by

This treatise may be regarded as a series of Discourses on John xvii.

24. The subject is the Glory of Christ, as the representative of God

to the church, — in the mystery of his Person, — in his office as

Mediator, — in his exaltation on high, — in his relation to the church

during every age of its history, — and in the final consummation of

his work, when all things are to be gathered into a blessed unity, as

the result of his mediation. The treatise is concluded by a statement

of the difference between our views of the Glory of Christ as beheld

by faith in this world, and as it shall be beheld by sight in heaven.

First edition 1684. Reprinted 1696 with two additional chapters found

among the papers of Dr Owen. The Works of John Owen, edited by

William H Goold, first published by Johnstone and Hunter 1850–1853.

Reprinted by photolithography and published by the Banner of Truth

Trust, Edinburgh 1965.

Modern verb forms introduced by a previous editor of the text (e.g.

doth does) have been retained

Christology

Life of Christ

Table of Contents

p. 1 Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 1 Title page.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 1 Prefatory note.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 2 Preface to the reader.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 12 Chapter I. The explication of the text.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 18

Chapter II. The glory of the person of Christ, as the only representative of

God unto the church.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 29

Chapter III. The glory of Christ in the mysterious constitution of his

person.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 38

Chapter IV. The glory of Christ in his susception of the office of a mediator

— first in his condescension.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 46 Chapter V. The glory of Christ in his love.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 50

Chapter VI. The glory of Christ in the discharge of his mediatory

office.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 53

Chapter VII. The glory of Christ in his exaltation after the accomplishment

of the work of mediation in this world.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 57

Chapter VIII. Representations of the glory of Christ under the Old

Testament.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 60

Chapter IX. The glory of Christ in his intimate conjunction with the

church.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 66

Chapter X. The glory of Christ in the communication of himself unto

believers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 71

Chapter XI. The glory of Christ in the recapitulation of all things in

him.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 77

Chapter XII. Differences between our beholding the glory of Christ by faith

in this world and by sight in heaven — the first of them explained.. . . . .

p. 88

Chapter XIII. The second difference between our beholding the glory of

Christ by faith in this world and by sight in heaven.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 101

Chapter XIV. Other differences between our beholding the glory of Christ

by faith in this world and by sight in heaven.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 107 Meditations and Discourses Concerning the Glory of Christ. . . . . . . . . .

p. 107 Title page.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 107 Original preface.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iii

John Owen Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ

p. 108

Chapter I. Application of the foregoing meditations concerning the glory of

Christ — first, in an exhortation unto such as are not yet partakers of

him.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 117

Chapter II. The way and means of the recovery of spiritual decays, and of

obtaining fresh springs of grace.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 139 Indexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 139 Index of Scripture References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 142 Index of Citations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 142 Index of Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 142 Greek Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 143 Hebrew Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 143 Latin Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 144 Index of Pages of the Print Edition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv

John Owen Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FAITH AND SIGHT; APPLIED UNTO THE USE OF

THEM THAT BELIEVE.

The following treatise may be regarded as a series of Discourses on John xvii. 24. The subject

is the Glory of Christ, as the representative of God to the church, — in the mystery of his Person,

— in his office as Mediator, — in his exaltation on high, — in his relation to the church during

every age of its history, — and in the final consummation of his work, when all things are to be

gathered into a blessed unity, as the result of his mediation. The treatise is concluded by a statement

of the difference between our views of the Glory of Christ as beheld by faith in this world, and as

it shall be beheld by sight in heaven.

It is not professedly a sequel to the work of the author on the Person of Christ; though, from

some expressions in the Preface to these Meditations, they may be regarded in this light. Several

of them are evidently an expansion of certain thoughts and views, of which the germ will be found

in the preceding work. The two works are, indeed, so closely connected, that they have been often

published together. It has been thought proper, therefore, to adhere to this arrangement in the present

republication of Dr Owen’s Works.

There are some facts which impart peculiar interest to these Mediations. They were drawn up,

according to the author’s own statement, "for the exercise of his own mind," in the first instance;

and illustrate, accordingly, the scope and tenor of his Christian experience. They form, moreover,

his dying testimony to the truth, — and to the truth, with peculiar emphasis, as it "is in Jesus;" for

the last work which he prepared for the press. It is instructive to peruse the solemn musings of his

soul when "weakness, weariness, and the near approaches of death," were calling him away from

his earthly labours; and to mark how intently his thoughts were fixed on the glory of the Saviour,

John Owen The Glory of Christ

whom he was soon to behold "face to face." On the day of his death, Mr Payne, who had the charge

of the original publication of this treatise, on bidding Dr Owen farewell, said to him, "Doctor, I

have just been putting your book on the Glory of Christ to the press." "I am glad," was Owen’s

reply, "to hear that that performance is put to the press; but, O brother Payne, the long looked-for

day is come at last, in which I shall see that glory in another manner than I have ever done yet, or

was capable of doing in this world."

blessing which our Lord solicits and demands for his disciples in his last solemn intercession, John

xvii. 24. Should the reader desire assistance in this important work, I would refer him to a little

treatise of Dr Owen’s, entitled ‘Meditations on the Glory of Christ;’ it is little in size, — not so in

would rather say, it is richly replenished with that unction from the Holy One which tends to

enlighten the eyes and cheer the heart; which sweetens the enjoyments of life, softens the hours of

The treatise was published in 1684. It was reprinted in 1696, with the addition of two chapters

which were found among the papers of Owen, and in his own handwriting, though too late for

insertion in the first edition of the work. — Ed.

Christian Reader,

The design of the ensuing Discourse is to declare some part of that glory of our Lord Jesus

Christ which is revealed in the Scripture, and proposed as the principal object of our faith, love,

delight, and admiration. But, alas! after our utmost and most diligent inquiries, we must say, How

little a portion is it of him that we can understand! His glory is incomprehensible, and his praises

are unutterable. Some things an illuminated mind may conceive of it; but what we can express in

comparison of what it is in itself, is even less than nothing. But as for those who have forsaken the

only true guide herein, endeavouring to be wise above what is written, and to raise their

contemplations by fancy and imagination above Scripture revelation (as many have done), they

have darkened counsel without knowledge, uttering things which they understand not, which have

no substance or spiritual food of faith in them.

Howbeit, that real view which we may have of Christ and his glory in this world by

faith,—however weak and obscure that knowledge which we may attain of them by divine revelation,

— is inexpressibly to be preferred above all other wisdom, understanding, or knowledge whatever.

So it is declared by him who will be acknowledged a competent judge in these things. "Yea,

doubtless," saith he, "I count all these things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ

Jesus my Lord." He who does not so has no part in him.

The revelation made of Christ in the blessed Gospel is far more excellent, more glorious, and

more filled with rays of divine wisdom and goodness, than the whole creation and the just

comprehension of it, if attainable, can contain or afford. Without the knowledge hereof, the mind

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of man, however priding itself in other inventions and discoveries, is wrapped up in darkness and

confusion.

This, therefore, deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations, and our utmost

diligence in them. For if our future blessedness shall consist in being where he is, and beholding

of his glory, what better preparation can there be for it than in a constant previous contemplation

of that glory in the revelation that is made in the Gospel, unto this very end, that by a view of it we

may be gradually transformed into the same glory?

I shall not, therefore, use any apology for the publishing of the ensuing Meditations, intended

first for the exercise of my own mind, and then for the edification of a private congregation; which

is like to be the last service I shall do them in that kind. Some may, by the consideration of them,

be called to attend unto the same duty with more diligence than formerly, and receive directions

for the discharge of it; and some may be provoked to communicate their greater light and knowledge

unto the good of many. And that which I design farther in the present Discourse, is to give a brief

account of the necessity and use, in life and death, of the duty exhorted unto.

Particular motives unto the diligent discharge of this duty will be pressed in the Discourse itself.

