me, or which they receive from me, the more abundantly fulfilled in themſelves.
The words thus opened, yield us out three Obſervations.
Firſt, Chriſt is the Author and Original of the joy of his people.
Secondly, Jeſus Chriſt would have his people to be full of holy joy.
Thirdly, Their perfect knowledge of his interceſſion for them, is one ſpecial means to fill them full of this joy.
DOCTRINE. Chriſt is the Author and Original of the joy of his people.
If they have any true and real joy, it comes from him, they have it from the Lord Chriſt: And therefore it is called his joy, becauſe originally it is his, and comes from him to them by way of diſpenſation and communication, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themſelves. So in another place he tells his Apoſtles and Diſciples, that if they were obedient to him, they ſhould abide in his love; And adds immediately, theſe things have I ſpoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, (that is to ſay) the joy that I give you, John 15.11. Indeed it is the fruit and the effect of Chriſts kingdom, erected in the hearts of his people, as the Apoſtle ſhews us, Rom. 14.17. His Kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteouſneſs and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghoſt. You ſhall be ſorrowfull, ſaith Chriſt to his Diſciples, but your ſorrow ſhall be turned into joy, John 16.20. And who can turn it into joy but Chriſt only?
But you will ask me how and in what reſpect is Chriſt the Author of the joy of his people? Beloved, I might inſtance in a multitude of things, but I ſhall draw them all to three heads. Chriſt is the Author of the joy of his people,
As he is their Prophet to inſtruct them. The ſtate of ignorance my brethren, is a ſtate of darkneſs, ſo it is often ſtiled in Scripture. And that is an uncomfortable ſtate, full of fear, and full of ſorrow. But when Chriſt comes with light, and information, and inſtruction, when he becomes a Prophet to them, he gives them extraordinary comfort. In that he gives them light, he gives them joy; for both of them are joyned together, Pſal. 97.11. Light is ſown for the righteous, and joy for them that are upright in heart.
As he is their King to rule them: you heard but now that his kingdom ſtands in joy. And hence his ſubjects are exhorted to rejoyce in him, Pſal. 149.2. Let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King. Now as a King, my brethren, he is many wayes the author of the joy of his people, I will name a few of them.
1. As he ſubdues their enemies, and gives them peace. And this he doth, my brethren, for he is the King of Salem, and the Prince of peace. And when he doth it, he is an extraordinary comfort to his people. When he ſubdues their enemies within them, and ſo gives them inward peace. When he maſters and brings under their ſtubborn and rebellious Luſts and ſtrong corruptions which are ſuch a daily trouble and vexation to them. O what a joy is it to his people, when (according to his Covenant) he ſaves them from thoſe enemies! then they ſerve him without fear, Luke 1.75. and if without fear, then certainly with great joy: So when he ſaves them from their enemies without them, and ſo gives them outward peace, then he gives them joy too. Such times have ſtill been celebrated and obſerved with extraordinary gladneſs and rejoycing. Eſpecially when Babylon goes down, the arch-enemy of his Church and his people, then Chriſt hears many Halelujahs, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Then they that ſtand upon the glaſſie ſea, are in a very chearie frame, They ſing the ſong of Moſes and the ſong of the Lamb, Juſt and true are thy wayes, O thou King of Saints.
2. As a King Chriſt is the Author of the joy of his people as he gives them his ſpirit. For this he doth under the notion of a King, and when he doth it, then he fils them full of joy. The Spirit is the Comforter, that is his name, ſo he is ſtiled very often, to ſhew us what his Office, work, and buſineſs is: And therefore joy is made a companion of the Spirit, to ſhew us that they uſe to go together, Act. 13.52. The Diſciples, ſaith the Text, were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghoſt: and the Apoſtle tells us, that joy is one eſpecial fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5.22. The fruit of the Spirit is live, joy: And hence the Holy Ghoſt is called the Oyl of gladneſs, Iſa. 45.7. As it is the Oyl of gladneſs, it makes glad the heart of man, and it makes his face to ſhine: And conſequently when our King pours out this Oyl upon his people, he pours out joy and gladneſs with it. Then his joy is fulfilled in them, becauſe they have this oyl from him; He is anointed with it above his fellows; it flows down from him the head, even to the loweſt members of his body.
3. As a King Chriſt is the Author of the joy of his people, as he diſpenſes recompences and rewards to them: For this he muſt do as a King too, and when he doth it, he makes them overflow with joy; and therefore he will have them to be out of meaſure glad, even in the expectation of it, Luk. 6.23. Rejoyce and leap for joy, ſaith he: and why ſo? for great is your reward in heaven: And if they have ſuch cauſe to be tranſported in the expectation, how much more in the fruition? When Chriſt ſhall ſay to every one of his, as Mat. 25.21. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, into the ſelf-ſame joy which I thy Lord and Maſter entred firſt into, and took poſſeſſion of before thee: Then indeed the joy of Chriſt ſhall be communicated to them. Then they ſhall have his joy fulfilled in them to the very utmoſt.
Chriſt is the Author of the joy of his people, as he is their Prieſt to ſacrifice and intercede for them. Both ways he is the Fountain of their comfort. I ſhall a little touch them in their order.
