„ IX, " Because the carnal mind is enmity to God," &c,,
ver. 7, 469
„ X. " So then they that are in the flesh cannot please
God," &c., ver. 8, . . . . 473
„ XI. " But ye are not in the flesh, &c,, ver, 9, . 484
SERMONS
UPON THE
SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER OF ST JOHN.
VOL. xr.
SERMONS UPON JOHN XVIL
SERMON XXXIII.
And for their sokes I sanctify myself, that they also might he sanctified through the truth. — John XVII. 19.
This is the second argument ; he had urged their commission, now his own merit. Justice might interpose and say, They are unworthy ; but Christ saith, ' I sanctify myself for them.' He dealeth with the Father, not only by way of entreaty, but merit ; and applieth himself not only to the good-will of the Father, as his beloved one, but to his justice, as one that was ready to lay down his life as a satisfaction. In the text are two things : —
1. A meritorious cause, 'And for their sakes I sanctify myself.' Where —
[1.] Quis, the person, who is represented under a double notion — as an efficient cause, ' I sanctify ; ' and as the object-matter, ' Myself ; ' the person sanctifying and sanctified, the author and the object, the efficient and the material cause of this sanctification. [2.] Quid, the action, what he did, ar/id^w, 'I sanctify.' [3.] Fro quibus, the persons for whom this was done, ' For their sakes ; ' not for himself, he needed it not, but for their sakes, vTrep ainSiv.
2. The effect of Christ's sanctifying himself, ' That they might be sanctified through the truth.' Where —
[1.] The blessing intended, 'That they might be sanctified.' It is bonum congruum, for in all things Christ must Trpcoreveiv, ' have the pre-eminence ; ' it is bonum morale, not that they might be rich, happy, glorious, but sanctified ; it is honum specificaiivum, such as raaketh an evidence ; for none can make comfortable application of the benefits of redemption but the sanctified, who have grace and holiness infused in them, and do devote and consecrate themselves to serve God in holiness and righteousness all their days.
[2.] The means, manner, or end, ev akr^deLo. ; it may be rendered through the truth, in truth, ox for the truth ; all which readings admit of a commodious explication.
(1.) As the means, ' Through the truth,' as tlie rule and instrument ;
4 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XXXIII,
the word accompanied with the virtue of Christ's death is that which
sanctifieth.
('2.) The manner, ' In truth/ or truly, in opposition to legal purifi- cations by the use of the ceremonies of the law, which were but a shadow of true holiness : Heb. ix. 13, 14, ' For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God ? ' And in opposition to counterfeit sanctification : Eph. iv. 24, 'And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness ;' such as is sincere, true, and real.
(3.) The end, ' For the truth,' that they may be consecrated, set apart, and fitted for that function of preaching the truth. The con- text seemeth to justify this. From the whole observe —
Doct. That Christ did set himself apart to be a sacrifice for us, that we might be sanctified by the means appointed thereunto.
I shall explain this point by opening the text.
First, I begin with the meritorious cause, ' And for their sakes I sanctify myself.' Where — (1.) The agent, J; (2.) l^\ie act, sanctify ; (3.) The object, mnysclf; (4.) The persons concerned, ybr their sokes.
First, The agent, ' I sanctify myself.' In other places it is ascribed to the Father and the Spirit. To the Father : John x. 36, ' Him hath the Father sanctified, and sent into the world.' To the Spirit : Acts x. 38, ' How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.^ He did not only frame the human nature of Christ out of the substance of the Virgin, but adorned it with gifts and graces fit for his office and work. And here Christ saith, ' I sanctify my- self.' All the persons in the divine nature concur to this work. The Father sanctifieth and sets him apart by his decree and desig- nation ; the Son sanctifieth himself, to show his willingness and con- descension ; the Spirit sanctifieth him by his operation, furnishing him with meet graces and endowments that were necessary for that singular person who should redeem the world. Christ's sanctifying himself falleth under our consideration, and doth, show partly his ori- ginal authority, as a person of the Godhead, coequal with the Father and the Spirit : ' Whatsoever the Father doeth, the Son doeth also,' John V. 19. Partly his voluntary submission ; as the Father did con- secrate the Son to the office of mediator, and the Spirit qualified him with all fulness of grace, so did Christ consecrate himself, as being a most willing agent in this work, and did really ofi'er himself to become man, and to suffer all that misery, pain, and shame that was neces- sary for our expiation. The scripture often sets it forth to us : Eph. v. 2, ' Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given him- self for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.' He did not do this work by constraint, but of a ready mind. When it was first propounded to him in God's decree, Heb. x. 9, ' Then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God ! ' And before the time was come about when he should assume the human nature into the unity of his person, he feasted himself with the thoughts of that salvation which he should set afoot in the habitable parts of the earth: