John chapter 17, commencing to
read again in verse 20. Neither, pray I, for these are
old, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word, that they 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. And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one. I am there that thou in me, that
thou may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. The words particularly which
I wish to bring to your attention this afternoon is the first clause
of verse 22, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given
them. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them. This is part of Christ's prayer
for his church. He prays not for the world, but
for them which the Father has given him. And in the preceding
verses to our text which we have just read together, he prays
not for these alone, that is, not for those disciples whom
he was praying before now, but for them also which shall believe
on me through their work. and that includes everyone in
this chapel this afternoon who has believed on Him through their
word, through the witness of the Twelve Apostles, through
the witness and their preaching through the Gospels, the New
Testament as it has been preached from that day down until now.
Have we believed on Jesus Christ? Are we one of those who are bound
up in this prayer? is our text this afternoon relevant
to us, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.
This glory is given to them and to them alone, those who believe
on the person of Jesus Christ, those who come and to find in
Him all their salvation and all their desire, their only hope
in time and for eternity. Lord, what an important question
to answer this afternoon, the age-old question, what think
ye of Christ? Friends, that is the only knowledge
which is any worth. To know how Jesus crucified to
the Him-writer by fire excels all things besides. Why? Because if we are brought to
know Him, if we read together in this prayer concerning that
knowledge of God, whom to know is life eternal, to believe on
Him and Jesus Christ to be ascended, then We have the blessing that
is in our text and the glory which Thou gavest me, I have
given them. Now friends, what is this glory?
That is the first question I want to come to ask this afternoon.
What is this glory? It is the glory which the Father
had given to Jesus Christ. The glory which Thou gavest me. What glory does that refer to?
We must firstly say it does not refer to Jesus' essential glory
as He was the Son of God. And friends, the Father did not
glorify the Son. The Son had His own glory, as
does the Holy Spirit. As they are, those three blessed
persons, one God, bless God forevermore. And the Son had His own essential
glory. He did not receive that glory
from His Father. And therefore the essential glory
of God is not which He's given to us, the glory which Thou gavest
me. This is not the glory that is
essential to Jesus Christ as He is the eternal Son of God.
Not the glory of which we read, at least not the fullness of
the glory, of which we read in the first chapter of John, that
they beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. What glory then does Jesus Christ
have other than that glory which is essential to His deity? It
is that glory that the Father has given him. And what is that
glory? It is the glory of his meditatorial
office. The glory of the Father appointed
him to be King. The glory that he gave him as
King, as monarch in Zion, as you've been sitting together
of. And he said, sit thou here till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. The glory that belongs to him as he swore and made him
a priest forever after the order of El Qiddi. The glory that belongs
to him as he comes forth from the Father, the Prophet of Truth,
as he comes to reclaim salvation unto his people by other way,
the truth and the light. That glory which he assumed as
he came into this world, as he humbled himself and was made
of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant,
and was found in fashion as a man, that glory which he received
from the person of Jesus Christ, the God-man, the one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And, oh, friend,
what a glory it is. William Gadsby says in sublime
language in that 514th hymn, would we see his brightest glory,
see it shine in Jesus' face. And I revealed in Gospel days
the glory of God. Our friends, what we see of the
glory of God in this world is but a faint shadow of the fullness
of that glory, or the glories of creation, or His glory in
providence. The glory of His faithfulness
with the rolling seasons, year by year. And yet, we cannot see
God. No man has seen God at any time
in this. When Moses said, I beseech thee,
show me now thy glory. He was put in the cleft of the
rock Our God passed by and our Moses could not see the glory
of God. But has that glory been revealed
to us? In the person of Jesus Christ.
