Chapter V
The glory which Christ, as God-man, had assigned him before the world was,
in<b*is election by the Father, manifested in an explication of John xvii. 5. Whether that expression,
Glorify me now with the glory which I had with
ihee before the world was, be spoken of Christ, as second person in the
Trinity, as God, or as God-man, appointed in God s eternal decree. In what proper sense this might be said by the man Jesus,
l Glorify now me, &c. How as God-man he can be said to have had this glory with the Father before the world was, when as such he did not then exist. What
glory it is that is here intended, it is a glory due to his person, God-man,
distinct from, and superior to what followed, upon his performance of the work of our redemption.
And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. JOHN XVII. 5.
To clear and prove what is the scope of these words, I shall propose several queries, and the answers made thereunto will lay open the genuine mind and sense of the text.
ls Query is, Under what notion or consideration Christ should be the
subject of that speech, The glory which I had with thee before the world was ? Whether it be spoken of the second person, simply considered, as God (which is a great truth in itself, and which most do understand meant
in this place), or whether it be spoken of Christ, considered as God-man, in God s predestination ; and so to involve the man, or human nature. There are, you see, two parts of the whole speech
: 1. And now glorify me. And touching that, there need be no stick* to apply it to the human
nature ; for he was a subject capable of being glorified now, as upon his
ascension he was. But then how may we withal apply the other part, with the glory I had with thee before the world was, and take him in as
the subject of that glory ? Yea, and if we do, it must be some way the same kind of glory, which the subject of the first part of that speech prays to be now glorified withal, with the same glory mentioned in the second
part, which was before the world, and not with another. So as take which
you will, whether the divine nature as second person, or the human, still
the same nature must be the individual subject of the same glory, in either
of those speeches. We must not think to apply the one part of the speech to the man, or the human nature only ; and then the other to the divine
nature only ; this will breed a distraction, or a division in the sense. My answer to this inquiry, and my assertion is, that Christ, considered
as God-man, is the subject of both ; and that as the man speaks it, so the man is involved as spoken of, and the whole person as God-man, Glorify me now, Father. Now presently, upon my ascension (says the man) in
respect of entering into an open actual possession of that glory, which I
the man had with thee, in the idea of this glory, in thy predestination of
me, ordained unto me before the world. But of the manner, how he the man had it before the world, of this at large, and apart, in my answers to
the other following queries. In the mean time, That it is the glory that belongeth to the man that he prayeth for in * That is, hesitation. ED.
CHAP. V.] AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 485
these words, And now, Father, glorify me, and not simply as he is second
person. This assertion I prove both negatively and affirmatively.
1. Negatively. It is not the glory of the second person, simply or alone
considered, and therefore, it is the glory of him as God-man. For,
(1.) That he might be glorified with that glory due to him, as second
person simply, was not a thing to be prayed for, for it is naturally and
essentially his due.
(2.) As to that glory, he might as well have formed his prayer thus,
Glorify thou me with the glory I now have with thee, and not in this manner.
And now, Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee from
everlasting. For that divine glory of him, which is essential to him as second person, he had it as much now at the time he prayed, as he had it from everlasting, and all one.
(3.) That word, Now glorify me, necessarily implies a suspension of a
glory due before, and that could not be of his glory, simply as second per son. Also, that now argues a glory to be given in time, in such a manner
as not afore ; and what is done in time, concerns the human nature, not
the divine.
2. Positively. The subject of the glory prayed for is the man. Austin was so far convinced of this, that though he were engaged against the Arians
as much as any in his time, and all the fathers afore him had urged this
place to prove the divine nature of Christ as second person, his existence from eternity, yet betook himself to this, that it was spoken of him as man,
and so interpreted, The glory which I had, to be meant, which I had by
predestination, and in that sense with thee. Now, that it is the man, or
rather the person of God-man in union together, is the subject prayed for,
is evident. Because,
(1.) It is the petition of the person who had been, and as he had been
humbled, who had glorified God on earth, and had finished his work, and waited for this glory until now. As therefore the apostle says, the same
that ascended, first descended ; so I may say here, the same person who was now presently to die, and was crucified the same day, was the same, who was the subject, the person prayeth to be thus glorified, when he shall have done his work. For,
(2.) It is a glory suspended until this his work were done. And there
fore, Now, Father (says he), glorify me, &c., answers unto that which
is in Luke xxiv. 26, Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and
to enter into his glory ? Of which afterwards.
(3.) He prays for that glory wherein in heaven (when glorified) he should
appear visibly in his human nature, and which in the 24th verse he prays his saints might see and behold ; and which in the same verse had been
given him out of love before the world was ; which cannot be meant of
that of the divine nature, as second person simply, for that is as invisible
as God the Father is ; and was not by gift but by generation communicated
to him.
All these things cannot be the voice of him simply as second person. Fix upon it therefore, that it is the glory of the man, or rather God-man,
prayed for.
%d Query is, In what fair and genuine sense can it be said by the man
Jesus, Glorify me with the glory I had with thee before the world was ? My answer and second assertion is, that it was the glory which the second
person, being in God s sir ^ular predestination of him constituted God-man, had in and by the same predestination given him, as the glory of the only
486 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHEE, [BOOK III.
begotten Son of God, as his due in the perfect and exquisite idea thereof, then given him, and pre-ordained unto him.
Unto me this hath appeared as the plainest and fullest interpretation ; and
that which answers all difficulties, and carries the interpretation through, is, that the word
* I had relates to the glory which he had in his singular and
supereminent predestination, which was the sense Austin gave long since. And there is that which favours this interpretation in the aspect and corre
spondency which the 22d and 24th verses that follow in this prayer hold, and do mutually cast upon these words of ver. 5, and these words upon them ; serving to expound each other of them.
