Sermons on John 17

Sermon XXXV

By Thomas Manton

We have seen for whom Christ prayeth. Now let us see what he prayeth for; their comfortable estate in the world, and the happiness of their everlasting estate in heaven. With respect to their estate in the world, Christ mentioneth no other blessing but the mystical union, which is amplified throughout, ver. 21-23. Here he beginneth, 'That they may be all one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.' He had before prayed for the apostles, 'That they may be one, as we are one.' ver. 11; and now, 'Let them all be one.' The welfare of the church is concerned, not only in the unity of the apostles, but of private believers; you had need be one as well as your pastors. Many times divisions arise from the people, and those that have least knowlege are most carried aside with blind zeal and principles of separation; therefore Christ prayeth for private believers,' That they may be all one.'

in which words there is

1. The blessing prayed for,' That they may be all one.'

2. The manner of this unity, illustrated by the original pattern and exemplar of it, 'As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee;' the ineffable unity of the persona in the divine essence.

3. The ground of this unity, the mystical union with Christ, and by Christ with God,' That they may be one with us.'

4. The end and event of this union,' That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.'

First, From the blessing prayed for, I observe, that the great blessing Christ asketh for his church is the mystical union of believers in the same body; 'Let them be one,' one in us, and 'as thou in me, and I in thee.' All these expressions show that the mystical union is here intended. 'Let them be one,' \~en\~, that is, \~en\~ \~swma\~, as it is elsewhere explained, that they may grow together in one body, whereof I am the head, or one temple. It· is sometimes set out by 'one mystical body,' sometimes by One spiritual temple.' One body: Col. ii. 19, 'And not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God;' Rom. xii. 5,' We, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another;' Eph. i. 22, 23, 'And gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body.' And one temple: Eph. ii. 20-22, 'And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom yon also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.' 'One, as thou in me, and I in thee.' Christ doth not say that they maybe one in another; that \~empericwrhsiv\~ doth not agree to them; but in the mystery of the Trinity it denotes the union between the divine persons. 'One in us,' that is, by the communication and inhabitation of that Spirit which proceedeth from us. Our union is from God, in God, and to God; from the Spirit, with God, through Christ

Let me now inquire—(1.) What it is? (2.) Why it is so valued by Christ?

First, What it is? There is a union with Christ the head, and between the members one with another. I shall speak of both, though but little of the latter, because I handled it ver. 11.

1. There is a union with Christ the head. That ye may conceive of it, take these propositions.

[1.] The whole Trinity is concerned in this union. By the communion of the Spirit we are mystically united to Christ, and by Christ to God. The Father is, as it were, the root, Christ the trunk, the Spirit the sap, we the branches, and our works the fruits, John xv. This is the great mystery delivered in the scriptures. Christ doth not only 'dwell in us by faith,' Eph. iii. 17, but 'God dwelleth in us, and we in God,' 1 John iv. 16, and 'the Spirit dwelleth in us;' Rom. viii. 11. We are consecrated temples, wherein the whole Trinity take up their residence. We are children of God, members of Christ, pupils to the Holy Ghost; God's family, Christ's body, and [Pg. 25] the Spirit's charge. We are united to the Father as the fountain of and mercy, to the Son as the pipe and conveyance, and the Spirit accomplisheth and effecteth all. The Father sendeth the Son to merit this grace, and the Son sendeth the Spirit to accomplish it; therefore we are said 'by one Spirit to be baptized into the same body.'

[2.] Though all the persons be concerned in it, yet the honour is chiefly devolved upon Christ the second person. Christ, as God-man, is head of the church upon a double ground — because of his two natures, and the union of these in the same person. It was needful that our head should be man, of the same nature with ourselves: Heb. ii. 11, 'He that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are of one; 'the same stock. It were monstrous to have a head and members of a different nature; as in Nebuchadnezzar's image, the substance of the head and body differed; the head was of fine gold, the arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, part of the feet of clay; here was a monstrous body indeed, made up of so many metals differing in nature and kind. But Christ took our nature that he might be a suitable head, and so have a right to redeem us, and be in a capacity to give himself for the body, and sympathise with us. All these are fruits of the Son's being of the same nature. And again, God he needed to be, to pour out the Spirit, and to have grace sufficient for all his members. Mere man was not enough to be head of the church, for the head must be more excellent than the body; it is above the body, the seat of the senses, it guideth the whole body, it is the shop of the thoughts and musings. And so Christ the head must have a preeminence; in him 'the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, that we might be complete in him,' Col. ii. 8, 9; and 'it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell,' Col. i. 19. The grace of God is most eminent in him, as life is most eminent in the head. Now there must be a union of these two natures in the same person. If Christ had not been God and man in the same person, God and we had never been united and brought together; he is 'Emmanuel, God with us,' Mat i. 23. God is in Christ, and the believer is in Christ; we have a share in his person, and so hath God; he descendeth and cometh down to us in the person of the mediator; and by the man Christ Jesus we ascend and climb up to God. And so you see the reason why the honour of head of the church is devolved upon Christ.