Here some things more general only shall be premised. For all persons not immersed in sensual

276

pleasures, — not overdrenched in the love of this world and present things, — who have any

generous or noble thought about their own nature, being, and end, — are under the highest obligation

to betake themselves unto this contemplation of Christ and his glory. Without this, they shall never

attain true rest or satisfaction in their own minds. He it is alone in whom the race of mankind may

boast and glory, on whom all its felicities do depend. For, —

exalted above the whole creation. Our nature, in the original constitution of it, in the persons of our

first parents, was crowned with honour and dignity. The image of God, wherein it was made, and

the dominion over the lower world wherewith it was intrusted, made it the seat of excellence, of

beauty, and of glory. But of them all it was at once divested and made naked by sin, and laid

grovelling in the dust from whence it was taken. "Dust thou are, and to dust thou shalt return," was

its righteous doom. And all its internal faculties were invaded by deformed lusts, — everything

that might render the whole unlike unto God, whose image it had lost. Hence it became the contempt

of angels, the dominion of Satan; who, being the enemy of the whole creation, never had any thing

or place to reign in but the debased nature of man. Nothing was now more vile and base; its glory

was utterly departed. It had both lost its peculiar nearness unto God, which was its honour, and was

fallen into the greatest distance from him of all creatures, the devils only excepted; which was its

ignominy and shame. And in this state, as unto anything in itself, it was left to perish eternally.

In this condition — lost, poor, base, yea, cursed — the Lord Christ, the Son of God, found our

nature. And hereon, in infinite condescension and compassion, sanctifying a portion of it unto

himself, he took it to be his own, in a holy, ineffable subsistence, in his own person. And herein

again the same nature, so depressed into the utmost misery, is exalted above the whole creation of

God. For in that very nature, God has "set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far

above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not

only in this world, but also in that which is to come." This is that which is so celebrated by the

Psalmist, with the highest admiration, Ps. viii. 3–8. This is the greatest privilege we have among

all our fellow-creatures, — this we may glory in, and value ourselves upon. Those who engage this

nature in the service of sensual lusts and pleasures, — who think that its felicity and utmost capacities

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consist in their satisfaction, with the accomplishment of other earthly, temporal desires, — are

satisfied with it in its state of apostasy from God; but those who have received the light of faith

and grace, so as rightly to understand the being and end of that nature whereof they are partakers,

cannot but rejoice in its deliverance from the utmost debasement, into that glorious exaltation which

it has received in the person of Christ. And this must needs make thoughts of him full of refreshment

unto their souls. Let us take care of our persons, — the glory of our nature is safe in him. For, —

relation unto God. Our nature was related unto him in a way of friendship, of likeness, and

complacency. But the bond of this relation and union was quickly broken, by our apostasy from

him. Hereon our whole nature became to be at the utmost moral distance from God, and enmity

against him; which is the depth of misery. But God, in infinite wisdom and grace, did design once

more to recover it, and take it again near unto himself. And he would do it in such a way as should

render it utterly impossible that there would ever be a separation between him and it any more.

Heaven and earth may pass away, but there shall never be a dissolution of the union between God

277

and our nature any more. He did it, therefore, by assuming it into a substantial union with himself,

in the person of the Son. Hereby the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in it bodily, or substantially, and

eternally. Hereby is its relation unto God eternally secured. And among all the mysterious

excellencies which relate hereunto, there are two which continually present themselves unto our

consideration.

creature could conceive how omnipotent wisdom, power, and goodness, could actuate themselves

unto the production of this effect. The mystery hereof is the object of the admiration of angels, and

will be so of the whole church, unto all eternity. What is revealed concerning the glory, way, and

or the Person of Christ. What mind can conceive, what tongue can express, who can sufficiently

admire, the wisdom, goodness, and condescension of God herein? And whereas he has proposed

unto us this glorious object of our faith and meditation, how vile and foolish are we, if we spend

our thoughts about other things in a neglect of it!

take it in any other instance, save that of the man Christ Jesus, into this relation with himself, by

virtue of personal union, yet therein he has given a glorious pledge of his love unto, and valuation

of, that nature. For "verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of

Abraham." And this kindness extends unto our persons, as participant of that nature. For he designed

this glory unto the man Christ Jesus, that might be the firstborn of the new creation, that we might

be made conformable unto him according to our measure; and as the members of that body, whereof

he is the head, we are participant in this glory.

III. It is he in whom our nature has been carried successfully and victoriously through all the

oppositions that it is liable unto, and even death itself. But the glory hereof I shall speak unto

distinctly in its proper place, which follows, and therefore shall here pass it by.

blessed regions of light, which are far above these aspectable heavens. Here we dwell in tabernacles

of clay, that are "crushed before the moth," — such as cannot be raised, so as to abide one

foot-breadth above the earth we tread upon. The heavenly luminaries which we can behold appear

too great and glorious for our cohabitation. We are as grasshoppers in our own eyes, in comparison

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John Owen The Glory of Christ

of those gigantic beings; and they seem to dwell in places which would immediately swallow up

and extinguish our natures. How, then, shall we entertain an apprehension of being carried and

exalted above them all? to have an everlasting subsistence in places incomprehensibly more glorious

than the orbs wherein they reside? What capacity is there in our nature of such a habitation? But

hereof the Lord Christ has given us a pledge in himself. Our nature in him is passed through these

aspectable heavens, and is exalted far above them. Its eternal habitation is in the blessed regions

of light and glory; and he has promised that where he is, there we shall be, and that for ever.

Other encouragements there are innumerable to stir us up unto diligence in the discharge of the

office, and grace. Some of them, the principal of them which I have any acquaintance with, are

represented in the ensuing Discourse. I shall therefore here add the peculiar advantage which we

either of them.

278

And let it be remembered, that I do here suppose what is written on this subject in the ensuing

Discourse as being designed to prepare the minds of the readers for the due improvement of it.

themselves in these things. Temptations, afflictions, changes, sorrows, dangers, fears, sickness,

and pains, do fill up no small part of it. And on the other hand, all our earthly relishes, refreshments,

and comfort, are uncertain, transitory, and unsatisfactory; all things of each sort being embittered

by the remainders of sin. Hence everything wherein we are concerned has the root of trouble and

sorrow in it. Some labour under wants, poverty, and straits all their days; and some have very few

hours free from pains and sickness. And all these things, with others of an alike nature, are heightened

at present by the calamitous season wherein our lot is fallen. All things almost in all nations are

filled with confusions, disorders, dangers, distresses, and troubles; wars and rumours of wars do

abound, with tokens of farther approaching judgments; distress of nations, with perplexity, men’s

hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. There

is in many places "no peace unto him that goeth out, nor to him that cometh in, but great vexations

are on the inhabitants of the world: nation is destroyed of nation, and city of city; for God doth vex

them with all adversity." [2 Chron. xv. 5, 6.] And in the meantime, vexation with the ungodly deeds

of wicked men does greatly further the troubles of life; the sufferings of many also for the testimony

of their consciences are deplorable, with the divisions and animosities that abound amongst all

sorts of Christians.

But the shortness, the vanity, the miseries of human life, have been the subject of the complains

of all sort of considering persons, heathens as well as Christians; nor is it my present business to

insist upon them. My inquiry is only after the relief which we may obtain against all these evils,

that we faint not under them, that we may have the victory over them.

This in general is declared by the apostle 2 Cor. iv., "We are troubled on every side, yet not

distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not

destroyed." But for this cause "we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward

man is renewed day be day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a

far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but

at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which

are not seen are eternal."

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John Owen The Glory of Christ

Our beholding by faith things that are not seen, things spiritual and eternal, will alienate all our

afflictions, — make their burden light, and preserve our souls from fainting under them. Of these

things the glory of Christ, whereof we treat, is the principal, and in due sense comprehensive of

them all. For we behold the glory of God himself "in the face of Jesus Christ." He that can at all

times retreat unto the contemplation of this glory, will be carried above the perplexing prevailing

sense of any of these evils, of a confluence of them all. "Crus nil sentit in nervo, dum animus est

in cœlo."

It is a woeful kind of life, when men scramble for poor perishing reliefs in their distresses. This

is the universal remedy and cure, — the only balsam for all our diseases. Whatever presseth, urgeth,

perplexeth, if we can but retreat in our minds unto a view of this glory, and a due consideration of

our own interest therein, comfort and supportment will be administered unto us. Wicked men, in

their distress (which sometimes overtake even them also), are like "a troubled sea, that cannot rest."