* The glory thou gavest me, I have them ; so in ver. 22, and then put to them 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, which thou hast given me ; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. Where, God s loving him afore
the foundation of the world, is a phrase all one with his having predesti nated him out of love (as I shewed afore). And by
* the glory which thou
gavest me, ver. 22, is above all other meant, that personal glory of and
flowing from the personal union, which was by predestination given him as
God-man ; by virtue of which, first given him, it is and was that he gives us a derived or secondary participation of glory out of it ; a portion of
glory and privilege like to this of his, wholly flowing from it, and conformed
to it ; yet not the same hypostatical union or personal glory which Christ
himself hath, which the 24th verse shews. For our glory (as there) ariseth
to us, but through our beholding that his so supereminent glory ; by which he manifestly declares how it is that the glory given him, he gave to them : and that their glory was to be differenced from what was personally his own,
and proper to himself ; his scope being to shew the dependency that their
glory hath on his ; and withal, how that his was first given him, in pre
destination, by the Father ; and that then he gave a glory unto them as
concurring with his Father in that gift. And it is not to shew at all that
our glory is, for the rank of it, the same with his. No ; for our glory he
gives us is to arise from our beholding his personal; glory, and so is but a
second-hand derived glory ; God having first, and with a primary and chief
intendment, estated Christ absolutely, singly, independently, in his personal
glory, and in his predestination of him, God-man, gave him that original as the grand lease of all creature glory. Therefore he is called the Lord
of glory, 1 Cor. ii. 8. And Christ being endowed therewith, did as freely
give forth to those whom God had given him (as their several portions) under leases. Which glory of ours may yet in this general respect be said
to be the same, in that it is supernatural, wholly above what by the law of
creation or the covenant of works, which from Adam we had derived ; and
which, though never so much advanced, we should have attained unto. For this is a glory the second Adam bequeathed us, like unto what himself
had, which was wholly supernatural. So then, bring all these together,
* The glory I had afore the world, down to the 22d,
first the 5th verse,
* The glory thou gavest me, I have given them ; those whom thou gavest me, says ver. 24 ; and I will, that they behold that my glory ; and
then, the close of all, in that 24th verse, For thou lovedst me afore the world was, as the spring of all ; and this connection of all these will amount to this, that, first, in God s predestination of him afore the world,
it was that he gave him this glory spoken of, ver. 5 ; and, secondly, that
that glory was first and absolutely given him by the Father, and then
ours by himself concurring with the Father, who loved us as he loved
CHAP. V.] AJsD HIS SON JESUS CHKIST. 487
Christ, ver. 22, which two are the sum and substance of what I am to
prove.
This thus proved, as meant of predestination, my interpretation of ver. 5 * Glorify me with the glory I had with thee afore the world was
proceeds
1. With the glory. Thou hadst the idea, the portraiture of me, when I was among all those other models and schemes of worlds, and varieties of
creatures thou hadst in thy view, and which thou couldst have ordained to make, whenas yet thou didst not. I in the hue and array of God-man, simply as such considered, came up afore thee, and outshined each and all of those creatable glories of mere creatures thy power was able to make ; and I took thy heart above all those curious pictures or images in the power of thy art whatever, and outshined them all, as not worthy to be thought of or looked at with me or my glory ; that is, above all and afore all thy will and good pleasure did here set the fiat of thy desire, and of thy first desire; for being satisfied, in the morning, with the image of thyself in me, thou
saidst, This I purpose to be my fellow, and my sole delight ; which no other of mere creatures, or all, could ever have been.
2. Glorify me now with the glory which in decreeing of me to be God-man, thou hadst in thy heart, in thy designs and purposes to bestow ; and didst
then, and by this decree, actually endow me with, as the natural inherit
ance, propriety, and proper due and concernment to that person thou should ordain God-man, and one person with thy Son. This I now beg of thee
to be now possessed of.
3. With the very same glory, according to the exact draught of it, that was in thy divine understanding, and will, and purposes about me. And he therefore says, with the glory now, which I then had ; that is, in the
model, the idea, exactly answering one the other. There are two parts of the petition (as was said), Glorify me now, the first ; with the glory I
had, that is the second. And these two must prove to be, in a true respect, one and the same glory.
* the glory which I
And if any (as many do) will urge, that this latter,
had, can be understood of no other but of Christ s divine nature, or of the second person simply considered; then, that other part, Glorify me now, will recoil and check them as to that opinion. For it must be truly some way the same glory. And though it be true that the divine nature, or the second person, he might alone say,*I had a glory with thee afore the world was, namely, the essential glory of the Godhead ; yet he might not
say, Glorify me now with that glory; for that essential glory was neither to be prayed for, nor was it ever laid aside or interrupted, as it was enjoyed by him with God. No. And again, on the other hand, for the man to
say, Glorify me now with the glory I had with thee, and mean the essential
glory of the Godhead, that is as incongruous as the other. So as, take both parts of the petition in conjunction together, and as to belong to but one subject, either the man alone, or the second person) alone, and they will never suit, either in a uniform way or sameness of glory. You can no more apply them both to the divine nature than you can to the human. And yet it is plainly insinuated to be one and the same glory. This will never be unriddled (at least not so fairly) any other way than by this of
predestination, viz., that look what glory in God s ultimate purposes and transactions with his Son, was foreordained and designed him as God-man
(and as such he was th" subject of God s decrees as well as we, as many scriptures declare), and so it is exactly one and the same glory ; which is
488 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, [BOOK III.