The glory of God's love. God committed his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Friends, that glory. The glory
of the humility of God where we really humbled himself to
behold the thing which I am the earth. Friends, what a humility.
that sent his own dear son into this world to suffer and to bleed
and to die for sins. And so it is, in Jesus Christ,
in his person, in his work as mediator, in those mediatorial
offices, that his glory is made known unto us. And this was a
glory which was given to him by the Father. And Jesus was
not essentially prophet, priest and king. His humanity did not
exist are before he was brought into this world. This is the
glory that was given to him, not a glory which is essential
to him. And is this glory, the glory
of the person of Jesus Christ, as our mediator and as our saviour,
which is spoken of here, and the glory which thou gavest me,
I have given them. But then, for it must come a
little more particular, this glory given to us. What does
this mean? this glory given to us well you
can read the various divines and I have to say they all take
different opinions as to what this glory means as some say
it is the glory that is given to us as we are created anew
in the image of God in the likeness of his own dear son Christ being
formed in us the hope of glory till we come to the stature of
a perfect man and so some see this glory as a glory in which
we will be created when neither know we what we shall be, yet
we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, and we
shall see Him. That is part of His meditational
glory, as we are created after His image. Christ formed in us
a hope of glory. And some may take that as being
this glory, some see it as being the Holy Spirit, which is poured
out upon Christ with our vision. And we receive that Spirit, as
we are made believers in Christ. He received that spirit as an
anointing for his meditatorial office, and every one of his
people are made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Some see it as
that power that was given unto him. All power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. The miracles are he performed,
and he gives unto his people in measure that power, that power
made known unto us, the power of God unto salvation. and all
friends that is glorious and he certainly comes to us alone
through his meditatorial office some see it as his sonship as
we are made sons of God after the image of his own son as Jesus
Christ becomes our elder brother we are adopted into the family
of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus that glory which is
given unto us some see it as the blessings of heaven that
which the Mediator has purchased for us. I think you'll find if
you read Thomas Mountain's sermons on John 17, he takes that up
as this glory, the glory which shall gave his name, the inheritance,
the reward that was given to his own dear son, which he shares
with his people, that it is given to us to sit with him in his
trial. Lord, for him what a thought
that is. The reward of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, a throne,
a kingdom, but he shares it with his people, that we should sit
with him in his throne, that we should be conquerors, that
we should wear the conqueror's laurels, and that we should reign
with him in glory. Well, friends, all of those things
may be taken up as part of his mediatorial course. But this
afternoon I wish to come to one specific aspect of this glory. I've mentioned all those things
because I believe there is some truth in all of them. And our
friends, this glory is a vast subject. But I wish to come to
one particular aspect of this glory this afternoon. And this
text was laid upon my mind, urged during the week, having tried
to preach last November's Day evening at good lead concerning
the crowning of Joshua in Zechariah chapter 6. And there the high
priest Joshua was to be crowned. And that was to be spoken unto
him saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold
the man whose name is the branch, and he shall grow up out of his
place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall
build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory,
and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest
upon his throne, and the council of peace shall be between them
both. In the Old Testament, the office
of priest and king was separated. The priest was never to be a
king and the king was never to be a priest. We know what happened
with Uriah when he went in to offer, in the room of the priest,
he was brought down with leprosy for his sin. Moses reigned as
the king in Jeshurun. But Aaron, his brother, was a
priest. The two offices were never brought together. But here
is a prophecy concerning the bringing together of those two
offices priest and king in the person of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. He was to be our priest and our
king. And there's something very glorious
about that, because the best times in Israel were the times
when the king and priest worked together, when the king and priest
were of one heart and one mind. Solemnly there were those times
when the king and priest did not work together, when the king
either departed from the ways of the Lord, or the priests were
left to bring idolatry, as Aaron was left to make the brazen calf
and to cause the children of Israel to worship it. Solemn
days when king and priest did not work together. But that our
salvation might be sure, God brings king and priest together
in one mediator, in one person, the person of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. That he might save us from our
sins, by his atonement upon the cross, and that as king he might
reign over us, to subdue us unto himself, and to reign for us
in this world, that having saved us, our friends, that we might
not be left to fall, but that we might have that certainty,
that all the while King Jesus reigns, there is a day coming
when we must reign with him, in his glory, in heaven above. And so the bringing together
of these two offices. But it was those words in the
13th verse, he shall bear the glory. He shall bear the glory. The glory of his inmate and his
priestly office brought together. If the high priest was glorious,
and if the king upon the throne was glorious, how much more glorious
the one who should be king and priest. You say to me, what is
the relevance of that glory to this word and the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them? Well, friend, my mind was
then taken to that beautiful song of praise in the first chapter
of the Revelation. Unto him that hath loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God, and his father, to him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Is this not the giving
of the glory to us? The glory which Jesus Christ
had as King and Priest. The glory which he has as our
Beatitorial King and our Beatitorial Priest. He gives that glory unto
his people. He makes us Kings and Priests
unto God and to his people. This was the glory in Israel.