1. As he is their Prieſt to ſacrifice, he is the Author of their joy, for by this means he ſatisfies the juſtice of his Father for them, he frees them from the guilt of all their ſins, he reconcileth them to God: And is he not in this reſpect the cauſe of extraordinary comfort to his people? Is it not a ſad thing for a perſon to live at enmity with God who made him, and will judge him in the great day? If peace with God be ſo infinitely ſweet, is not enmity with God full of fear, and full of horror? is it not a doleful thing for any perſon to be dead in Law, bound over to the everlaſting wrath and vengeance of the great God; in danger every hour to be haled and dragged away to execution, and to be caſt into the lake that burns with fire and brimſtone? and is it not a joyful thing to be delivered out of ſuch a ſtate as this is? Now this our Saviour as a Prieſt hath done for his people, in a way of ſatisfaction, and ſo hath given them cauſe of exceeding great joy, as the Angel intimates when he informs the Shepherds where he was born, and what he was to do, Luk. 2.10. Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy.
2. As Chriſt is his peoples Prieſt to intercede for them, he is the Author of their joy: It is an extraordinary comfort to them, that Chriſt appears in heaven for them in all cauſes, to offer up and to ſecond their Petitions, to plead the cauſes of their ſouls before his Father; and therefore in my Text, he gives them as it were a taſt of his future Interceſſion, that thereby they might gueſs what he would do when he was come to heaven; and that to this end he might repleniſh them with joy and comfort: Theſe things ſpeak I in the world, while I am yet among them, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themſelves, That hearing what I do now, while I am here, they might a little gueſs what I am like to do hereafter, when I am once ſate down at the right hand of my Father, and ſo might be full of comfort, yea though I am departing from them, while they conſider with themſelves, If he do ſo much now, ſurely when he comes to heaven, he will do much more.
Is Chriſt the Author and the Fountain of the joy of his people? Then Ʋſe 1 certainly they that are out of Chriſt can have no true and ſolid joy, becauſe they are divided from the Fountain of it: They cannot have his joy in them, becauſe they have no union with him: and therefore they are frequently forbidden to rejoyce in Scripture, let their caſe otherwiſe be what it will, or what it can: Go to ye rich men, weep and howl, ſaith the Apoſtle James, chap. 5.1. Why, might they ſay, why ſhould we weep, for we have all things at our hearts deſire? yet weep ſaith the Apoſtle there, although not for the preſent miſery, yet for the miſery that ſhall come upon you. There is no peace, and conſequently no joy to wicked men: And therefore this me thinks ſhould caſt a damp upon the mirth and jollity of ſuch people. There are very many of them, who though they be as lewd, and vitious, and prophane as it is poſſible for men to be, yet they are out of meaſure chearful, they give themſelves to nothing elſe but mirth and joy. Now I beſeech you ſeriouſly conſider with your ſelves, whence comes this joy? you have it not from Jeſus Chriſt, who is the Fountain only of the joy of his people, and conſequently it is feigned and unſound. And therefore ſay to this falſe joy of yours, as the Wiſeman counſels you, What is it that thou doſt? Is there any true cauſe why we ſhould be thus over-merry? have we any reaſon for it? Examine it, and you ſhall find that it is mad laughter, as it is ſtiled in the Scripture: For as a mad man laughs he knows not why, even ſo do wicked and ungodly men; they have no reaſon to rejoyce, but rather to lament and howl, and melt away in ſorrow.
Is Chriſt the Author, &c. Then I beſeech you my Brethren; do you Ʋſe 2 fetch your joy and comfort thence: Drink you out of the Fountain, and not out of broken ciſterns. It is the fault of many, who do indeed belong to Jeſus Chriſt, they draw not all their comfort from him, but too much from other things, perhaps from creatures: Nay, which is worſe, ſometimes from ſinful and unlawful pleaſures: and ſo they have much joy within them, which they never had from Chriſt, of which he is not the Author. However they be full of joy ſometimes, his joy is not fulfilled in them, but their own. Oh, my Beloved, think upon it when you rejoyce ſo much in worldly comforts, in houſes, and eſtates, and means, and friends, and outward ſuccors, is this the joy of Chriſt in you? did it come from Chriſt to you? be you ſure you had it there? Nay, my Beloved, when you rejoyce ſometimes in ſinful ſatisfactions and delights, is Chriſt the Author and the Fountain of this joy in you? Alas, this is an earthly, ſenſual, ſinful joy. The joy of Chriſt which he beſtows upon his people is an heavenly, ſpiritual, holy joy; ſuch as no worldly thing can raiſe in you, ſuch as the world can neither give nor take from you: And therefore I beſeech you who are Chriſts, go not to the world, and much leſs to the Devil for your joy: Fetch not your comfort from any of theſe things below; but go to Jeſus Chriſt, and fetch it there, he hath enough in him, and that which he hath is right. Rejoyce not in the creature, but in Chriſt, and then rejoyce with exceeding great joy, with joy unſpeakable and glorious; that when your hearts are dilated to the utmoſt, when they are full up to the brim, and even over-flow with joy, it may be truly ſaid of you, that not the joy of this world, and much leſs the joy of ſin, but the joy of Jeſus Chriſt, his joy is fulfilled in you.