the gloss that Austin long since gave of the words, Clarifica me, sicut tune,
ita et nunc: sicut tune prcedestinatione, ita et nunc perfectione : fac in mundo, quod apud te jam fuerat ante mundum ; fac in suo tempore quod ante omnia
tempora statuisti, &c. Glorify me as then, so now ; as then in predestina tion, so now in the perfect performance of it ; do that in this its due time, which thou hadst appointed and decreed afore all times. Now whatever God predestinates, persons, or things concerning persons, he hath the idea
thereof, and of all that appertains thereto, in his divine mind. For, known unto God are all his works from the beginning ; and therefore had, yea, much more had, of this very glory of God-man, the full and lively por traiture of his understanding and purpose ; yea, we may say, that even that
glory, this divine person, God-man, hath now in heaven (when it was that
this his prayer had its accomplishment), is no other glory, either for kind or degree, than was in the heart and mind of God, laid up with God for him; as in Job the phrase is, many such things are with him; Job
xxiii. 14, For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me ; and many such things are with him. Yea, of all the saints it may be said, when they are glorified in heaven, it is but with that same glory and no
other, for measure and the like, than was in the heart of God decreed towards them from everlasting. And so they differ, as the pattern which was so long afore formed, and the piece that is framed to it. As when
king Ahasuerus said, Let it be done, so and so, to the man whom the
king will honour, Est. vi. 9. Which when Haman had once sperformed, might be said, that he had been honoured with the same honour in all the circumstances of it, which the king in his heart had contrived to be given him. And so it is here ; for predestination is but preparatio beneficiorum, a shaping, a forming of all those benefits of grace and glory that
shall be bestowed in time upon every one that is elect ; and so it was in
Christ.
3d Query. How is the man, or he as God-man, said to have had this
glory with the Father before the world was, when as such he existed not ?
Ans. By reason that the second person then existed, and all along from
everlasting upon his election thereunto, took on him that personage of Godman, and bore the title of it with God his Father ; thereby it comes to
* the glory which I had with thee ; which no saint or angel else can say of the glory given them by pre destination.
pass, that it may be said by the man Jesus,
For that a mere act of God s ordaining him God-man in his own breast and intention, singly and alone] considered, should be an adequate full
ground for Christ to say, that I as man, or as God-man, had a glory with
thee afore the world was, when I, this man, was not extant, as now I am who challenge it, cannot be alone sufficient.* For the elect saints (who were predestinated as well as Christ) might then also say, We had a glory with thee afore the world was ; but this they must not, nor can say, for the very sound of it is such, as signifies that the person that had that glory,
and that says it, should have been then with God, and to have been glori fied by God with that glory he speaks of.
Now the elect of men, neither of themselves existed then with God, nor no part of them, no not their souls. They may say indeed, that by virtue
of their predestination, grace and glory was given them afore the world was,
* Nee enim habuisset gloriam nisi ipse prius fuisset qui gloriam posset tenere. Nemo enim habere aliquid poterit nisi ipse ante fuerit qui aliquid tenet. Tertul. de
Trin. c. 24.
CHAP. V.j AND HIS SON JESUS CHKIST. 489
* Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But for them
as 2 Tim. i. 9,
to say, the glory which I had with thee afore the world was ; this their pre
destination, or God s single mere act of predestinating them, will not war
rant them to say. Nor doth the Scripture anywhere so speak of the saints
their predestination ; no such language is anywhere used of them. Besides
that, it were to derogate from Christ, who alone is capacitated (for the
grounds that shall be added) thus to speak.
Moreover, their election, and the grace given them thereby, hath this
difference from Christ s election, that they are said to be chosen in Christ, Eph. i. 4, and that grace given them from everlasting is said to be given in
Christ, in 2 Tim. i. 9. But Christ himself was chosen immediately in and
for himself, which enabled him to say, the glory which I had with thee
afore the world, which none of them could say; yea, and for him to say
it, and to have intended no more than what he had of glory in and by God s mere act of purpose and predeterminating him unto it, had been to say no more than the world itself might say, or might be said of it, that it had
a being (namely, in God s purpose) afore its creation and actual existence. For whatsoever the world now is, it was in God s naked decree and pur
pose, afore itself was, as well as Christ himself.
Hence, then, there must be some extraordinary special thing found in
Christ s predestination, which must give ground to this speech, and fill up the whole intendment of it. And therefore I added, to this second assertion, a second part of it, that
the second person, the Son, did, at and together, and upon God s act of
predestinating him to be God-man (and upon him did God s predestination
fall as well as on the man Jesus), take on him the real title and repute of God-man, and sustained and bore the personage of God-man afore his
Father. And his Father actually gave him the glory of it, as a superadded glory to that of his being second person, and his Son simply con
sidered. And this having been aforehand done, upon the account of, and
respect unto, his being to be that man one day ; hence, the man Jesus
being now existing and united into one person with that Son of God, was
* Glorify me with the glory I had with thee afore the world was : the person he was now become, having been glorified in that very account, as God-man, by his Father from everlasting.
justly and rightly enabled and capacitated to claim and pray,
This condition of the person God-man, upon whom this election fell, hath not enough been considered. That whilst such a bare act of election light
ing upon us, would not have been such an expression, but been deficient,
yet in the case of Christ, as hath been now stated, it would : and with these additionals it is abundantly verified, and holds good. But we must consider that there was not only a predestination-act on the Father s part, that passed upon Christ to be God-man in common with God predestinating us ; but that there accompanied it, at the instant, on the second person s
part, an acceptance of what God had predestinated him unto, a sustaining
of that person afore God ever after, and a glory given him all along by his Father in their converses, answering that dignity, which utterly varies the case from that of our predestination by a single act of God s. And because God s predestinating him to be God-man hath singly been considered by many, when that interpretation hath been given of the words, that they are
to be understood of what was in God s first predestinating of Christ ; and
490 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, (BOOK III.
that, as it is a bare act on God s part, falling short, they therefore have
wholly rejected that interpretation ; whereas, supply to it what was also done at and upon God s predestinating, on Christ s part, and God s glori fying him as such for ever after, and so the solution riseth (in my poor
conception) to a satisfaction of the difficulties that are otherwise incumbent on the words.