Why were the children of Israel brought down to the land of Egypt?
Why were they brought through the Red Sea? Why were they saved
in the Passover night? Moses tells us there, in the
19th chapter of Exodus, that the reason they'd been brought
forth was this, that ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation. Now therefore if ye will obey
my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people. for all the earth is mine and
ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which thou
shalt speak unto the children of Israel." This was the glory
of Israel in the Old Testament. They were not any kingdom. They
were not a kingdom as the children of Babur or the children of Edom
or the Philistines. Oh, they were all kingdoms and
had their kingdoms. But Israel was a peculiar kingdom.
Israel was a special kingdom because it was a kingdom of prince. And like every one of them, the
children of Israel, they were saved to this end, that they
should be a kingdom of prince. And it is so, and I've printed
a work of grace. Why does God send his only son
into this world? To save us from our sins? Well
yes, he sent him into this world to save us from our sins. But
you know, the end of God's plan is not simply that we should
be redeemed from our sins. The end of God's plan is this,
that we should be kings and priests under God. That we should be,
for his honour and his glory, in eternity to come. That we
should be raised to this office, to sit as kings and priests in
the kingdom of heaven. For the glory of God the Father.
That is the end of the entire work of redemption. Not the glory
of Jesus Christ. Oh friends, not the glory of
Jesus Christ. The work that Jesus accomplished
on this cross, on the cross was not for his own glory. It was
for the glory of God. The day is coming. Ah, when he
must reign, for he has put all enemies under his feet, and the
last enemy is death. And when all things have been
put under his feet, that is under the feet of Jesus, he shall put
all things under the feet of him, and they shall reign. he
shall deliver the kingdom unto God, that it might be for the
glory of God. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and he who in name, which is above every name, without
the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
confess, now and in the earth, or in the heavens above, O that
Jesus Christ is Lord, but to what end? to the glory of God
the Father. This is the end of the work of
redemption that we should be made kings and priests. And we
read here in the present tense, the glory which thou gavest me,
I have given them. When we are brought to believe
upon the name of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for salvation,
this glory is given unto us. We become kings and priests.
This is not something we become in heaven. This is not something
we become in glory. This is something which the Lord's
people are, on this earth, to die. Kings and priests under
God. And you know, friends, it is
glorious. It is glorious. This is the glory of the saints.
On this earth, the saints may be nothing. Ah, friends, on this
earth, the saints may be ether and force. They may be those
whom society has no time for. They may be counted as old-fashioned,
and they may be hated by the world, but the Word of God declares
that the Lord's people on this earth are kings and priests. And our friends, we have a glory
if we are amongst the Lord's people. We have a glory, a peculiar
treasure, a peculiar glory, which is given to us by Jesus Christ. We were not born kings and priests,
but we are elevated We are acquainted to this office by grace, and
we become kings and priests unto our God. Have you ever considered
that? Now, friends, have you been brought
to realise you are a king and a priest of the Most High God?
Made so, brought to be so, by the person and by the work of
the Blessed Son of God, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them. that glory
which he bore, the glory which Jesus Christ bore, as King and
Jesus, as priest, as priesthood after the order of Melchizedek,
Melchizedek who was King of Salem and priest of the Most High God.
He gives this glory unto us that we also should be kings and priests. Now friends we need to be very
clear concerning this kingly and priestly office to which
the Lord's people are called, And our friends, first of all,
we are kings and priests under God. And our friends, we do not
become the mediator. We do not become the saviour
ourselves. There is but one sacrifice to
sin. We are not appointed priests
that we should offer another sacrifice for sin. We are not
appointed priests that we must make a way of salvation. But
we are appointed priests that we might minister in our sacrifice
of praise unto God, that we should present our bodies a living sacrifice,
that we should come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit,
the sacrifice which God will not despise. It was the priest's
office, not only to bring the sacrifice, but to worship God
in the most holy place. And the Lord's people are given
access unto the holy place, in and through their great High
Proof, to offer praise under God, to bring that sacrifice
of Christ unto Him that hath loved us, and under Father, and
under Son, and under Holy Ghost, and under King Jesus, it is appointed
that we should reign in the Church, and I think Christ is the head
of the Church. These are not kings above this
King. Perhaps we may say in common
language, Prince, may better describe this office But we use
a scriptural term, we are kings, under King Jesus. And our friends,
we each write. What a beautiful thought that
is. In the church, we are all equals. All equals. And our friends, all appointed
in the same office. All kings and priests, unto God. And the
glory which thou gavest me, I have given thee. Have given thee. Given unto us, through the Italian
work and the intercessory work, or the whole meditatorial work
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given this glory, that
he hath made us kings and priests. Well, for in the second place,
I wanted to come to speak a little of the fullness of this glory,
all the glory that there is in being made kings and priests.
