546 THE GLORY OF CHRIST As GOD-MAN. hour knoweth no man, neither the Son, but the Father. His knowledge was imperfect, and his authority on earth, beforehis death, appeared rather the authority of a prophet than a king : In his younger years he was subject to the commands of his pa- rents ; Luke ii. 51. And when he appeared in the world, it was as a man, sent from God, to reveal his will and to obey or fulfil it. He declared he was no king on earth, that is, a temporal king, for his kingdom was not of this world ; John xviii. 36.-- He paid tribute to Cwsar ; he would not be the divider of do in- heritance among contending brethren; Luke xii. 13, 14. He had not where to lay his head; ix. 58. The man Jesus here On earth lived among men, and had not complete knowledge, nor could he have complete power. It pleased the Father, and it was agreed in the covenant of redemption, that the man Jesus should arrive at his exaltation by degrees : It was agreed that he should practise the most profound instances of humility and submission to God, as well as the most astonishing act of pity and charity toward men, in becoming a sacrifice for their sins anddying upon the cross, before he was to receive his promised honours. The Father thought:it proper to bestow the most sublime advancement upon him as a reward of his sufferings ; and to suspend his rich reward till his work was done, that he might at once display his own grace, his equity and his truth in the glorification of the human nature of his Son Jesus, and that he might be a more proper pattern for all his followers. This doctrine runs through many pages is the Old Testament and in the New. ' But when Christ had finished his work, he then prayed for thepromised glory. John xvii. 1 -5. Father, glorify thy Son; I havefinished the workwhich thougayest me to do. And when he . ascended to heaven, and was seated at the right-hand of God, then he that was of theseed of David more eminently appeared to be God over all, blessed for ever ; as Rom. ix. 4, 5. Then the influences of this sacred union were exerted in an high degree, and honours and dignities were conferred upon him in abundance, with intellectual and operative powers suited to thisadvancement. " God manifest in the flesh was'received up toheaven in glory ;" 1 Tim. iii. 16. And there the human nature lives and acts; shines and reigns, in a manner becoming its high privilege of union to godhead. In order to pursue my present design I shall do these two things : First, I shall endeavour to prove from scripture that, it is the human nature of Christ that was peculiarly exalted after his sufferings ; and then Secondly, Set before you a more particular detail of the instances wherein this exaltation consists. First, The Reasons to prove that it is the man Christ who is exalted by God the Father, are such as these :- 1. St. Peter gives us an account in his first sermon ; Acts
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