"But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. (23) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
What a tender answer of Christ! And true enough both James and John drank of the same cup though not to the dregs, as Jesus did in the alter exercises of their life. James was the first of the Apostles who bore testimony to Christ by his blood, Acts 12:2. And John tells the Church in his banishment, of his sufferings for the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 1:9. I beg the Reader not to overlook our Lord's expressions, concerning the sitting at his right hand in glory. It is not mine to give but for whom it is prepared of my Father. For I beg the Reader to notice, that the words put in between those words of Christ, it shall be given to them, are not in the original, neither ought they to have been introduced in the translation. And the doctrine without them is the pure doctrine of the Gospel. It is not mine to give but to those whom the Father hath given to me, in an everlasting covenant which cannot be broken. But all whom the Father hath given me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And elsewhere Jesus expresseth the same blessed truth: for speaking to his Father he saith: A s thou hast given him power over all flesh: that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. John 17:2; John 17:2
And what a glorious consideration is it that such a provision is made for the Lord's redeemed ones in the eternal purpose, council, and will of Jehovah: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: nothing disposing to the gift of such unequalled mercy but the divine favour: and neither depending upon the merit of man, nor any of the after arrangements of life. Oh! the glories of grace! Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!