[3.] Whole Christ is united to a whole believer. Whole Christ is united to us, God-man, and whole man is united to Christ, body and soul. Whole Christ is united to us; the Godhead is the fountain, and the human nature is the pipe and conveyance. Grace cometh from him as God, and through him as man: John vi. 56, 57, 'He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.' God is a sealed fountain, his humanity is the pipe, so that his flesh is the food of the soul. Christ came from heaven on purpose, and sanctified our flesh, that there might be one in our nature to do us good, that righteousness and life might pass from him, as sin and death from Adam; but our faith first pitcheth upon the manhood of Christ, as they went into [Pg. 26] the holy place by the veil. And then a whole Christian is united to Christ, body and soul. The soul is united unto him, because it receiveth influences of grace, and the body also is taken in; therefore the apostle disputeth against fornication, because the body is a member of Christ: 1 Cor. vi. 15, 'Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid!' It is a kind of dismembering and plucking a limb from Christ; you defile Christ's body, the disgrace redounds to him. And hereupon elsewhere doth the apostle prove the resurrection by virtue of our union with Christ: Rom. viii. 10,11, 'If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit, that dwelleth in you.' You may die, but you shall not be brought to nought, because the body hath a principle of life in it; it is a part of Christ, and he will lose nothing: John vi. 39, 'And this is the Father's will, which sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the Fast day.' As plants live in the root, though the leaves fade, and in winter they appear not, so doth the body live in Christ. So that it is a ground of hope, and a motive to strictness, that you may not wrong a member of Christ, nor seek to pluck a joint from his body.

[4.] The manner of this union. It is secret and mysterious: \~mega\~ \~musthpion\~, Eph. ?. 22, 'This is a great mystery;' not only a mystery, but a great mystery; 'but I speak concerning Christ and the church.' It is a part of our portion in heaven to understand it: John ziv. 20, 'At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.' When we are more like God, we shall know what it is to be united to God through Christ. Here believers feel it rather than understand it, and it is our duty rather to get an interest in it than subtly to dispute about it.

[5.] Though it be secret and mystical, yet it is real; because a thing is spiritual, it doth not cease to be real. These are not words, or poor empty notions only, that we are united to Christ; but they imply a real truth. Why should the Holy Ghost use so many terms; of being planted into Christ? Rom. vi. 5, 'For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection;' of being joined to Christ? 1 Cor. vi. 17, 'He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit;' of being made partakers of Christ? Heb. iii. 14, 'For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.' Do these terms only imply a relation between. us and Christ? No; then the emphasis of the words is lost. What great mystery in nil this? Why is this mystery so often spoken of? Christ is not only ours, but 'he is in us, and we in him.' God is ours, and we dwell in God: 1 John iv. 13, 'Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit;' and ver. 15, 'Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.' It is represented by similitudes, that imply a real union as well as a relative, by head and members, root and branches, as well as by marriage, where man and wife are made one flesh. It is [Pg. 27] compared here with the mystery of the Trinity, and the unity of the divine persons, though not \~akribwv\~. It is not a notion of scripture, but a thing wrought by the Spirit: 1 Cor. ii. 13, 'Which things also we speak.' &c. It worketh a presence, and conveyeth real influences.

