{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_22376/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_22376","id":"gutenberg_22376","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22376","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. John -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Al Haines\n\n\n\n\n\nLOVE TO THE UTTERMOST\n\nEXPOSITIONS OF JOHN XIII--XXI.\n\n\nBY\n\nF. B. MEYER, B. A.\n\n\n\nAuthor of\n\n  \"The life and Light of Men: Expositions of John I.--XII.;\"\n  \"Old Testament Heroes;\"\n  \"The Shepherd Psalm;\" etc.\n\n\n\nNEW YORK ---- CHICAGO ---- TORONTO\n\nFleming H. Revell Company\n\nPublishers of Evangelical Literature\n\n\n\n\nCopyright, 1898-1899\n\nby\n\nFleming H. Revell Company\n\n\n\n\nTHIS BOOK ON\n\nTHE UTTERMOST LOVE OF CHRIST\n\nIS DEDICATED\n\nTO MY DEAR WIFE,\n\nWHOSE PATIENT CARE OF OUR HOME\n\nHAS ENABLED ME\n\nTO WRITE SO MUCH AND TRAVEL SO FAR\n\nIN HIS SERVICE.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nThe former book on the first twelve chapters of this sublime Gospel was\ncalled, _The Life and Light of Men_.  The title was naturally suggested\nby the subject-matter of those chapters.  We had little difficulty in\nfinding a title for the present book, which covers, however cursorily,\nthe remainder of the Gospel.  It lay open before us in the opening\nverses of the thirteenth chapter, as translated in the margin of the\nRevised Version.  \"Having loved His own which were in the world, _He\nloved them to the uttermost_.\"\n\nIt has been impossible, in the limited space at my disposal, to deal\nwith these chapters as I would.  Indeed, to do so, it would be\nnecessary to know the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of the\nLove of God, which passeth knowledge.  Time has been allowed to elapse,\nin the hope that the view would be clearer, and the expression more\nadequate, of the deep things to which the Lord gave expression.  But it\nis useless to wait till one is satisfied of the adequacy of one's work,\nelse life will have run its course before a beginning has been made.\nAt the end of ten more years, the task would seem still more\nimpracticable.\n\nIn the closing chapters I have woven together the narratives of the\nfour evangelists, so as to give a succinct and connected account of the\nlast hours of our Lord's life, and especially of His death.  It has\nbeen a great delight thus to tread the _Via Crucis_, which is also the\n_Via Lucis_--the Way of the Cross, which is the Way of Life, and Light,\nand Love.\n\nF. B. MEYER.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n      I  THE LAVER IN THE LIFE OF JESUS\n     II  THRICE BIDDEN TO LOVE\n    III  HEAVEN DELAYED, BUT GUARANTEED\n     IV  \"MANY MANSIONS\"\n      V  THE REALITY OF WHICH JACOB'S DREAM WAS THE SHADOW\n     VI  CHRIST REVEALING THE FATHER\n    VII  THE GREAT DEEDS OF FAITH\n   VIII  HOW TO SECURE MORE AND BETTER PRAYER\n     IX  THE OTHER PARACLETE\n      X  THE THREE DISPENSATIONS\n     XI  THREE PARADOXES\n    XII  MANY MANSIONS FOR GOD\n   XIII  CHRIST'S LEGACY AND GIFT OF PEACE\n    XIV  THE STORY OF THE VINE\n     XV  \"ABIDE IN ME, AND I IN YOU\"\n    XVI  PRAYER THAT PREVAILS\n   XVII  THE HATRED OF THE WORLD\n  XVIII  THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE WORLD\n    XIX  CHRIST'S RETICENCE SUPPLEMENTED BY THE SPIRIT'S ADVENT\n     XX  THE CONQUEROR OF THE WORLD\n    XXI  CONSECRATED TO CONSECRATE\n   XXII  THE LORD'S PRAYER FOR HIS PEOPLE'S ONENESS\n  XXIII  THE LOVE THAT BOUND CHRIST TO THE CROSS\n   XXIV  DRINKING THE CUP\n    XXV  THE HALL OF ANNAS\n   XXVI  HOW IT FARED WITH PETER\n  XXVII  THE TRIAL BFFORE CAIAPHAS\n XXVIII  \"JUDAS, WHICH BETRAYED HIM\"\n   XXIX  THE FIRST TRIAL BEFORE PILATE\n    XXX  THE SECOND TRIAL BEFORE PILATE\n   XXXI  THE SEVEN SAYINGS OF THE CROSS\n  XXXII  CHRIST'S BURIAL\n XXXIII  THE DAY OF RESURRECTION\n  XXXIV  THE LAKE OF GALILEE\n   XXXV  PETER'S LOVE AND WORK\n  XXXVI  THE LIFE-PLAN OF PETER AND JOHN\n XXXVII  BACK TO THE FATHER\n\n\n\n\nLOVE TO THE UTTERMOST\n\nExpositions of John xiii.-xxi.\n\n\nI\n\nThe Laver in the Life of Jesus\n\n\"He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet,\nand to wipe them with a towel wherewith He was girded.\"--JOHN xiii. 5.\n\n\nIn the court of the Temple there were two objects that arrested the eye\nof the entering worshipper--the Brazen Altar, and the Laver.  The\nlatter was kept always full of pure, fresh water, for the constant\nwashings enjoined by the Levitical code.  Before the priests were\nconsecrated for their holy work, and attired in the robes of the sacred\noffice, they washed there (Ex. xxix. 4).  Before they entered the Holy\nPlace in their ordinary ministry, and before Aaron, on the great Day of\nAtonement, proceeded to the Most Holy Place, with blood, not his own,\nit was needful to conform to the prescribed ablutions.  \"He shall bathe\nhis flesh in water\" (Lev. xvi. 4).\n\nFirst, then, the Altar, and then the Laver; the order is irreversible,\nand the teaching of the types is as exact as mathematics.  Hence, when\nthe writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews invites us to draw near, and\nmake our abode in the Most Holy Place, he carefully obeys the Divine\norder, and bids us \"draw near, with a true heart, in full assurance of\nfaith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our\nbodies washed with pure water.\"\n\nIn this scene (John xiii. 1-14), on the eve of our Lord's betrayal, we\nfind the spiritual counterpart of the Laver, just as the Cross stands\nfor the Brazen Altar.\n\n\nI. THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT LED TO THIS ACT OF LOVE.--In order fully to\nunderstand this touching incident, it is necessary to remember the\ncircumstances out of which it sprang.  On the way from Bethany to the\nupper room in which the Supper had been prepared, and on entering\ntherein, our Lord must have been deeply absorbed in the momentous\nevents in which He was to be the central figure; but He was not\nunmindful of a contention which had engaged His disciples, for they had\nbeen disputing one with another as to which of them should be the\ngreatest.  The proud spirit of the flesh, which so often cursed the\nlittle group, broke out in this awful hour with renewed energy, as\nthough the prince of this world would inflict a parting blow on his\ngreat Antagonist, through those whom He loved best.  It was as if he\nsaid, \"See the results of Thy tears and teachings, of Thy prayers and\npleadings; the love which Thou hast so often inculcated is but a\npassing sentiment, that has never rooted itself in the soil of these\nwayward hearts.  It is a plant too rare and exotic for the climate of\nearth.  Take it back with Thee to Thine own home if Thou wilt, but seek\nnot to achieve the impossible.\"  It was heartrending that this\nexhibition of pride should take place just at this juncture.  These\nwere the men who had been with Him in His temptations, who had had the\nbenefit of His most careful instructions, who had been exposed to the\nfull influence of His personal character; and yet, notwithstanding all,\nthe rock-bed of pride, that cast the angels down from heaven, that led\nto the fall of man, obtruded itself.  This occasion in which it\nmanifested itself was very inopportune; already the look of Calvary was\non the Saviour's face, and the sword entering His heart.  Surely, they\nmust have been aware that the shadow of the great eclipse was already\npassing over the face of their Sun.  But even this did not avail to\nrestrain the manifestation of their pride.  Heedless of three years of\nexample and teaching; unrestrained by the symptoms of our Lord's\nsorrow; unchecked by the memory of happy and familiar intercourse,\nwhich should have bound them forever in a united brotherhood, they\nwrangled with high voices and hot faces, with the flashing eye and\nclenched fist of the Oriental, as to who should be first.\n\nAnd if pride thus asserted itself after _such_ education, and under\n_such_ circumstances, let us be sure that it is not far away from any\none of us.  We do not now contend, in so many words, for the chief\nplaces; courtesy, politeness, fear of losing the respect of our\nfellows, restrain us.  But our resentment to the fancied slight, or the\nassumption by another of work which we thought our own; our sense of\nhurtness when we are put aside; our jealousy and envy; our detracting\nspeeches, and subtle insinuations of low motive, all show how much of\nthis loveless spirit rankles in our hearts.  We have been planted in\nthe soil of this world, and we betray its flavor; we have come of a\nproud stock, we betray our heredity.\n\n\nII. LOVE'S SENSITIVENESS TO SIN ON THE PART OF ITS BELOVED.--Consider\nthese epithets of the love of Christ:\n\n_It was unusually tender_.--When the hour of departure approaches,\nthough slight reference be made to it, love lives with the sound of the\ndeparting wheels, or the scream of the engine, always in its ear; and\nthere are given a tenderness to the tone, a delicacy to the touch, a\nthoughtfulness for the heartache of those from which it is to be\nparted, which are of inexpressible beauty.  All that was present with\nChrist.  He was taking that Supper with them before He suffered.  He\nknew that He would soon depart out of this world unto the Father; His\near was specially on the alert; His nature keenly alive; His heart\nthrilling with unusual tenderness, as the sands slowly ran out from the\nhour-glass.\n\n_It was supreme love_.--\"Having loved His own that were in the world,\nHe loved them unto the end.\"  Those last words have been thought to\nrefer to the end of life, but it surely were superfluous to tell us\nthat the strong waters of death could not quench the love of the Son of\nMan.  When once He loves, He loves always.  It is needless to tell us\nthat the Divine heart which has enshrined a soul will not forsake it;\nthat the name of the beloved is never erased from the palms of the\nhands, that the covenant is not forgotten though eternity elapse.  Of\ncourse Christ loves to the end, even though that end reaches to\nendlessness.  We do not need to be assured that the Immortal Lover, who\nhas once taken us up to union with Himself, can never loose His hold.\nTherefore it is better to adopt the alternative suggested by the margin\nof the Revised Version, \"He loved them to the uttermost.\"  There was\nnothing to be desired.  Nothing was needed to fill out the ideal of\nperfect love.  Not a stitch was required for the needle-work of wrought\ngold; not a touch demanded for the perfectly achieved picture; not a\nthrob additional to the strong pulse of affection with which He\nregarded His own.\n\nIt is very wonderful that He should have loved such men like this.  As\nwe pass them under review at this time of their life, they seem a\ncollection of nobodies, with the exception perhaps of John and Peter.\nBut they were His own, there was a special relationship between Him and\nthem.  They had belonged to the Father, and He had given them to the\nSon as His special perquisite and belonging.  \"Thine they were, and\nThou gavest them Me.\"  May we dare, in this meaning, to apply to Christ\nthat sense of proprietorship, which makes a bit of moorland waste, a\nfew yards of garden-ground, dear to the freeholder?\n\n  \"Breathes there the man with soul so dead,\n  Who never to himself hath said,\n  This is my own . . .?\"\n\n\nIt was because these men were Christ's own, that the full passion of\nHis heart set in toward them, and He loved them to the utmost bound;\nthat is, the tides filled the capacity of the ocean-bed of possibility.\n\n_It was bathed in the sense of His Divine origin and mission_.--The\ncurtain was waxing very thin.  It was a moment of vision.  There had\nswept across His soul a realization of the full meaning of His\napproaching triumph.  He looked back, and was hardly conscious of the\nmanger where the horned oxen fed, the lowly birth, the obscure years,\nin the sublime conception that He had come forth from God.  He looked\nforward, and was hardly conscious of the cross, the nail, the\nthorn-crown, and the spear, because of the sublime consciousness that\nHe was stepping back, to go to Him with whom He realized His identity.\nHe looked on through the coming weeks, and knew that the Father had\ngiven all things into His hands.  What the devil had offered as the\nprice of obeisance to himself, that the Father was about to give Him,\nnay, had already given Him, as the price of His self-emptying.  And if\nfor a moment He stooped, as we shall see He did, to the form of a\nservant, it was not because of any failure to recognize His high\ndignity and mission, but with the sense of Godhead quick on His soul.\n\nThe love which went out toward this little group of men had Deity in\nit.  It was the love of the Throne, of the glory He had with the Father\nbefore the worlds were, of that which now fills the bosom of His\nascended and glorified nature.\n\n_He was aware of the task to which He was abandoning these men_.--He\nknew that as He was the High Priest over the house of God, they were\nits priests.  He knew that cleansing was necessary before they could\nreceive the anointing of the Holy Ghost.  