Others are heartless, and despond, — not without secret repinings at the wise disposals of Divine

Providence, especially when they look on the better condition (as they suppose) of others. And the

best of us all are apt to wax faint and weary when these things press upon us in an unusual manner,

279

or under their long continuance, without a prospect of relief. This is the stronghold which such

prisoners of hope are to turn themselves unto. In this contemplation of the glory of Christ they will

find rest unto their own souls. For, —

1. It will herein, and in the discharge of this duty, be made evident how slight and inconsiderable

all these things are from whence our troubles and distresses do arise. For they all grow on this root

things here below are transitory and perishing, reaching only unto the outward man, or the body,

(perhaps unto the killing of it), — that the best of them have nothing that is truly substantial or

abiding in them, — that there are other things, wherein we have an assured interest, that are

incomparably better than they, and above them, — it is impossible but that we must spend our lives

in fears, sorrows, and distractions. One real view of the glory of Christ, and of our own concernment

therein, will give us a full relief in this matter. For what are all the things of this life? What is the

good or evil of them in comparison of an interest in this transcendent glory? When we have due

apprehensions hereof, — when our minds are possessed with thoughts of it, — when our affections

reach out after its enjoyments, — let pain, and sickness, and sorrows, and fears, and dangers, and

death, say what they will, we shall have in readiness wherewith to combat with them and overcome

them; and that on this consideration, that they are all outward, transitory, and passing away, whereas

our minds are fixed on those things which are eternal, and filled with incomprehensible glory.

2. The minds of men are apt by their troubles to be cast into disorder, to be tossed up and down,

and disquieted with various affections and passions. So the Psalmist found it in himself in the time

of his distress; whence he calls himself unto that account, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why art thou disquieted in me?" And, indeed, the mind on all such occasions is its own greatest

troubler. It is apt to let loose its passions of fear and sorrow, which act themselves in innumerable

perplexing thoughts, until it is carried utterly out of its own power. But in this state a due

contemplation of the glory of Christ will restore and compose the mind, — bring it into a sedate,

quiet frame, wherein faith will be able to say unto the winds and waves of distempered passions,

"Peace, be still;" and they shall obey it.

3. It is the way and means of conveying a sense of God’s love unto our souls; which is that

alone where ultimately we find rest in the midst of all the troubles of this life; as the apostle declares,

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Rom. v. 2–5. It is the Spirit of God who alone communicates a sense of this love unto our souls; it

is "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." Howbeit, there are ways and means to be used

on our part, whereby we may be disposed and made meet to receive these communications of divine

love. Among these the principal is the contemplation of the glory of Christ insisted on, and of God

the Father in him. It is the season, it is the way and means, at which and whereby the Holy Ghost

will give a sense of the love of God unto us, causing us thereon to "rejoice with joy unspeakable

and full of glory." This will be made evident in the ensuing Discourse. This will lift the minds and

hearts of believers above all the troubles of this life, and is the sovereign antidote that will expel

all the poison that is in them; which otherwise might perplex and enslave their souls.

I have but touched on these things, as designing to enlarge somewhat on that which does ensue.

And this is the advantage we may have in the discharge of this duty with respect unto death itself:

It is the assiduous contemplation of the glory of Christ which will carry us cheerfully and comfortably

into it, and through it. My principal work having been now for a long season to die daily, as living

in a continual expectation of my dissolution, I shall on this occasion acquaint the reader with some

few of my thoughts and reliefs with reference unto death itself.

280

There are sundry things required of us, that we may be able to encounter death cheerfully,

constantly, and victoriously. For want of these, or some of them, I have known gracious souls who

have lived in a kind of bondage for fear of death all their days. We know not how God will manage

any of our minds and souls in that season, in that trial; for he acts towards us in all such things in

a way of sovereignty. But these are the things which he requireth of us in way of duty:—

First, Peculiar actings of faith to resign and commit our departing souls into the hand of him

who is able to receive them, to keep and preserve them, as also to dispose of them into a state of

rest and blessedness, are required of us.

The soul is now parting with all things here below, and that for ever. None of all the things

which it has seen, heard, or enjoyed, be it outward senses, can be prevailed with to stay with it one

hour, or to take one step with it in the voyage wherein it is engaged. It must alone by itself launch

into eternity. It is entering an invisible world, which it knows no more of than it has received by

faith. None has come from the dead to inform us of the state of the other world; yea, God seems

on purpose so to conceal it from us, that we should have no evidence of it, at least as unto the

manner of things in it, but what is given unto faith by divine revelation. Hence those who died and

were raised again from the dead unto any continuance among men, as Lazarus, probably knew

nothing of the invisible state. Their souls were preserved by the power of God in their being, but

bound up as unto present operations. This made a great emperor cry out, on the approach of death,

"O animula, tremula, vagula, blandula; quæ nunc abibis in loca horrida, squalida," &c. — "O poor,

How is it like to be after the few moments which, under the pangs of death, we have to continue

in this world? Is it an annihilation that lies at the door? Is death the destruction of our whole being,

1 Dr Owen refers to the Emperor Hadrian, who, among other short poems which have been ascribed to him, is said to have

composed , towards his death, the following lines:—

"Animula, vagula, blandula,

Hospes comesque corporis,

Quæ nunc abibis in loca?

Pallidula, rigida, nudula,

Nec, ut soles, dabia joca."

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John Owen The Glory of Christ

so as that after it we shall be no more? So some would have the state of things to be. Is it a state of

subsistence in a wandering condition, up and down the world, under the influence of other more

powerful spirits that rule in the air, visiting tombs and solitary places, and sometimes making

appearances of themselves by the impressions of those more powerful spirits; as some imagine

from the story concerning Samuel and the witch of Endor, and as it is commonly received in the

Papacy, out of a compliance with their imagination of purgatory? Or is it a state of universal misery

and woe? a state incapable of comfort or joy? Let them pretend what they please, who can understand

no comfort or joy in this life but what they receive by their senses; — they can look for nothing

else. And whatever be the state of this invisible world, the soul can undertake nothing of its own

conduct after its departure from the body. It knows that it must be absolutely at the disposal of

another.

Wherefore no man can comfortably venture on and into this condition, but in the exercise of

that faith which enables him to resign and give up his departing soul into the hand of God, who

alone is able to receive it, and to dispose it into a condition of rest and blessedness. So speaks the

apostle, "I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to

keep that which I have committed unto him again that day."

Herein, as in all other graces, is our Lord Jesus Christ our great example. He resigned his

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departing spirit into the hands of his Father, to be owned and preserved by him, in its state of

separation: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," Luke xxiii. 46; as did the Psalmist, his

type, in an alike condition, Ps. xxxi. 5. But the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ herein, — the object

and exercise of it, what he believed and trusted unto in this resignation of his spirit into the hand

of God, — is at large expressed in the 16th Psalm. "I have," said he, "set the Lord always before

me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory

rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou

suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is

fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." He left his soul in the hand of

God, in full assurance that it should suffer no evil in its state of separation, but should be brought

again with his body into a blessed resurrection and eternal glory. So Stephen resigned his soul,

departing under violence, into the hands of Christ himself. When he died he said, "Lord Jesus,

receive my spirit."

This is the last victorious act of faith, wherein its conquest over its last enemy death itself does

consist. Herein the soul says in and unto itself, "Thou art now taking leave of time unto eternity;

all things about thee are departing as shades, and will immediately disappear. The things which

thou art entering into are yet invisible; such as ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor will they enter

into the heart of man fully to conceive.’ Now, therefore, with quietness and confidence give up

thyself unto the sovereign power, grace, truth, and faithfulness of God, and thou shalt find assured

rest and peace."

But Jesus Christ it is who does immediately receive the souls of them who believe in him. So

we see in the instance of Stephen. And what can be a greater encouragement to resign them into

his hands, than a daily contemplation of his glory, in his person, his power, his exaltation, his office,

and grace? Who that believes in him, that belongs unto him, can fear to commit his departing spirit

unto his love, power, and care? Even we also shall hereby in our dying moments see by faith heaven

opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God ready to receive us. This, added unto the love

which all believers have unto the Lord Jesus, which is inflamed by contemplation of his glory, and

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their desires to be with him where he is, will strengthen and confine our minds in the resignation

of our departing souls into his hand.

flesh, wherewith we are clothed, with all things that are useful and desirable thereunto. The alliance,

the relation, the friendship, the union that are between the soul and the body, are the greatest, the

nearest, the firmest that are or can be among mere created beings. There is nothing like it, — nothing

equal unto it. The union of three persons in the one single divine nature, and the union of two

natures in one person of Christ, are infinite, ineffable, and exempted from all comparison. But

among created beings, the union of these two essential parts of the same nature in one person is

most excellent. Nor is anything equal to it, or like it, found in any other creatures. Those who among

them have most of life have either no body, as angels; or no souls but what perish with them, as all

brute creatures below.

