[4.] Here is comfort for the church ; while our head is so highly magnified, and made Lord of all, he will rule all for the best; certainly no good shall be wanting to them that are his : Ps. ex. 1, ' The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.^ There shall come a time when the church shall have no enemies, so far shall it be from its being overcome by its enemies, that they shall curse themselves that ever they resisted the church.
[5.] Our sins shall not prejudice our happiness, seeing he sitteth at the right hand of God the Father to be our intercessor: 1 John ii. 1, 'If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' We have a friend at court, a favourite in the court of heaven. If it were not for Christ's intercession, what should we do ? Those that know the majesty of God, their own unworthiness, the pollution of their prayers, what should they do ? The Spirit is our notary here : Kom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit helpeth our infirmities ; for we know not what to pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.' And Christ is our advocate in heaven : Eev. viii. 3, ' And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne.' Our prayers have an ill savour as they come from us.
2. For our instruction. It teacheth us to seek heavenly things:
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Col. iii. 1, 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God;' Phil, iii 20, ' Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.' We should imitate Christ ; whatever he did corporally, we must do spiritually. There is our treasure ; if you are the children of God, he is your delight. There is our head ; the in- ferior parts never do well when they are severed from the head. All that we expect cometh from thence, and therefore a natural desire of happiness carrieth the saints thither.
SERMON VII.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the luorld : thine they were, and thoii, gavest them me ; and they have kept thy loord, — John XVII. 6.
We have now ended the first paragraph of this chapter, Christ's prayer for himself. Here he cometh to pray for others, the disciples of that age. When Jacob was about to die, he blesseth his sons ; so doth Christ his disciples. Christ representeth their case with as much vehemency as he doth his own.
In this verse he useth three arguments — they were acquainted with his Father's name, belonged to his grace, and were obedient to his will. Or, if you will, you may observe —
1. The persons for whom he prayeth.
2. The reasons why he prayeth for them ; which are three : — (1.) What Christ had done ; (2.) What the Father himself had done ; (3.) What they had done.
Fu-st, The persons for whom he prayeth, ' The men which thou hast given me out of the world.' Who are these ? I answer — The disciples or believers of that age ; not only the eleven apostles are intended, though chiefly ; but it is not to be restrained to the apostles only.
1. Because the description is common to other believers; others were given him besides the eleven apostles. It is the usual descrip- tion of the elect in this chapter, ver. 2, ' That he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.' So ver. 9, ' I pray for them whom thou hast given me, for they are thine ;' and ver. 24, ' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am \ and in other chapters of this Gospel.
2. Because Christ had made known the name of God to more than the apostles ; many of the Jews and Samaritans had received the faith. Acts i. 15, there a hundred and twenty met together in a church assembly presently after Christ's death.
3. Otherwise they had been forgotten in Christ's prayer ; for after- wards he prayeth only for future believers : ver. 20, ' Neither pray I for them only, but for those that shall believe on me through their word.' Mark, ' that shall believe.' But though the apostles are not only intended, yet they are chiefly intended, as appeareth by that expression, ' through their word.' We have seen who are the persons.
196 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. VII.
,Now they are described to be ' the men which the Father hath given me out of the world.' Men, to note the greatness of the blessing; though they were frail, miserable men, corrupt by nature, as others are, yet by singular mercy they are made familiar friends of Christ, and some of them doctors of the world. i 'Which thou hast given me' by way of special charge. There is a double giving to Christ — by way of reward, by way of charge : these were given to him as a peculiar charge. ' Out of the world ; ' that is, out of the whole mass of man- kind : when others were left and passed by, God singled them out, and gave them to Christ.