Lord, we come to you as your blood-redeemed children. We come to you as those on whom you have set your love from times eternal. And we come to you, Lord, as needy men, seeking your face, pleading for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to fall upon us afresh. Acquaint us, Lord, with our privileges, we pray, minister to us gracious Holy Spirit for we have come to hear the words of the living God. Open our eyes that we may behold wonderful things out of your law. And we ask it through Jesus Christ our risen reigning and returning king and all for his sake. Amen. Please be seated. We read in three places in the New Testament. First of all, in John 17. John 17, reading in verse 22. Our Lord Jesus Christ's high priestly prayer, as he anticipates the cross, as the shadow of the cross begins to penetrate his human soul, he has lifted up his heart to his Father who is in heaven. And as he comes to the conclusion of that magisterial high priestly prayer, He prays in the 22nd verse, the glory that you have given me, I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world." And secondly, in Paul's letter to the Philippians, these remarkable words. Paul has sought to bring before the church in Philippi that was experiencing a measure of difficulty, there were dissensions, there were heart disagreements, and he brings before them the mind of Christ. And he speaks of Christ embracing to himself the form of a servant. And being found, verse 8, in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, here is the one man who has merited anything from God. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24, then comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him that God may be all in all." Allow me for a moment to say what a privilege it's been for me to be here at this fellowship. I want to thank David and the elders of First Presbyterian Church for their kindness and willingness to have another Scotsman minister the Word of God. It was 25 years ago that my wife and I and our children first reached the USA, and in the kind, good pleasure and providence of God, it was to Mississippi that we came, to the quaintly named Yazoo City. We'd never heard of it. I phoned the clerk of session at the time and said, how do we get from Memphis to Yazoo City? What's the train system like? And he laughed. He said, we ain't got no train system. He said, Someone will come and collect you, and Will Thompson, who's here, my dear, dear friend, he drove up from Yazoo City to Memphis, he collected us and brought us down to Yazoo City. And I remember after telling me there was no train system, I said, well, what's the public transport system like in Yazoo City for getting around? We ain't got no public transport system. So I then thought I asked the sensible question, well how do people get from where they are to where they want to go? And he said, well, they drive. And I thought, well, what happens if you don't have a car? Everybody's got a car. So this was our introduction to the USA. I discovered quickly that Yazoo City was not quite quintessential USA. It was almost sui generis. It was one of a kind, but we loved every minute of our time. We loved it because of the people. and the Lord forged deep bonds that remain to this day, and we see each other perhaps once a year or so, and when we do it's as if we'd seen each other yesterday. So it's a real pleasure for me to be here. I've enjoyed immensely the fellowship, the warmth, the humanity. of the fellowship and trust that the Lord will continue to prosper and bless this ministry. And having said that, could I ask you to look steadfastly at me. Is this the face of a warring Celtic chieftain? Chad Van Dickson spent seven and a half years in Cambridge, and two and a half years we were colleagues in Cambridge Presbyterian Church, and he was the most wonderful brother to preach to. His face just lit up. His eyes sparkled. His demeanor was all engaging. He just drew out from me the preaching of God's Word. He was a very special colleague and remains a very special friend. John Owen's meditations and discourses on the glory of Christ was the last thing that he ever wrote. It was the substance of sermons that he had preached to his own congregation. He was very much ministering as a dying man. And it's perhaps striking that it is the glory of Christ that occupies his mind and heart as he senses that very soon the Lord would take him from this life to the life which lay before him in the nearer presence of God. And he echoes in that sense the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his high priestly prayer, we find our Lord Jesus Christ as the shadow of the cross begins to penetrate his human soul. We find him lifting up his heart to the Father who is in heaven. And what is it that he is praying for his people? Well, there is much that he prays for them. There are some things he prays exclusively and particularly for the apostles. But he prays in verse 22, the glory that you have given me, I have given to them that, that they may be one even as we are one. When Christ prays that the father will grant his people to see the glory of their savior, He prays it for a specific reason, do you notice? It's not abstract. It's not arcanely theological. He says, the glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one. He says again in verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you love me before the foundation of the world. If our apprehension of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ does not make us in the purest and best of senses Catholic ecumenical Christians. We have never understood