Angels, being pure, immaterial spirits, have nothing in them, nothing belonging unto their

essence, that can die. Beasts have nothing in them that can live when their bodies die. The soul of

a beast cannot be preserved in a separate condition, no, not by an act of almighty power; for it is

not, and that which is not cannot live. It is nothing but the body itself in an act of its material powers.

Only the nature of man, in all the works of God, is capable of this convulsion. The essential

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parts of it are separable by death, the one continuing to exist and act its especial powers in a separate

state or condition. The powers of the whole entire nature, acting in soul and body in conjunction,

are all scattered and lost by death. But the powers of one essential part of the same nature — that

is, of the soul — are preserved after death in a more perfect acting and exercise than before. This

is peculiar unto human nature, as a mean partaking of heaven and earth, — of the perfection of

angels above, and of the imperfection of the beasts below. Only there is this difference in these

things:— Our participation of the heavenly, spiritual perfections of the angelical nature is for

eternity; our participation of the imperfections of the animate creatures here below is but for a

season. For God hath designed our bodies unto such a glorious refinement at the resurrection, as

that they shall have no more alliance unto that brutish nature which perisheth forever; for we shall

acts and operations which are now common to us with other living creatures here below.

This is the pre-eminence of the nature of man, as the wise man declares. For unto that objection

of atheistical Epicureans, "As the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath: so

that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast. All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all

turn to the dust again," — he grants that, as unto their bodies, it is for a season in them we have a

present participation of their nature; but, says he, here lieth the difference, "Who knoweth the spirit

of a man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" Eccles.

iii. 21. Unless we know this, unless we consider the different state of the spirit of men and beasts,

we cannot be delivered from this atheism; but the thoughts hereof will set us at liberty from it. They

die in like manner, and their bodies go equally to the dust for a season; but the beast hath no spirit,

no soul, but what dies with the body and goes to the dust. If they had, their bodies also must be

raised again unto a conjunction with them; otherwise, death would produce a new race of creatures

unto eternity. But man hath an immortal soul, saith he, a heavenly spirit, which, when the body

goes in the dust for a season, ascends to heaven (where the guilt of sin and the curse of the law

interpose not), from whence it is there to exist and to act all its native powers in a state of blessedness.

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But, as I said, by reason of this peculiar intimate union and relation between the soul and body,

there is in the whole nature a fixed aversion from a dissolution. The soul and body are naturally

and necessarily unwilling to fall into a state of separation, wherein the one shall cease to be what

it was, and the other knows not clearly how it shall subsist. The body claspeth about the soul, and

the soul receiveth strange impressions from its embraces; the entire nature, existing in the union

of them both, being unalterably averse unto a dissolution.

Wherefore, unless we can overcome this inclination, we can never die comfortably or cheerfully.

We would, indeed, rather choose to be "clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of

life," that the clothing of glory might come on our whole nature, soul and body, without dissolution.

But if this may not be, yet then do believers so conquer this inclination by faith and views of the

glory of Christ, as to attain a desire of this dissolution. So the apostle testifies of himself, "I have

a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better" than to abide here, Phil. i. 23. Saith

but a constant, habitual inclination, working in vehement acts and desires. And what does he so

that it should not be what it is. But how is it possible that a man should attain such an inclination

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unto, such a readiness for, such a vehement desire of, a dissolution? It is from a view by faith of

Christ and his glory, whence the soul is satisfied that to be with him is incomparably better than in

its present state and condition.

He, therefore, that would die comfortably, must be able to say within himself and to himself,

"Die, then, thou frail and sinful flesh: ‘dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.’ I yield thee

up unto the righteous doom of the Holy One. Yet herein also I give thee into the hand of the great

Refiner, who will hide thee in thy grave, and by thy consumption purify thee from all thy corruption

and disposition to evil. And otherwise this will not be. After a long sincere endeavour for the

mortification of all sin, I find it will never be absolutely perfect, but by this reduction into the dust.

Thou shalt no more be a residence for the least remnant of sin unto eternity, nor any clog unto my

soul in its actings on God. Rest therefore in hope; for God, in his appointed season, when he shall

have a desire unto the work of his hands, will call unto thee, and thou shalt answer him out of the

dust. Then shall he, by an act of his almighty power, not only restore thee unto thy pristine glory,

as at the first creation, when thou wast the pure workmanship of his hands, but enrich and adorn

thee with inconceivable privileges and advantages. Be not, then, afraid; away with all reluctance.

Go into the dust, — rest in hope; ‘for thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days.’ "

That which will enable us hereunto, in an eminent manner, is that view and consideration of

the glory of Christ which is the object of the ensuing Meditation. For He who is now possessed of

all that glory underwent this dissolution of nature as truly and really as ever we shall do.

God would have us depart and leave this world. Many think they shall be willing to die when their

time is come; but they have many reasons, as they suppose, to desire that it may not yet be, —

which, for the most part, arise merely from fear and aversion of death. Some desire to live that they

may see more of that glorious world of God for his church, which they believe he will accomplish.

So Moses prayed that he might not die in the wilderness, but go over Jordan, and see the good land,

and that goodly mountain and Lebanon, the seat of the church, and of the worship of God; which

yet God thought meet to deny unto him. And this denial of the request of Moses, made on the

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highest consideration possible, is instructive unto all in the like case. Others may judge themselves

to have some work to do in the world, wherein they suppose that the glory of God and the good of

the church are concerned; and therefore would be spared for a season. Paul knew not clearly whether

it were not best for him to abide a while longer in the flesh on this account; and David often

deprecates the present season of death because of the work which he had to do for God in the world.

Others rise no higher than their own private interests or concerns with respect unto their persons,

their families, their relations, and goods in this world. They would see these things in a better or

more settled condition before they die, and then they shall be most willing so to do. But it is the

love of life that lies at the bottom of all these desires in men; which of itself will never forsake

them. But no man can die cheerfully or comfortably who lives not in a constant resignation of the

time and season of his death unto the will of God, as well as himself with respect unto death itself.

Our times are in his hand, at his sovereign disposal; and his will in all things must be complied

withal. Without this resolution, without this resignation, no man can enjoy the least solid peace in

this world.

especial trials; which, unless we are prepared for them, will keep us under bondage, with the fear

of death itself. Long, wasting, wearing consumptions, burning fevers, strong pains of the stone, or

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the lice from within; or sword, fire, tortures, with shame and reproach from without, may be in the

way of the access of death unto us. Some who have been wholly freed from all fears of death, as a

dissolution of nature, who have looked on it as amiable and desirable in itself, have yet had great

exercise in their minds about these ways of its approach: they have earnestly desired that this

peculiar bitterness of the cup might be taken away. To get above all perplexities on the account of

these things, is part of our wisdom in dying daily. And we are to have always in a readiness those

graces and duties which are necessary thereunto. Such are a constant resignation of ourselves, in

all events, unto the sovereign will, pleasure, and disposal of God. "May he not do what he will with

his own?" Is it not right and meet it should be so? Is not his will in all things infinitely holy, wise,

just, and good? Does he not know what is best for us, and what conduceth most unto his own glory?

Does not he alone do so? So is it to live in the exercise of faith, that if God calls us unto any of

those things which are peculiarly dreadful unto our natures, he will give us such supplies of spiritual

strength and patience as shall enable us to undergo them, if not with ease and joy, yet with peace

and quietness beyond our expectation. Multitudes have had experience that those things which, at

a distance, have had an aspect of overwhelming dread, have been far from unsupportable in their

approach, when strength has been received from above to encounter with them. And, moreover, it

is in this case required that we be frequent and steady in comparing these things with those which

are eternal both as unto the misery which we are freed from and that blessedness which is prepared

for us. But I shall proceed no farther with these particulars.