You might say to yourself, well, what is the glory in being made
a king and a priest? Well, let's begin there. and
our friends to be made a king and a prince. We are elevated,
if I may use that word, to the office. We are not elected to
the office by our brethren. We are elevated to the office,
we are taken and brought to the office. Now as we read in the
Old Testament, they take you the beggar from the dunghill
and set them among princes. He taken. And our friends God,
lifting us up, God raises us He elevates us to this office,
as this office is given unto us in the person and work of
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Oh, is there not some glory there?
Oh, friend, what a glory it is, if you know what it is to feel
yourself to be a stranger, a foreigner, an alien from the Commonwealth
of Israel, if you felt yourself to be a sinner as a chief, with
the Apostle Paul injurious, a blasphemer, a persecutor, that I have claimed
mercy. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
exceeds abundance. That's the glory of the elevation
to this office, that he should take worms of the earth such
as you are, such as I am, and are ignorant of ourselves, thoughts.
Wayfaring men, we read in the prophecy of Isaiah, wayfaring
man, no thoughts. They're the type of people that
are elevated to this office, those who have brought to an
end of themselves, fought to feel themselves utterly helpless,
fought to find themselves as sinners, their very best died
with sin, their all is nothing worth, but have nothing of their
own to bring, and are driven, and after him are drawn, and
driven by their needs, and drawn by the fullness of grace and
truth, they see in the Saviour, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
to come to him for all they have needed, to see him full of grace
and truth and of his grace and what we receive and grace and
grace and our friends and we have to come empty and prove
our forties in Christ and our friend what a forties we receive
what a forties we partake of as we are made our kings and
priests unto God the glory which thou gavest me I have given them
oh friends in his glory is empty just naturally for a moment.
You may see a commoner marry into the royal family. Oh, you
know, friends, a commoner can never sit upon the throne of
England. They might marry into the royal
family. And the common people of the
land, they love the rags to riches stories, don't they? Oh, the
incidents where those who have been nobodies, those who have
had no special background, are taken. And, as said among princes,
there is that which is naturally glorious. Oh, friends, how much
more so. How much more so when the God
over which we are plagued is our sin, which is separated between
us and God, taken away. As Jesus Christ is our propitiation,
a way home. Oh, friend, the way of access,
union, union of God, brought back to you. They're just taken
to the downhill and set among princes. Oh, and if you look
at this glorious scene there in the 42nd chapter of Isaiah,
where we read, behold my servant, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. For example, that speaks of Jesus
Christ as he was elevated to this office, as he was appointed
to this office, as he was made mediator, mine elect, God's chosen
one, in whom my soul delighteth. Ah, friends, the whole of God,
the whole of deity, delighted in the legatorial work of the
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And if God delights in it, it
must be glorious, mustn't it? Men may despise it and think
nothing of it, but if God delights in it, ah, friends, it must be
glorious, and this is something God delights in. Oh, something which God glories
in. Mine adept, in whom my soul delights. the glory, the elevation to this
office, that we, who are sinners, were to the earth nobodies, that
we should be made kings and priests under God. But then Frederick
wanted to say something concerning the office itself. The office
itself is glorious. By its very nature it is glorious.
You take the office of kingship for a moment. Oh, the glory of
the kings in the Old Testament. They had a glory, Solomon, perhaps
chief amongst them. The glory of King Solomon, in
all his wisdom, in all the robes that he wore, in the house that
he built, and in the temple that he built for his God. The Queen
of Sheba came and said, concerning that glory, she had felt like
she'd got no life left in her. The heart had not been told.