the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I was struck this past week reading through the Gospel of John, coming to John 13, and Just reflecting for a little time on the Lord Jesus Christ washing the feet of his disciples and thinking to myself, he washed all their feet. He washed the feet of Judas. He washed the feet of Peter who would soon deny him three times. He washed the feet of these disciples who would abandon him in his hour of greatest need. He stooped and he washed their feet knowing that they were deeply flawed men. And it made me think of how we are called as the brothers of Jesus Christ who have become partakers in measure of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. how one of the great marks of our Christianity ought to be that we are in the purest and best of sense as ecumenical men who see beyond our own denominations and our own distinctives and placard the unity that we have in Jesus Christ with all brothers and sisters. I have a palpable fear and I do mean a palpable fear. I have a fear of speaking ill of anyone elected by the Father, bought with the blood of the Son, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. I don't mean that I resist the responsibility of speaking at times strongly to them, as long as I'm willing to be on the receiving end of their strong words to me. I don't mean that I should never be correcting or admonishing, but if I can't do that in a spirit that says we've been washed in the same blood, I am distancing myself, according to our Lord Jesus, from his glory. We must learn to prize and cherish our gospel reformed Presbyterian distinctives. I'm an unashamed Westminster Presbyterian Calvinist but that's not my default. My default is I'm a damnable sinner who has been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. and every other damnable sinner who's been washed in the blood of Christ as my brother and my sister, they're loved by my father, they're redeemed by my savior, they're indwelled by the same Holy Spirit. And so when we think of the glory of Christ, it's not simply a personal, private exercise or experience, it's a churchly, ecclesial experience. because the gospel is the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In verse 22 of John 17, you'll notice that our Lord Jesus speaks of a glory given to him by his Father. Given to him by his Father. Not a native glory, but a given glory. And so with our Lord Jesus Christ we are confronted by two glories if you like. The glory that was natively his as Otto Theos, God in himself. The glory that he ever had from times eternal, native to him as the son. but there also is this given glory, the glory that he acquired by his obedience unto death, being obedient unto death, even the death of a cross, therefore, therefore, The Father has exalted him to the highest place, given him the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, the obedient, better than Adam's servant's son, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The glory that our Lord Jesus Christ presently possesses is the multifaceted glory of deity joined indissolubly with glorified, perfectly obedient, sin vanquishing, God glorifying humanity. It is the glory of the God-man. And I want to ask three. Very simple questions this evening. What exactly is the present glory of the Son of God? There will be seven points. Secondly, how are we to behold the present glory of the Son of God? And there will be six points. And then thirdly, how are we to respond to the present glory of the Son of God? And there will be one point. 7, 6, and 1. What is the present glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God? First, it is the glory of exalted and perfected humanity. As I mentioned last night, the Lord Jesus Christ is not Adam redivivus. Adam's glory as the first man was the glory of creational probation. Jesus' glory as the second man and the last Adam is the glory of confirmed and perfected human obedience. As we saw just in passing last night in his earthly life, the Lord Jesus Christ learned obedience. He grew in favor with God and with man. And now he is enthroned in the glory of God in his perfected, pristine, pristine, obedient humanity. He is the Lamb upon the throne who has joined to himself an indefectible, perfect, and beautifully pure humanity. Secondly, his ascended, exalted present glory is the glory, of course, of redemptive accomplishment. It is finished. Tetelestai, is there a greater word in the whole Bible? The lamb is in the midst of the throne, Revelation 7, as if it had been slain. His ascended glory is the glory of saving redemptive accomplishment. He has done it all. How wonderfully the Reformers remind us of that in two little words, all our hope before God lies extra nos outside of ourselves. And it lies exclusively in Jesus Christ, not apart from the Father and the Son. He is always the sent one of the Father. He is always the Son of the Father. He is always the servant of the Father in his mediatorial life. And not apart from the Holy Spirit, for he was upheld by the Spirit. He is the man of the Spirit. But all our hope lies extra nos. Isn't that our great comfort tonight? Maybe we're here embattled. Maybe you feel you're here tonight and you're on the very edge of ministerial extinction. Brother, all your hope lies outside of yourself. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We need a greater conviction about gospel basics and be reminded every day of our lives no matter how well seasoned we are as Christian men or as Christian ministers. every day of our lives as we wake, telling ourselves, as we read God's word, as we cry out to God, all my hope on God is founded, on that lamb who was slain and who will ever bear the marks of redemptive accomplishment. That's why the bride eyes not her garments. but her dear bridegroom's face. We will not gaze on glory, but on the King of grace. Thirdly, his ascended present glory is the glory of a father's delight. Notice where the lamb is, Revelation 7. I don't have time to look up the passages. Maybe I'm doing a very un-Terry Johnson thing. I was listening to Terry this morning and I thought, oh my, oh my, oh my. I hope no one here ever asks me how I prepare a sermon. The lamb is in the midst of the throne. What are we to understand by that? He's there in his mediatorial glory. He's there in the midst of the throne. There's much we could say about it, but I think we can say at least this. He is there where he is because the father has exalted him there in his mediatorial accomplishment. As if saying to the hosts of heaven, as he said as he split the waters at the Savior's baptism, and as he split the heavens and the mount of transfiguration, he's saying to the hosts of heaven, this is my beloved son. With him I am well pleased. I have placed him in the center of the throne. as the mediator for Christ meets us as mediator. And when we read of words like subjection, we are to understand it economically, never ontologically. His glory is the glory of a father's delight. Would that we could linger over that, but number four, it is the glory of being the firstborn among many brothers. I touched on this a little last night. Romans 8, 29, those whom he foreknew he also predestined. To what purpose to be conformed to the likeness of his son? In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. The father's ultimate purpose in redemption is not your blessedness or mine, but the glory of his son. and our blessedness is in proportion to the glory of the son. For we are, as we shall see in a moment, we are partakers with him of that glory. In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. His glory at the right hand of the father in the midst of the throne is the glory of an elder brother. He is not ashamed to call us his brothers. Isn't that a most amazing text? Do you ever read that and think, is that possibly true? Do you ever read the Bible and ask yourself those questions? I do all the time. I think, Lord, can that be true? No, I know it is true. The Bible is God's inerrant word, God has spoken it, he has inspired it, he has preserved it. But I read it and I think, Lord, can that be true? He's not ashamed to call me his brother? Not ashamed? The whole purpose of the covenant of redemption was to make him the firstborn of many brothers. It's all about Jesus, you see. I heard recently of a young Anglican minister, evangelical minister in Australia who was having a hard time in his church and he was bellyaching to an older cleric and saying his congregation didn't appreciate him. He was laboring hard and the older man listened to this younger man just bellyaching for a few minutes and saying, oh dear, the congregation are not responsive. And then there was a pause in the conversation and the older man just looked at him and said, it's not about you, stupid. It's about Jesus Christ. And brothers, when you're laboring in situations that are hard and unresponsive, remind yourself of this. It's not about you. God is doing something in you that will reflect ultimately to the glory of His Son. That's easy for me to say, I know. But it's true, it's absolutely true. He comes to sanctify to us our deepest distresses because not only does he want to sanctify us, that's not God's ultimate purpose, that's his proximate purpose. His ultimate purpose is to conform us to the likeness of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. The lamb will be all the glory in Emmanuel's land. And then fifthly, it's the glory of high priestly intercession. Hebrews 7.25, he ever lives to make intercession for us. What has the Lord Jesus Christ been doing, if we can think and speak spatially, from the moment of his ascension to this moment? What has he been doing? He is ever living to make intercession for us. We don't think as much as we should about the continuing work of Jesus Christ. We glory rightly in the finished work of Christ. But there is his continuing work that our brother prayed about in his opening prayer so helpfully it spoke to my heart to use the words of the catechism. He ever lives to make intercession for us in his ascended glory. He carries us on his heart. He bears us on his strong shoulders. Not, I think, vocally pleading blessing from the Father for his people. He needs not to voice anything to the Father. Rather, his presence at the right hand of the Father is his intercession. As the Father beholds the Son and sees the perfection of redemptive accomplishment, the perfection of sanctifying accomplishment, The Father delights to pour out on his church all that the Son has won for his people by his rich wounds in glory beautified. His presence at the right hand of God is his intercession. And what glory that is. And sixthly, it is the glory of cosmic new creation dominion. Just as for us there is a now and a not yet, so there is also for our Lord Jesus Christ. He is now King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He now has all authority in heaven and on earth, but his cosmic glory is as yet hidden, just as his divine glory was veiled during his earthly life. But God has appointed a day. When that hiddenness will be unveiled and the cosmos will be irradiated with his present ascended glory