He knew that the great work\nof carrying forward His Gospel was to be delegated to their hands.  He\nknew that they were to carry the sacred vessels of the Gospel, which\nmust not be blurred or fouled by contact with human pride or\nuncleanness.  He knew that the very mysteries of Gethsemane and Calvary\nwould be inexplicable, and that none might stand on that holy hill,\nsave those that had clean hands and a pure heart; and because of all\nthis, He turned to them, by symbol and metaphor, to impress upon their\nheart and memory the necessity of participating in the cleansing of\nwhich the Laver is the type.\n\nThe highest love is ever quickest to detect the failures and\ninconsistencies of the beloved.  Just because of its intensity, it can\nbe content with nothing less than the best, because the best means the\nblessedest; and it longs that the object of its thought should be most\nblessed forever.  It is a mistake to think that green-eyed jealousy is\nquickest to detect the spots on the sun, the freckles on the face, and\nthe marring discords in the music of the life; love is quicker, more\nmicroscopic, more exacting that the ideal should be achieved.  Envy is\ncontent to indicate the fault, and leave it; but love detects, and\nwaits and holds its peace until the fitting opportunity arrives, and\nthen sets itself to remove, with its own tenderest ministry, the defect\nwhich had spoiled the completeness and beauty of its object.\n\nPerhaps there had never been a moment in the human consciousness of our\nLord, when, side by side with this intense love for His own, there had\nbeen so vivid a sense of oneness with His Father, of His unity with the\nsource of Infinite Purity and Blessedness.  We might have supposed that\nthis would have alienated Him from His poor friends, but in this our\nthoughts are not as His.  Just because of His awful holiness, He was\nquick to perceive the unholiness of His friends, and could not endure\nit, and essayed to rid them of it.  Just because of His Divine goodness\nHe could detect the possibilities of goodness in them, and be patient\nenough to give it culturing care.\n\nThe most perfect musician may be most tortured by incompetence; but he\nwill be most likely to detect true merit, and give time to its\ntraining.  \"The powerfullest magnet will pick out, in the powdered dust\nof the ironstone, fine particles of metal that a second or third-rate\nmagnet would fail to draw to itself.\"  Do not dread the awful holiness\nof Jesus; it is your hope.  He will never be content till He has made\nyou like Himself; and side by side with His holiness, never fail to\nremember His gentle, tender love.\n\n\nIII. THE DIVINE HUMILITY, THAT COPES WITH HUMAN SIN.--\"He riseth from\nsupper, and layeth aside His garments; and He took a towel and girded\nHimself.\"  This is what the apostle calls taking upon Himself the form\nof a servant.  The charm of the scene is its absolute simplicity.  You\ncannot imagine Christ posturing to the ages.  There was no aiming at\neffect, no thought of the beauty or humility of the act, as there is\nwhen the Pope yearly washes the feet of twelve beggars, from a golden\nbasin, wiping them with a towel of rarest fabric!  Christ did not act\nthus for show or pretence, but with an absolutely single purpose of\nfulfilling a needed office.  And in this He set forth the spirit of our\nredemption.\n\n_This is the key to the Incarnation_.--With slight alteration the words\nwill read truly of that supreme act.  He rose from the throne, laid\naside the garments of light which He had worn as His vesture, took up\nthe poor towel of humanity, and wrapped it about His glorious Person;\npoured His own blood into the basin of the Cross, and set Himself to\nwash away the foul stains of human depravity and guilt.\n\nAs pride was the source of human sin, Christ must needs provide an\nantidote in His absolute humility--a humility which could not grow\nbeneath these skies, but must be brought from the world where the\nlowliest are the greatest, and the most childlike reign as kings.\n\n_This is the key to every act of daily cleansing_.--We have been\nwashed.  Once, definitely, and irrevocably, we have been bathed in the\ncrimson tide that flows from Calvary.  But we need a daily cleansing.\nOur feet become soiled with the dust of life's highways; our hands\ngrimy, as our linen beneath the rain of filth in a great city; our lips\nare fouled, as the white doorstep of the house, by the incessant throng\nof idle, unseemly and fretful words; our hearts cannot keep unsoiled\nthe stainless robes with which we pass from the closet at morning\nprime.  Constantly we need to repair to the Laver to be washed.  But do\nwe always realize how much each act of confession, on our part,\ninvolves from Christ, on His?  Whatever important work He may at that\nmoment have on hand; whatever directions He may be giving to the\nloftiest angels for the fulfillment of His purposes; however pressing\nthe concerns of the Church or the universe upon His broad shoulders, He\nmust needs turn from all these to do a work He will not delegate.\nAgain He stoops from the throne, and girds Himself with a towel, and,\nin all lowliness, endeavors to remove from thee and me the strain which\nHis love dare not pass over.  He never loses the print of the nail; He\nnever forgets Calvary and the blood; He never spends one hour without\nstooping to do the most menial work of cleansing filthy souls.  And it\nis because of this humility He sits on the Throne and wields the\nsceptre over hearts and worlds.\n\n_This is the key to our ministry to each other_.--I have often thought\nthat we do not often enough wash one another's feet.  We are conscious\nof the imperfections which mar the characters of those around us.  We\nare content to note, criticise, and learn them.  We dare not attempt to\nremove them.  This failure arises partly because we do not love with a\nlove like Christ's--a love which will brave resentment, annoyance,\nrebuke, in its quest,--and partly because we are not willing to stoop\nlow enough.\n\nNone can remove the mote of another, so long as the beam is left in the\neye, and the sin unjudged in the life, None can cleanse the stain, who\nis not willing to take the form of a servant, and go down with bare\nknees upon the floor.  None is able to restore those that are overtaken\nin a fault, who do not count themselves the chief of sinners and the\nleast of saints.\n\nWe need more of this lowly, loving spirit: not so sensitive to wrong\nand evil as they affect us, as anxious for the stain they leave on the\noffender.  It is of comparatively small consequence how much we suffer;\nit is of much importance that none of Christ's disciples should be\nallowed to go on for a moment longer, with unconfessed and unjudged\nwrongs clouding their peace, and hindering the testimony which they\nmight give.  Let us therefore watch for each other's souls: let us\nconsider one another to provoke to love and good works; let us in all\nsincerity do as Christ has done, washing each other's feet in all\nhumility and tender love.  But this spirit is impossible save through\nfellowship with the Lamb of God, and the reception of His holy, humble\nnature into the inmost heart, by the Holy Ghost.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nThrice Bidden to Love\n\n\"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have\nloved you, that ye also love one another.\"--JOHN xiii. 34.\n\n\nAnacreon complains that when they asked him to sing of heroic deeds, he\ncould only sing of love.  But the love with which he fills his sonnets\nwill bear as much comparison with that of which Jesus spoke in His last\ndiscourse, as the flaring oil of a country fair with the burning of the\nheavenly constellations.  Even the love that binds young hearts is too\nselfish and exclusive to set forth that pure ray which shone from the\nheart of the Son of Man, and shines and will shine.  What word shall we\nuse to describe it?\n\n_Charity?_--The disposition denoted by this great word does not fulfill\nthe measure of the love of Christ.  It is cold and severe.  It can be\norganized.  It casts its dole to the beggar and turns away, content to\nhave relieved the sentiment of pity.  By being employed for one\nmanifestation of love, charity is too limited and restricted in its\nsignificance to become an adequate expression of the Divine love which\nDrought Jesus from the throne, and should inspire us to lay down our\nlives for the brethren.\n\n_Philanthropy?_--This is a great word, \"the love of man.\"  And yet the\nphilanthropist is too often content with the general patronage of good\nworks, the elaboration of schemes, the management of committees, to do\nmuch personal work for the amelioration of the world.  The word is\naltogether too distant, too deficient in the personal element, too\nextensive in its significance.  It will not serve to represent the\nDivine compassion with which the heart of Christ was, at the moment of\nspeaking, in tumult.\n\n_Complacency?_--No; for this is the emotion excited by the\ncontemplation of merit and virtue, which turns away from sin and\ndeformity; and the sentiment denoted by our Master's words is one that\nis not brought into existence by virtue, nor extinguished by demerit\nand vice.\n\nSince all these words fail, we are driven to speak of love, as Christ\nused the word, as being the essence of the Divine nature, for God is\nlove.  It is the indwelling of God in the soul.  It is the transmitting\nthrough our lives of that which we have received in fellowship with the\nuncreated glory of the Divine Being.  That which was in the beginning\nbetween the Father and the Son; that which constrained our Emmanuel to\nsojourn in this world of sin; that which inspired His sacrifice; that\nwhich dwells perennially in His heart, vanquishing time and distance;\nwhich overflows all expressions, and defies definition--is the love of\nwhich these words speak, and which we are commanded to entertain toward\neach other.\n\n_It is a commandment_: \"These things I command you.\"  \"This is His\ncommandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus\nChrist, and love one another even as He gave us commandment.\"\nObviously, then, obedience must be possible.  Christ had gauged our\nnature not only as Creator, but by personal experience.  He knew what\nwas in man.  The possibilities of our nature were well within His\ncognizance; therefore it must be possible for us to love one another\nqualitatively, if not quantitatively, as He has loved us.  Do not sit\ndown before this great command and say it is impossible; that were to\nthrow discredit on Him who spake it.  Dare to believe that no word of\nHis is vain.  He descries eminences of attainment which it is possible\nfor us all to reach: let us surrender ourselves to Him, that He should\nfulfill in us His ideal, and make us experts in the science of love.\n\n_It is a new commandment_.--Archbishop Ussher on a memorable occasion\ncalled it the eleventh.  It is recorded that having heard of the\nsimplicity and beauty of the ordering of Rutherford's home, he resolved\nto visit it for himself.  One Saturday night he arrived alone at the\nManse, and asked for entertainment over the next day.  A simple but\nhearty welcome was accorded him; and after partaking of the frugal\nfare, he was invited to join the household in religious exercises which\nushered in the Lord's day.\n\n\"How many commandments are there?\" the master asked his guest, wholly\nunaware who he was.\n\n\"Eleven,\" was the astonishing reply; at which the very servants were\nscandalized, regarding the newcomer as a prodigy of ignorance.  But the\nman of God perceived the rare light of character and insight which\ngleamed beneath the answer, and asked for a private interview.  This\nissued in the invitation to preach on the following day.  To the\namazement of the household, so scandalized on the previous night, the\nstranger appeared in the master's pulpit, and announced the words on\nwhich we are meditating as his text, adding, \"This may be described as\nthe eleventh commandment.\"\n\n_Obedience to this fulfills the rest_.--Love is the fulfilling of the\nlaw.  Do we need to be told to have no other gods but God, to forbear\ntaking His name in vain, and to devote one day in seven to the\ncultivation of a closer relationship with Him, if we love Him with all\nour soul and mind and strength?  Do we need to be warned against\nkilling our neighbor, stealing his goods, or bearing false witness\nagainst his character, if we love him as ourselves?  Only let a man be\nfilled with this divine disposition which is the unique characteristic\nof God; let him be filled with the spirit of love; let him be perfected\nin love, and, almost unconsciously, he will not only be kept from\ninfringing the prohibitions of the law of Sinai, but will be inspired\nto fulfill the requirements of the Mount of Beatitudes.  Love, and do\nas you like.  You will like to do only what God would like you to do.\n\n_There is a very important purpose to be realized in obeying this\ncommand_.--\"By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye\nhave love one to another.\"  Every Church claims to be the true\nrepresentative of Christ.  The Eastern, because it occupies the lands\nwhere Christianity was cradled.  