From Christ's suing for glory upon this argument, I might note, that we may plead promises. God saith, ' Put me in remembrance.' There is difference between a plea and a challenge ; hypocrites challenge God upon the merit of their works ; believers humbly urge him with his own promises. Not as if God did need excitement to make good his word ; but we need grounds of hope and confidence.
Again, because Christ asketh nothing but what God will give, I might observe, that when we have done our work we may expect our portion of glory. But I rather come to the particular discussion of the words.
The words may be considered in a mediatory or in a moral sense. In a mediatory sense : so they are proper to Christ ; he prayed to the Father, ' That thy Son may glorify thee,' ver. 1. Now he saith, ' I
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have glorified thee ; ' meaning, in the days of his flesh. By a moral accommodation they may be applied to every christian ; every christian should say, as Christ, ' I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.'
First, and which is most proper, let us consider them in the mystical and mediatory sense. The first phrase is : —
' I have glorified thee.' — Christ glorified God many ways ; by his person, as being ' the express image of his Father's glory,' Heb. i. 3. By his life and perfect obedience : John viii. 46, ' Which of you con- vinceth me of sin ? ' and ver. 49, ' I have not a devil, but I honour my Father.' By discovering his mercy : John i. 14, ' We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' By his miracles ; when the sick of the palsy was cured, it is said, ' The multitude glorified God,' Mat. ix. 8 ; Mark xv. 31 ; at other miracles, ' They glorified the God of Israel,' Mark ii. 12. So his passion exceedingly glorified God's justice. In his doctrine, by dis- covering his glorious essence, and the purity of his worship. The system of divinity was much perfected and advanced by the coming of Christ.
Doct. That God was much glorified in Christ. God was much glorified in the creation of the world : Ps. xix. 1, ' The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.' The fabric of the whole world, especially of the heavens, declares his good- ness, wisdom, and power. His goodness in communicating being to all creatures, life and motion to some ; his wisdom, in making the creatures so various, and so excellent in their general kinds ; his power, in educing all things out of the womb of mother nothing. God was glorified in his providences, especially in the great deliverances of the church from Egypt, and from the north ; but mostly in Christ, re- demption being the most noble work with which he was ever acquainted. It is notable that the Spirit of God in scripture often varieth the exj)ression ; at first it was, ' Blessed be God, that made heaven and earth;' then, 'I am the God that brought thee out of the land of Egypt ; ' then it is, Jer. xvi. 14, 15, ' It shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egy]:)t ; but the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north ; ' then it is, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' Eph. i. 3. In creation, the wisdom, goodness, and power of God appeared ; there was no need of other attributes. In providence, the justice, mercy, and truth of God appears ; but these in Christ in a more raised degree. In creation, the object was pure nothing ; as there was no help, so no hindrance ; but now in redemption, sin hinders ; so that here is shown not only goodness, but mercy. In creation we deserve nothing ; now we deserve the contrary. There was more wisdom seen in our redemption. The quarrel taken up between justice and mercy. Mercy would pity, and justice could not spare. In redemption there is more power ; in creation, man is taken out of the earth; in redemption, out of hell. God's justice opposed redemption. Christ must be sent to satisfy justice, and the Spirit sent to take away unbelief. God made all with a word, he saved all with a plot of grace. In creation, man was made like God ; in
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redemption, God is made like man. No deliverance like this ; Babylon was nothing to hell, and the brick-kilns of Eg-ypt to the lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone. When God delivered his people out of Babylon, he had to do with creatures ; when he delivered them from the wrath to come, he had to do with himself. Justice put in high demands against the compassions of mercy ; his own Son must die with the wrath of God, and his own Spirit must be grieved in wrestling with the denials of men. Instead of our own obedience, we have the merit of Christ. Oh ! here are depths of mystery and wonder.