it implies a contradiction, to suppose Jesus Christ invested before he suffered death, for this dominion was to be expressly the reward of suffering: "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also

hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Phil. ii. 8—11. and in the second psalm, ver. 8, 9. "Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

This the dominion of which he took possession. On the third day after his death, angels alight upon his tomb, not to effect his resurrection from the dead, but to admire the wonders of it; to render their profoundest homage to that divine Man, the only dead person who had ever revived by his own power; and to yield obedience to that mandate of the great Supreme: let all the angels of God worship him, Heb. i. 6. Forty days after his resurrection, he makes a cloud to serve him as a triumphal chariot on which he is borne aloft, and disappears from the eyes of his beloved disciples. As he ascends through the regions of the air, to occupy a throne above the skies, the church triumphant, and all the spirits in bliss, unite in celebrating his return to heaven with songs of praise the celestial arches resound with

their joyful acclamations, while they cry aloud, "lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in,” Psal. xxiv. 7.

On his arrival at the habitation of his glory, he assumes his place at the Father's right hand. And thence it is that he exercises the dominion to which his sufferings and death have exalted him thence it is he beholds the impotent designs of the enemies of the church, and, to use the expression of scripture, laughs at them, Psal. ii. 4. Thence it is he brings down to the ground the heads of the haughtiest potentates: thence it is he controuls the power of tyrants, or permits it to act, and to accomplish his purpose; thence it is he bends his eyes upon us, my brethren; that he hears, and regards, and answers the prayers which, in our indigence, we present at the throne of grace: thence it is he beholds St. Stephen, and grants the petition of that martyr, from amidst the shower of stones which is overwhelming him Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, Acts vii. 59. Thence it is he draws to himself the souls of our expiring believers, and says to all those who combat under the banners of the cross: "to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne," Rev. iii. 21. " be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life," Rev. ii. 10.

Such is the glory which must follow the sufferings and death of the Saviour of the world. Such must be the perfection of that unity which subsists between Jesus Christ Mediator and his Father: "Father the hour is come: glorify thy Son, that thy

Son also may glorify thee. . . . I have manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world... Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition. . I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine ownself, with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was."

SERMON III.

Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer.

PART II.

JOHN Xvii. 18–21.

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word: that they all may be one; as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

We have seen the relation which subsists between Jesus Christ and his heavenly Father. 1. A relation of nature, implied in that glory which he had with the Father before the world was. 2. There is a relation of economy: Jesus Christ as Mediator is one with God. And this relation consists of three particulars: (1.) Unity of idea: (2.) Unity of will: (3.) Unity of dominion. Let us,

II. Consider the relation subsisting between Jesus Christ and his apostles, not in their character, simply, of believers in Christ, but principally in the

view of their character as apostles. Let us inquire, in what sense it is that Jesus Christ makes it his request, that they may be one with the Father and with himself, as he was one with the Father. This is the second object, this the second mystery, to which we now call upon you to direct your serious attention.

Weigh the import of these remarkable words. "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world: and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." Jesus Christ had entered into the plan of the eternal Father, respecting the salvation of the human race; and had come into the world to put it in execution. It was necessary, in like manner, that the apostles should enter into the plan of this divine Saviour, and to the utmost extent of their ability, should labour, together with him, in executing the merciful design. And as Jesus Christ in order to acquit himself with success of this ministry which was committed unto him, must have possessed, with the Father, a unity of idea, of will, and of dominion, it was likewise necessary that the apostles should possess this threefold unity with Jesus Christ, and this precisely is the substance of what Jesus Christ prays for in their behalf.

1. In order to acquit themselves successfully of the functions of their ministry, it was necessary that the apostles should participate in the ideas of Jesus Christ, and in the infallibility of his doctrine. He had himself said to them, He that heareth you, heareth me, Luke x. 16, He had given them this commis