And yet Jesus Christ says of his king, Jesus Christ said of
his people, as they are made kings and priests under God,
that I am concerned that these are the value that Solomon, in
all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. But how much
more glorious, how much more glorious his people, the least
in the kingdom of God. Our friends, these kings are
far more glorious. This kingship is far more glorious. Kingship on this earth is based
upon birth. Oh, but this kingship is based
upon growths. The one birth, the other growths,
that's what war is. And after in the one is sustained
in the whim of other people, the people may rise up and rebel
against their king and turn their king off his throne. And they
tread some monarchs down, as Isaac Watts says in that fourth
hymn. that raises, whirls the scepter
of the crown, and treads the moppets down. And, O friends,
this kingship is sustained by the power of God, through faith,
unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. If natural kingship is glorious,
how much more so this kingship. And, O friends, the glory of
the priesthood, the glory of the high priest in all his priestly
garments, they were glorious. The gold, the purple, the fine
robes, the glory of the ministry of the Old Testament. May we
never think that it was not glorious. Ah, Paul gets to the point in
the epistle to the Hebrews where he opens up there the glory of
the Old Dispensation. He could understand, couldn't
he, of why those Jewish Christians were turning back to the Old
Dispensation, because it had a glory. But Paul points out,
oh, the whole of the epistles of the Hebrews is written to
this end, to point out the greater glory of the new dispensation,
the greater glory of the new covenant. And so if natural priests
under the old covenant had glory, how much more glorious are the
priests of the new covenant than are those who are made kings
and priests. And then, friends, remember this. These two offices
brought together in one person. or if in the old testament the
king was glorious and the priest was glorious but they were never
brought together here in the new testament age ah here in
the new covenant the office of king and priest is brought together
and so the lord's people as they are made kings and priests ah
my friends they have a glorious office they have a high court
a high court oh to what worthy of it the court wherewith we
are called And I thought, what a glory. What a glory, how far
short we come off it. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given thee. But then we wanted to say something
concerning the glory of the exercise of this office. For all you know,
kings and priests, we are made kings and priests to serve. We
are made kings and priests to minister unto God. This is not
an office that we are called to. There are various offices
in our land that may be held. and our friends that have had
no function they are simply titles the lord of the children hundreds
and all those kind of peculiar offices of state which have no
function whatsoever just titles but old friends this is not just
a title no this is a ministry that the lord's people are called
to an office that we are called to serve in as kings and priests
under God And that service is glorious. Friends, as kings, we have dominion. Dominion over sin. You may not
feel this afternoon, you have dominion over sin. Paul in Romans 7, perhaps that's
your experience. As the old man seems to be struggling
hard to gain, the conquest over grace at often times seems to
gain the field, when Jesus hides his face. But what was the truth
that Paul had just opened, in the sixth chapter to the Romans
he says there, very plainly that we are not under for sin shall
not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but
under Christ for instance we are delivered from the law sin
shall not have dominion over us what a wonderful thought that
is in Jesus Christ although now we are still found with a body
of sin and death we have dominion over sin Our friends, we are
found conquerors. We are conquerors. Yes, we have
to enter into the fournice of it. The hymn writer says, we
shall be conquerors all ere long, more than conquerors two. Our
friends, that's the fournice of that conquest. But the apostle
Paul writes in the present tense, thanks be unto God, which giveth
us a victory. Oh, we are victors today, through
King Jesus. Our friends, we run. We run. And he must reign until he has
put all enemies under his feet, and we reign with him. What a wonderful thing it is
when we are brought to realise the conquest that we have through
King Jesus over sin, over death, over him without the power of
death, that is a death. And I think we have to walk by
faith and not by sight. We can't very often see these
things coming. Ah, when the devil seems to be
going about to the roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, when
all nature seems to be getting the upper hand, when we cry out
with the impossible wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of sin and death, but offer him what blessed
moments when faith, faith in seeing King Jesus, ah, victory,
that and through him we also victory. We also victors, and
the day is coming when we will enter into the foreness of that
victory, when we shall sit with him upon his throne, when we
shall reign as kings and priests in glory to come. We are friends,
kings, in this world. I don't think the Lord's people
realise at times the power that is delivered unto them. All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth, says Jesus Christ.