and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh to the glory of God the Father. You know in the ancient world into which Paul was writing there were three little words that dominated the society of the day then the Roman Empire, Caesar, Ipsy, Dixit. Caesar has spoken, Caesar was Lord. But then God sent another Lord into the world. His eternal word made flesh. And God vindicated that eternal word and exalted him to his right hand. And for the Christian church, it was no longer Kaiser Ipsy Dixit. It was Jesus Ipsy Dixit. The day is coming when the hiddenness will be banished to eternal oblivion. And God, as we saw in Corinthians 15, 28, God will be all in all. And in that all in all, the Lamb will be in the midst of the throne, the firstborn among many brothers, leading us as the church's one worship leader in the constant praise of God. The church has a worship leader at the right hand of the Father. He orchestrates our praises. Here am I, and the children God has given me. and we lift up our hearts and voices to be orchestrated by the one who perfectly praises God as the covenant head of all his people. It's the glory of cosmic exaltation and seventhly his ascended present glory is a glory that will never end and never diminish. He will ever be the lamb in the midst of the throne. And because his present ascended glory is a glory that we share in as his body and as his brothers, we also will never end or diminish. We are joined here together with Jesus Christ of the glory of God. I read these verses and I just shake my head at times and say, Lord, I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. I sometimes find when I'm preaching that I'm babbling at least to myself, I'm burbling, I'm talking and I think I'm talking coherently but inwardly I'm talking incoherently because I don't know what I'm talking about. I know in measure by the mercy and goodness of God there is some kind of adumbration of truth that by the mercy of God in Christ and by the work of the Spirit I've come to understand but I feel I'm babbling, I'm burbling. I think, Lord, what does that mean? What does that mean? To be a joint heir together with Christ, of the glory of God. Secondly, how do we behold the glory of Christ? If that's sketchily, a little of what the glory of Christ is. How do we actually go about the glory, about beholding the glory of Christ? Well, John Owen concludes his volume with six encouragements or admonitions. Let me just quickly go through them. Our time's rapidly passing. Number one, make up your mind that to behold the glory of God by beholding the glory of Christ is the greatest privilege for believers in this life. Owen wrote in some place, I can't remember where, our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is not our lack of effort, but our lack of acquaintedness with our privileges. Are we persuaded that our greatest privilege, this side of glory, as it will be that side of glory, is to behold the glory of God by beholding the glory of Christ. And Owen notes that this is glorious but hard work in which we as believers, says Owen, are often lazy and ignorant. And as a result, says Owen, we do not experience more and more in our souls the visits of grace and the dawnings of eternal glory. And that's why, secondly, we need, says Owen, prayer. Pray to God, he says, asking for the Spirit's help to behold the glory of Christ. He says, be fervent in your praying for this. Because we are weak and frail, we need God's help by His Spirit to behold the glory of His Son. And the Spirit loves to show us the glory of the Son. Because He has come, it says our Lord Jesus Christ, to glorify me by taking the things that are mine and making them known to you. So we need to pray secondly, but then thirdly says Owen, we need to fill our minds with scriptural thoughts of Christ. He says, to behold the glory of Christ is not a work of fancy or imagination, it is not conversing with an image framed by the art of men without, or that of our own fancy within, but of faith exercised on divine revelations. This direction he gives us himself, search the scriptures. For they are they which testify of me, John 5, 39. But fourthly, says Owen, reading the scriptures and filling the mind with scriptural thoughts is not enough. We need to cultivate the grace and the art. of meditation. He writes, want of this is that fundamental mistake which keeps many among us so low in their grace, so regardless of their privileges, they hear of these things, they assent to their truth, at least they do not gainsay them, but they never solemnly meditate upon them. meditate upon the word, when you're preparing reflect upon it, give time to ponder it, to chew over it, take time to think. Cultivate the grace of thinking. Says Owen, in the contemplation of this glory consists the principle exercise of faith. What's the principle exercise of faith? Meditating on the glory of Jesus Christ, says Owen. Now Owen understands this is easier said than done. Profitable meditation requires mortification. And that will especially involve retirement from what Owen calls the occasions of life. Now for most of us here, the great question is not how much time do you spend in your study, but what time do you give to pondering and meditating on the Lord Jesus Christ, on his, says Owen, mysterious constitution? Number five, let your occasional, now this has really spoken to me over the years, let your occasional thoughts of Christ be many. It says, Owen, generally Christ is nigh unto believers and of a ready access. If therefore we would behold the glory of Christ, the present direction is, that on all occasions, now