[6.] It may be explained as far as our present light will bear, by analogy to the union between head and members. The head is united to the body primarily, and first of all by the soul. Head and members make out one body, because they are animated by the same soul, and by that means doth the head communicate life and motion to the body. Besides this there is a secondary union, by the bones, muscles, nerves, veins, and other ligaments of the body, and upon all these by the skin, all which do constitute and make up this natural union. Just so in this spiritual and mystical union there is a primary band and tie, and that is the Spirit of Christ: 1 Cor. vi. 17, 'He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit;' that is, is acted by the same Spirit by which Christ is acted, and liveth the same life of grace that Christ liveth, as if there were but one soul between them both. The fulness remaineth in Christ, but we have our share; and 'he that hath not the Spirit of Christ in none of his.' But over and above there is a secondary bond and tie, that knitteth us and Christ together, which answereth to the joints and arteries, by which the parts of the body are united to one another, and that is faith, and love, and fear, and other graces of the Spirit, by which the presence is kept in the soul. Thus I have a little opened this mystery to you.

2. There is a union of the members one with another. A little of that.

[1.] The same Spirit that uniteth the members to the head uniteth the members one to another. Therefore the apostle, as an argument of union, urgeth the communion of the same Spirit: Phil. ii. 1, 2, 'If any fellowship of the Spirit, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.' As Christ is the bead of the church, so the Holy Ghost is the soul of the church, by which all the members are acted. As in the primitive times: Acts iv. 32, 'The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.' And this is that that Christ prayeth for here, that they may all be one, in the communion of the same Spirit, that they may be of the same religion, and have the same aim, and the same affection to good things.

[2.] From the communion of the Spirit, there is a secondary union by love, and seeking one another's good, as if they were but one man; wherever dispersed throughout the world, and whatever distinctions of nations and interests there are, they may love and desire the good of one another, and rejoice in the welfare, and grieve for the evil of one another: Ezek. i. 24,' When the beasts went, the wheels went, and when the beasts were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them;' and the reason is given, 'for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.' The same spirit is in one Christian that is in another, and so they wish well to one another, even to those whom they never saw in the flesh: Col. ii. 1, 'For I would that ye knew how great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.' What wrestlings had he with God, and fightings for their sakes, even for them that [Pg. 28] had not seen his face in the flesh! So careful are the members one of another.

[3.] This love is manifested by real effects. Look, as by virtue of union with Christ there are real influences of grace that pass out to us, it is not idle and fruitless, so by virtue of this union that is between the members there is a real communication of gifts and graces, and the good things of this life one to another. If the parts of the body keep what they have to themselves, and do not disperse it for the use of the body, it breedeth disease, as the liver the blood, the stomach the meat; the liver imparts blood to the veins, and the stomach sends the food abroad into its proper vessels and channels; so God's children impart their spiritual or temporal gifts as the body needeth. When a famine was but prophesied, the disciples thought of sending relief according to their ability to the brethren of Judea, Acts xi. 29. It is never right but when there is this forwardness to distribute and communicate according to the necessities of the body.

Secondly, Why Christ valueth it so much as to make it his only request for believers in the present state? I answer—We can never be happy till we have a share in this union.

1. Because God hath instituted the mystical union to be a means to convey all grace to us, grace to us here, and glory hereafter; we receive all from God in it, and by it Christ without us doth not save us, but Christ in us. Christ without us is a perfect Saviour, but not to you; the appropriation is by union. Generally we think we shall be saved by a Christ without us. He came down from heaven, took our nature, died for sinners, ascended up into heaven again, there he maketh intercession; all this is without us. Do not say there is a Saviour in heaven; is there one in thy heart? Col. i. 27, 'Christ in you the hope of glory.' He doth not say, Christ in heaven the hope of glory, though that is a fountain of comfort, but Christ in you: 1 Cor. i. 30, 'Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' Whatsoever is imputed or imparted, light, life, grace, glory, it is still in him. Still look to Christ within you. It were a merry world to carnal men to be saved by a Christ without them. Christ without establisheth the merit, but Christ within maketh application: 2 Cor. xiii. 5, 'Know ye not your own selves, how that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? Unless first or last he be in you, though disallowed for the present, he will be of no advantage to you. You have nothing to show till you feel Christ within you. All the acts of his mediation must be acted over again in the heart His birth; he must be born and formed in us: Gal. iv. 19, 'My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you.' His death: Rom. vi. 4,' Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death.' His resurrection: Col. iii. 1, 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things that are above.' His ascension: Eph. ii. 6, 'And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' His intercession: Rom. viii. 26,' Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.' The acts without us do us no good unless we have the copy of them in our own hearts. [Pg. 29]