There is none of all the things we have insisted on — neither the resignation of a departing soul

into the hand of God, nor a willingness to lay down this flesh in the dust, nor a readiness to comply

with the will of God, as to the times and seasons, or the way and manner of the approach of death

— that can be attained unto, without a prospect of that glory that shall give us a new state far more

excellent than what we here leave or depart from. This we cannot have, whatever we pretend, unless

we have some present views of the glory of Christ. An apprehension of the future manifestation of

it in heaven will not relieve us, if here we know not what it is, and wherein it does consist, — if

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we have not some previous discovery of it in this life. This is that which will make all things easy

and pleasant unto us, even death itself, as it is a means to bring us unto its full enjoyment.

Other great and glorious advantages, which may be obtained in the diligent discharge of the

duty here proposed, might be insisted on, but that the things themselves discoursed of will evidently

discover and direct us unto the spring and reasons of them; besides, weakness, weariness, and the

near approaches of death do call me off from any farther labour in this kind.

"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." — John xvii. 24.

The high priest under the law, when he was to enter into the holy place on the solemn day of

atonement, was to take both his hands full of sweet incense from the golden table of incense, to

carry along with him in his entrance. He had also a censer filled with fire, that was taken from the

altar of burnt-offerings, where atonement was made for sin with blood. Upon his actual entrance

through the veil, he put the incense on the fire in the censer until the cloud of its smoke covered

the ark, and the mercy seat. See Lev. xvi. 12, 13. And the end hereof was to present unto God, in

the behalf of the people, a sweet-smelling savour from the sacrifice of propitiation. See the

declaration of these things in our exposition of Heb. ix.

In answer unto this mystical type, the great High Priest of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ,

being to enter into the "holy place not made with hands," did, by the glorious prayer recorded in

this chapter, influenced from the blood of his sacrifice, fill the heavens above, the glorious place

of God’s residence, with a cloud of incense, or the sweet perfume of his blessed intercession, typed

by the incense offered by the high priest of old. By the same eternal fire wherewith he offered

himself a bloody sacrifice to make atonement for sin, he kindled in his most holy soul those desires

for the application of all its benefits unto his church which are here expressed, and wherein his

intercession does consist.

It is only one passage in the verse above named that at present I design an inquiry into. And

this is the subject-matter of what the Lord Christ here desires in the behalf of those given him by

the Father, — namely, that they may behold his glory.

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It is evident that in this prayer the Lord Christ has respect unto his own glory and the

manifestation of it, which he had in the entrance asked of the Father, verses 4, 5. But in this place

blessedness of his disciples, in the beholding of it. For these things were the end of all that mediatory

glory which was given unto him. So Joseph charged his brethren, when he had revealed himself

unto them, that they should tell his father of all his "glory in Egypt," Gen. xlv. 13. This he did, not

in the knowledge of it. And such a manifestation of his glory unto his disciples does the Lord Christ

here desire, as might fill them with blessed satisfaction for evermore.

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This alone, which is here prayed for, will give them such satisfaction, and nothing else. The

hearts of believers are like the needle touched by the loadstone, which cannot rest until it comes to

the point whereunto, by the secret virtue of it, it is directed. For being once touched by the love of

Christ, receiving therein an impression of secret ineffable virtue, they will ever be in motion, and

it, — that cannot be eternally satisfied with it, — is not partaker of the efficacy of his intercession.

consists in their beholding the glory of Christ. This, therefore, He desires for them in this solemn

intercession, as the complement of all his other requests in their behalf; — "That they may behold

reasons why I assign not this glorious privilege only unto the heavenly state, which is principally

respected in this place, but apply it unto the state of believers in this world also, with their duties

and privileges therein, shall be immediately declared.

All unbelievers do in their heart call Christ "Ichabod," — "Where is the glory?" They see neither

"form nor comeliness in him," that he should be desired. They look on him as Michal, Saul’s

daughter, did on David "dancing before the ark," when she despised him in her heart. They do not,

indeed (many of them), "call Jesus anathema," but cry, "Hail, Master!" and then crucify him.

Hence have we so many cursed opinions advanced in derogation unto his glory, — some of

them really destructive of all that is truly so; yea, denying the "only Lord that bought us," and

substituting a false Christ in his room. And others there are who express their slight thoughts of

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him and his glory by bold, irreverent inquiries, of what use his Person is in our religion; as though

there were anything in our religion that has either reality, substance, or truth, but by virtue of its

relation thereunto. And, by their answers, they bring their own inquiries yet nearer unto the borders

of blasphemy.

Never was there an age since the name of Christians was known upon the earth, wherein there

was such a direct opposition made unto the Person and glory of Christ, as there is in that wherein

we live. There were, indeed, in the first times of the church, swarms of proud, doting, brain-sick

persons, who vented many foolish imaginations about him, which issued at length in Arianism, in

whose ruins they were buried. The gates of hell in them prevailed not against the rock on which

the church is built. But as it was said of Cæsar, "Solus accesit sobrius, ad perdendam rempublicam,"

— "He alone went soberly about the destruction of the commonwealth;" so we now have great

numbers who oppose the Person and glory of Christ, under a pretence of sobriety of reason, as they

vainly plead. Yea, the disbelief of the mysteries of the Trinity, and the incarnation of the Son of

God, — the sole foundation of Christian religion, — is so diffused in the world, as that it has almost

devoured the power and vitals of it. And not a few, who dare not yet express their minds, do give

broad intimations of their intentions and good-will towards him, in making them the object of their

scorn and reproach who desire to know nothing but him, and him crucified.

God, in his appointed time, will effectually vindicate his honour and glory from the vain attempts

of men of corrupt minds against them.

In the meantime, it is the duty of all those who "love the Lord Jesus in sincerity," to give

testimony in a peculiar manner unto his divine Person and glory, according unto their several

capacities, because of the opposition that is made against them.

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I have thought myself on many accounts obliged to cast my mite into this treasury. And I have

with the vindication of the truth, to promote the strengthening of the faith of true believers, their

edification in the knowledge of it; and to express the experience which they have, or may have, of

the power and reality of these things.

That which at present I design to demonstrate is, that the beholding of the glory of Christ is one

of the greatest privileges and advancements that believers are capable of in this world, or that which

is to come. It is that whereby they are first gradually conformed unto it, and then fixed in the eternal

enjoyment of it. For here in this life, beholding his glory, they are changed or transformed into the

likeness of it, 2 Cor. iii. 18; and hereafter they shall be "for ever like unto him," because they "shall

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see him as he is," 1 John iii. 1, 2. Hereon do our present comforts and future blessedness depend.

This is the life and reward of our souls. "He that has seen him has seen the Father also," John xiv.

9. For we discern the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God only in the face of Jesus Christ,"

2 Cor. iv. 6.

There are, therefore, two ways or degrees of beholding the glory of Christ, which are constantly

not by sight." We do so whilst we are in this world, "whilst we are present in the body, and absent

from the Lord," verse 8. But we shall live and walk by sight hereafter. And it is the Lord Christ

and his glory which are the immediate object both of this faith and sight. For we here "behold him

darkly in a glass" (that is by faith); "but we shall see him face to face" (by immediate vision). "Now

we know him in part, but then we shall know him as we are known," 1 Cor. xiii. 12. What is the

difference between these two ways of beholding the glory of Christ shall be afterward declared.

that prayer of our blessed Saviour, that his disciples may be where he is, to behold his glory. But

I shall not confine my inquiry thereunto; nor does our Lord Jesus exclude from his desire that sight

of his glory which we have by faith in this world, but prays for the perfection of it in heaven. It is

therefore the first way that, in the first place, I shall insist upon; and that for the reasons ensuing:—

Where the subject (the soul) is not previously seasoned with grace and faith, it is not capable of

glory or vision. Nay, persons not disposed hereby unto it cannot desire it, whatever they pretend;

they only deceive their own souls in supposing that so they do. Most men will say with confidence,

reason why they should desire any such thing, — only they think it somewhat that is better than to

be in that evil condition which otherwise they must be cast into for ever, when they can be here no

more. If a man pretend himself to be enamoured on, or greatly to desire, what he never saw, nor

was ever represented unto him, he does but dote on his own imaginations. And the pretended desires

of many to behold the glory of Christ in heaven, who have no view of it by faith whilst they are

here in this world, are nothing but self-deceiving imaginations.

