Great and excellent is the glory of Jesus Christ, the scriptures every where proclaim his glory : yea, we may observe a notable climax, or gradation, in those scriptures that speak of his glory. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of him, calls him glorious ; Isa. iv. 2. " In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glo- " rious." John, speaking of his glory, rises a step higher, and ascribeth to him a " glory as of the only begotten Son of the " Father,1' John i. 14. i. e. a glory meet for, and becoming the Son of God : proper to him, and incommunicable to any other. The apostle James rises yet higher, and doth not only call him glorious, or glorious as the only begotten of the Father, but the glory, James ii. 1. glory in the abstract; "My brethren, (saith he) " have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory, with " respect of persons ;*" For the word Lord, which is in our trans- lation, is a supplement ; Christ is glory itself, yea, the glory em- phatically so stiled ; the glory of heaven ; the glory of Sion ; the
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glory of our souls for ever. The author to the Hebrews goes yet higher, and calls him not simply the glory, but "the brightness " of the Fathers glory *," Heb. i. 3. as though he should say, the radiancy, sparkling, or beaming forth of his Father's glory ; the very splendor or refulgency of divine glory. O what a glorious Lord is our Lord Jesus Christ ! the bright, sparkling diamond of heaven; who shines in glory there, above, the glory of angels and saints, as the glory of the sun excels the lesser, twinkling stars. When he appeared to Paul, Acts xxvi. 13. " I saw (saith he) a " light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining " round about me :" Needs must the glory of Christ be unspeak- able, who reflects glory upon all that are with him, John xvii. 24. and stamps glory upon all that belong to him. His works on earth were glorious works, Luke xiii. 17. the purchased liberty of his people, a glorious liberty, Rom. viii. 21. the church his mystical body, a glorious church, Eph. v. 27. the gospel which reveals him is a glorious gospel, 1 Tim. i. 11.
But more particularly let us consider the glory of Christ, as it is distinguished into his either,
2. Mediatorial glory.
First, The essential glory of Christ, which he hath as God from everlasting ; which is unspeakable and inconceivable glory : For (saith the apostle, Phil. ii. 6.) " He being in the form of God, " thought it no robbery to be equal with God," i. e. he has a peerage or equality with his Father in glory ; John x. 30. " I and " my Father are one." And again, John xvi. 15. " All things " that the Father hath are mine :" the same name, the same nature, the same essential properties, the same will, and the same glory.
Secondly, The mediatorial glory of Christ is exceeding great. This is proper to him, as the head of the church, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Of this glory the apostle speaks, Phil. ii. 9, 10. " Wherefore God also hath exalted him, and given " him a name, which is above every name, fyc. v^v^ugi, exalted above all exaltation. Now the mediatorial glory of our Lord Jesus Christ consisteth either,
1. In the fulness of grace inherent in him ; or,
2. In the dignity and authority put upon him.
First, In the fulness of grace inherent in him : The humanity of Christ is filled with grace, as the sun with light : John i. 14. " Full of grace and truth." Never any creature was filled by the Spirit of grace, as the man Christ Jesus is filled; for "God gives
* An(Kvyct.<r/La rr\c bo'ty:
.9,38 THE METHOD OF GRACE, SEKM. XIV.
" not the Spirit to him by measure," John iii. 34. By reason of this fulness of grace inherent in him, he is " fairer than the chil- " dren of men," Psal. xlv. 2. excelling all the saints in spiritual lustre and gracious excellencies.
Secondly, In the dignity and authority put upon him. He is crowned King in Sion ; all power in heaven and earth is given unto him, Matth. xxviii. 18. he is a law-giver to the church, James iv. 12. all acts of worship are to be performed in his name; prayer, preaching, censures, sacraments, all to be administered in his name. Church officers are commissioned by him, Eph. iv. 11. The judgment of the world in the great day will be administered by him ; Matth. xxv. 31. " Then shall he sit upon the throne of " his glory."
To conclude, Jesus Christ shall have glory and honour ascribed to him for evermore, by angels and saints, upon the account of his mediatorial work ; this some divines call his passive glory, the glory which he is said to receive from his redeemed ones. Rev. v. 8, 9, 10. " And when he had taken the book, the four beasts, " and the four and twenty elders, fell down before the Lamb, " having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of " odours, which are the prayers of the saints ; and they sung a " new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to " open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed " us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and " people, and nation," Sfc. And thus you see that our Lord Jesus Christ is upon all accounts the Lord of glory. The uses follow.
Inference 1. How wonderful was the love of Christ, the Lord of glory, to be so abased and humbled, as he zvasfor us, vile and sin- ful dust f It is astonishing to conceive that ever Jesus Christ should strip himself of his robes of glory, to clothe himself with the mean garment of our flesh : O what a stoop did he make in his incar- nation for us ! If the most magnificent monarch upon earth had been degraded into a toad ; if the sun in the heavens had been turned into a wandering atom ; if the most glorious angel in hea- ven had been transformed even into a fly ; it had been nothing to the abasement of the Lord of glory. This act is every where cele- brated in scripture as the great mystery, the astonishing wonder of the whole world, 2 Tim. iii. 16/ Phil. ii. 8. Rom. viii. 3. The Lord of glory looked not like himself, when he came in the habit of a man ; Isa. liii. 3. " We hid, as it were our faces from him :" Nay, rather like a worm than a man ; Psal. xxii. 6. "A reproach " of men, and despised of the people." The birds of the air and beasts of the earth were here provided of better accommodations than the Lord of glory, Matth. viii. 20. * O stupendous abase-
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ment ! O love unspeakable ! " Though lie was rich, yet for our " sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be " rich," 2 Cor. viii. 9. He put off the crown of glory to put on the crown of thorns; Quanto pro me vilior, tanto mihi charior> said Bernard ; The lower he humbled himself for me, the dearer he shall be to me.