But immediately he says, go ye to all nations, teaching them,
baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, and I am with you always, even unto the end of
the world. Oh, the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them. Oh, friends, the power given
to his people. The power that is given to us that we reign
as kings and princes. These offices brought together.
Oh, friends, how do the Lord's people reign in this world? Do
they not reign by prayer? Do they not reign by prayer,
the force of their united prize? No power can not withstand. And
what does Cooper say when Satan trembles when he sees the weakest
satan upon their knees? And our friends reign, you see,
as kings and priests. But especially as we are called
to reign as kings, aye, in the Church of Christ. And our friends
there, we sit as kings, a kingdom of priests, a kingdom of priests. My kingdom is not of this world.
Now, friends, the church which is called out of this world,
separated by graves, a little spot enclosed by graves, out
of this world's wide wilderness. So the Lord calls his people
to himself, Zion. And he sits as king in Zion.
And there his people run. Oh, friends, what a beautiful
institution the church is. And what precious principles
we have are in our churches, and I trust you hold them dear
in your churches, are the principle that we are kings and princes.
It is this principle which separates us from Presbytery. And our friends,
we are not Presbyterians. We are independents. And then,
under independency, we are congregationists. We believe the power is delivered
to the local congregation. Therefore, we are independents.
And that power rests in each member of that church, as we
are found kings and princes. We are, in that sense, congregation. It's not that the power resides
in the congregation, but in. Are the church separated out
of the congregation? Sinners slain by Christ are joined
together in that bond of unity in the church. They reign as
kings, as equals. Men, friends, we are Baptists.
I fear we've lost that principle. Our friends, Baptists, if I may
put it that way, they're not a separate species. But they
sit under that head. And I think we're only just beginning
to recover that historically. Independence. Then congregations. And then Baptists. And oh, friends,
this is the principle which we must hold dear. Kings and Princes. That reign in the Church. Oh,
friends, what a solemn office we are called to. when we come
to church matters when we come to that reign in the church the glory that he has given unto
us you know friends if it's a glorious thing to see it as a church whatsoever
we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven oh the keys of the
kingdom and our friends what a weighty responsibility what
a glorious matter how likely Oh, these things are viewed in
the day which we live. How lightly these things sit
upon our shoulders. Oh, my friends, how lightly that
the doctrine of the Church is held. Oh, you know, when we hold
these things lightly, we do death's work. to the glory which has
been given unto us. Ah, friends, we bring this honour
upon our glorious King, our great High Priest, our great King,
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the glory which Thou gavest me,
I have given Thine. But then, friends, we also are
called to this office of priesthood. This office of priesthood, and
first of all, this office involves, as we've already said, the bringing
of the sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of a broken heart and
a contrite spirit, the sacrifice which desires to put the glory
in the right place. God, we have a real understanding
of what it is to worship God, what we call to as church members
when we gather together, to glorify, oh, our Father which is in heaven,
to glorify God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the whole of
God in God. The glorious power. Oh, to glorify
Him and that great love wherewith He has loved us, the sacrifice
of Christ. Oh, friends, yes, that sacrifice
taken up in our worship when we're found gathered together.
But that sacrifice which also binds up a faithful walking in
the ordinance in the Lord's house, the ordinance of baptism, the
ordinance of Lord's supper. Oh, friends, if we know something
of the solemnity of the office that we are called to as kings
and priests, We will not let those sins slip, we will hold
them deep, we will hold them fast. But then, friends, also,
all this sacrifice in how we live our life, to present our
bodies as the apostles say, for a living sacrifice, and our friends
to honour him in all we say and all we do, to walk worthy of
our call, to walk worthy of our call. By our heart, at times
our sacrifice might be His will, not ours. His way, not ours. The way that will give Him most
honour and glory, rather than the way that will give us most
honour and glory. And what a blessing it is when we can come with one
and say, well, hey, I'll approach and welcome Sheldon. Oh, if only
he should be at us. We should be his. If only we
should have a part in this glory, the glory which our David's made.