2. It is the ground of that exchange that is between Christ and us; we communicate to him our nature, our sins, and troubles, and Christ communicateth to us his nature and merits and privileges. What hath Christ from thee? Thy nature, thy sins, thy punishments, thy wrath, thy curse, thy shame; and thou hast his titles, his nature, his spirit, his privileges. All this interchange between us and Christ is by virtue of union. All interests lie in common between Christ and the church; he taketh our nature, and is made flesh, and we are made 'partakers of the divine nature.' 2 Peter i. 4. He is made the Son of man, we the sons of God; he had a mother on earth, we a Father in heaven; he is made sin, we righteousness: 2 Cor. v. 21, 'Who hath made him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' He was made a curse that we might have the blessing of Abraham: Gal. iii. 13,14,' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree; that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.' Thus he imparteth his privileges to us, and assumeth our miseries to himself. He hath a share in all our sorrows, and we have a share in his triumphs; he is afflicted in our afflictions, as we ascend in his ascension: Eph. ii. 6, 'He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' we live by his life: Gal. ii. 20, 'I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' &c. And we are glorified by his glory. He suffereth with us in heaven, and we reign with him on earth; he suffereth with us, non per passionem, sed compassionem, not that glorified Christ feeleth any grief in heaven, but his bowels yearn to an afflicted member, as if he himself were in our stead; and we are set down with him in heavenly places, because our head is there, and hath seized upon heaven in our right It is a notable expression: Col. i. 24,' Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up, \~ustehma\~ \~ylifewn\~ \~Cristou\~, that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church.' Christ and the church are considered as one person, whose afflictions are determined by providence; thus much the head must suffer, thus much the members. Christ suffered his share, and we ours in our turn. In short, Christ suffereth no more in the body that he carried to heaven, but in his body that he left upon earth. Every blow that lighteth on a member, lighteth on his heart: Acts ix. 6, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' Christ was in heaven at that time; how could he say, 'Why persecutest thou me?' Did he climb up into heaven, and war upon Christ in the midst of his glory? No; Saul persecuted the Christians, and them Christ calleth me, his mystical body. As in a throne, if somebody treadeth upon your foot, the tongue crieth out, You have hurt me; the tongue is in safety, but it is in the same body with the foot, and so their good and bad are common; for though Christ's person be above abuse, he still suffereth in his members; and he that persecuteth the church persecuteth Jesus Christ.

3. If once interested in the mystical union, then they are safe, preserved in Jesus Christ: Jude 1, 'Sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ;' ver. 24,' Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling,' Ac. The union is indissoluble; that is a cabinet, [Pg. 30] where God's jewels are kept safe. If a member could be lost, Christ's body could be maimed; as the union between the two natures could not be dissolyed; it was the body of Christ in the grave; there was a separation between his human body and human soul, yet both still remained united to the divine nature; so this union cannot be dissolved. You may as well sever the leaven and the dough, when they are kneaded together, as separate Christ and the church when once united. Impossibile est massam a pasta separare. Christ will not suffer his body to be mangled; the cutting off of a joint goeth to the quick.

Use 1. To press us to look after an interest in this great privilege. It is the main work of your lives. To move you, consider the honour and the happiness of them, that they are thus one with God through Christ.

