the express image of his perfon; therefore in him we fee not only the wifdom of God, but the glory of his wisdom; not only his power, but the glory of his power; not only his holiness, but the glory of his holinefs; not only his juftice and righteoufness, but the glory of his justice and righteoufnels; not only his love, mercy, and grace, but the glory of his love, mercy, and grace; not only his faithfulness, veracity, and truth, but the glory of his faithfulness, veracity, and truth. When God difcovers himfelf in Chrift, then he is feen upon his highest throne, in his greatest glory. O Sirs, let me tell you, that when only heaven is his throne, and the earth his footftool, he appears infinitely more glorious, when difplayed on fuch a lofty throne. O but a God in Chrift, which is the throne of grace, is also a throne of glory; and glory to God in the highest, it is the throne of God and of the Lamb. If we fee it, we cannot choose but fing with the redeemed, "Salvation to our God that fits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever." What fhall I fay? He that fees Chrift, not only fees the Father's glory, but all the Father's glory; for he is not only the feat of his glory, but the feat and centre of all his glory: In him dwells not only the fulness of God, but all the fulness of the Godhead, Col. ii. 9. Though finite eyes can never see all that infinite fulness; yet all that fee Chrift do fee that all that infinite fulness, that can never be fully feen, is in him. Though a man cannot comprehend the whole globe of the earth in his arms, or fee it all at once, yet he may fee it all in a lively reprefentation thereof in a map; even fo, though we cannot fee all this fulness comprehensively, fo as to comprehend it, yet we fee it all reprefentatively in Chrift, who is the lively and living representative of all the divine glory, and the repofitory of all the divine fulness; all the dimenfions of the divine glory are to be seen in him, even the height and depth, length and breadth thereof. In his humiliation we fee the depth of the Father's love reaching down to hell to lift us up; in his exaltation we fee the height of the Father's grace, railing us up to fit with him in heavenly places; in the extent of his death we see the breadth of the Father's love, extending, by divine deftination, to all the pro mifed feed, and, by the method of application, to who foever will. In the duration of his life, as a Priest for ever, we fee the length of the Father's love, which is like himself, from everlasting to everlafting; and fo in feeing Chrift, in all his eftates, we fee the Father in all the dimenfions of his glory. So in all Chrift's offices we fee all the Father's treafures; why, all the treasures of the Father's wifdom centre in his prophetical office, and that for our illumination; all the treasures of the Father's righteoufnefs centre in his prieftly office, and that for our juftification; and all the treasures of the Father's power centre in his kingly office, and that for our fanctification: yea, all the treafures of the Father's grace centre in him, as being ALL IN ALL for our complete redemption. Thus, "He is made of God unto us wifdom, righteoufnefs, fanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. i. 30. When we fee Chrift, then we see the Father in all his glory, in all his fulness, in all his treasures, and that for our eternal falvation, our everlasting confolation and good hope through grace. Thus I have given you a fhort and poor hint at the refolution of that question, "He that hath feen Chrift, hath feen the Father;" infomuch, that I say again, there is no need of Philip's prayer here, "Shew us the Father;" for, "He that hath feen Chrift, hath seen the Father" and, O happy they, whofe eyes have seen this glory of God in Chrift, while their ears are hearing of it! But I come now to, IV. The fourth head propofed, was to fhew, how and in what manner the Father is feen in Chrift. Befides the light that the former head may give to this question, I fhall add these following particulars. 1. In Chrift we fee the Father clearly and evidently, fo much is implied in the term SEEING; "He that hath feen me, hath feen the Father." To know God in Chrift, is to fee God, because in Chrift he is clearly and distinctly known though faith and fight differ in certain respects, yet faith is a kind of fight; for, "It is the evidence of things not feen," Heb. xi. 1. In Chrift we fee clearly, clearly and evidently him who is invifible, ver. 27.Chrift is the clearest and brighteft glafs that infinite wisdom could contrive to reprefent the glory of the Father; and as the difciples, when Chrift was revealing the Father to them, John xvi. 27, 28, 29. cried out, "Lo, now speakeft thou plainly, and not in proverbs, or parables" fo the foul that fees the Father in Chrift, fees him clearly and plainly, not in clouds and thick darkness. The Old-Teftament church had, in types and facrifices, a dark reprefentation of Chrift, but now we have in Christ, the antitype, a clear reprefentation of the Father; we now fee him with open face. 2. In Chrift we fee the Father favingly. This is plain from the context, fhewing that Chrift, who is the glafs, the true and living glafs, in whom we fee the Father, is alfo the true and living way, by whom we come to the Father, and fo enjoy him as our God and Father in Chrift, verse 6.