I've given them. I've given them. But I wanted
to just come especially to this office of priests and the offering
of prayers. Oh, you know the priest in the
Old Testament did like holy bloods, there to make intercession for
his people, upon the merits of the blood sprinkled upon the
mercy seat. He went in once every year, but now our great high
prince, having entered into the holy bloods, not made with our
hands. Our prince having taken in our
better sacrifice, having taken in our precious blood, which
cleansed us from all sin, a way made, the veil of the temple
rent in twain from the top to the bottom, a way of access made,
that these priests might enter into the holy place. And the
Lord's people are called to enter into the holy place, to draw
near unto the throne of grace, to come with boldness. Come,
come, my son, says the hymn writer. And taking up those words in
the epistles of the Hebrews, Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, that we
might find grace to help in time of need. Now my friends, the
office of prayer within the church, the office which the Lord's people
are called to, to wait and continue, now to pray without ceasing.
to offer the sacrifice of Christ, to offer the sacrifice of faith,
to be found presenting our petitions there, one of which is how glorious
these things are, how glorious these things are, the glory that
is in the Church, that as the Lord's people are found gathered
together, fulfilling the duties that are given to them, that
under their great head, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the
glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them. It is a glory which
is given to us, the glorious office that we are called to,
the glorious work that we are called to discharge, as kings
and priests under our most high God. But then, friends, he wanted
to say something concerning the end of this glory. Why is he
giving this glory unto his people? When he goes on, "...and the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be
one, even as we are." You know, my friends, this glory given
unto us, this common office, that we might be one. That we
might have one purpose. You see, all the while we've
got one office. Everyone that holds this office should have
one purpose. What is that one purpose? To serve the living
God. are to glorify Jesus Christ and be a sinner. This is the
origin of this oneness that is within the church. Though we
may be saved from various different backgrounds, though we may be
saved out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, speak different
languages, have different cultural backgrounds, but friendly call
to one office. Though we may be learned or uneducated,
barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, male or female, Our friends,
we are all found one in Christ, called to this one office. It's
not some that are called to priesthood and some that are called to kingship,
it's all called to the same office. And this is the one, the source
of this uniton that should be in the Church. The glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even
as we are. That when we come together, that
we might be found fulfilling the same duties, doing the same
thing, coming together in prayer, coming together in the church,
to rule in the church, that we should be found with one desire,
one heart. You read the second chapter of
Acts, the end of that chapter, the glorious picture of the New
Testament church. They held one doctrine. They
had one mind. They had all things common. For instance, oneness. As they
were given this glory, called to this glorious office, the
kings and priests under God, that they may be one, even as
we are eyeing them and vowing them, that they may be made perfect
in life. Oh, you know, friends, these
offices that we're given on this earth, they're given us for the
pathway that we have to walk in on this earth. A pathway of
prayer, a pathway of service, a pathway of sanctification,
as we are led in the truth, sanctify them through thy truth, My word
is true, that in the year after, to enter into the foreness of
this office in glory of God, I will have the preparation work
on this earth, the training work, if we may put it this way, for
that heavenly duty of praise which is to come, when we shall
enter into the foreness of this office, in which one has written
the loudest of the crowd, I will sing, while heaven's resounding
mansions ring with shouts of sovereign grace. that then we read this, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent them, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me." All you known friends in these
offices, we are to be a witness in the world. A witness in the
world. We are to be found making intercession
for the salvation of the Lord's people, found praying for the
gathering in the church, found working for that end, found the
extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, that he would hasten
the day when he would return in his glory to receive his kings
and his priests under himself. That where he is there we might
be also in that glorious kingdom to share with him in his way. Well friends, we must come to
a close this afternoon. A few words of application. Now
friends, is this glorious to you this afternoon? Do you have
a realisation of the High Court? What it is to be kings and priests
under God? Ah, friends, is it glorious?
Do you see something glorious in that? Some realisation? Ah, that glorious court, although
you were nothing. Ah, that when you were enmity
with God. Enmity to God. Wandering from the ways of grace,
yet a called-you-by-grace took you as a beggar from the dunghill
set you among princes. Oh well, if you cannot feel you
can come in with that knowledge, can you see the glory in the
Lord's people? The glory of this work in the Lord's people? Don't
they put a desire within your heart that you might know this
glory? That you might be found in this text, the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them? Is this what you desire
this afternoon? Perhaps you feel you don't know
anything of this glory, but have you been brought to desire it?