This new supplement of so grand a moment in this argument I shall draw forth into sundry particulars, which the reader may please to add unto those of predestination already foregone. For that must still stand, though these be also taken in unto it, to make the interpretation more full.
1. The Son of God, second person, was extant and with God, at the
instant when he was chosen to this glory of being God-man ; there he was, the person, which we were not at our election. This I need not insist upon. And hence,
2. The glory of it was immediately given to himself, at the very instant
of that act of predestinating him to it. It needed not be given him in
another, or to another for him : he was there to accept it and receive it ; whereas the glory we were to have was given us in Christ, when nothing of us existed, and so long afore we existed ; and was therefore given us
in Christ, because he was present by, and could receive it for us (as he
did) ; and therefore might much more receive any glory or honour which
the Father, by such an act of election, should ordain him unto, as, de facto, he did him to this of God-man.
But you will urge, that still the man, that was ordained to this glory, existed not, but in a bare decree.
Consider therefore, 3. That the second person that existed, and was now chosen to be God-man, had the title of being God-man ; and so the
glory due to it, upon that election of him to it, really conferred upon him ; and so as from thence he was no longer to be considered, merely and ab
stractly, as second person alone, but was thereupon afore God and with
God, and in his repute and esteem, accounted of as God-man. Take a man
that is elected to an office, whom thereupon you call now elect, besides what he is and hath as a man singly considered, he hath now the honour of his
office, though he be not installed. Thus a man chosen and designed a
general, hath the honour and title of his designment, long afore he goes into
the field. Now this much more really was the second person s case, as to
this new additional glory.
4. He not only knew what he was ordained to, but solemnly accepted
it afore his Father, and concurred in assent and consent thereto, and under took to be so as his Father had appointed ; Heb. x. 5, A body hast thou
prepared me. The second person deferred not, stayed not accepting it
upon the first act of God s choosing him, until the time should come that he was to become God-man, by being made flesh ; but he accepted it in
stantly, without any more ado. And so he was absolutely and solemnly
espoused by his own consent afore his Father, unto that individual nature
of man, whom his Father had by that act of predestination designed and
proposed to him to be. And hence the title of it must needs come on him. He took on him the title, the honour, and glory, from that very instant of
eternity. He was thenceforward God-man contracted, although the mar
riage was to be after consummated, when the Word took flesh. He had the
title of God-man elect, though not of God-man united, or made flesh. He
bore the personage of God-man (mark that word) personam yerebat, the garb, the port of it, although as yet the Son of God had not took up into his
CHAP. V.] AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 491
person that man he was contracted unto. I say, he bore the title and repute of it, and went under that name with God, the name of God-man, even as he did, of everlasting Father, or a Father of us from everlasting, Isa. ix. 6. There is the like reason for either ; for he had that title of everlasting Father, but because from everlasting he afore God took upon him that
relation to us as his children, and so to be of the same nature with us ; as
the apostle argues in Heb. ii. 10, 11, 14, For it became him, for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one : for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Forasmuch then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. The second person singly considered hath not
the style of Father, for that is the first person s propriety, only considered
simply as a person.
Again, if all the promises God hath made in his word were from everlast
ing made, and then extant afore God, as you read, Titus i. 2, they were ; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the
world began ; then Christ, considered as God-man, to whom, as such, all
the promises were made, and in whom, as such supposed, they have their
truth, foundation, and existence, their Yea and Amen ; he then (I say) must much more have borne (being then present with God) that title of Godman. And without his being considered as such, and his having accepted to be such, those promises had had no existence or reality, nor would it have been so, that all our grace and glory was given us in Christ afore the
world was, as it is said 2 Tim. i. 9, Was not then that title of being Christ and God-man then given them ? Without the consideration of which, wo had not, nor could be considered as legatees, to whom that grace was be
queathed. Yes, it was a title familiarly used of him amongst the Three, from thenceforward for ever.
This title was in itself truly a glory, though but an additional, given the second person then existing ; and though the man, or the human nature was not existent, yet the glory of his being one day man was then existent, and the person was existent that was capable of receiving even that glory at
that present.
[1.] It was a glory, for the thing in itself was truly a matter of glory, though but an additament to him ; and being given by a person of glory, his
Father, the fountain of glory, it must be truly such.
[2.J Though but an additional glory, for his native essential glory, as God, needed it not, as to his own blessedness or glory ; as we see God doth not need that glory we creatures give him, and yet it is a real glory to him, and
a glorifying of him, that which creatures give him.
[3.] Though the man existed not, yet the glory existed ; for the second
person existed to receive it from his Father, who existed together with him ; and might, and did, aforehand give it to him, upon his own ordination of him to be man, and the second person, his undertaking to become man ; and so, was given through that relation contracted for ^forehand unto that man. So as whoever considers it, will find himself to be utterly in a mis
take, if he should thus conceive of it, that Christ only had the glory of his
being God, and second person, afore and with his Father ; and that God
began first actually to honour his Son as God-man, only from the time he
actually took flesh, and became man. For if there be a real glory ariseth
492 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, [BOOK III.
to him now he hath assumed man s nature, for which and by reason whereof he is by us deservedly to be glorified and adored as God-man ; or
if that be a glory to him now he is in heaven, that he is God-man, which he visibly wears there afore his Father, and all the saints ; then it must be
acknowledged (having been given him by his Father, in his decree, and undertaken by himself), that it was a glory also, as then really extant be tween himself and his Father. At the time after he had assumed our
nature, and was actually become man, then his Father should and did openly declare and congratulate him as his Son, in saying from heaven, Mat. iii. 17,
And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; it is added, that he gave him glory and honour, as is
expressed in 2 Peter i. 17, For he received from God the Father, honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Then why may it not also be said, that when in God s everlasting decree, God had said the same to him as expressly, Ps. ii. 7, I will declare the decree, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ; why should not this be as well a
giving glory to him from everlasting, though but upon, and in his decree, which was from everlasting ? Upon the making of his decree for that glory, this was said, Thou art my Son, &c. And the psalmist professeth but to
publish the matter of that decree, and to produce the record, and set it down by way of prophecy. If then the declaring the same by God himself
afterward, when he was made flesh, and become man, were an honour given him by his Father, then surely, at the making of that decree it was the
like; and therefore he had that glory with the Father before the world was.