-My friends, to fee the glory of Christ, and the glory of the Father in him, is such a faving fight, that falvation is infeparable from it; nay, falvation is in it; yea more, it is the very thing that formally conflitutes everlafting life and falvation : "This is life eternal, to know thee," &c. John xvii. 3. The true and faithful witnefs who cannot lye, is faying this to his Father, and you may be fure he will not lye to him or you either. Further, fays he, "This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou haft fent ;" that is, to fee Chrift, and to fee the Father in him, is eternal life: to see God out of Christ, is no faving, but a confounding fight to a finner, but to fee him in Chrift, is to fee him savingly; "Look to me, and be faved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and befides me there is none else." 3. In Chrift we fee the Father comfortably and fatiffyingly: it is the best antidote in all the world, against all heart-trouble, therefore, fays Chrift here, verse 1. of this chapter, "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me." To believe in God, as a Judge and Lawgiver, is neceffary for the fecure, to awaken their confcience, but this faith will never pacify the confcience, till you believe alfo in me, Lays fays Chrift. I have given fatisfaction to the Judge, and his law both, therefore believe alfo in me, that you may get fatisfaction to your heart and confcience both; Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe alfo in me." God out of Chrift is the most terrible, but in Chrift the most comfortable fight that ever was feen; and no wonder that the heart be pleased when it fees in Chrft that God is well-pleafed; "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleafed." To fee God in Chrift, is to fee the Father fmiling in the Son's face; and furely they are unbelievers that have not feen God to be well-pleafed in him. I do not love to difcourage any poor drooping believer and I fhall not deny, but that there are fome believers that have very little comfort, but I can hardly think, that they are believers that never had any comfort lefs or more.What! if ever you faw God in Chrift, will you tell me, dare you fay for your life that it was no comfortable fight? If fo, then I truly think you never yet faw him. I afk not what comfort you feel at prefent. It may be you are still drooping by reafon of unbelief; but if ever you faw him, and his Father in him, I am fure it was a joyful fight at the time, and afforded fome fatisfaction: fo much is imported in Chrift's affertion in the text, compared with Philip's petition in the preceding verse, "Shew us the Father, and it fufficeth ;" importing, that the fight and knowledge of God is full of fatisfaction and refreshment, tending to give full contentment.Well, fays Chrift, "He that hath feen me, hath feen the Father;" and there is the moft fatisfying fight of the Father that you can have. It is true, the way of feeing God by faith, as revealed in his Son, is a way not fatisfactory to a carnal heart, and believers themfelves have a jealousy of it, so 'far as they are carnal, and unbelieving, which was the ground of Chrift's reproof to Philip here, upon which he alfo inftru&ts him, that here is the only fatisfying fight to faith; "He that hath feen me, hath feen the Father." 4. In Chrift we see the Father applicatively, and as near at hand. It was unbelief in Philip, that faid, "Shew us the Father," as if the Father had been still at fuch fuch a distance as to be inacceffible and invifible; nay, but fays Chrift, whatever God be in himself abfolutely, and though he remain ftill in his nature invisible and incomprehenfible, yet in me, and in me alone, he comes fo near as that you may fee him, and embrace him by faith; "He that hath feen me, hath feen the Father." To fee God abfolutely with mortal bodily eyes is impoffible, he ftands at an infinite diftance from us. When we see him in the creation, or in any external representation of his glory, we fee him at an infinite natural distance from us as creatures; when we fee him in the law, or covenant of works, we see him at an infinite moral diftance from us as finners; yea, there we see him compaffed about with flames of wrath, ready to devour us: but when, through the gospel glafs, we see him in Chrift, then we fee him near at hand; yea, nearly related to us as our God, Friend, and Father in Chrift. And hence the fight of faith brings in Thomas's exclamation, John xx. 28. " My Lord, and my God." 5. In Chrift we fee the Father difcriminatively; that is, fo as to difcern the perfonal diftinction betwixt the Father and the Son, notwithstanding of their effential oneness. The very run of the text and context, both before and after it; declares the diftinction. O Sirs! the three diftinct perfons of the glorious Trinity, in their diftinct perfonal properties, as it is an unfathomable mystery in itself, fo it would have been for ever hidden and unseen to us, if Chrift, the Sun of righteoufness, had not rifen; and, in his light, discovered the fame, fo as we have, in Chrift, a difcriminative view of the Father; for we cannot fee the Son of God in the light of the eternal Spirit, but we must, at the fame time, fee, that he is the eternal Son of an eternal Father. The diftinct economy and administration of the three perfons, in the work of our redemption, gives us a clearer view of their perfonal diftinction than can be had in any other glass; nay, I know no other glass that can make it known. The glafs of the creatures fays, It is not in me to fhew that: the glafs of the law |