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So do the Papists delude themselves. Their carnal affections are excited by their outward senses

to delight in images of Christ, — in his sufferings, his resurrection, and glory above. Hereon they

satisfy themselves that they behold the glory of Christ himself and that with love and great delight.

But whereas there is not the least true representation made of the Lord Christ or his glory in these

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things, — that being confined absolutely unto the Gospel alone, and this way of attempting it being

laid under a severe interdict, — they do but sport themselves with their own deceivings.

The apostle tells us concerning himself and other believers, when the Lord Christ was present

and conversed with them in the days of his flesh, that they "saw his glory, the glory as of the

only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth," John i. 14. And we may inquire, what was this

glory of Christ which they so saw, and by what means they obtained a prospect of it. For, — 1. It

potentates of the earth; for he made himself of no reputation, but being in the form of a servant, he

walked in the condition of a man of low degree. The secular grandeur of his pretended Vicar makes

no representation of that glory of his which his disciples saw. He kept no court, nor house of

entertainment, nor (though he made all things) had of his own where to lay his head. Nor, — 2.

on him, as we see the glory of a comely or beautiful person; — for he had therein neither form nor

comeliness that he should be desired, "his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form

more than the sons of men," Isa. lii. 14; liii. 2, 3. All things appeared in him as became "a man of

for this no man can see in this world. What we shall attain in a view thereof hereafter we know not.

But, — 4. It was his glory, as he was "full of grace and truth." They saw the glory of his person

and his office in the administration of grace and truth. And how or by what means did they see this

glory of Christ? It was by faith, and no otherwise; for this privilege was granted unto them only

who "received him," and believed on his name, John i. 12. This was that glory which the Baptist

saw, when, upon his coming unto him he said unto all that were present, "Behold the Lamb of God,

which taketh away the sin of the world!" verses 29–33.

Wherefore let no man deceive himself; he that has no sight of the glory of Christ here, shall

never have any of it hereafter unto his advantage. It is not, therefore, unto edification to discourse

of beholding the glory of Christ in heaven by vision, until we go through a trial whether we see

anything of it in this world by faith or no.

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2. The beholding of Christ in glory is that which in itself is too high, illustrious, and marvellous

for us in our present condition. It has a splendour and glory too great for our present spiritual visible

[visive] faculty; as the direct, immediate sight of the sun darkens our sight, and does not relieve or

strengthen it at all. Wherefore we have no way to take into our minds any true spiritual apprehensions

of the nature of immediate vision, or what it is to see the glory of Christ in heaven, but by that view

which we have by faith in this life of the same glory. Whatever otherwise falls into our minds is

but conjecture and imagination; such as are the contemplations of most about heavenly things.

I have seen and read somewhat of the writings of learned men concerning the state of future

glory; some of them are filled with excellent notions of truth, and elegance of speech, whereby

they cannot but much affect the minds of them who duly consider what they say. But I know not

well whence it comes to pass, many complain that, in reading of such discourses, they are like a

man who "beholds his natural face in a glass, and immediately forgets what manner of man he

was;" as one of old complained to the same purpose upon his perusal of Plato’s contemplations

about the immortality of the soul. The things spoken do not abide nor incorporate with our minds.

They please and refresh for a little while, like a shower of rain in a dry season, that soaketh not

unto the roots of things; the power of them does not enter into us. Is it not all from hence, that their

notions of future things are not educed out of the experience which we have of the beginnings of

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them in this world? without which they can make no permanent abode in our minds, nor continue

any influence upon our affections. Yea, the soul is disturbed, not edified, in all contemplations of

future glory, when things are proposed unto it whereof in this life it has neither foretaste, sense,

experience, nor evidence. No man ought to look for anything in heaven, but what one way or other

he has some experience of in this life. If men were fully persuaded hereof, they would be, it may

be, more in the exercise of faith and love about heavenly things than for the most part they are. At

present they know not what they enjoy, and they look for they know not what.

Hence is it that men, utterly strangers unto all experience of the beginning of glory in themselves

as an effect of faith, have filled their divine worship with images, pictures, and music, to represent

unto themselves somewhat of that glory which they fancy to be above. For into that which is truly

so, they have no prospect, or can have; because they have no experience of its power in themselves,

nor do they taste of its goodness by any of its first-fruits in their own minds. Wherefore by that

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view alone, and not otherwise, which we have of the glory of Christ by faith here in this world, we

may attain such blessed conceptions of our beholding his glory above by immediate vision, as shall

draw out our hearts unto the admiration of it and desires of its full enjoyment.

of the glory of Christ, the life and power of faith are most eminently acted. And from this exercise

of faith does love unto Christ principally, if not solely, arise and spring. If, therefore, we desire to

have faith in its vigour or love in its power, giving rest, complacency, and satisfaction unto our

own souls, we are to seek for them in the diligent discharge of this duty; — elsewhere they will

not be found. Herein would I live; — herein would I die; — hereon would I dwell in my thoughts

and affections, to the withering and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the

crucifying all things here below, until they become unto me a dead and deformed thing, no way

meet for affectionate embraces.

For these and the like reasons I shall first inquire into our beholding of the glory of Christ in

this world by faith; and therein endeavour to lead the souls of them that believe into the more retired

walks of faith, love, and holy meditation, "whereby the King is held in the galleries," Cant. vii. 5.

But because there is no benefit in, nor advantage by, the contemplation of this sacred truth, but

what consists in an improvement of the practice of the duty declared in it, — namely, the constant

beholding of the glory of Christ by faith, — I shall for the promotion of it, premise some few

advantages which we may have thereby.

hopes for it; for some are not only unworthy of it, and excluded from it, by reason of sin, but they

are unmeet for it, and incapable of any advantage by it. All men, indeed, think themselves fit enough

for glory (what should hinder them?) if they could attain it; but it is because they know not what

it is. Men shall not be clothed with glory, as it were, whether they will or no. It is to be received in

that exercise of the faculties of their souls which such persons have no ability for. Music has no

pleasure in it unto them that cannot hear; nor the most beautiful colours, unto them that cannot see.

It would be no benefit unto a fish, to take him from the bottom of the ocean, filled with cold and

darkness, and to place him under the beams of the sun; for he is no way meet to receive any

refreshment thereby. Heaven itself would not be more advantageous unto persons not renewed by

the Spirit of grace in this life.

Hence the apostle gives "thanks unto the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the

inheritance of the saints in light," Col i. 12. Indeed, the beginning here, and the fulness of glory

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hereafter, are communicated unto believers, by an almighty act of the will and grace of God. But

yet he has ordained ways, and meant, whereby they may be made meet receptive subjects of the

glory so to be communicated unto them. That this way and means is by the beholding of the glory

of Christ by faith shall be fully declared in our progress. This, therefore, should excite us unto this

duty; for all our present glory consists, in our preparation for future glory.

transforming power to change him "into the same image," 2 Cor. iii. 18. How this is done, and how

we become like unto Christ by beholding his glory, shall be fully declared in our progress.

3. The constant contemplation of the glory of Christ will give rest, satisfaction, and complacency

unto the souls of them who are exercised therein. Our minds are apt to be filled with a multitude

of perplexed thoughts; — fears, cares, dangers, distresses, passions, and lusts, do make various

impressions on the minds of men, filling them with disorder, darkness, and confusion. But where

the soul is fixed in its thoughts and contemplations on this glorious object, it will be brought into

and kept in a holy, serene, spiritual frame. For "to be spiritually-minded is life and peace." And

this it does by taking off our hearts from all undue regard unto all things below, in comparison of

the great worth, beauty, and glory of what we are conversant withal. See Phil. iii. 7–11. A defect

herein makes many of us strangers unto a heavenly life, and to live beneath the spiritual refreshments

and satisfactions that the Gospel does tender unto us.

4. The sight of the glory of Christ is the spring and cause of our everlasting blessedness. "We

shall ever be with the Lord," 1 Thess. iv. 17, or "be with Christ," which is best of all, Phil. i. 23.

For there shall we "behold his glory," John xvii. 24; and by "seeing him as he is, we shall be made

like him," 1 John iii. 2; — which is our everlasting blessedness.