The Roman Catholic, because it\nprofesses to be able to trace its orders to the apostles.  But, amid\nthe hubbub of rival claims, the world, unconvinced, still awaits the\nemergence of the true Bride of the Lamb.  The one note of the true\nChurch is Love.  When once men of different nationalities and countries\nbehold its manifestation, they do not hesitate to acknowledge the\npresence of God, and to admit that those who are animated by perfect\nlove to Him and to one another constitute a unique organization, which\ncannot have originated in the will or intellect of man, but, like the\nNew Jerusalem, must have come out of heaven from God.  So sublime, so\ntranscendent, so unearthly is love, that its presence is significant of\nthe handiwork of God, as the fire that burned in the bush indicated\nthat the \"I AM\" was there.\n\nLove is a supreme test, not only of the Church, but of the individual.\nIt has been the mistake of every age to make faith rather than love the\ntest of Christianity.  \"Tell me how much a man believes, and I shall\nknow how good a Christian he is!\"  The whole endeavor of the mediaeval\nChurch was to reduce the followers of Christ to a uniformity of belief.\nAnd in our own time, a man is permitted by consent to be grasping after\nmoney, imperious in temper, uncharitable in speech, without losing\nposition in the Church, so long as he assents to all the clauses of an\northodox creed.\n\nWith Christ, however, love is all-important.  A man may have faith\nenough to remove mountains, but if he have not love, he is nothing, and\nlighter than vanity in the estimation of heaven.  Faith ranks with hope\nand love, but it is destined to pass as the blossoms of spring before\nthe fruit of autumn, whilst love shall abide forevermore.  A man may\nhave a very inadequate creed; like the woman of old, he may think there\nis virtue in a garment, or a rite; like Thomas, he may find it\nimpossible to attain to the exuberant confidence of his brethren; but\nif he loves Christ enough to be prepared to die for Him, if through the\nnarrow aperture of a very limited faith, love enough has entered his\nsoul from the source of love, Christ will entrust him with the tending\nof His sheep and lambs, and call him into the secret place.  Of course,\nthe more full-orbed and intelligent our faith, the quicker and intenser\nwill be our love.  But faith, after all, is but the hand that takes,\nwhilst love is the fellowship of kindred hearts that flash each on the\nother the enkindling gleam.\n\nIf you do not love, though you count yourself illumined with the light\nof perfect knowledge, you are in the dark.  \"He that hateth his brother\nis in the darkness, even until now.\"\n\nIf you do not love, you are dead.  \"He that loveth not, abideth in\ndeath.\"  The light sparkle of intellectual or emotional life may light\nup your words, and fascinate your immediate circle of friends, but\nthere will be no life toward God.  Love is the perfect tense of live.\nWhoso does not love does not live, in the deepest sense.  There are\ncapacities for richer existence that never unfold until love stands at\nthe portal and sounds his challenge, and summons the sleeper to awake\nand arise.\n\nIf you do not love, you are under the thrall of the devil, into whose\ndark nature love never comes.  \"Herein the children of God are manifest\nand the children of the devil.  Cain was of the wicked one, and slew\nhis brother.\"\n\n\"As I have loved you.\"  Life is one long education to know the love of\nGod.  \"We have known and believed the love that God hath to us,\" is the\nreflection of an old man reviewing the past.  Each stage of life, each\nphase of experience, is intended to give us a deeper insight into the\nlove wherewith we are loved; and as each discovery breaks upon our glad\nvision, we are bidden to exemplify it to others.  Does Jesus forgive to\nthe seventy-seventh time?  We must forgive in the same measure.  Does\nJesus forget as well as forgive?  We, too, must forgive after the same\nfashion.  Does Jesus seek after the erring, and endeavor to induce the\ntemper of mind that will crave forgiveness?  We also must seek the man\nwho has transgressed against us, endeavoring to lead him to a better\nmind.  The Christian knows no law or limit but that imposed by these\nsignificant words, spoken on the eve of Christ's sacrifice, \"As I have\nloved you.\"\n\nThus all life gives opportunities for the practice of this celestial\ntemper and disposition.  It has been said that talent develops in\nsolitude, whilst character is made in the strain of life.  Be it so.\nThen the character of loving may be made stronger by every association\nwe have with our fellows.  Each contact with men, women, and children,\nmay give us an opportunity of loving with a little more of the\nstrength, purity, and sweetness of the love of Christ.  The busiest\nlife can find time for the cultivation of this spirit.  That which is\nspent in a crowd will even have greater opportunities than the one\nwhich is limited to solitude.  The distractions and engagements that\nthreaten to break our lives up to a number of inconsiderable fragments\nmay thus conduce to a higher unity than could be gained by following\none occupation, or concentrating ourselves on one object.\n\nLet us gird up the loins of our minds, and resolve to seek a baptism of\nlove from the Holy Ghost, that we may be perfected in love; that we may\nlove God first, and all else in Him, ascending from our failures to a\nmore complete conformity to the love wherewith He has loved us;\nembracing the sinful and erring in the compass of our compassion, as we\nembrace the Divine and Eternal in the compass of our adoration and\ndevotion.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nHeaven Delayed, but Guaranteed\n\n\"Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest Thou?  Jesus answered\nhim.  Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow\nMe afterward.\"--JOHN xiii. 36.\n\n\nThese chapters are holy ground.  The last words of our dearest, spoken\nin the seclusion of the death-chamber to the tear-stained group\ngathered around, are not for all the world, and are recorded only to\nthose whose love makes them able to appreciate.  And what are these\nwords that now begin to flow from the Master's lips, but His last to\nHis own?  They were held back so long as Judas was there.  There was a\nrepression caused by his presence which hindered the interchange of\nconfidences; but, when he was gone, love hastened to her secret stores,\nand drew forth her choicest, rarest viands to share them, that they\nmight be in after days a strength and solace.\n\nThis marvellous discourse, which begins in chapter xiii. 31, continues\nthrough chapters xiv., xv., xvi., and closes in the sublime prayer of\nchapter xvii.  Better that all the literature of the world should have\nshared the fate of the Alexandrian library, than that these precious\nwords should have been lost amid the fret of the ages.\n\nThe Lord commences His discourse by speaking of His speedy departure.\n\"Little children,\" He said, using a term which indicated that He felt\ntoward them a parental tenderness, and spoke as a dying father might\nhave done to the helpless babes that gathered around his bed, \"I am to\nbe with you for a very little time longer; the sand has nearly run out\nin the hour-glass.  I know you will seek Me; your love will make you\nyearn to be with Me where I am, to continue the blessed intimacy, the\nties which within the last few weeks have been drawn so much closer;\nbut it will not be possible.  As I said to the Jews, so must I say to\nyou, Whither I go, ye cannot come.\"  He then proceeds to give them a\nnew commandment of love, as though He said: \"The _cannot_ which\nprevents you following Me now is due to a lack of perfect love on your\npart, as well as for other reasons; it is necessary, therefore, that\nyou wait to acquire it, ere you can be with Me where I am.\"\n\nSimon Peter hardly hears Him uttering these last words; he is pondering\ntoo deeply what he has just heard, and calls the Master back to that\nannouncement, as though He had passed it with too light a tread: \"Going\naway!  Lord, whither goest Thou?\"  To that question our Lord might have\ngiven a direct answer: \"Heaven!  The Father's bosom!  The New\nJerusalem!  The City of God!\"  Any of these would have been sufficient;\nbut instead He says in effect: \"It is a matter of comparative\nindifference whither I go; I have no wish to feed curiosity with\ndescriptions of things in the heavens, which you could not understand.\"\nThe main point for you, in this brief life, is so to become assimilated\nto Me in humility, devotion, likeness, and character, that you may be\nable to be My companion and friend in those new paths on which I am\nentering, as you have been in those which I am now leaving.  \"Whither I\ngo, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterward.\"\n\nThe words staggered Peter; he could not understand what Christ meant;\nhe could not see how much had to be done before he could share in\nChrist's coming glory.  He made the same mistake as James and John had\ndone before, and wanted the throne, without perceiving that it was\nconditioned on fellowship in the cup and the baptism into death.  With\ndeep emotion he persisted in his inquiries: \"Why cannot I follow Thee\nnow?  There is no place on earth to which I would not go with Thee.\nHave I not already left all to follow Thee?  Have I not been with Thee\non the Transfiguration Mount, as well as in Thy journeyings?  There is\nbut one experience through which I have not passed with Thee, and that\nis death; but if that stands next in Thy life-plan, I will lay down my\nlife for Thy sake.  Anything to be with Thee.\"\n\nHow little Peter knew himself!  How much better did Christ know him.\n\"What! dost thou profess thyself willing to die with Me?  Verily,\nverily, I say unto thee, thou shalt deny Me thrice, between now and\ncock-crow to-morrow morning.\"  These words silenced Peter for all the\nevening afterward.  He does not appear to have made another remark, but\nwas absorbed in heart-breaking grief: though all the while there rang\nin his heart those blessed words of hope: \"Whither I go, thou canst not\nfollow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterward\"--words which our\nLord caught up and expanded for the comfort of them all, who now with\nPeter for the first time realized that they were about to be parted\nfrom Jesus, and were almost beside themselves with grief: \"Let not your\nheart be troubled. . . .\"\n\n\nI. THE DESIRE TO BE WITH CHRIST.--This was paramount.  These simple men\nhad little thought of heaven as such.  If Christ had begun to speak of\ngolden pavement, gates of pearl, and walls of chrysolite, they would\nhave turned from His glowing words with the one inquiry, \"Wilt Thou be\nthere?\"  If that question had been answered uncertainly, they would\nhave turned away heart-sick, saying: \"If Thou art not there, we have no\ndesire for it; but if Thou wert in the darkest, dreariest spot in the\nuniverse, it would be heaven to us.\"\n\nThere were three desires, the strands of which were woven in this one\nyearning desire and prayer to be with Christ.  They wanted His love,\nHis teaching, His leading into full, richer life.  And is not this our\nposition also?  We want Christ, not hereafter only, but here and now,\nfor these three self-same reasons.\n\n_We want His love._--There is no love like His--so pure and constant\nand satisfying.  What the sun is to a star-light, and the ocean to a\npool left by the retiring tide, such is the love of Jesus compared with\nall other love.  To have it is superlative blessedness; to miss it is\nto thirst forever.\n\n_We want His light._--He speaks words that cast light on the mysteries\nof existence, on the dark problems of life, on the perplexing questions\nwhich are perpetually knocking at our doors.\n\n_We want His life._--Fuller and more abundant life is what we crave.\nIt is of life that our veins are scant.  We desire to have the mighty\ntides of divine life always beating strongly within us, to know the\nenergy, vigor, vitality of God's life in the soul.  And we are\nconscious that this is to be found only in Him.\n\nTherefore we desire to be with Him, to drink deeper into His\nfellowship, to know Him and the power of His resurrection, to be\nbrought into an abidingness from which we shall never recede.  We have\nknown Christ after the flesh; we desire to know Him after the Spirit.\nWe have known Him in humiliation; we want to know Him in His glory.  We\nhave known Him as the Lamb of the Cross; we want to know Him as the\nDivine Man on the throne.\n\n\nII. THE FATAL OBSTACLE TO THE IMMEDIATE GRANTING OF THESE\nDESIRES.--\"Thou canst not follow Me _now_.\"  There is thus a difference\nin His words to His disciples, and those to the Jews.  These also were\ntold that they could not follow Him, but the word now was omitted.\nThere was no hope held out to them of the great gulf being bridged.\nThat was the _cannot_ of moral incompatibility; this, of temporary\nunfitness, which by the grace of God would finally pass away, and the\nwhole of their aspirations be realized (John vii. 34; viii. 21).