SERMON CXXXIX.

CHRIST'S TREASURES opened by HIMSELF, Declaring he hath ALL THINGS that GOD the FATHER hath*.

JOHN XVI. 15.

All things that the Father hath are mine.

THE HE glorious excellency, fulness, and all-sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ, is inexpressibly great; none can speak of it so well as himself; and indeed he himself is the preacher here: and as here we have his word, so, if his Spirit accompany it, we may, in this glass, see his matchless glory: for here it is so wonderfully described, that neither the tongues of men nor angels can tell so much of his glorious fulness and furniture, in so few words: "All things that the Father hath are mine."

Our Lord fairly warns his disciples of what crosses they were to meet with in this world, verse 2. “ They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth God service." But, at the same time, he assures them of what comforts he would afford them: and, as it was usual for the Old-Testament prophets, to comfort the church in her adversity with the promise of the Messias, Isaiah ix. 6. Micah v. 5.; so, the Messias being come, he comforts his people with the promise of the Spirit, the Comforter; and this is the great NewTestament promise.

*This Sermon was preached immediately before the celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, at Dunfermline, July 19th, 1747. To which is subjoined, the Discourses before and at the service of the first Table, and at the Conclusion of the Solemnity.

VOL. IX.

B

Christ promises the Spirit here, from verse 5. as a fruit of his ascension, saying, "If I go, I will send him;" and that because the sending of the Spirit was to be not only the fruit of his purchase on earth, but the answer of his prayers in heaven, and of his intercession within the vail, John xiv. 16. The gift of the Spirit must be paid for, and prayed for, that we might highly value this privilege.

We are told, from verse 8. and downward, what a great benefit the coming of the Spirit should be to a blind world;"When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment," &c. Next, what a great benefit his coming would be to the disciples themselves, from ver. 13. "When the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth," &c.

Again, the great work of the Spirit is summed up, verse 14." He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shew it unto you." This I have spoken to formerly. And now this text comes in as a reason of the former; q. d. Would you have a reason why the Spirit, when he comes, shall glorify me, by taking of mine and shewing it to you? Even because, "All things that the Father hath are mine: Therefore said I unto you, that he shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you:" he being the Spirit of the Father as well as the Spirit of the Son, when he comes to glorify me, he comes to glorify the Father in me; and by shewing things of mine, which are not different from, but the same with the things of the Father; his shewing of mine, will shew what a glorious One I am, because, "All things that the Father hath are mine.”

Our Lord Jesus never speaks of his being glorified alone, without the Father's being glorified in him: nor of his own glory abstract from the Father's glory: see this in his entry upon his suffering work; "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him," John xiii. 31. See it in his entry upon his intercessory work on earth; "Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee," John xvii. 1. And see it here in his declaring what should be the work of the Spirit in his name after his exaltation; "He shall glorify me,

by taking of mine and shewing it to you." But will the glorifying of the Father be here neglected? No, no: by shewing my glory, he will shew the Father's glory; and by shewing my things, he will shew the Father's; for "All things that the Father hath are mine ;" and these things the Spirit shall shew or make them known to you; that is, he shall so declare and evidence them to you and in you, that you shall understand and have experience of them in yourselves; and that both by revelation, instructing you in them; and by communication, imparting them to you.

It is the reason here given by our Lord Jesus, that I especially speak of at present; "All things that the Father hath are mine." Here is the vast extent of the things of Christ which are to be shewed to believers by the Spirit; they are all the things that the Father hath: they are mine, says Christ. Now, these things may be taken, either absolutely, respecting the person of the Father and the person of the Son or restrictively, respecting the office of Christ, as Mediator betwixt God and man.

1. Viewing it absolutely; all things that the Father hath are his, even the whole entire divine nature, by having his personality from the Father, and that by an eternal, necessary, and ineffable generation: all the things of the Father must needs be his; for, "He and his Father are one." In this sense Christ could say, All things that the Father hath are mine; even all the essential properties of the Godhead; there is no difference between his things and mine; his nature and essence are mine, only our personal properties are distinct he is the first, and I am the second person of the glorious Trinity, according to the order of the subsistence of the three-one God: he is my eternal Father, and I am his eternal Son by ineffable generation. But the all things here spoken of seem not to be in this absolute sense, they are not the all things of the divine nature which he had by eternal generation. Therefore, 2. We are to view it in a more restricted sense, respecting the office of Christ as Mediator. All things that the Father had in his heart and purpose from eter

nity, to discover and dispense in time by voluntary donation are mine, according to these scriptures, Mat. xi. 27." All things are delivered to me of my Father. Luke x. 22. John iii. 35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. John xiii. 3. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, took a towel and girded himself to wash his disciples feet." ALL THINGS; that is, all the effects of the Father's love, grace, and will, whatever he had purposed in himself from eternity, and whatever his infinite power and goodness would produce in the pursuit thereof, were all given and committed to Christ: thus "All things that the Father hath are mine."

The order of operation in the Holy Trinity, with reference to our salvation, is according to the order of the subsistence of the distinct persons of the Deity: and hence you have here, 1. The things to be declared to us, and bestowed upon us, they are originally the Father's things; he is the peculiar fountain of them all; his love, wisdom, grace, goodness, counsel, and will, is their supreme cause and spring; therefore here called the things that the Father hath. 2. They are the things of the Son; They are mine, says Christ, as Mediator; they are given to me and unto my disposal, on account of my mediation; by which they are prepared for us, and given out unto us to the glory of God. 3. They are actually communicated to us by the holy Spirit; "Therefore said I, he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." He does not communicate them immediately to us from the Father. We cannot deal, nor have to do with the person of the Father immediately; it is by the Son alone we have access to him, and by the Son alone he gives out of his grace and bounty to us it is with Christ, as the great Treasurer of heavenly things, that all grace and mercy are intrusted. The holy Spirit therefore shews them unto us, not first as the Father's things, but as they are the fruits of Christ's mediation; and thereby as the effect of the Father's love and bounty.

Here then is the honey we are to eat this day, as you read, Song v. 1. "I am come to my garden, my sister, my