That there might be a glory given the Son from everlasting, is clear from
this, that there was the highest and freest mutual converse held between the
three persons amongst themselves from everlasting, when no creature was, and in that converse they drove and carried on designs of what was to come, and gave the glory to one another, of what each of them was, or should be, or do, in their several activities, to all eternity. They spake one to the
* A body hast thou prepared me. And the Father to the Son, Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten thee. And this latter was from everlasting, in
other, and one of another, as Heb. x., the Son said to the Father,
* I will declare
the decreeing of it, spoken to him ; for the words afore are,
the decree, whereof that speech therefore was the matter. Likewise there were mutual engagements and promises passed between them, Titus i. 2, eternal life was promised afore the world began. And there must be an
intercourse of persons promising, and that received and accepted the pro
mise. And in like manner in their converses they glorified one another ; John xv. 16, The Spirit shall glorify me, says Christ. He says it indeed
of his glorifying Christ to us ; but if he doth it to us, much more among themselves.
And truly the phrase here, which I had with thee
1 (which now only re mains to be expounded in the fulness of the extent of the meaning it will
reach unto), is very compliant with this notion ; for which I had with
thee, imports not only a presence, or being with God in existence.
As, 1, John i. 1, the Word is said to be God, and with God.
Or, 2, the intimacy of an alike glory to that of the Father s, enjoyed by the Son together with the Father.
But, 3, it denotes the repute or esteem which Christ had with him ; so
that the glory I had with thee is the honour and valuation I then held
in thy heart of me.
CHAP. V.] AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 493
We use the same phrase in our language, and it is current in all lan
guages ; a person who is honoured by another, we use to say of him, he is
in esteem, repute, or favour with him. And so it is not necessarily here
to be wholly confined to signify his essential glory, which he had together with his Father, and enjoyed, as if that were only meant ; but will well
comport with this reputative glory cast on him by election of his being God-man.
And the Scripture speaks parallel unto this in point of grace, that is now borne to us by God, or to any elect of God ; and it is all one to say, such a one hath grace with God, and to say they have glory and honour with God. Now, of the blessed virgin, the angel accosts her with this, Luke
* Thou hast found favour with God, or art in great grace with God ; that is, in God s estimation and repute. Grace in his heart borne to thee, which might have been said of her, even from everlasting ; when it was
i. 30,
that God did single her forth to be the mother of the Lord, it may be
said, she had that grace with God then, which otherwise is commonly ex
pressed by a finding favour in his eyes. Maldonate takes hold of the word, as often importing esteem and renown (though he diverts it to another pur
pose). I may say of Christ, God-man, that he was of renown with God, and that he was, as God-man, in repute and esteem, such upon his elec
tion of him. This may justly be termed a glory, when thus it was in God and with God, for God s repute and esteem is glory ; for God is the God of glory, the Father of glory, and glory comes only of God ; John v. 44,
* How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that corneth from God only ? His esteem is the valuation of
glory, which is in the sight of God of great price, is really so, 1 Pet. iii. 4. And, thus understood, Christ prays to have that glory which in the person of the second he had then with God in his repute and valuation. And if
you put had unto it, yet still the phrase, had with thee, will not rise up to denote that he had it in real possession then with God. A man is said
to have a thing in a right unto it given him, though not yet enjoyed, as Heb. x. 35, we are said to have treasure in heaven, when yet we enjoy
it not. Glorify me with thine own self (there is an actual possession prayed for), with the glory I had with thee, in thy esteem, account, and
design. A title of glory and excellency given by a person that is the true fountain of glory, what is this but really and truly a glory to the person to whom it is given ?
4th Query. Our next query is, What kind of glory is it that is properly intended in this 5th verse ?
This is a matter of great moment to be inquired into, as will in the sequel appear. For the discovery whereof,
First, Divines* have observed, though not upon the occasion of these
words, that there is a double glory of Christ, and that considered as Godman.
1. Persona simpliciter, Of his person simply, considered as God-man (abs tracting from his being a mediator for us).
2. Offi-cii, Of his office of mediatorship ; which latter was superadded, over and above, unto the glory of his person, as God-man, and consists
purely in what he is in relation unto God his Father ; whereas that glory of mediator ariseth from his relation unto us, and for us, and from what he did or wrought for us as sinners, influenceth us with, in the virtue of
* See GOIWITUS, torn. iii. p. 74> 75.
494 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, [BOOK III.
that other personal glory, in being an head to us. And indeed Christ hath a threefold glory.
The first essential, the same with God his Father, he the Son being co
equal to him, God of God, and very God.
The second, belonging to his person, as now constituted God-man, to break forth in and upon the man assumed, as being one person with the
Son, who is God essentially.
Thirdly, The glory of his mediatorship acquired by himself. The two
latter are those afore us.
The first of the latter, the glory of his person, simply considered, is ex
pressed in that speech, John i. 14, We beheld his glory, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, which was merely the glory which brake
forth in his person ; for otherwise the glory of his office, as being mediator, as dying and rising again, &c., was the glory of his person. And they saw
not, nor considered not then, the glory of him, as dying, &c., for they un derstood it not till after he was risen ; as in Luke xxiv. 45, 46, Then
opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. This double glory you may see, Heb. i. 3,
* Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, &c.