\n\nIt is easy to see why Peter was unfit for the deeper realization of\nChrist in His resurrection.  Our Lord had just spoken of being\nglorified through death.  It was as Judas left the chamber, intent on\nhis betrayal, that Jesus said, \"Now is the Son of Man glorified!\"  He\nsaw that the hidden properties of His being could only be unfolded and\nuttered through death and resurrection.  But Peter had little sympathy\nwith this; he might avow his determination to die, but he had never\nreally entered into the meaning of death, and all it might involve.\n\nHe could not detect evil.  The traitor was beside him; but he had to\nask the beloved disciple to elicit from Jesus who it might be by whom\nthe Master would be betrayed.\n\nHe was out of sympathy with the Lord's humiliation, so that he chode\nwith Him for stooping to wash his feet; and if he could not understand\nthe significance and necessity of this lowly deed of love, how could he\nenter into the spirit of that life which was planted in death, and\nwhich bore even in resurrection the print of the nails?\n\nHe strove with the rest for the primacy.  Who should be the greatest?\nwas the question that agitated them, as the other evangelists tell us,\nin that solemn hour.  And none that was possessed with that spirit of\npride and emulation could be in harmony with that blessed world where\nthe greatest are the lowliest, the highest the least, and the King set\non the right hand of power, because more capable of humbling Himself\nthan any beside.\n\nBut, besides all this, Peter was animated by the strong spirit of\nself-assertion and determination.  Always on the lake shore he had been\nable to get to the front by his stronger voice, and broader shoulders,\nand more vehement manner.  Why should he not do the same now?  Why\ncould he not keep pace with Christ even through the dark valley, and\naccompany Him through unknown worlds?\n\nIt cannot be, said Christ; you are too strong in your carnal strength,\ntoo self-reliant, too confident.  It is not possible for you to be with\nMe, in the life that springs from death, and to which death is the\ndoor, till you have deeply drunk into the spirit of My death.  You are\ntoo strong to follow Me when I descend to the lowest on My way to the\nhighest; I must take for My companion now a forgiven malefactor; but I\nwill some day come for you, and receive you to Myself.\n\nSo Peter had to be broken on the wheel of a servant-girl's question,\nand humbled to the dust.  In those bitter hours he was thoroughly\nemptied of his old proud, self-reliant, vain-glorious spirit, and\nbecame as a little child.\n\nThis must be our path also.  We must descend with Christ, if we would\nascend to sit at His side.  We must submit to the laying of our pride\nin the very dust.  We must accept humiliations and mortifications, the\nhumblings of perpetual failure and shortcoming, the friction and fret\nof infirmity and pain; and when we have come to an end of ourselves, we\nshall begin to know Christ in a new and deeper fashion.  He will pass\nby and say, \"Live!\"  The spirit of His life will enter into us; the\nvalley of Achor will become a door of hope, and we shall sing God's\nglad new song of Hope.  The ideal which had long haunted us, in our\nblood, but unable to express itself, will burst into a perfect flower\nof exquisite scent and hue.\n\n\nIII. THE CERTAINTY OF THE ULTIMATE GRATIFICATION OF EVERY DESIRE GOD\nHAS IMPLANTED.--This is an absolute certainty, that God inserts no\ndesire or craving in our nature, for which there is no appropriate\ngratification.  The birds do not seek for food which is not ready for\nthem.  The young lions do not ask for prey that is not awaiting them\nsomewhere in the forest glade.  Hence the absoluteness of that\n_shall_--\"Thou _shalt_ follow Me afterward.\"  It is as if Jesus said,\n\"I have taught you to love Me, and long after Me; and I will certainly\ngratify the appetite which I have created.\"\n\nPentecost was the Divine fulfillment of all those conditions of which\nwe have been speaking.  It was not enough that Peter should be an\nemptied and broken man; he must become also a God-possessed, a\nSpirit-filled man.  Thus only could he be fitted to know Christ after a\nspiritual sort, and to participate in His Resurrection Life.  It was\nsurely to the Advent of the Holy Ghost that our Lord referred in that\nsignificant _afterward_.\n\nWe too must seek our share in Pentecost.  Do not be content with \"Not\nI\"; go on to say, \"but Christ.\"  Do not be satisfied with the emptying\nof the proud self-life; seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Do not\nstop at the cross, or the grave; hasten to the upper room, where the\ndisciples are baptized in fire and glory.  The Holy Spirit will enable\nyou to abide in Christ, because He will bring Christ to abide in you;\nand life, through His dear grace, shall be so utterly imbued with\nfellowship with the blessed Lord, that, whether present or absent, you\nwill live together with Him.  It is the man who is really filled with\nthe Spirit of God who can follow Jesus, as Peter afterward did, to\nprison and to death, who can drink of the cup of which He drank, and be\nbaptized with the baptism with which He was baptized.\n\n\"Why should I fear?\" asked Basil, of the Roman prefect.  \"Nothing you\nhave spoken of has any effect upon me.  He that hath nothing to lose is\nnot afraid of _confiscation_.  You cannot banish me, for the earth is\nthe Lord's.  As to _torture_, the first stroke would kill me, and _to\nkill me is to send me to glory_.\"\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\n\"Many Mansions\"\n\n\"I go to prepare a place for you.\"--JOHN xiv. 2.\n\n\nThe cure for heart-trouble, when the future is full of dread, is\nfaith--faith directed to Jesus; and just such faith as we give God, for\nHe is God.  He has shown Himself well worthy of that trust; all His\npaths toward us have been mercy and truth; and we may therefore safely\nrest upon His disclosures of that blessed life, of which the present is\nthe vestibule.  \"Let not your heart be troubled,\" He says, \"ye believe\nin God, believe also in Me.\"  Or it might be rendered, \"Believe in God,\nbelieve also in Me.\"\n\nLet us listen to Him, as He discourses of the Father's house and its\nmany mansions.\n\n_Heaven is a home._--\"My Father's house.\"  What magic power lies in\nthat word!  It will draw the wanderer from the ends of the earth; will\nnerve the sailor, soldier, and explorer with indomitable endurance;\nwill bring a mist of tears to the eyes of the hardened criminal, and\nsoften the heart of stone.  One night in the trenches of the Crimea the\nbands played \"Home, sweet Home,\" and a great sob went through the army.\n\nBut what makes home home?  Not the mere locality or building; but the\ndear ones that lived there once, now scattered never to be reunited,\nonly one or two of whom are still spared.  It was father's house,\nthough it was only a shepherd's shieling; he dwelt there, and mother,\nand our brothers and sisters.  And where they dwell, or where wife and\nchild dwell, there is home.\n\nSuch is Heaven.  Think of a large family of noble children, of all\nages, from the little child to the young man beginning his business\ncareer, returning after long severance to spend a season together in\nthe old ancestral home, situated in its far-reaching grounds, and you\ncan form some idea of what it will be, when the whole Family of the\nRedeemed gather in the Father's house.  All reserve, all shyness, all\nrestraint gone forever.  God has given us all the memory of what home\nwas, that we may guess at what awaits us, and be smitten with\nhomesickness.  As the German proverb puts it: \"Blessed are the\nhomesick, for they shall reach home.\"\n\n_Heaven is very spacious._--There are \"_many_ mansions.\"  There is no\nstint in its accommodation.  In the olden Temple there were spacious\ncourts, long corridors, and innumerable chambers, in which a vast\nmultitude could find a home day and night.  The children trooped about\nand sang around their favorite teacher.  The blind and lame sheltered\nthemselves from heat or storm.  The priests and Levites in great\nnumbers lived there.  All of this probably suggested the Master's words.\n\nHeaven too will contain immense throngs, without being crowded.  It\nwill teem with innumerable hosts of angels, and multitudes of the\nredeemed which no man can number.  Its children will be as the grains\nof sand that bar the ocean's waves, or the stars that begem the vault\nof night.  But it can easily hold these, and myriads more.  Yet there\nis room!  As age after age has poured in its crowds, still the cry has\ngone forth, There is still room!  The many mansions are not all\ntenanted.  The orchestra is not full.  The complement of priests is not\ncomplete.\n\nDo not believe those little souls, who would make you believe that\nHeaven is a little place for a select few.  If they come to you with\nthat story, tell them to begone! tell them that they do not know your\nFather's heart; tell them that all He does must be worthy of Himself.\nJesus shall see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.\n\n_Heaven is full of variety._--It is not like one great hall; there are\nmyriads of adjacent rooms, \"mansions,\" which will be fitted up, so to\nspeak, differently.  One for the sweet singer, another for the little\nones and their teachers, another for the student of the deep mysteries\nof the Kingdom, another for those who may need further instruction in\nthe mysteries of God.\n\nHeaven's life and scenery are as various as the aptitudes and\ncapacities of souls.  Its music is not a monotone, but a chorale.  It\nis as a home, where the parents delight to develop the special tastes\nof their children.  This is surely what Jesus meant when He said, \"I go\nto prepare a place for you.\"  He is ever studying our special\nidiosyncrasies--what we need most, and can do best; and when He has\nascertained it, He suits our mansion accordingly.\n\nWhen a gardener is about to receive some rare exotic, he prepares a\nplace where it will flower and fruit to the best advantage.  The\nnaturalist who is notified of the shipment of some new specimen,\nprepares a habitat as suited as possible to its peculiarities.  The\nmother, whose son is returning from sea, prepares a room in which his\nfavorite books and pictures are carefully placed, and all else that her\npondering heart can devise to give him pleasure.  So our Lord is\nanxious to give what is best in us its most suitable nourishment and\ntraining.  And He will keep our place against our coming.  It will not\nsuit another, and will not be given to another.\n\nThat all this will be so, is witnessed by the instincts of our hearts,\nand if it had not been so, He would have told us.  That little clause\nis inimitably beautiful; it seems to teach that where He permits His\nchildren to cherish some natural presentiment of the blessed\nfuture--its solemn troops and sweet societies; its friendships,\nrecognitions, and fellowships; its holy service, and special\nopportunities--that He really assents to our deepest and most cherished\nthoughts.  If it had not been so, He would have told us.\n\n_The charm of Heaven will be the Lord's presence._--\"Where I am, ye\nshall be also.\"  We shall see His face, and be forever with Him.  What\nwould not men give, if some old manuscripts might turn up with new\nstories of His wondrous life, new parables as charming as those of the\nGood Shepherd and the Prodigal Son; new beatitudes; new discourses like\nthat on the Vine.  God might have permitted this.  But what would it be\nin comparison with all that lies before!  The past has lost much; but\nthe future holds infinitely more.  We shall see new Gospels enacted\nbefore our eyes, behold Christ as a real visible person in the glory of\nDivine manhood, hear Him speak to us as His friends, and shall know\nwhat He meant when He promised to gird Himself, and come forth to serve\nHis servants.\n\nIf you are in doubt as to what Heaven is like, is it not enough to know\nthat it will be in accord with the nature and presence and choice of\nJesus Christ?\n\nAfter His resurrection, He spent forty days among His disciples, that\nmen might see what the risen life was like.  As He was, and is, so\nshall we be.  His body is the pattern in accordance to which this shall\nbe fashioned.  What He was to His friends after His resurrection, we\nshall be to ours, and they to us.  We shall hear the familiar voices\nand the dear old names, shall resume the dear relationships which death\nsevered, and shall speak again of the holy secrets of our hearts with\nthose who were our twin-spirits.\n\nAnd He will come again, either in our death hour or in His Second\nAdvent, \"to receive us\" to Himself.  If we only could believe this, and\ntrust Him who says it, our hearts could not be troubled, though death\nitself menaced us; for we should realize, that to be received at the\nmoment of dissolution by the hands of Jesus, into the place on which He\nhas lavished time and thought and love, must be \"far better\" than the\nbest that earth could offer.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nThe Reality of which Jacob's Dream was the Shadow\n\n\"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man\ncometh unto the Father, but by Me.