3. Because all Christ's prayers were to be grounded on a promise. There was an indenture drawn up between him and his Father ; he had the assurance to be heard in whatsoever he asked : Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession;' John xi. 42, ' I knew that thou hearest me always.' Therefore he must needs exclude the reprobate world out of his prayers.
244 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XII.
Observations.
First, Let us look upon it as a mediatory action.
1. Observe, here was the first solemn offer of Christ's mediation between God and man, and tlierefore upon this place we may ground the doctrine of his intercession, ' I pray for them.'
Here I shall speak of — (1.) The person who is the intercessor ; (2.) The nature of the intercession ; (3.) The privileges and fruits of it.
1. The intercessor, ' I pray.' The Syriac twice repeateth the pro- noun ; I, even I, pray for them ; it is not an ordinary high priest, but I ; I that am thy beloved and only-begotten Sou, co-eternal, and con- substantial with thyself ; I that have glorified thee upon earth, and done thy work ; I that am holy and harmless ; I whose prayers thou hast promised to hear ; I who am an authorised mediator, sent into the world for this purpose. There are all these advantages in the intercession of Christ, let us go over them a little briefly. I shall refer them to these heads — the dignity and dearness of his person, the sublimity of his ofHce, the value of his satisfaction, the articles of the covenant, or the promise of being heard.
[1.] The person of Christ ; and there you have —
(1.) His dignity, he is God-man, and so fit for this office : Job ix. 33, ' Neither is there any daysman between us, that might lay his hand upon us both.' He communicates with God in the same nature, and we with him ; he is our brother, and God's fellow. Our kinsman is in the court of heaven, pleading for us ; he appeareth there in our nature, to set on our salvation. We need not be ashamed to go to him, nor he to go to God. He is of near alliance to us, and to God himself, God's own natural Sou ; which doth not only give him a power to prevail with God, but a sufficiency to do us good. None but Christ could serve our turn in this matter. Who can know all our needs, all our sins, all our thoughts, all our desires, all our prayers, all our pur- poses, and wait upon our business with God night and day, that no Avrath break out upon us, but Jesus Christ, who hath his constant residence in heaven at his Father's right hand ? There is an all- sufficiency required to intercession, as well as oblation.
(2.) The dearness of his person, called, ' his dear Son,' Col. i. 13, the Son of his love, one with him. God bids him ask what he will : Ps. ii. 8, ' Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inherit- ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.' Wlien Christ came first into heaven, he was to make his demand. He pro- claimed it on earth when Christ was baptized, consecrated to God for the priesthood : Mat. iii. 17, ' Lo, a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.' There was such perfect love and consent of mind between God and Christ, that if he had never died, God could not have denied him anything.
[2.] The value of his satisfaction. Christ is an intercessor not by entreaty, but by merit : John xvii. 4, ' I have glorified thy name on earth, I have finished the Avork that thou gavest me to do.^ The greatest work that ever could be done, if you respect the importance of it. The creating of a thousand worlds would not bring in such a revenue to heaven as this one work of redemption ; or the difficulty of
VeR. 9.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 245
it, the Son of God to bo made flesh, sin, a curse, states most abhorrent from the felicity of the divine nature ; or his willingness to undertake it, ' Lo, I come to do thy will.' He longed to be at it ; though he had infinite complacency in the bosom of the Father, yet as soon as God had made a habitable world, Prov. viii. 30, 31, ' There I was by him, as one brought up with him ; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.' He longed for that time when he might leave the company of angels and dwell among us, and feasted himself with the thoughts of his own grace. And with so much faithfulness : I not only finished the work, but glorified thee ; all he did was for his Father's glory. This could Christ plead as the ground of his requests ; he hath paid for all that he asketh, not only made satisfaction for sin, but given a price for glory. He cannot out-ask his own merit ; his blood speaketh if Christ should hold his peace : Heb. xii. 24, ' And to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better tilings than that of Abel's.' As clamorous as Abel's blood for vengeance. It doth not speak against us, though we have made him to serve with our iniquities, but speaks the more for us, to pacify his wrath, to pardon us, and to do us good.