And I do have a hope that you might yet be found in this prayer,
that it might yet be fulfilled concerning you, the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them. You may say to me, well
how do I know if I am a partaker of this glory? Well friends,
if you are a partaker of this glory, you know, you will first
have a desire to glorify the one that has given you this glory. When anyone's given a gift, and
our friends are best gifts, we desire to give thanks to the
one that gives them, don't we? And if we are made a partaker
of this glory, there will be all that burden of thanksgiving
within our souls, lost in wonder, love and praise. That we are
unworthy should we make partakers of this glory, that we should
be made kings and priests unto our most high God. And when we
are made kings and priests, then our friends, there will be a
fulfilling of that office. There will be a bringing and a sacrifice
of praise. There will be a desire to honour
and to glorify Him. There will be a desire to worship
Him. There will be a concern when we feel to sit in the dust
and hang our hearts upon the willows. A desire that the Lord
might return and awaken praise again within ourselves. There
will be a weight about the responsibilities that my Apostles' Church members
And we in the church, that we might be faithful in the discharge
of the office that is given us as kings and priests under God.
Well friends, do you find any of that way? Do you find any
of that praise? Bothering up with you? That spirit
of prayer? Yes, though we are poor prayers,
though we seem to come so far short from the instruction to
pray without cease. Oh, but who but those are worth
a prayer, who wishes to be oftener there? Do we glorify? Oh, friends, do we exercise this
glory? Do we glorify? You know, the
Queen has many wonderful jewels and they're never seen in public.
Some of them, we've said, are too valuable to leave the Royal
Palace. It's too valuable to be worn
outside. Oh, friends, that glory is never seen. And so I'm saying
if God has given us a glory, if Jesus Christ has given us
this glory, if we're found covering it up, if we're found laying
it in a cupboard, and never exercising it, never bringing it forth,
that this glory might be seen. Our friends then, where will
be the fulfilment of this, that the world may know that thou
hast seen it? This is a glory, these offices
that we are called to, we are called to them to exercise them,
we are called to them to walk in them, to use them, for the
honour and the glory of God, that this glory might be seen.
That it might be seen in a church, that it might be seen by the
world. There might be that desire put in the hearts of sinners.
With and under, may I be, now and through eternity. The solemn
question. Our friends, does our light shine
in the world? Do our neighbours have a desire to have what we
have? Our friends, can they see that
glory, the glory that we've been given in our life, in our conduct,
in our witness? Does it bring them to ask? Where
have you received that glory from? How can I receive that
glory? How can I have that? Which blessing would you have?
Oh, for it is a solemn searching question, isn't it? Are we rightly
exercising this glory? Because this glorious office
is given to us, that the world might know that thou hast sent
them, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Oh, friends, a solemn thing. Never I wanted to end on this
night. Ah, friend, what a glorious pattern.
What a glorious pattern. Oh, if you feel to come so far
short in these offices. Ah, when we need something to
encourage us forward in you, it's to remember Him who has
given us this glory, the glory which our day is made. Ah, friends,
He is fervent. He is fervent. He is King of
Kings, Lord of Lords, the only pontiff. He is our great life
force and our Prince, he is our Patriarch. We are to remember
whose we are, whose we serve. We are not our own, we are brought
with a promise. I want to remember that promise and therefore to
be found desiring to walk as followers of the Lamb. following
Him with us wherever He goes, and to glorify His great and
His most holy name. And, O friend, where is He this
afternoon? Ah, that I will, that these also
Thou hast given me be with me where I am. They may behold my
glory which Thou hast given me, for Thou lov'st me before the
foundation of the world. Ah, friends, are you looking
to that day when you will see Your glorious King of Kings,
Your great High Priest, in all His glory, The day is coming,
O my friends, when we will see Him in His glory, and when we
shall reign with Him as kings, and as that kingdom of proofs
we shall give, all praise and all glory, unto Him in glory
to come. And what a beautiful prospect
that is! O how far short we come in our service here to God! But
what a blessing if we entwine with Cooper this afternoon with
that hope, that when this mist in stammering time lies silent
in the ground, then in an hour over a sweep of sun, I'll sing
his pounding song. Ah, however far short we come
on this earth, as kingdom-proofs, there is an eternity to come,
an eternity of perfect service, service for our great king, service
for our great proof, a service of Christ, and this is the entrance
into that service. Here on this earth, this, and
as the prospect of glory set before us, the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given thee. Amen.