\"--JOHN xiv. 6.\n\n\nWe all know more truth than we give ourselves credit for.  A moment\nbefore the Lord had said, \"Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.\"\nThomas, the pessimist--always inclined to look at the dark side of\nthings--directly contradicted Him, saying, \"Master, we are absolutely\nignorant of the goal to which Thy steps are bending; it is impossible,\ntherefore, for us to know the path that lies through the gloom, and by\nwhich Thou art to come to it.\"  It was a strange collision, the\nMaster's \"Ye know,\" and Thomas's \"We know not.\"  Which was right?\n\nThere is no doubt that Jesus was right, and they did know.  In many a\ndiscourse He had given sufficient materials for them to construct a\ntrue conception of the Father's house, and the way to it.  These\nmaterials were lying in some dusty corner of their memory, unused, and\nChrist knew this.  He said, therefore, in effect, \"Go back to the\nteachings I have given you; look carefully through the inventory of\nyour knowledge; let your instincts, illumined by My words, supply the\ninformation you need: there are torches in your souls already lighted,\nthat will cast a radiant glow upon the mysteries to the brink of which\nyou have come.\"\n\nThis is true of us all.  Christ never conducts to experiences for which\nHe has not previously prepared us.  As the great ocean-steamers take in\ntheir stores of coal and provision, day and night, for weeks previous\nto their sailing; so, by insensible influences, Christ is ever\nanticipating the strain and stress of coming circumstance, passing in\nwords which are spirit and life, though they may stand in their heavy\npacking-cases in the hold, until we are driven to unpack, examine, and\nuse their contents.  Not unseldom sorrow is sent for no other purpose\nthan to compel us to take cognizance of our possessions.  Many a fabric\nof manufacture, many an article of diet, many an ingenious process has\nbeen suggested in days of scarcity and famine.  So, old words and\ntruths come back in our sore need.  Christ often speaks to us, as a\nteacher to a nervous child, saying, \"You know quite well, if you would\nonly think a little.\"  More truth is stored in memory than recollection\ncan readily lay hands upon.\n\nThomas persisted in his protestations of ignorance, and so the Lord\nuttered for his further information the royal sentence, which sums up\nChristianity in the one simple pronoun \"I.\"  It was as if He said to\nHis disciples gathered there, and to His Church in all ages, \"To have\nMe, to know Me, to love and obey Me, this is religion; this is the\nlight for every dark hour, the solution for all the mysteries.\"\nChristianity is more than a creed, a doctrinal system, a code of\nrules--it is Christ.\n\n\nI. CHRIST, AS THE WAY.--\"I am the Way,\" said our Lord.  The conception\nof life as a pilgrimage is as old as human speech.  On the third page\nof our Bibles we are told that \"Enoch walked with God.\"  The path of\nthe Israelites through the desert was a pilgrim's progress, and the\nenduring metaphor for our passage from the cross to the\nSabbath-keeping.  Isaiah anticipated the rearing up of a highway which\nshould be called the way of holiness, which should not be trodden by\nthe unclean; no lion should be there, or ravenous beast go up thereon;\nbut the ransomed of the Lord should walk there, and go with singing to\nZion.  But in the furthest flights of inspired imagination, the prophet\nnever dreamed that God Himself would stoop to become the trodden path\nto Himself, and that the way of holiness was no other than that Divine\nServant who so often stood before Him for portrayal.  \"_I_ am the way,\"\nsaid Christ.\n\nHe fulfills all the conditions of Isaiah's prediction.\n\nHe saw a highway.  A highway is for all: for kings and commoners; for\nthe nobleman daintily picking his way, and the beggar painfully\nplodding with bare feet.  And Jesus is for every man.  \"Whosoever will,\nlet him come\"; let him step out and walk; let him commit himself to Him\nwho comes to our doors that He may conduct us to the pearly gate.\n\nIt was a way of holiness, where no unclean or leprous person was\npermitted to travel.  Neither can we avail ourselves of the gracious\nhelp of Christ, so long as we are harboring what He disapproves, or\ndoing what He forbids.\n\nIt was so plain and straight, that wayfaring men though fools could not\nmistake it.  And the Master said, that whilst the wise and prudent\nmight miss His salvation, babes would find it.  \"Hidden from the wise\nand prudent, but revealed to babes.\"\n\nIt afforded perfect immunity from harm.  The wild beasts of the forest\nmight roar around it, but they were kept off that thoroughfare by an\ninvisible and impassable fence.  Who is he that can harm us whilst we\nfollow that which is good?  The special Divine permission was\nnecessary, before Satan could tempt Job, whose heart was perfect with\nhis God.\n\nIt was trodden with song.  And who can describe the waves of joy that\nsometimes roll in on the believing, loving soul.  There is always\npeace, but sometimes there is joy unspeakable and full of glory.  The\nhands of Jesus shed the oil of gladness on our heads, whilst the\nlamentation and regret that haunt the lives of others are abashed, as\nthe spectres of the night before the roseate touch of morn.\n\nWhat further thought did Christ mean to convey, when He said, \"I am the\nWay\"?  We cannot see the other side of the moon.  The full import of\nthese words, as they touch His wonderful nature, as it lies between Him\nand His Father, is beyond us; but we may at least study the face they\nturn toward our lives.\n\nThe true value of a way is never realized until we are following it\nthrough an unknown country, or groping along it in almost absolute\ndarkness.  I remember, during a tour in Switzerland, on starting for a\nlong day's march, the comfort of the assurance that I had only to keep\nto one road which was clearly defined, and it would inevitably bring me\nto my destination.  How different this to another experience of making\nmy way, as I might, across the hillsides in the direction which I\nfancied was the right one!  All that had to be done in the first\ninstance was to follow the roadway, to obey its sinuous windings, to\nclimb the hills where it climbed, to descend the valleys where it\ndescended, to cross the rivers and torrents at the precise point with\nit.  It seemed responsible for me as long as I kept to it.  Whenever I\nthought to better myself by wandering right or left, I found myself\nlanded in some difficulty, and when I returned to it, it seemed to say,\n\"Why did you leave me?  I know that sometimes I am rough and difficult;\nbut I can do better for you, than you can for yourself, and indeed I am\nthe only possible way.  Obey me, and I will bring you home.\"  It is so\nthat Christ speaks to us.\n\nEach day, as we leave our home, we know that the prepared path lies\nbefore us, in the good works which God has prepared for us to walk in.\nAnd when we are ignorant of their direction, and are at a loss as to\nwhere to place our steps, we have only to concern ourselves with\nChrist, and almost unconsciously we shall find ourselves making\nprogress on the destined way.  Christ is the Way: love Christ, trust\nChrist, obey Christ, be concerned with Christ, and all else will be\nadded.  Christ is the Way.  When the heart is wrapped up in Him, it is\non the way, and it is making progress, although it never counts the\nrate or distance, so occupied is it with Him.\n\n\"I fear I make no progress,\" sighs the timid soul.\n\n\"But what is Christ to thee?\"\n\n\"Everything.\"\n\n\"Then if He be all in all to thee, thou art most certainly on God's\nway; and thou art making progress toward thy home, albeit that it is\nunconsciously.  Be of good cheer, Christ is the Way; remember the\nancient pilgrims, of whom it is written, that the way was in their\nhearts.\"\n\n\"But God the Father is so little to me!\"\n\n\"But to deal with Christ is to deal with God: to be wrapped up in the\nlove of Christ is to make ever deeper discoveries into the heart of\nGod.  He is the Way to God: to know Him is to come to the Father.\"\n\n\nII. CHRIST AS THE TRUTH.--The thought grows deeper as we advance.\nObedience to the Way conducts to the vision of the Truth; ethics to\nspiritual optics.  The truth-seeker must first submit himself in all\nhumility and obedience to Christ; and when he is willing to do His\nwill, he is permitted to know.\n\n(1) Christ is more than a teacher.  \"We know that Thou art a Teacher,\ncome from God,\" said Nicodemus.  He is more, He is the Truth of God.\nAll truth is ensphered in Him.  All the mysteries of wisdom and\nknowledge are hidden in Him.  We fully know truth only as it is in\nJesus.  When the Spirit of Truth would lead us into all truth, He can\ndo nothing better than take of the things of Christ, and reveal them to\nus, because to know Christ is to know the Truth in its most complete,\nmost convenient, and most accessible form.  If you know nothing else,\nand know Christ intimately and fully, you will know the Truth, and the\nTruth will make you free.  If you love truth, and are a child of the\ntruth, you will be inevitably attracted to Christ, and recognize the\ntruth that speaks through His glorious nature.  \"He that is of the\ntruth heareth My voice.\"\n\n(2) Distinguish between Christ the Truth, and truth about Him.  Many\ntrue things may be said about Him; but we are not saved by truths about\nHim, but by Himself the Truth.\n\nNot the indubitable fact that Jesus died; but the Person of Him who\ndied and lives forevermore.\n\nNot the certain fact that Jesus lay in the grave; but the blessed Man\nHimself, who lay there for me.\n\nNot the incontestable facts of His resurrection and ascension; but that\nHe has borne my nature to the midst of the throne, and has achieved a\nvictory which helps me in my daily struggle.\n\nThis is the ground basis of all true saving faith.  The soul may accept\ntruths about Christ, as it would any well-authenticated historical\nfact; but it is not materially benefited or saved until it has come to\nrest on the bosom of Him of whom these facts are recorded.\n\n(3) To know Christ as Truth demands truth in heart and life.  The\ninsincere man; the trifler; the flippant jester who takes nothing\nseriously; the superficial man who uses the deepest expressions, as\ncounters for society talk; the inconsistent man who is daily doing\nviolence to his convictions, by permitting things which his conscience\ncondemns--must stand forever on the outskirts of the Temple of Truth:\nthey have no right to stand before the King of Truth.  If you have\nnever discerned the truth as it is in Jesus, it becomes a serious\nquestion whether you are perfectly true, or whether you are not, like\nPilate, harboring insincerity in your heart, which blinds your eyes to\nHis ineffable attributes.\n\n(4) Concern yourself with Christ.  Be content to let the world and its\nwisdom alone.  \"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God . . .\nHe taketh the wise in their own craftiness.\"  Give yourself to know\nChrist, who is made unto us wisdom, as well as sanctification and\nredemption.  To know Him is to be at the fountain-head of all truth;\nand the soul which has dwelt with Him by day and night will find\nitself, not only inspired by an undying love for the true, but will be\nable to hold fellowship with truth-lovers and truth-seekers everywhere;\nnay, will be able even to instruct those who have the reputation of\ngreat learning and knowledge in the schools of human thought.  \"I have\nmore understanding than all my teachers; for Thy testimonies are my\nmeditation.  I understand more than the aged, because I have kept Thy\nprecepts.\"  To know and to possess Christ, is to have the Word, that is\nthe Wisdom of God, enshrined as a most sacred possession in the heart.\n\n\nIII. CHRIST AS THE LIFE.--It is not enough to know; we need life.  Life\nis, indeed, the gate to knowledge.  \"This is life eternal _that_ they\nshould know Thee.\"  It was imperative, therefore, that Jesus should\nbecome a source of life to men, that they might know the Truth, and be\nable to walk in the Way, and more especially since death had infected\nand exhausted all the springs of the world's vitality.\n\nIt was into a world of death that the Son of God came.  The spring of\nlife in our first parents had become tainted at its source.  At the\nbest Adam was only a living soul.  Dead--dead--dead in trespasses and\nsins; such was the Divine verdict, such the course of this world.\nEarth resembled the valley in the prophet's vision, full of bones, very\nmany and very dry.  All the reservoirs of life were spent; its\nfountains had died away in wastes of sand.\n\nThen the Son of God brought life from the eternal throne, from God\nHimself; and became a Life-giving Spirit.  His words were spirit and\nlife: He was Himself the Resurrection and the Life: those that believed\nin Him became partakers of the Divine Nature.  The tree of life was\nagain planted on the earth's soil, when Jesus became incarnate.  \"I\ngive eternal life unto My sheep,\" He said, \"and they shall never\nperish.\"  \"He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life.