1. The honour. What am I, to be son-in-law to the king? What are you, to be members of Christ? Christ counteth himself to be incomplete and maimed without us: Eph. i. 23,' The church is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.' How are we \~plhrwma\~ \~autou\~, 'the fulness of him'? It relateth not to his personal perfection. Take Christ absolutely as God, and he is a person most perfect and glorious. Before the assumption of the human nature, before any creature in the world was made, there was enough in Christ to satisfy his Father's heart. Nay, take him relatively as mediator, what doth Christ want? Doth the body give aught of perfection to the head? No; 'The fulness of the godhead dwells in him bodily.' and 'he filleth all things.' But taken in his mystical person, Christ mystical, as head and members are called Christ: 1 Cor. xii. 12,' As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ' So he is not perfect without his body, as a head without members is not perfect. Now, what an honour is this, that he accounteth himself imperfect without us I And till all his members be gathered in, we are not grown up to the state wherein Christ is full: Eph. iv. 13,' Till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' Christ's mystical body hath not its complete stature till all the saints be gathered. This honour is not put upon the angels; they are servants, but not members. He did not take their seed to be a head to them, nor die for them, nor took them for his members, as he doth us: Prov. viii. 31, 'Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.' He left the company of angels to dwell with us; his heart was set upon our good, that, next to the title of Son of God, he valueth this of being head of the church. He purchased it with his blood. He loveth his mystical body above his natural, for he gave his natural body to redeem the church, which is his mystical body; as husbands love their wives as their own body. O Christians! is not this a mighty privilege? We are not only his, but him, and Christ knoweth us and loveth us as parts of his own body, and will glorify us not only as his clients and servants, but members; all the injuries and wrongs done to the church, Christ taketh it as done to himself. Wicked men they are his footstool; Christ is over them, but not as a mystical head. As the head of a king is lifted up above all his subjects, and governeth them, and weareth the garland of honour. [Pg. 31] but in a peculiar manner it governeth and gnideth his own natural body; so Christ is 'head over all things to the church,' Eph. i. 22. Certainly this is a great honour put upon poor worms. What are the fruits of it? We are interested in all Christ's communicable privileges; we need not stretch it too far, it is ample enough of itself. Some things are incommunicably proper to Christ, neither given to man nor angel; as the name above all names, to be adored, to be set at the right hand of God, to be head of the church, the Lord our righteousness. But other things are communicated to us, first to Christ, and then to us. Christ is one with the Father, and a poor Christian, though never so mean, is one with Christ Christ is called 'God's fellow.' Zech. xiii. 7, and every saint is Christ's fellow: Ps. xlv. 7,' Thou hast anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows.' The Father loveth him because he is the express image of his person, and delights in the saints because they are the image of Christ. God is his God and our God, his Father and our Father; where Christ is, they are, because they are a part of his body. Alas I we should count it blasphemy to speak so, if the word did not speak it before us.

2. The happiness: 'In him the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily.' There is a sufficiency in Christ for all his members. We have all things in him, which is as good as if we had it in our hands, and better; for he is a better steward and keeper of the treasures of wisdom, grace, and comfort, than we are. If he hath it, it is for our use; for Christ is full as an officer to impart life, sense, and motion to all the body. It is the office of the liver to impart the blood to the veins; it were monstrous and unnatural to keep it As a treasurer, it is his office to pay money out upon all just demands: Ps. xvi. 2, 3, 'My goodness extendeth not to thee; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight' Thou shalt not be forgotten, for the care of Christ extendeth to every member. To neglect a member is to neglect ourselves. If a man could forget a child, yet certainly he could not forget his members. This is your relation to Christ; if he hath bid the 'members to take care one of another,' 1 Cor. xii. 25, what will the head do? These grounds of comfort and faith you have.

Use 2. How shall we know that we have a share in this mystical Onion? I answer—By the Spirit of Christ: 1 John iv. 13, 'Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit' There is a communication of the Spirit; so Rom. viii. 9, 'Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his;' his creature, but not his member; a limb of Satan, not a member of Christ Christ's Spirit is poured on all his brethren; it is shared among them, it is given to every member as soon as they are added to Christ's body.

Now, how shall we know whether we have the Spirit of Christ?

Ans. By life and conformity.

1. Life and stirring. A man may know whether the Spirit of Christ be dwelling in him, as a woman knoweth whether the child in the womb be quickened, yea or no, she knoweth it by the stirring; so you may know whether the Spirit of Christ be in you by its working. They are no members of Christ that are not quickened by the life of [Pg. 32] grace; there is no withered member in his body. If a member of a fingering body be dead and numb, we rub it and chafe it to bring heat and spirits into it again: so do you feel any grace, any spiritual love? Gal. ii. 20, 'I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' As we know there is life by the beating of the pulses, so there is spiritual life when there is a striving against corruption, complaining of it, sighing, groaning under it, seconded with a constant endeavour to grow better. These sighs and groans are in the greatest desertion.

2. Conformity. Where the Spirit of Christ is it fashioneth us into the likeness of Christ: 2 Cor. iii. 18,' We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' It maketh us to represent Christ, to be such as he was in the world, meek, holy, humble, useful, as if Christ were come again to converse with men. If you are acted with an unclean, proud, carnal, wrathful spirit, who is it that dwelleth in you? whose image do you bear? There is a changing, transforming power that ariseth from this union, that we delight to do the will of our Father, wherein the conformity lieth chiefly. We shall be humble, meek, gentle: Mat xi. 29, 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart;' thinking humbly of ourselves, not aspirins after greatness. This spirit is a spirit of obedience, enabling us to look to our Father's glory and commandment in all things. We shall have compassionate melting hearts to the miseries of others, as he had bowels yearning to see sheep without a shepherd.