notice these next words, and frequently when there are no occasions for it by the performance of other duties, we would abound in thoughts of him and his glory. Let me put that in common speak. What do you think about when you've got nothing to think about? Where do your thoughts go when you've got nothing to think about? Do they go to Jesus Christ? I'm not sure there is a day that I don't find myself rebuking myself and being rebuked by God, that when I've got nothing to think about, I'm not thinking about my Savior. I think it's one of the great tests we can apply to where we are in our walk with God. What do we think about when we've got nothing to think about? And then, sixly, all our thoughts concerning Christ and his glory should be accompanied, says Owen, with admiration, adoration, and thanksgiving because in Christ we are contemplating a glory that is a notion whose depths we cannot look into. Admiration, adoration and thanksgiving. But then thirdly, very briefly, how are we to respond to this glory? When the Apostle John, again we don't have time to look at the passage, Revelation 1, you know it well, when the Apostle John finds himself confronted with the glory of the risen, ascended Christ, he fell at his feet. And Owen says, where comprehension fails, let admiration take place. I love that. It reminds me of Warfield's great description of Christianity. It is unembarrassed supernaturalism. Where comprehension fails, let admiration take place. Jim Packer says something similar. He says, regarding the incarnation, let us shun speculation and be content to adore. You know the hallmark of us as men of the Word of God, one of the pristine hallmarks should surely be that we are men who are known to admire and adore the Savior himself. That our people might have many complaints about us. But please God, they'll never be able to say, he doesn't strike me as a man who admires and adores the Savior. One final word from Owen, and then I'm done. I'm slightly going to exceed Terry's. I preach for 35 minutes almost every time, but I've been told 40 minutes here, so I'm gonna stick to the 40. One final word from Owen, he comes to the conclusion of his meditations and discourses in the glory of Christ and he says this, the design of this discourse is no more but that when by faith we have attained a view of the glory of Christ, in our contemplations on his person, we should not pass it over as a notion of truth to which we ascend, that he is thus glorious in himself, but endeavor to affect our hearts with it, as that wherein our own principal interest lies. What do you think is your great need in the Christian life and in the Christian ministry tonight? As you think about returning to your congregations, what do you think your great need is? Owen would absolutely tell you, and I believe he's simply reflecting the teaching of the Bible, your great need is to sink your life, God helping you, by the enabling ministry of the Holy Spirit and by faith, into the exalted glory of your Savior. Robert Murray McChain put it a little differently, but making the same point, my people's greatest need Now how would you finish that sentence? Many of you will know the quote from Money McChain, my people's, my congregation's greatest need is my holiness, is my holiness. Our greatest hindrance in the Christian life is not our lack of effort, but our lack of acquaintedness with our privileges. You see, pondering, meditating on the glory of Christ is actually the most practical of our Christian privileges. It's not something that we do when we've got a space in the calendar. It's the most practical thing we can do in our Christian ministry and Christian life. Nothing will serve the good of your congregations more than you and I being men who prioritize pondering the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Because what is preaching ultimately? Preaching, and Terry touched on this didn't he at the beginning, preaching is the overflow of a life. And people see our idiosyncrasies and they see us when we fail them. They see us when we're crass at times. They see us when we don't do what we say we will do and do what we say we'll never do. But you know, congregations, generally speaking, can forgive a lot in their pastors when they see that the overflow of their life is Jesus Christ. My children, I've got four of them, I failed them at times badly and had to go and apologize. The thing that has always encouraged my heart has been this, that when I failed them, They know absolutely that I love them, that I love them. And when our congregations see us failing them, please God, they'll make the allowance, but I know he loves me. Because how do you get to love congregations? Because they're as crass as we are. They're as disputatious as we can be. How do you get to love congregations? By becoming like Jesus Christ. By becoming like Jesus Christ. May God make us all more like his son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and that he, the lamb in the midst of the throne, will get all the glory and the reflection of that glory will be our eternal blessedness. Let us pray. Father, open our eyes to see more than we have seen. Open our minds to understand more than we have ever known. Open our hearts, Lord, to be affected deeply, pervasively, transformingly by the glory of our Savior, the glory of his perfect humanity, the glory of his redemptive accomplishment, the glory of his heavenly intercession. Lord, we are needy men. but you are our father who art in heaven. Hear us we pray for our good and for the sake of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.