[Glorious circumstances attending his entrance into heaven.]
Consider ye now also those glorious circumstances that accompany his approach to the gates of the everlasting habitation.
First. The everlasting gates are set, yea, bid stand open—Be ye open, 'ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.' This King of glory is Jesus Christ, and the words are a prophecy of his glorious ascending into the heavens, when he went up as the high-priest of the church, to carry the price of his blood into the holiest of all. 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in' (Psa 24:7,9).
Second. At his entrance he was received, and the price accepted which he paid for our souls. Hence it is said, he entered in by his blood—that is, by the merit of it. 'To receive' is an act of complacency and delight, and includeth well-pleasedness in the person receiving, who is God the Father; and considering that this Jesus now received is to be received upon our account, or as undertaking the salvation of sinners—for he entered into the heavens for us—it is apparent that he entered thither by virtue of his infinite righteousness, which he accomplished for us upon the earth.
Third. At his reception he received glory, and that also for our encouragement—'God raised him up, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God' (1 Peter 1:19-21). He gave him glory, as a testimony that his undertaking the work of our redemption was accepted of him.
1. He gave glory to his person, in granting him to sit at his own right hand; and this he had, I say, for or upon the account of the work he accomplished for us in the world. When he had offered up one sacrifice for sins for ever, he sat down on the right hand of God, and this by God's appointment—'Sit thou at my right hand' (Heb 10:12,13). This glory is the highest; it is above all kings, princes, and potentates in this world; it is above all angels, principalities, and powers in heaven. 'He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him' (1 Peter 3:32).
2. He gave glory to his name, to his name Jesus, that name being exalted above every name—'He hath given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father' (Phil 2:9-11).
This name is said, in another place, to be a name above every name that is named, 'not only in this world, but also in that which is to come' (Eph 1:21).
But should JESUS have been such a name, since he undertook for sinners, had this undertaker failed in his work, if his work had not been accepted with God, even the work of our redemption by his blood? No, verily; it would have stunk in the nostrils both of God and man; it would have been the most abhorred name. But Jesus is the name; Jesus he was called, in order to his work—'His name shall be called JESUS, for he shall save'; he was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb; and he goeth by that name now he is in heaven; by the name Jesus—'Jesus of Nazareth,' because he once dwelt there. This name, I say, is the highest name, the everlasting name, the name that he is to go by, to be known by, to be worshipped by, and to be glorified by; yea, the name by which also most glory shall redound to God the Father. Now, what is the signification of this name but SAVIOUR? This name he hath, therefore, for his work's sake; and because God delighted in his undertaking, and was pleased with the price he had paid for us, therefore the Divine Majesty hath given him it, hath made it high, and hath commanded all angels to bow unto it; yea, it is the name in which he resteth, and by which he hath magnified all his attributes.
(1.) This is the name by which sinners should go to God the Father.