\"\n\nIf, then, you are wanting life, and life more abundantly, you must have\nChrist.  Do not seek _it_, but _Him_: not the stream but the fountain;\nnot the word, but the speaker; not the fruit, but the tree.  He is the\nLife and Light of men.\n\nAnd if you have Christ you have life.  You may not be competent to\ndefine or analyze it; you may not be able to specify the place or time,\nwhen it first broke into your soul; you may hardly be able to\ndistinguish it from the workings of your own life: but if you have\nChrist, trust Christ, desire Christ above all, you have the Life.  \"He\nthat hath the Son hath the Life; he that hath not the Son of God hath\nnot the Life.\"  \"We know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is\ntrue . . . this is eternal life.\"  \"I,\" said Jesus, \"am the Way, the\nTruth, and the Life.\"\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nChrist Revealing the Father\n\n\"Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father and it sufficeth us.\nJesus saith unto him, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.\"--JOHN\nxiv. 8, 9.\n\n\nThe longing of the universal heart of man was voiced by Philip, when he\nbroke in, rather abruptly, on our Lord's discourse with the challenge\nthat He should answer all questions, dissipate all doubt, by showing\nthem the Father.  Is there a God? how can I be sure that He is? what\ndoes He feel toward us?--these are questions which men persistently\nask, and wait for the reply.  And the Master gave the only satisfactory\nanswer that has ever been uttered in the hearing of mankind, when He\nsaid in effect, \"The knowledge of God must be conveyed, not in words or\nbooks, in symbols or types, but in a life.  To know Me, to believe in\nMe, to come into contact with Me, is to know the deepest heart of God.\n'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou then, Show\nus the Father?'\"\n\n\nI. PHILIP'S INQUIRY.--_It bore witness to the possible growth of the\nhuman soul_.  Only three short years before, as we are told in the\nfirst chapter of this Gospel, Christ had found him.  At that time he\nwas probably much as the young men of his age and standing.  Not\nspecially remarkable save for an interest in, and an earnestness about,\nthe advent of the Messiah; his views, however, of his person and work\nwere limited and narrow: he looked for his advent as the time for the\nreestablishment of the kingdom of David, and deliverance from the Roman\nyoke.  But three years of fellowship with Jesus had made a wonderful\ndifference in this young disciple.  The deepest mysteries of life and\ndeath and heaven seemed within his reach.  He is not now content with\nbeholding the Messiah, he is eager to know the Father, and to stand\nwithin the inner circle of His presence-chamber.\n\nThe highest watermark ever touched by the great soul of Moses was when\nhe said, amid the sublimities of Sinai, \"I beseech Thee, show me Thy\nglory.\"  But in this aspiration Philip stands beside him.  There is a\nclose kinship between the mighty lawgiver and the fishermen of\nBethsaida.  How little there is to choose between, \"Show me Thy glory,\"\nand \"Show us the Father.\"  Great and marvellous is the capacity of the\nsoul for growth!\n\n_It truly interpreted the need of man._--\"It sufficeth us.\"  From\nnature, with all her voices that speak of God's power and Godhead; from\nthe page of history, indented with the print of God's footprints; from\ntype and ceremony and temple, though instituted by God Himself; even\nfrom the unrivalled beauty of our Saviour's earthly life--these men\nturned unsatisfied, unfilled, and said, \"We are not yet content, but if\nThou wouldest show us the Father, we should be.\"\n\nAnd would it not suffice _us_?--Would it not be sufficient to give new\nzest and reality to _prayer_, if we could realize that it might be as\nfamiliar as the talk of home, or like the petitioning of a little\nchild?  Would it not suffice to make the most irksome _work_ pleasant,\nif we could look up and discern the Father's good pleasure and smile of\napproval?  Would it not suffice to rob _pain_ of its sting, if we could\ndetect the Father's hands adjusting the heat of the furnace?  Would it\nnot suffice to shed a light across the dark mystery of _death_, if we\nfelt that the Father was waiting to lead us through the shadows to\nHimself?  How often the cry rises from sad and almost despairing\nhearts, \"Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.\"\n\n_But surely this request was based on a mistake._--Philip wanted a\nvisible theophany, like that which Moses beheld, when the majestic\nprocession swept down the mountain pass; or as the elders saw, when\nthey beheld the paved sapphire work; or after the fashion of the\nvisions vouchsafed to Elijah, Isaiah, or Ezekiel.  He wanted to see the\nFather.  But how can you make wisdom, or love, or purity visible, save\nin a human life?\n\nYet this is the mistake we are all liable to make.  We feel that there\nmust be an experience, a vision, a burst of light, a sensible\nmanifestation, before we can know the Father.  We strain after some\nunique and extraordinary presentation of the Deity, especially in the\naspect of Fatherhood, before we can be completely satisfied, and thus\nwe miss the lesson of the present hour.  Philip was so absorbed in his\nquest for the transcendent and sublime, that he missed the revelations\nof the Father which for three years had been passing under his eyes.\nGod had been manifesting His tenderest and most characteristic\nattributes by the beauty of the Master's life, but Philip had failed to\ndiscern them; till now the Master bids him go back on the photographs\nof those years, as fixed in his memory, to see in a thousand tiny\nillustrations how truly the Father dwelt in Him, and lived through His\nevery word and work.\n\nAre you straining after the vision of God, startled by every footstep,\nintently listening till the very atmosphere shall become audible,\nexpecting an overwhelming spectacle?  In all likelihood you will miss\nall.  The kingdom comes not with outward show.  When men expected\nChrist to come by the front door, He stole in at the back.  Whilst\nPhilip was waiting for the Father to be shown in thunder and lightning,\nin startling splendor, in the stately majesty that might become the\nHighest, he missed the daily unfolding of the Divine Nature that was\nbeing afforded in the Life with which he dwelt in daily contact.\n\n_Philip's request emphasized the urgent need of the ministry of the\nHoly Spirit._--\"If ye had known Me\". . . the Saviour said.  \"Have I\nbeen so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me?\"  They\nfailed to know the Father, because they failed to know Christ, and they\nfailed in this because they knew Him only after the flesh.  They were\nso familiar with Him as their Friend, His love was so natural, tender,\nand human, He had become so closely identified with all their daily\nexistence, that they did not recognize the fire that shone behind the\nporcelain, the Deity that tabernacled beneath the frail curtains.\n\nOften those who dwell amid the loveliest or grandest scenery miss the\nbeauty which is unveiled to strangers from a distance.  Certain lives\nhave to be withdrawn from us before we understand how fair they were,\nand how much to us.  And Jesus had to leave His disciples before they\ncould properly appreciate Him.  The Holy Spirit must needs take of the\nthings of Christ, and reveal them, before they could realize their true\nsignificance, symmetry, and beauty.\n\nTwo things are needful, then: first, we must know Christ through the\nteaching of the Holy Ghost; and next, we must receive Him into our\nhearts, that we may know Him, as we know the workings of our own\nhearts.  Each knows himself, and could recognize the mint-mark of his\nown individuality; so when Christ has become resident within us, and\nhas taken the place of our self-life, we know Him as we know ourselves.\n\"What man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in\nhim?--but we have the mind of Christ?\"\n\n\nII. THE LORD'S REPLY.--\"He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father.\"\n\nHe did not rebuke the request, as unfit to proffer, or impossible to\nsatisfy.  He took it for granted that such a desire would exist in the\nheart, and that His disciples would always want to be led by Him into\nthe Father's presence.  In this His ministry resembled that of the\ngreat forerunner, who led His disciples into the presence of the\nBridegroom, content to decrease if only He might increase.  The\nMaster's answer was, however, widely different from John's.  The\nforerunner pointed to Jesus as He walked, and said, \"Behold the Lamb of\nGod\"; Jesus pointed to Himself, and said, \"I and My Father are One; to\nhave seen Me is to have seen the Father; to have Me is to possess the\nFather.\"\n\nIt troubled the Lord greatly that He had been so long time with them,\nand yet they had not known Him; that they had not realized the source\nof His words and works; that they had concentrated their thought on\nHim, instead of passing, as He meant them to do, from the stream to the\nsource, from the die to the seal, from the beam of the Divine Glory to\nits Sun.  He bade them, therefore, from that moment realize that they\nknew and had seen the Father in knowing and seeing Himself.  Not more\nsurely had the Shechinah dwelt in the tabernacle of old, than did it\nindwell His nature, though too thickly shrouded to be seen by ordinary\nand casual eyes.\n\nLet us get help from this.  Many complain that they know Christ, pray\nto Christ, are conscious of Christ, but that the Father is far away and\nimpalpable.  They are therefore straining after some new vision or\nexperience of God, and undervaluing the religious life to which they\nhave already attained.  It is a profound mistake.  To have Jesus is to\nhave God; to know Jesus is to know God; to pray to Jesus is to pray to\nGod.  Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.  Look up to Him even now from\nthis printed page, and say, \"My Lord and my God.\"\n\nJesus is not simply an incarnation of God in the sense in which, after\nthe fashion of the Greek mythology, gods might come down in the\nlikeness of men, adopting a disguise which they would afterward cast\naside; Jesus is God.  All the gentle attributes of His nature are\nGod's; and all the strong and awful attributes of power, justice,\npurity, which we are wont to associate with God, are His also.\n\nHappy is the moment when we awake to realize that in Jesus we have God\nmanifest and present; to know this is the revelation of the Father by\nthe Son, of which our Saviour spoke in Matt. xi. 27.\n\n\nIII. A GLIMPSE INTO THE LORD'S INNER LIFE.--This Gospel is the most\nlucid and profound treatise in existence on His inner life.  It is the\nrevelation of the principles on which our Saviour lived.\n\nSo absolutely had He emptied Himself that He never spake His own words:\n\"The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself.\"  He never did\nHis own works: \"My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. . . .  The\nFather abiding in Me doeth His works.\"  This was the result of that\nmarvellous self-emptying of which the Apostle speaks.  Our Lord speaks\nas though, in His human nature, He had a choice and will of His own.\n\"Not My will, but Thine be done,\" was His prayer.  Perhaps it was to\nthis holy and divine personality that Satan made appeal in the first\ntemptation, bidding Him use His powers for the satisfaction of His\nhunger, and in independence of His Father's appointment.  But however\nmuch of this independence was within our Lord's reach, He deliberately\nlaid it aside.  Before He spoke, His spirit opened itself to the\nFather, that He might speak by His lips; before He acted.  He stilled\nthe promptings of His own wisdom, and lifted Himself into the presence\nof the Father, to ascertain what He was doing, and to receive the\ninflow of His energy (John v. 19; xii. 44, 49).\n\nThese are great mysteries, which will engage our further consideration.\nIn the meanwhile, let us reason that if our Lord was so careful to\nsubordinate Himself to the Father that He might be all in all, it well\nbecomes us to restrain ourselves, to abstain from speaking our own\nwords or doing our own works, that Jesus may pour His energies through\nour being, and that those searching words may be fulfilled in us also,\n\"Striving according to His working, which worketh in Me mightily.\"\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nThe Great Deeds of Prayer\n\n\"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works\nthat I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;\nbecause I go unto My Father.\"--JOHN xiv. 12.\n\n\nWhenever our Lord was about to say something usually important, He\nintroduced it by the significant expression, \"_Verily, verily_\"; or, as\nit is in the original, \"Amen, amen, I say unto you.\"  The words well\nbecome His lips, who in the Book of Revelation is called \"the Amen, the\nFaithful and True Witness.\"  They are really our Lord's most solemn\naffirmation of the truth of what He was about to utter, as well as an\nindication that something of importance is about to be revealed.