The enjoyment of God by sight is commonly called the beatifical vision; and it is the sole

fountain of all the actings of our souls in the state of blessedness: which the old philosophers knew

nothing of; neither do we know distinctly what they are, or what is this sight of God. Howbeit, this

we know, that God in his immense essence is invisible unto our corporeal eyes, and will be so to

eternity; as also incomprehensible unto our minds. For nothing can perfectly comprehend that which

is infinite, but what is itself infinite. Wherefore the blessed and blessing sight which we shall have

of God will be always "in the face of Jesus Christ." Therein will that manifestation of the glory of

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God, in his infinite perfections, and all their blessed operations, so shine into our souls, as shall

immediately fill us with peace, rest, and glory.

These things we here admire, but cannot comprehend. We know not well what we say when

we speak of them: yet is there in true believers a foresight and foretaste of this glorious condition.

glory of God, shining forth in Christ, as affects and satiates their souls with ineffable joy. Hence

ariseth that "peace of God which passeth all understanding," keeping "our hearts and minds through

Jesus Christ," Phil. iv. 7. "Christ," in believers, "the hope of glory," gives them to taste of the

first-fruits of it; yea, sometimes to bathe their souls in the fountain of life, and to drink of the rivers

of pleasure that are at his right hand. Where any are utterly unacquainted with these things, they

are carnal, yes, blind, and see nothing afar off. These enjoyments, indeed, are rare, and for the most

part of short continuance. "Rara hora, brevis mora." But it is from our own sloth and darkness that

we do not enjoy more visits of this grace, and that the dawnings of glory do not more shine on our

souls. Such things as these may excite us to diligence in the duty proposed unto us.

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the whole we shall endeavour an answer unto the inquiry made unto the spouse, by the daughters

of Jerusalem, Cant. v. 9, "What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among

women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?"

xvii. 24, "That glory which is mine," which belongeth to me, unto my person.

and discharge of his office, with what ensued thereon. His glory on these distinct accounts is distinct

and different; but all equally his own. How in both respects we may behold it by faith, is that which

we inquire into.

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The first thing wherein we may behold the glory of the person of Christ, God and man, which

was given him of his Father, consists in the representation of the nature of God, and of the divine

person of the Father, unto the church in him; for we behold "the glory of God in the face of Jesus

of seeing and knowing God, declared in the Scripture as our duty and blessedness. The glory of

God comprehends both the holy properties of his nature and the counsels of his will; and "the light

of the knowledge" of these things we have only "in the face" or person "of Jesus Christ." Whatever

person "of Jesus Christ:" for he is "the image of God," 2 Cor. iv. 4; "the brightness of the Father’s

glory, and the express image of his person," Heb. i. 3; "the image of the invisible God," Col. i. 15.

I do here only mention these things because I have handled them at large in my discourse of the

"Mystery of Godliness," or the Person of Christ; whereunto I refer the readers for their full

declaration and vindication. Herein is he glorious, in that he is the great representative of the nature

of God and his will unto us; which without him would have been eternally hid from us, or been

invisible unto us, — we should never have seen God at any time, here nor hereafter, John i. 18.

In his divine person absolutely considered, he is the essential image of God, even the Father.

He is in the Father, and the Father in him, in the unity of the same divine essence, John xiv. 10.

Col. i. 15; Heb. i. 3. In his incarnation he becomes the representative image of God unto the church,

2 Cor. iv. 6; without whom our understandings can make no such approach unto the divine

excellencies but that God continues to be unto us what he is in himself, — the "invisible God." In

the face of Jesus Christ we see his glory.

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This is the original glory of Christ, given him by his Father, and which by faith we may behold.

He, and he alone, declares, represents, and makes known, unto angels and men, the essential glory

of the invisible God, his attributes and his will; without which, a perpetual comparative darkness

would have been the whole creation, especially that part of it here below.

This is the foundation of our religion, the Rock whereon the church is built, the ground of all

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that is made of the nature and will of God in the person and office of Christ. If this fail us, we are

lost for ever; if this Rock stand firm, the church is safe here, and shall be triumphant hereafter.

Herein, then, is the Lord Christ exceedingly glorious. Those who cannot behold this glory of

his by faith, — namely, as he is the great divine ordinance to represent God unto us, — they know

him not. In their worship of him, they worship but an image of their own devising.

Yea, in the ignorance and neglect hereof consists the formal nature of unbelief, even that which

is inevitably ruinous unto the souls of men. He that discerns not the representation of the glory of

God in the person of Christ unto the souls of men, is an unbeliever. Such was the state of the

unbelieving Jews and Gentiles of old; they did not, they would not, they could not, behold the glory

of God in him, nor how he did represent him. That this was both the cause and the formal nature

of their unbelief, the apostle declares at large, 1 Cor. i. 21–25. Not to see the wisdom of God, and

the power of God, and consequently all the other holy properties of his nature, in Christ, is to be

an unbeliever.

The essence of faith consists in a due ascription of glory to God, Rom. iv. 20. This we cannot

attain unto without the manifestation of those divine excellencies unto us wherein he is glorious.

This is done in Christ alone, so as that we may glorify God in a saving and acceptable manner. He

who discerns not the glory of divine wisdom, power, goodness, love, and grace, in the person and

office of Christ, with the way of the salvation of sinners by him, is an unbeliever.

Hence the great design of the devil, in the beginning of the preaching of the gospel, was to blind

the eyes of men, and fill their minds with prejudices, that they might not behold this glory of his;

so the apostle gives an account of his success in this design, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, "If our gospel be hid,

it is hid unto them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them

which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should

shine unto them." By various ways and methods of deceit, to secure the reputation he had got of

being "god of this world," by pretences and appearances of supernatural power and wisdom, he

laboured to blind the eyes of men with prejudices against that glorious light of the gospel which

proposed the Lord Christ as the only image of God. This blindness, this darkness is cured in them

that believe, by the mighty power of God; for God, who commanded the light to shine out of

darkness, has irradiated our hearts with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus

Christ, verse 6, — wherein true saving faith does consist. Under this darkness perished the

unbelieving world of Jews and Gentiles: and such is the present condition of all by whom the divine

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person of Christ is denied; for no mere creature can ever make a perfect representation of God unto

us. But we must a little farther inquire into this mystery.

I. Since men fell from God by sin, it is no small part of their misery and punishment, that they

not seen him at any time. Hence is that promise to the church in Christ, Isa. lx. 2, "For, behold, the

darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee,

and his glory shall be seen upon thee."

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The ancient philosophers made great inquiries into, and obtained many notions of, the Divine

Being — its existence and excellencies. And these notions they adorned with great elegance of

speech, to allure others unto the admiration of them. Hereon they boasted themselves to be the only

But we must abide in the judgment of the apostle concerning them in their inquiries; he assures us

that the world in its wisdom — that is, these wise men in it by their wisdom — knew not God, 1

Cor. i. 21. And he calls the authors of their best notions, Atheists, or men "without God in the

world," Eph. ii. 12. For, —

1. They had no certain guide, rule, nor light, which, being attended unto, might lead them

great disputes of the world;" but in them they "waxed vain, and their foolish heart was darkened,"

Deorum," gives us an exact account of the intention of the apostle in that expression. And it is at

this day not want of wit, but hatred of the mysteries of our religion, which makes so many prone

to forego all supernatural revelation, and to betake themselves unto a religion declared, as they

suppose, by reason and the light of nature; — like bats and owls, who, being not able to bear the

light of the sun, betake themselves unto the twilight, to the dawnings of light and darkness.

2. Whatever they did attain, as unto rational notions about things invisible and incomprehensible,

yet could they never deliver themselves from such principles and practices in idolatry and all manner

of flagitious sins, as that they could be of any benefit unto them. This is so effectually demonstrated

by the apostle in the 1st chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, as that we need not to insist upon it.

Men may talk what they please of a light within them, or of the power of reason to conduct

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them unto that knowledge of God whereby they may live unto him; but if they had nothing else, if

they did not boast themselves of that light which has its foundation and original in divine revelation

alone, they would not excel them who, in the best management of their own reasonings, "knew not

God," but waxed vain in their imaginations.