1. The glory of his person simply, as God-man, is in these words, Who
being the brightness of his Father s glory, and the express image of his
person.
c When he had by himself, or by the sacrifice of himself, purged away our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
2. The glory of his office as mediator, in these words,
Which latter clause declareth, how he being originally, in his person as God-man, the brightness of his Father s person, &c., after his work per formed on earth, to purge sins away, he went to heaven, and took posses sion of a glory answerable to that dignity of his person, which was to sit down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, and therein to perform what was to be executed by him in heaven, in intercession, &c. Which,
if it be not just the same in substance and order with what is here in these
four verses prayed for, I leave to be considered, he here praying, that now he had finished his work on earth, that now God would glorify him in heaven with that glory which was due to his person, who was
* the bright ness of his Father s glory, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, so taking his place according to the dignity of his person speci fied ; which glory, as he was predestinated unto in his person before the
world, so he was appointed by election, as the heir, Lord, and end of all
things. And although his mediatory glory in heaven is involved in his
sitting at God s right hand, which he doth as a priest to intercede, yet it is
the possession of that personal glory which he was appointed unto, that is, the substantial glory there spoken of, and intended, and which the weight
is put upon.
Now, Christ himself, within the compass of these five verses, doth, ac
cording to this difference of glories, frame his prayer about himself. For, you may observe how he prays twice for his own being glorified ; first, in
ver. 1,2, Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And here a second time, ver. 5, And
now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which
CHAP. V.J AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 495
I had with thee before the world was. Now, besides that he would not have used such a repetition of the same thing in so punctual and concise a
prayer, within the compass of so few verses, and which is all he prays for,
as for himself; besides this, the distinction of a twofold glorifying is
evident from hence, that that glorifying him in ver. 1 relates to the per formance of his office of mediatorship, which he says lay in this, to give eternal life to as many as God had given him ; and the meaning of his
* glorify me, that I may glorify thee, in ver. 1, is, that in that work
first
of suffering, which now he was entering into, God would gloriously assist
him, and enable him to go through with it, according to the commission,
authority, and power God had given him (for in that sense power, in
ver. 2, must necessarily be understood), Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may
glorify thee : as thou hast given him power over all flesh, to this end, that he might give eternal life, &c. All this properly relates unto this work and
office of mediatorship. And that particle, As thou hast given him power,
imports, that in a proportion requisite unto that work and office, which he was empowered and authorised withal, he would give him a measure of
glorious strength answerable or worthy of that office, and fully enabling him
to perform it and throughly to execute it ; and then to glorify him as a re ward for that work when he should have finished it, ver. 4, I have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. But the measure of this second
* Glorify me, in ver. 5, is the glory of God
himself, and what it became God to glorify such an one with as was his Son ; and to be taken up into the glory of God. It was not upon the account of what he had done in this world, as in relation unto us and our
eternal life, but what simply arose from the union and communion which he had, and was to have entirely with his Father, singly and alone ;
Glorify thou me with thine own self: and so, which was to arise from
that oneness with his Father, and which he had had with him afore this world ; or, the consideration of any such thing, anything done in it, or
persons belonging to it ; and which he and his Father had alone ; and such
as would have been if there were no world, nor had been extant ; and so it was without relation unto his work done, or persons in this world whom
eternal life should be given unto.
If it be objected that the coherence of ver. 4, 5, I have glorified thee on
the earth, &c., ver. 4; And now, Father, glorify thou me, ver. 5, would seem to carry it, that he should ask this second glory, for this, as
the ground or cause, that he had done such a work of mediation on earth,
I answer, No ; that is a mistake. But that coherence with this ver. 5
notes out that now for the time of it, that full time was come he should be
glorified. That whereas he now had, according to his own or his Father s
* finished the work which God gave him to do ; and which also that word
compact, performed all, and
* finished respects, namely, the time, the due time, to be now come, that therefore now glorify me, with a glory upon a far higher account due. It was to shew that until this now of finishing this work of redemption, that glory otherwise due was suspended. And it
is as if he had said, Now give me my native original due upon thy mere
decree, and constituting me God-man, and not at all depending upon my merit or work ; but give me my personal due, which had been suspended
till now, but which now is due ; when I shall have performed that work thou didst command and impose upon me ; which finished, now bestow
that other upon me. Here was ingenuity to the height, not to ask his
native due, nor speak a word of it, till he had performed his imposed ser-
496 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, [BOOK III.
vice God had set him. And with this doth that of Christ himself, Luke xxiv. 26, most fully accord ; Ought not Christ to have suffered, and enter into his glory ? His glory, not upon account of sufferings only due to him, but his before ever he suffered, which was absolutely and personally his upon another account, but which he was not (by God s ordination and his own consent) to enter into, but after sufferings first, to enter upon it and
possess it. And the parallel of these two places is observable. 1. That, as there he
says, He ought (first) to suffer ; so here, Now I have finished that work.
2. To enter into glory, there ; Glorify me with that glory, here. 3. Into his glory, there ; The glory which I had afore, and without the consideration of this work, here. And that word,
* Enter into his glory, imports, he then took possession, and not afore, as man ; and yet in right it was his, and sufferings were but the way to it ; it was not purchased by
sufferings. This his glory was an intrinsecal glory, not additional. Divers interpreters* have perceived that the glory of his person, of Godman, or, as they term it, his intrinsecal glory, is the subject of this Glorify me, in ver. 5. But they have not withal observed it with difference from that other glory prayed for, ver. 2. Only Brugensis had a glimmering of
it in his exposition on ver. 1, though he seems to have lost it again after wards. His words are these. He deduces two things (says he) why he should be glorified
: one, that he is the Redeemer of mankind and Saviour of men, ver. 2, 8. The other, that he is the eternal Son of God, ver.