\n\nIndeed, it was necessary in the present case that the marvellous\nannouncement of the text should receive unusual confirmation, because\nof its wide extent.  If our Lord had ascribed this power of doing\ngreater works than Himself in His earthly life, to apostle, prophet, or\nillustrious saint, we should have required no special assurance of its\ndeliberate truth; but to learn that powers so transcendent are within\nthe reach of any ordinary believer, to learn that any one who believes\nmay outdo the miracles on the outskirts of Nain, and at the tomb of\nBethany, is as startling as it is comforting.  There is no reason why\nthe humblest soul that ponders this page should not become the medium\nand vehicle through which the Christ of the glory shall not surpass the\nChrist of Galilee, Jerusalem, and Judea.\n\nThe best method of treating these words is to take them clause by\nclause as they stand.\n\n\nI. THE FIRST NOTE IS FAITH.--\"He that believeth on Me.\"  Three\nvarieties of faith are alluded to in the context.  Faith in His works:\n\"Believe the works.\"  Faith in His words: \"Believe Me.\"  Faith in\nHimself, as here.  In the Greek the preposition translated _in_, would\nbe better rendered _into_, as though the believer was ever approaching\nthe heart of Christ in deeper, warmer, closer fellowship; perpetual\nmotion _toward_, combined with unbroken rest _in_.  Each of these three\nforms of faith plays an important part in the Christian life.\n\nArrested by the works of Christ--His irresistible power over nature,\nHis tender pity for those who sought His aid, the blessed and\nfar-reaching results of His miracles--we cry with Nicodemus, \"Verily,\nthis is a Teacher come from God; for none can do such miracles, except\nGod be with him.\"  The Master perpetually appealed to the witness borne\nby His works to His Divine mission, as when He said, \"If I had not done\namong them the works which none other did, they had not had sin, but\nnow have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.\"  And again,\n\"The very works that I do bear witness of Me.\"  But at the best the\nworks of Christ are only like the great bell ringing in the\nchurch-tower calling attention to the life being unfolded within, and\nare not calculated to induce the faith to which the greater works are\npossible.\n\nNext we come to the words of Christ.  They are spirit and life: they\ngreatly feed the soul.  He speaks as none other has ever spoken of the\nmysteries of life, death, God, and eternity.  It is through the words\nthat we come to the Speaker.  By feeding on them we are led into vital\nunion with Himself.  But His words, as such, and apart from Him, will\nnot produce works that shall surpass those He wrought in His earthly\nministry.\n\nTherefore from works and words we come to the Lord Himself with a trust\nwhich passes up beyond the lower ranges of faith; which does not simply\nreceive what He waits to give, or reckon upon His faithfulness, but\nwhich unites us in indissoluble union with Himself.  This is the\nhighest function of faith; it is _unitive_: it welds us in living union\nwith our Lord, so that we are one with Him, as He is one with God.\n\nWe are in Him in the Divine purpose which chose us in Him before the\nfoundation of the world; grafted into Him in His cross; partaking of a\ncommon life with Him through the regeneration of the Holy Ghost.  But\nall these become operative in the union wrought by a living faith; so\nthat the strongest assertions which Jesus made of the close\nrelationship between His Father and Himself become the current coin of\nholy speech, as they precisely describe the union which subsists\nbetween us and Jesus.  The living Saviour has sent us, and we live by\nthe Saviour.  The words we speak are not from ourselves, but the\nSaviour within us, He doeth His works.  We are in Him and He in us, all\nours are His, and His ours.\n\nStay, reader, and ask thyself whether thou hast this faith which\nincorporates thee with the Man who died for thee on the cross, and now\noccupies the Throne, the last Adam who has become a life-giving Spirit.\n\n\nII. A TRUE FAITH ALWAYS WORKS.--\"He that believeth in Me, the works\nthat I do shall He do also.\"\n\nThere are many counterfeits of faith in the world.  Electroplate!\nveneer!  They will inevitably fail in the last supreme test, if not\nbefore.  James especially calls attention to the distinction between a\nliving and a dead faith.  It becomes us to be on our guard.\n\nThe test of genuine faith are twofold.  In the _first_ place, a\ngenuine, living faith has Christ for its object.  The hand may tremble,\nbut it touches His garment's hem; the eye may be dimmed by doubt, but\nit is directed toward His face; the feet may stumble, but as the\nfainting pilgrim staggers onward, this is his repeated cry, \"Thou, O\nChrist, art all I want.\"\n\nIn the _second_ place, a true faith works.  Its works approve its\nnature, and show that it has reached the heart of Christ, and becomes\nthe channel through which His life-forces pour into the soul.  Jacob\nknew that Joseph was alive and that his sons had opened communications\nwith him, because of the wagons that he sent; and we may know that\nJesus lives beyond the mist of time, and that our faith has genuinely\nconnected us with Him, because we feel the pulse of His glorious nature\nwithin our own.  And when this is so, we cannot but work out what He is\nworking within.\n\nAsk me why a true faith must work!  Ask why the branch can do no other\nthan bear clusters of ruddy grapes; its difficulty would be to abstain\nfrom bearing; the vitality of the root accounts for its life and\nproductiveness.  Blame the lark, whose nature vibrates in the sunshine,\nfor pouring from its small throat acres of sound; blame the child, full\nof bounding health, for laughing, singing, and leaping; blame the\nmusician, whose soul has caught some fragments of the music of\neternity, for pouring it forth in song, before you wonder why it is\nthat the true faith which has opened the way from the believer to his\nLord produces those greater works.\n\n\nIII. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF WORK INDICATED.--(1) \"_The works that I do\nshall he do also._\"--What a blessing Christ's ministry must have been\nto thousands of sufferers!  He passed through Galilee as a river of\nwater of life.  In front of Him were deserts of fever blasted by the\nsirocco, and malarious swamps of ague and palsy, and the mirage of the\nsufferer's deferred hope; but after He had passed, the parched ground\nbecame a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, the eyes of the\nblind were opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame man\nleaped as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sang.\n\nHow glad the sick of any district must have been when it was rumored\nthat He was on His way to it!  What eager consultations must have been\nheld as to the best means of conveying them into His presence!  What\nsleepless nights must have been spent of speculation as to whether, and\nhow, He would heal!\n\nSuch results followed the labors of the apostles.  The lame man at the\nbeautiful gate of the Temple; the palsied Aeneas; the dead Dorcas; the\ncrowds in the streets over-shadowed by Peter's passing figure; the\nmiracles wrought by Paul at Paphos, Lystra, Philippi, and Malta--all\nattested the truth of the Master's words, \"The works that I do shall ye\ndo also.\"  There is no doubt that, if it were necessary, such miracles\nmight be repeated, if only the Church exercised the same faith as in\nthose early days of her ministry to the world.  But there are greater\nworks than these.\n\n(2) \"_Greater works than these shall ye do._\"--The soul is greater than\nthe body, as the jewel than the casket.  All work, therefore, which\nproduces as great an effect on the soul-life as miracles on the\nphysical life, must be proportionately greater, as the tenant is\ngreater than the house, as the immortal than the mortal.  It is a\ngreater work to give sight to the blind soul than to the blind body; to\nraise the soul from its grave than Lazarus from his four days' sleep.\n\nAgain, eternity is also greater than time, as the ocean is greater than\na creek.  The ills from which the miracles of Christ delivered the\nsuppliant crowds, were at the most limited by years.  The flesh of the\nleper became wrinkled with old age; Jairus' daughter fell again on\nsleep; the generation which had been benefited by the mighty works,\npassed away without handing on a legacy of health to succeeding time!\nBut if a sinner is turned from the error of his ways, if salvation\ncomes to a nature destined for immortality, and lifts it from the\nslough of sin to the light of God, the results must be greater because\nmore permanent and far-reaching.\n\nMoreover, the pain from which the word of the Gospel may save, is\ninfinitely greater than that which disease could inflict.  Men have\nbeen known to brave any physical torture rather than endure the\ninsupportable anguish of a sin-laden conscience.  The worm that never\ndies is more intolerable than cancer; the fire that is never quenched\nkeener than that of fever.  To save a soul from these is, therefore, a\ngreater work.\n\nChrist hinted at this distinction in one of His earliest miracles, when\nHe proposed to forgive the sick of the palsy his sins, before bidding\nhim walk; and bade the seventy rejoice more that their names were\nwritten in heaven than that the devils were subject to them.  The\napostles bear witness to a growing appreciation of this distinction, by\nthe small space given in the Acts of the Apostles to their miracles,\ncompared with the greater attention concentrated on their discourses;\nand surely the history of Christendom bears witness to the great and\npermanent character of spiritual work.  The Church could not have\ninfluenced the world as she has done, had she been nothing more than a\nhealer of diseases and an exorciser of demons.\n\n\nIV. THE SOURCE OF THESE GREATER WORKS.--\"Because I go to the Father.\"\nClearly the Church has had an argument to present to men which even her\nMaster could not use.  He could not point, except indefinitely, to the\ncross, its flowing blood, its testimony to a love which the cold waters\nof death could not staunch.  Through the ages this has been the\nmaster-motive, the supreme argument.\n\nThen, again, the Master could not count upon the cooeperation of the\nSpirit in His convicting power, as we can.  \"When He is come, He will\nconvict the world of sin\"; but He did not come till after that brief\ncareer of public ministry had closed.  Speaking reverently, we may say\nthat the Church has an Ally that even her Master had not.\n\nBut the main reason is yet to come.  Perhaps an illustration will best\nexplain it.  Supposing the great painter, Raphael, were to infuse his\ntranscendent power, as he possessed it during his mortal life, into\nsome young brain, there is no reason why the genius of the immortal\npainter should not effect, through a mere tyro in art, results in form\nand color as marvellous as those which he bequeathed to coming time.\nBut suppose, further, that after having been three hundred years amid\nthe tones, forms, and colors of the heavenly world, he could return,\nand express his thoughts and conceptions through some human medium,\nwould not these later productions be greater works than those which men\ncherish as a priceless legacy?  So if the Lord were to work in us such\nworks only as He did before He ascended to His glory, they would be\ninferior to those which He can produce now that He has entered into His\nglorified state, and has reassumed the power of which He emptied\nHimself when He stooped to become incarnate.  This is what He meant\nwhen He said, \"Because I go unto the Father.\"\n\nOpen your hearts to the living, risen, glorified Saviour.  Let Him live\nfreely in your life, and work unhindered through your faith; expect Him\nto pour through you as a channel some of those greater works which must\ncharacterize the closing years of the present age.  Remember how the\ndiscourses and miracles of His earthly life even increased in\nimportance and meaning; for such must be the law of His ministry in the\nheavenlies.  According to our faith it will be unto us.  The results\nwhich we see around us are no measure of what Christ would or could do,\nthey indicate the straitening effect of our unbelief.  Lift up your\nheads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye low-browed doors of\nunbelief; and the King of Glory shall come in with His bright and\nmighty retinue, and shall go out through human lives to do greater\nworks by the instrumentality of His people than ever He wrought in the\ncourse of His earthly ministry.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nHow to Secure More and Better Prayer\n\n\"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,\nthat He may abide with you forever.\"--JOHN xiv. 16.\n\n\nThe great lack of our life is that we do not pray more.  And there is\nno failure so disastrous or criminal as this.  It is very difficult to\naccount for it.  