58 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII, [SeR. XXXVIII.
latitude and degree which Christ doth, yet in the same manner they solace themselves in God : ' We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is,' 1 John iii. 2. When we behold him in the glass of the gospel we are transformed, much more when we see him as he is. As the iron held in the fire is all fire, so we, being in God and with God, are more like him, have higher measures of the divine nature. So our privileges are the same with Christ's : Eev, iii. 21, ' To him that over- cometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also over- came, and am set down with my Father in his throne.' We sit upon his throne as he doth upon his Father's ; there are two thrones men- tioned for our distinct conceiving of the matter ; as God is over all, so is Christ, and then we next.
Use 1. It is a great comfort : —
1. Against abasement. Will any one believe that these poor crea- tures, that are so slighted, and so little esteemed in the world, shall have the same glory that Christ hath ? 1 John iii. 2, ' Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.' The world thinketh meanly and contemptibly of the condition of christians ; in the world we are like him in afflictions, by that means we hold forth the life of Christ : 2 Cor. iv. 10, ' Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.'
2. Against weaknesses and infirmities of the flesh ; those saints that have now so many infirmities shall be made like Christ, and crowned with perfection. There is nothing less than grace at the beginning, it is as a grain of mustard- seed, a little leaven ; but it groweth still, as a child groweth in favour more and more, and as the light increaseth to the perfect day. This should comfort us against all our weaknesses and infirmities : Ps. xvii. 15, 'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.'
Use 2. It informeth us : —
1. That our condition in Christ is in this regard better than our condition would have been if Adam had stood in innocency. Adam could only convey to us what he had received ; but Christ is a better root ; we have in Christ whatever we lost in Adam, the first root, and more, more than we lost. Christ, being God-man, must needs have the image of God in greater perfection ; now we are not renewed to the image of the first Adam, but of the second. Oh ! the depth of the divine mercy and wisdom, that hath made our fall to be a means of our preferment !
2. It informeth us what we may look for, even for what Christ is in glory ; we have a glimpse of it in his transfiguration, in his giving the law. Let our thoughts be more explicit about this matter.
Use 3. It is an engagement to holiness. We expect to be as Christ is, therefore let us not carry ourselves sordidly, like swine wallowing in the mire : 1 John iii. 3, ' And he that hath this hope in him puri- fieth himself, even as he is pure.' We expect a sinless state, not a Turkish paradise. That body that is made an instrument of whoredom and drunkenness, shall it be like Christ's glorious body? Those affections that shall be ravished with the enjoyment of God, shall they be prostituted to the world ? and that mind which is made for the
VeR. 22.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 59
sight of God, serve only to make provision for the flesh ? shall it be filled with chaflf and vanity ?
3. Observe that glory is the fruit of union, as well as grace. The spiritual union is begun here, but it is accomplished in the next life. Here we are crucified, quickened, ascend, and sit down with Christ in heavenly places : Eph. ii. 5, 6, ' Even when we were dead in sins hath he quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ; ' Col. i. 27, ' Christ in you the hope of glory.' Christ in us will not leave till he bringeth us to heaven. In this life we cannot come to him ; the state of mortality is a state of absence ; therefore Christ will come to us, but with an intent to bring us to himself, that we may be where he is : ver. 24, ' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' He Cometh to us where we are, that at length we may be where he is. It is the Lord's method to bring us from death to life, from misery to happiness, by degrees ; thousands of years cannot make up that which was lost in an hour ; till the resurrection all is not perfected, we do not fully discern the fruits of our union with Christ.