5. f Thus distinguished he, and but in a light touch. The differences between these two glories, personal and mediatory, are many and great ones. I take notice of the grand one of all, and it is in the text. There is a phrase which doth in the highest manner describe wherein this personal glory, the very essence of it, doth consist,
* Glorify me with thine own self. This so momentous a clause is diverted, to note
only the place wherein he would be glorified, Glorify me with thyself in
heaven, where thou art, as spoken in opposition unto I have glorified thee on earth. Others thus, I seek not worldly glory, but glory with thyself;
all which do dilate} the spirit and life of this phrase. But our Cartwright and Gerard do interpret it of God s glorifying him in, and with, and by the
glory God himself had, and with that glory alone, abstracted from all other
things whatsoever. Christ praying for that wherein the spirit, the essen
tial substance of his glory and blessedness lieth, even in thine own self; Father, glorify me with thine own self. Not only signifying his desire
to be glorified conjunctly, both together, he as well as the Father ; that is, that as God the Father had hitherto been glorified, so that now himself, that had been hitherto debased, might now be glorified also, according as
* That all men might honour the Son, as they honour the
in John v. 23,
Father. But these are short of Christ s desires and aims here, who seeks
the utmost of glory.
But it further notes, 1. That glory which the human nature hath in God, and from God, and him alone. This both that parallel place confirms, John xiii. 32, If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in
* See Toilet on ver. 5.
f QuamoLrem glorificari mereatur, et quod in eo sit gloria dignum, duo exprimit, unum quod sit Kedemptor humani generis, et hominum Salvator, ver. 2, 3, alterum
quod sit seternus Dei Films. J That is, dilute. ED. Notat gloriam quam petit surnmam et singularem, nempe earn quse est Dei.
Carturight, in verba.
CHAP. V.] AND HIS SON JESUS CHKIST. 497
himself, and shall straightway glorify him. It is one and the same glory he prayed for there and here ; and expressed by the same phrase. Only then, the time when he prayed that, of his being glorified, was further off, though straightway ; perhaps within a few months or days. So it was when
that sermon was made. But here, because the time was approached, and the straif/hticays run out ; he therefore here says,
* Now glorify me ; but it
is one and the same glorifying. And in the 13th chapter it is God s glory,
* Glorify me with thine own self; the former phrase explaining this other. In Rom. xv. 7, it is said that Christ received us to the glory of God, that is, to the participation of that
Glorify him in himself; but here it is,
glory which is to be had in the blessed God alone, whereof himself was
personally and originally the proprietor and inheritor, and we co-heirs with
* heirs of God, Rom. viii. 17, he communicating it unto us by his
Christ,
* And the
right, according as he says after in his prayer, John xvii. 22,
glory which thou gavest me I have given them ; that they may be one, even
as we are one. Who was it first brought up seeing and enjoying God im
mediately ? Christ the Son of God, he was the founder of that way of blessedness. There are two Psalms made up of Christ, the 16th and the 22d. The first Peter cites, Acts ii., and so applies it unto him, as not meant of David, but of Christ. The other, which is the story of his being
* My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? &c. This latter, after the sad rehearsal of his crucifixion, tells us of the fruit and
crucified, beginning,
consequence of that his mediation, when performed, as to himself, so to his whole seed, from ver. 22 to the end. And this was the glory that fol lowed (as Peter speaks, 1 Pet. i. 11), the glory of his mediation. But that other 16th Psalm runs in another strain, and comforts himself with another manner of glory, which should accrue to himself, as ver. 5, The Lord is my portion and inheritance. And it is the enjoyment of this God
alone, after his ascension, he predicates as his highest happiness, ver. 11, Thou wilt shew me the path of life : in thy presence is fulness of joy ; at
thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. And this high enjoyment of God he brought up. None had or should have seen God at any time, had not he first done it. And this is the single glory of his person, as Godman, which he prays for here in these words.
And look, as in the former verses he had set out wherein our eternal life
lies, namely, to know God, and him whom he had sent ; so in this verse, he describes wherein his own eternal life lies (I call it so, for of him now in heaven it is said, in that he lives, he lives to God ). And it lies in God ; Glorify me with thine own self. But his mediatorial glory, arising from his works of mediation, as redemption and intercession, is a glory he hath afore God, and in his view, and which God gives him ; but it ariseth from his mediatory action, as the salvation of his saints, as 2 Thess. i. 10. But this of his person is a glory he hath in God, and with God alone, in the enjoyment of all that God is. As if he should have said, Father, let the glory which is thine be mine. Make me glorious with the glory thy self hast ; with a glory from thee, and with a glory in thee. Nor is it the manifestation of his glory only unto others (as some would have it) he prays
for, and in that sense to be glorified as his Father was. It is a thing beyond
it, a glory severed from that of manifestation ; for this is but outward, but
this is an inward intrinsecal glory of his person, enjoyed in God and with God, and such as God had, and which he should to himself enjoy, and within himself; a glory in and between God and him, consisting in that intimate entire converse with God, and a free enjoyment of all the sweetVOL. iv. i i
498 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, [BOOK III.
nesses, perfections of the Godhead, upon an account of personal right to
them, and interest in them as his own, by virtue of his union. And he is
therefore said to come in his own glory, and his Father s glory, Luke ix. 26. That though it should shine in him and throughout him, yet inwardly much more.
2. You may observe, he specifies it to be that glory he had with his Father when there was no world ; that if you could suppose there were no
world, no creature extant, saint nor angel, yet let me be glorified (says he) with thine own self personally, and then I shall be glorious indeed. For
that glory I had with thee afore the world was, was without any work of mediation done, or creature made. And let me have but that glory, and I have enough. And so this is not that which his mediation brought him in, or that which consisted therein.