With respect unto this universal darkness, — that is, ignorance of God, with horrid confusion

accompany it in the minds of men, — Christ is called, and is, the "light of men," the "light of the

world;" because in and by him alone this darkness is dispelled, as he is the "Sun of Righteousness."

II. This darkness in the minds of men, this ignorance of God, his nature and his will, was the

original of all evil unto the world, and yet continues so to be. For, —

1. Hereon did Satan erect his kingdom and throne, obtaining in his design until he bare himself

as "the god of this world," and was so esteemed by the most. He exalted himself by virtue of this

darkness (as he is the "prince of darkness") into the place and room of God, as the object of the

religious worship of men. For the things which the Gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed unto devils,

and not to God, 1 Cor. x. 20; Lev. xvii. 7; Deut. xxxii. 17; Ps. cvi. 37; Gal. iv. 8. This is the territory

of Satan; yea, the power and sceptre of his kingdom in the minds of the "children of disobedience."

Hereby he maintains his dominion unto this day in many and great nations, and with individual

persons innumerable.

2. This is the spring of all wickedness and confusion among men themselves. Hence arose that

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were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, which he revenged with "fire from heaven." In brief; all

the rage, blood, confusion, desolations, cruelties, oppressions, villainies, which the world has been

and is filled withal, whereby the souls of men have been and are flooded into eternal destruction,

have all arisen from this corrupt fountain of the ignorance of God.

3. Of such as those described we are the posterity and offspring. Our forefathers in this nation

were given up unto as brutish a service of the devil as any nation under the sun. It is therefore an

effect of infinite mercy, that the day has dawned on us, poor Gentiles, and that the "day-spring

from on high hath visited us." See the glory of this grace expressed, Eph. iii. 5–10. God might have

left us to perish in the blindness and ignorance of our forefathers; but of his own accord, and by

his own powerful grace alone, he has "translated us out of darkness into his marvellous light." But,

alas! the horrible ingratitude of men for the glorious light of the Gospel, and the abuse of it, will

issue in a sore revenge.

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God was known under the Old Testament by the revelation of his Word, and the institution of

his worship. This was the glory and privilege of Israel, as the Psalmist declares, Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20,

"He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so

with any nation." The church then knew him; yet so as that they had an apprehension that he dwelt

in "thick darkness," where they could not have any clear views of him, Exod. xx. 21; Deut. v. 22;

them, was, to instruct them in their imperfect state, wherein they could not comprehend that glory

which should afterward be revealed. For as he is now made known in Christ, we see that "he is

light, and in him there is no darkness at all."

4. Hitherto darkness in general covered the earth, and gross darkness the people, as unto the

knowledge of God; only there was a twilight in the church. The day did not yet dawn, the "shadows

did not flee away," nor the "day-star shine" in the hearts of men. But when the "Sun of

Righteousness" did arise in his strength and beauty, when the Son of God "appeared in the flesh,"

and in the discharge of his office, — God himself, as unto his being, and manner of existence in

three distinct persons, with all the glorious properties of the divine nature, was illustriously

manifested unto them that did believe; and the light of the knowledge of them dispelled all the

shadows that were in the church, and shone into the darkness which was in the world, so as that

none continued ignorant of God but those who would not see. See John i. 5, 14, 17, 18; 2 Cor. iv.

3, 4.

how we may behold the glory of Christ in the representation and revelation that is made of God

and his glory, in his person and office, unto all that do believe. For it is not so much the declaration

of the nature of the things themselves, wherein the glory of Christ does consist, as our way and

duty in the beholding of them, which at present is designed.

He calls unto us, saying, "Behold me, — look unto me, — and be saved," Isa. xlv. 22. What is

it that we see in Christ? what do we behold in him? He asketh that question concerning his church,

"What will ye see in the Shulamite?" Whereto he answers, "As it were the company of two armies,"

Cant. vi. 13; or the two churches of the Old and New Testament, in order and beauty. We may

inquire, What shall we, what do we see in him? Do we see him as "the image of the invisible God,"

representing him, his nature, properties, and will unto us? Do we see him as the "character," the

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"express image of the person of the Father," so that we have no need of Philip’s request, "Lord,

show us the Father?" because having seen him, we have seen the Father also, John xiv. 9.

This is our first saving view of Christ, the first instance of our beholding his glory by faith. So

to see him as to see God in him, is to behold his glory; for herein he is eternally glorious. And this

is that glory whose view we ought to long for and labour after. And if we see it not, we are yet in

darkness; yea, though we say we see, we are blind like others. So David longed and prayed for it,

when yet he could behold it only in types and shadows, Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, "O God, thou art my God;

early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee; — to see thy power and

thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." For there was in the sanctuary an obscure

representation of the glory of God in Christ. How much more should we prize that view of it which

we may have with open face, though yet "as in a glass!" 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Moses, when he had seen the works of God, which were great and marvellous, yet found not

himself satisfied therewith; wherefore, after all, he prays that God "would show him his glory",

Exod. xxxiii. 18. He knew that the ultimate rest, blessedness, and satisfaction of the soul, is not in

seeing the works of God, but the glory of God himself. Therefore did he desire some immediate

dawnings of it upon him in this world: "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." And if we have right

apprehensions of the future state of blessedness, we cannot but have the same desire of seeing more

of his glory in this life. But the question is, How we may attain it? If we are left unto ourselves in

this inquiry, if we have no other way for it but the immediate rising of our thoughts on the immensity

of the divine nature, we must come every one to the conclusion that Agur makes on the like

consideration, "Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who has ascended up into heaven,

or descended? who has gathered the wind in his fists? who has bound the waters in a garment? who

has established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst

tell?" Prov. xxx. 2–4.

It is in Christ alone that we may have a clear, distinct view of the glory of God and his

excellencies. For him, and him alone, has he appointed the representative of himself unto us; and

we shall take an account hereof in one or two especial instances. See John i. 18, xiv. 7–10; 2 Cor.

iv. 6; Col. i. 15; Eph. iii. 4–10; Heb. i. 3.

directive of all the external works of God, wherein the glory of all the other excellencies of God is

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manifested: wherefore the manifestation of the whole glory of God proceeds originally from infinite

wisdom. But, as Job speaks, "Where shall [this] wisdom be found; and what is the place of

understanding? chap. xxviii. 12. "Can we by searching find out God? can we find out the Almighty

unto perfection?" chap. xi. 7. As it is in itself an essential, eternal property of the divine nature, we

can have no comprehension of it, — we can but adore it in that infinite distance wherein we stand

from God; but in its operations and effects it may be discerned, for they are designed of God for

its manifestation. Among these, the most excellent is the contrivance of the great work of the

salvation of the church. So it is celebrated by the apostle, Eph. iii. 9, 10, "To make all men see what

is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who

created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now, unto the principalities and powers in

heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God."

If we have any interest in God, if we have any hopes of blessedness in beholding of his glory

unto eternity, we cannot but desire a view (such as is attainable) of this infinite, manifold wisdom

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of God in this life. But it is in Christ alone that we can discern anything of it; for him has the Father

chosen and sealed to represent it unto us. All the treasures of this wisdom are hid, laid up, and laid

out in him; — herein lies the essence and form of faith. Believers by it do see the wisdom of God

in Christ, in his person and office, — Christ the wisdom of God. Unbelievers see it not, as the

apostle argues, 1 Cor. i. 22–24.

In beholding the glory of this infinite wisdom of God in Christ, we behold his own glory also,

— the glory given him of his Father; for this is his glory, that in and by him, and him alone, the

wisdom of God is manifested and represented unto us. When God appointed him as the great and

only means of this end, he gave him honour and glory above the whole creation; for it is but little

of divine wisdom which the works of it declare, in comparison of what is manifested in Christ

Jesus. We no way deny or extenuate the manifestation that is made of the wisdom of God in the

works of creation and providence. It is sufficient to detect the folly of atheism and idolatry; and

was designed of God unto that end. But its comparative insufficiency — with respect unto the

representation of it in Christ as to the ends of knowing God aright and living unto him — the

declares, Rom. i. 20, &c. To see this wisdom clearly is our wisdom; and a due apprehension of it

fills the souls of believers "with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

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8. Divine love is not to be considered only in its effects, but in its nature and essence; and so it is</