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period of his deepest humiliation. This unity is as unchangeable as deity itself. The glory which Jesus Christ derives from it, is not susceptible of increase or dimunition. All that he prays for in respect to it, is, that it might be known among men and in this sense we may understand the expressions in our text: Father, glorify me, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was, ver. 5. But,

2. There subsists likewise a relation of economy between Jesus Christ and the Father. Jesus Christ as Mediator, is one with God. I have a conception of three kinds of unity in this respect: 1. unity of idea: 2. unity of will: 3. unity of dominion.

(1) There is a unity of idea. I mean, that the human soul of Jesus Christ Mediator was endowed with so much intelligence, that he had the same ideas with God; that he formed the same judgments, and that he possessed the same infallibility. This truth had been predicted of him by the prophets the spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, Is. lxi. 1. It was taught by Jesus Christ himself: my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me, John vii. 16. I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life, John viii. 12. It is the foundation of the faith which we have, in truths which flowed from his lips.

But however perfect this unity may have been, it was nevertheless susceptible of degrees. Jesus Christ, considered as Mediator, never could be in an error, but he did not always know the whole truth. He had not in the cradle the same extent of knowledge which he possessed at the age of twelve years, Luke ii. 42. when, in the temple, he, by his

profound knowledge, excited astonishment in the most learned of the doctors. Most probably, likewise, he did not yet possess at the age of twelve years, the illumination which he attained unto in the sequel of his ministry. The evangelist expressly remarks, that he grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, Luke ii. 40. Never did he attain, during his abode on earth, that height of intelligence which he had after his ascension into heaven. It is expressly said, that as the Son of Man, he knew not the day of judgment. The soul, to which his mortal body was united, acquired, undoubtedly, after that body left the tomb, an extension of knowledge which it had not so long as the body to which it was united was yet in a mortal condition. This is the first glory that Jesus Christ asks of his Father. He prays that he would grant him to partake, in a manner more intimate, in his counsels, and to draw, from the unbounded ocean of light, more abundant supplies of divine wisdom and knowledge. Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee, ver. 1.

(2) The second unity, subsisting between Jesus Christ Mediator, and the Father, is a unity of will. Observe to what an extent it has been carried. The incarnation was an effect of the entire submission of this divine Saviour to the will of his Father: when he cometh into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure: then said 1, Lo, I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God, Heb. x. 5-7. When Joseph and Mary found fault with him for having parted company with them, he re

plied: how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? Luke ii. 49. When his disciples presented him with food, saying, Master eat: he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of: ..

my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work, John iv. 31, &c. and, in the text, he said, that for the sake of his disciples, whom the Father had given him, he sanctified himself.

It is, however, demonstrably certain that in proportion as the human soul acquires more light and knowledge, according as it is less distracted by the sinless infirmities of nature, it takes the loftier flight toward the love of order, and conceives a more powerful attachment to the sovereign will of heaven. There were certain moments in the life of Jesus Christ, during his abode on earth, in which he was entirely absorbed of those objects which incessantly engage the attention of the angels of God. He was led of the spirit into the wilderness; there he fasted forty days and forty nights, Matt. iv. 2. and these days and nights were undoubtedly passed in contemplation, in rapture, in an extacy of zeal and fervor. But after these forty days and forty nights were over, he was afterwards an hungred.

In like manner, he beheld the glory of God on the holy mountain, and the transfiguration which he underwent, kindled to a higher and a higher degree, the desire which he felt to discharge, in a manner worthy of his exalted character, the commission which he had received of the Father. those rays of glory were to be eclipsed, and from that sacred place he must descend. During the whole course of his life he kept constantly in view the end of his mission. He expressed many an ar

But

dent wish to accomplish the sacrifice, which he came into the world to offer up.

But at the idea of death, he is for a season in heaviness: there is an appearance of desiring, as it were, to compound matters with the Deity; and this, some interpreters consider as the sense of these words: Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, that I may not drink it, Matt. xxvi. 39. and, perhaps, it is likewise the sense of those which follow now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, John xii. 27. Not that Jesus Christ ever thought he could be saved from that hour, or delivered from drinking that cup which was going to be put into his hand; but it was the language of innocent human infirmity, excited by the first ideas of extreme approaching agony. It is only in the possession of perfect blessedness, that our virtues shall acquire all the activity, all the extent, of which they are susceptible. And it is, yes, it is in this activity, it is in this extent of virtue, which had the power of still farther strengthening the band which united Jesus Christ to his Father. For this reason it is, that he promises to the glory of God, that return and increase of glory which he asks of him: Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee, ver. 1.

(5) In the third place, there subsists between the Father and the Son, a unity of dominion. Magnificent displays of this were visible even while our blessed Lord tabernacled among them. Is the expression too strong, if we say that God Almighty, when he sent Jesus Christ into the world made him the depository of his omnipotence. The winds, the waves, men, devils, life, death, the elements,

universal nature, all, all submitted to his sovereign will.

But, if the power of Jesus Christ was unbounded as considered in itself, it was limited, however, in its exercise. It was no easy matter to discover the depository of the divine omnipotence in the person of that Man, consigned over to the hands of executioners, dragged before a tribunal of iniquity, and nailed to a cross. There is a dominion, with which it imples a contradiction, to suppose Jesus Christ invested, before he suffered death, for this dominion was to be expressly the reward of suffering he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, Phil. ii. 8, 11. and in the second psalm, ver. 8, 9. ash of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

This is the dominion of which he took possession. On the third day after his death, angels alight upon his tomb, not to effect his resurrection from the dead, but to admire the wonders of it; to render their profoundest homage to that divine Man, the only dead person who had ever revived by his own power; and to yield obedience to that mandate of the great Supreme: let all the angels of God worship him, Heb. i. 6. Forty days after his resurrection, he makes a cloud to serve him as a triumphal chariot, on which he is borne aloft, and

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