It is true (says he), I have a glory from all these saints that are about me, and I am glorified in them, as 2 Thess. i. 10, you have it, and
they in me ; and it is my blood and intercession hath brought them hither.
Yea, and they are glorified by beholding my glory. But what is all this in
comparison of this alone, for me to be glorified with thee and in thee alone ? This is the height of my desires and prayers ; and this glory is my per sonal due, and hath been suspended to purchase an additional glory by my mediation. Yea, but this is the glory I aspire after, and have in mine eye above all other ; and let us retire into each other, and enjoy it alone to
gether ; and therefore, glorify me with thine own self. Draw the curtains, as it were, upon all glories else, whether of mine or from all others I am
glorified in, that thou and I may singly and separately enjoy each other.
Other lesser differences there are between this personal and mediatorial
glory, which might be added. As,
1. The glory of his person is his birthright as Son of God ; Heb. i. 4,
* Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance ob
tained a more excellent name than they. The glory that rises from his
mediation and the works thereof, is but acquired, accessory, and additional, won, and won by conquest. He got by his bow, as Jacob speaks, Gen.
xlviii. 22.
If you would ask, which of these two glories belonging to God-man are
the greatest ? Your own thoughts, I believe, have by this time cast and
determined, that this of his personal glory doth infinitely exceed that of his
mediatory glory, or of his office, whether as head to us or redeemer, al
though there was none in heaven or in earth that could have sustained these but he. For,
(1.) That is the glory of the very Godhead, dwelling personally in him,
breaking forth in, and shining through his human nature ; as if the sun
being encompassed with a case of crystal, how glorious would that crystal be ! A glory such as is only worthy to appear in him that is one person with God. This is the greatest and highest glory, as well as mystery, God
manifested in the flesh, seen of angels, taken up into glory. For this,
1 let all the angels worship him (as Heb. i. 6, when he brings his first-
begotten into the world the second time) ; merely for the excellency of his
person and name, which by inheritance he hath obtained above them ; and
not for redemption of them, which is not there spoken of as of them.
(2.) It was the excellency and intrinsic glory of his person, from whence
those divinely-human acts of his mediation did flow, and receive their value and virtue therefrom ; his blood, because it is the blood of God-man, and
so of the rest.
CHAP. V.I AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 499
(3.) It is the glory of his person as God-man united ; that is, that glory which after the work of redemption for us, and the application of it to us
finished (as after the day of judgment it will be), when he shall have given up his dispensatory kingdom to his Father ; then it is he eminently appears in his own personal single glory (as I may call it) for ever. I term it his
single personal glory which he will sit in heaven with. You must know, if
you have not known it, that his type, the high priest, went into the holy of holies, striped of all his gaudy robes ; you see him pictured merely in
single plain priest s garments of linen. And it typifies this out, that Christ s
personal glory is that with which in the holy of holies he shall most eminently, and above all others, appear for ever in, and sit down in it. And there he
sits, shall the saints say, appearing in the form of God ; and so he is the utmost visible image of God to us, and was he that furthermore did that
great office and service to God and love to us, to bring us all who are here about him, out of the depth of sin and misery hither to this place with him, and purchased a]l the glory we shall ever have. And this personal glory
is that glory, the beholding of which the blessedness of the saints doth lie
in ; it is to behold his person. For as he prays for it here for himself, John xvii. 5, Glorify me in and with thine own self; so he prays for them whom God hath given him, that they may be where he is (personally
resident), that they might behold my glory ; ver. 24, Father, I will, that
they also whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me. And it is the glory of
* seeing him as he is, that is the height of our happiness; 1 John iii. 1, 2, As he is. Mark it ; that is, what his very person is, beyond and besides all that he hath done, or by his person hath acted or procured. This is the glory the
his person is above all there meant ; for as elsewhere, it is
apostles so adored, as the highest evidence and efflux of his being the Son
of God. All the evangelists record the story of his appearance on the mount. The apostle John, he cries out in a parenthesis of wonderment, John i. 14, And we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the
Father, though shining in him but in the days of his flesh. And Peter, he magnifies and exalts it above all things else he had to say of him, or could allege in testimony for his being the Christ, and Son of God ; we saw
his person in glory ; 2 Pet. i. 16-18, We were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. And this
glory his Father then gave him from forth of the super-excelling glory of
his own, now breaking forth in him and upon him as an aforehand demon
stration and specimen of what he was to wear in heaven ; where it is the
excelling excellency of his glory there spoken of doth appear. And it is
plain it was his personal glory that Peter hath reference unto ; and he in
terprets what is meant by the glory personal, which Christ in his prayer
says, John xvii. 22, that God gave him ; And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them : that he might give us the like, namely, by merely beholding him, and that his glory, ver. 24. And to conclude it from the
text, it is this glory, by the course of his prayer, he aspires at as the top and highest of his glorv. For you may observe that he ascends in those
his first requests made for himself. He begins to ask a being glorified in
500 THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, [BOOK III
respect of his office ; both for to perform his work, and that after, and for the
performance of it, to have the reward promised him for it, peculiar and
proper to it, which was to be known and acknowledged the mediator, and that had the power to give eternal life to them that believe. And so, that
glory was for us, and our salvation, ordained him, as the words shew.
Well, but he soars up unto a glory that is purely his own, and for him
self alone. He flies up to the very top-pinnacle, the supreme sublimity of the divinest glory, the utmost he could ask, and that for himself; and en
forces it from the highest argument, the glory which I had with thee afore the world was. And so ends his prayer for himself; for he had said the utmost. And therefore this is the crown of all.