I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Ver. 4. That thou gavest me to do] Our Saviour counts his work a gift; so should we take it for a favour, that he employs us, that we may have any office about him, that we may magnify him with our bodies, "whether by life or death,"Philippians 1:19. As a heretic I am condemned, said Mr Bradford, and shall be burned, whereof I ask God heartily mercy that I do no more rejoice than I do, having so great cause as to be an instrument, wherein it may please my dear Lord God and Saviour to suffer. And the greatest promotion, said Latimer, that God giveth in this world, is, to be such Philippians to whom it is given, not only to believe, but also to suffer. Ignatius professed he would rather be a martyr than a monarch. John Noyes took up a fagot at the fire, and kissed it, saying, Blessed be the time that ever I was born to come to this. The apostles rejoiced that they were graced so as to be disgraced for Christ, Acts 5:41 .