If in all times of discouragement and vicissitude we\ncould have access to one of the wisest and noblest of our fellow\ncreatures, or to some venerated departed saint, or to the guardian\nangel deputed to attend our steps, or to the archangel that presides as\nvicegerent over this system of worlds, how strong and brave we should\nbecome!  Whatever our need, we would at once seek His august presence,\nand obtain His counsel and assistance.  How extraordinary is our\nbehavior then with respect to prayer, and that we make so little of our\nopportunities of access into the presence of our Father, in whom\nwisdom, power, and love blend perfectly, and who is always willing to\nhear us--nay, is perpetually urging us to come!\n\nThe reason may lie in the very commonness of our opportunities.  The\nswing-door of prayer stands always waiting for the least touch of faith\nto press it back.  If our Father's presence-chamber were opened to us\nonly once a year, with how much greater reverence would we enter it,\nhow much more store would we set on it!  We should anticipate the honor\nand privilege of that interview for the whole year, and eagerly avail\nourselves of it.  Alas, that familiarity with prayer does not always\nincrease our appreciation of its magnificence!\n\nThe cause of our apathy is probably also to be sought in the effort\nwhich is required to bring our sensuous and earth-bound natures into\ntrue union with the Spirit of God.  True prayer is labor.  Epaphras\nlabored in his intercessions.  Our feet shrink from the steep pathway\nthat climbs those heights; our lungs do not readily accustom themselves\nto the rare air that breathes around the summit of the Mount of\nCommunion.\n\nBut there is a deeper reason yet: we have not fully learned or obeyed\nthe laws and conditions of prayer.  Until they are apprehended and\ncomplied with, it is not possible for us to pray as we might.  They are\nnot, however, very recondite.  The least advanced in the Divine school\nmay read them on this page, where Christ unbares the deepest philosophy\nof devotion in the simplest phrases.\n\nIt is evident that He expected that the age which Pentecost was to\ninaugurate, and to which He so frequently refers as \"in that day,\"\nwould in a special sense be the Age of Prayer.  Mark how frequently in\nthis last discourse He refers to it--(xiv. 13, 14; xv. 7, 16; xvi. 24,\n26).  Clearly the infilling of the Holy Spirit has a special bearing on\nthe prayerfulness of the individual and the Church.  But this will\nunfold as we proceed.\n\n\nI. THE PRAYING CHRIST.--\"I will pray the Father.\"  It is true that He\nsat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, because He had\ncompleted the work for which He became man.  That session indicated a\nfinished atonement.  As the Father rested from the work of creation, so\nthe Son entered into His rest, having ceased from the work of\nredemption, so far as it could be effected in His death, resurrection,\nand ascension.  But as in His rest the Father worked in Providence,\nsustaining that which He had created, so did the Saviour continue to\nwork after He had entered into His Sabbath-keeping.\n\nWe have already dealt with one branch of His twofold activity, in _His\nwork through those who believe_.  The greater works which the risen\nSaviour has been, and is, achieving through His people bear witness to\nthe perpetual energy streaming from His life in the azure depths.  \"The\napostles,\" Mark tells us, \"went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord\nworking with them, and confirming their word with signs following.\"\n\nThe other branch of His twofold ministry is _His intercession on our\nbehalf_.  He says, \"I will pray the Father\" for you.\n\n(1) What a contrast to the assertions which we have already pondered of\nHis oneness with the Father, and to His assurance in almost the same\nbreath that He would Himself answer His people's prayers!  It is\ninexplicable, save on the hypothesis that He has a dual nature, by\nvirtue of which, on the one hand, He is God, who answers prayer, and on\nthe other the Son of Man, who pleads as the Head and Representative of\na redeemed race.\n\n(2) It is, however, in harmony with Old Testament symbolism.  The High\nPriest often entered the Presence of God with the names of the people\non his breast, the seat of love, and on his shoulder, the seat of\npower; and once a year, with a bowl of blood and sprig of thyme in his\nhands, pleaded for the entire nation.  What more vivid portrayal could\nthere be of the ceaseless intercession of that High Priest who was once\nmanifested to bear the sin of many, and who now appears in the presence\nof God for us.\n\n(3) In the days of His flesh, He pleaded for His _Church_, as in the\nsublime intercessory prayer of chapter xvii.; for _individuals_, as\nwhen He said, \"Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he may\nsift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee\"; and for _the world_, as\nwhen He first assumed His High-priestly functions, saying from His\ncross, \"Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.\"  Thus He\npleads still.  For Zion's sake He does not hold His peace, and for\nJerusalem's sake He does not rest.  For His Church, for individual\nbelievers, for thee and me, He says in heaven, as on earth, \"Father, I\npray for them.\"  Perennially from His lips pours out a stream of tender\nsupplication and entreaty.  This is the river that makes glad the city\nof God.  Anticipating coming trial; interposing when the cobra-coil is\nbeginning to encircle us; pitying us when the sky is overcast and\nlowering; not tiring or ceasing, though we are heedless and unthankful;\nHe pleads on the mountain brow through the dark hours, whilst we sleep.\n\n(4) These intercessions are further stimulated by our love and\nobedience.  \"If ye love Me, keep My commandments, _and_ I will pray the\nFather.\"  He looks on us, and where love is yearning to love more\nfully, and obedience falters in its high endeavors, He prays yet more\neagerly, that grace may be given us to be what we long to be.  He prays\nfor those who do not pray for themselves; but He is even more intent on\nthe perfecting of those who are the objects of His special interest,\nbecause of their loyalty and love--\"I pray for them; I pray not for the\nworld.\"\n\n(5) His special petition is that we may receive the gift of Pentecost.\n\"I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter.\"  It\nwould almost seem as though He spent the mysterious ten days between\nHis ascension and Pentecost in special intercession that His Church\nmight be endued with power from on high.  The pleading Church on earth\nand the pleading Saviour in heaven were at one.  The two voices agreed\nin perfect symphony, and Pentecost was the Father's answer.  The\nSaviour prayed to the Father, and He gave another Comforter.  Nor has\nHe ceased in this sublime quest.  It is not improbable that every\nrevival of religion, every fresh and deeper baptism of the Spirit,\nevery new infilling of individual souls, has been due to our Saviour's\nstrong cryings on our behalf.  It may be that at this hour He is\nengaged in asking the Father that He would dower the universal Church\nwith another Pentecost; and if so, let us join Him in the prayer.\n\n\nII. THE PRAYING CHURCH.--\"Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name.\"\n\n(1) Prayer must be addressed to the Father.  As soon as we utter that\nsacred name, the Divine nature responds; and, to put it vividly, is on\nthe alert to hear what we desire.  A little child cannot utter a sigh\nhowever slight, a sob however smothered, without awakening the quick\nattention of its mother; and at the first whisper of our Father's name,\nHe is at hand to hear and bless.  Alas! we have too often grieved His\nHoly Spirit by a string of selfish petitions, or a number of formal\nplatitudes!  To the wonderment of angels, we thus fritter away the most\nprecious and sacred opportunities.  Be still, then, before you pray, to\nconsider what to ask; order your prayers for presentation: and be sure\nto begin the blessed interview with words of sincere and loving\nappreciation and devotion.\n\n(2) The conditions of successful prayer are clearly defined in these\nwords.  There must be _love_ to Christ and to all men; _obedience_ to\nHis will, so far as it is revealed; _recognition_ of His mediation and\nintercession, as alone giving us the right to draw nigh;\n_identification_ with Him, so as to be able to use His name;\n_passionate desires for the Father's glory_.  Where these five\nconditions exist, there can be no doubt as to our receiving the\npetitions which we offer.  Prayer that complies with them cannot fail,\nsince it is only the return tide of an impulse which has emanated from\nthe heart of God.\n\n(3) Note how the Saviour lives for the promotion of His Father's glory.\nHow often, during His earthly ministry, He declared that He was\ndesiring and seeking this beyond all else!  Though His prayer could\nonly be granted by His falling into the ground to die, He never\nflinched from saying, \"Father, glorify Thy Name.\"  But here He tells us\nthat through the ages as they pass He will still be set on the same\nquest.  By all means He must glorify His Father; and if, in any prayer\nof ours, we can show that what we ask will augment the Father's glory,\nwe are certain to obtain His concurrence and glad acquiescence.\n\"That,\" He says, \"will I do.\"\n\n(4) We must pray \"in His Name.\"  As the ambassador speaks in the name\nof queen and country; as the tax-collector appeals in the name of the\nauthorities; both deriving from their identification with their\nsuperiors an authority they could not otherwise exercise; so our words\nbecome weighted with a great importance when we can say to our Father,\n\"We are so one with Jesus that He is asking in and through us; these\nwords are His; these desires His; these objects those on which His\nheart is set.  We have His sanction and authority to use His name.\"\nWhen we ask a favor in the name of another, that other is the\npetitioner, through us; so when we approach God in the Name of Jesus,\nit is not enough to append His sacred name as a formula, but we must\nsee to it that Jesus is pleading in us, asking through our lips, as He\nis asking through His own in the heart of the sapphire throne.\n\n\nIII. THE LINK BETWEEN THESE TWO.--\"He will give you another Comforter.\"\nThe word Comforter might be rendered Advocate.  We have two Advocates;\none with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and one with us.  As\nthe one went up, the other came down.  As the one sat down at the right\nhand of God, the other rested on the heads and hearts of the company in\nthe upper room.  As the one has compassion on our infirmities, so the\nother helps our infirmities.  As the one ever liveth to intercede for\nus in heaven, so the other maketh intercession in us for the saints\nwith groanings that cannot be uttered.\n\nThis is the clue to the mystery of prayer.  It is all-important that\nthe Church on earth should be in accord with its Head in His petitions\nbefore the Throne.  Of what avail is it for a client and advocate to\nenter an earthly court of justice unless they are in agreement?  Of\nwhat use is it to have two instruments in an orchestra which are not\nperfectly in tune?  And how can we expect that God will hear us unless\nwe ask what is according to His will, and, therefore, what is in the\nheart and thought of Jesus?\n\nThis, then, is the problem that confronts us.  How can we ascertain\nwhat Jesus is pleading for?  We may guess it generally, but how be\nassured of it particularly?  Who will tell us the direction in which\nthe current of His mighty pleadings is setting, that we may take the\nsame direction?  These inquiries are answered in the ministry of the\nHoly Spirit.  On the one hand, He fills and moves the Head, and on the\nother, His members.  There is one Spirit of life between Jesus in the\nglory and His believing people everywhere.  One ocean washes the shores\nof all natures in which the life of God is found.\n\nBe still, therefore, and listen carefully to the voice of the Spirit of\nGod speaking in thine heart, as thou turnest from all other sounds\ntoward His still small whisper, and He will tell thee all.  Coming, as\nHe does, from the heart of Jesus, He will tell thee His latest thought.\nIn Him we have the mind of Christ.  Then, sure that we are one with\nHim, and therefore with the Father, we shall ask what is according to\nHis will to give.  Prayer goes in an eternal circle.  It begins in the\nheart of God, comes to us through the Saviour and by the Spirit, and\nreturns through us again to its source.  It is the teaching of the\nraindrops, of the tides, of the procession of the year; but wrought out\nand exemplified in the practice of holy hearts.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nThe Other Paraclete\n\n\"He shall give you another Comforter.\"--JOHN xiv. 16.\n\n\nThere was no doubt in our Lord's mind that His asking would be at once\nfollowed by the Father's giving.  Indeed, the two actions seemed, in\nHis judgment, indissolubly connected--\"I will ask, and He shall give.\"\nFrom which we learn that prayer is a necessary link in the order of the\nDivine government.  Though we are assured that what we ask is in God's\npurpose to communicate--that it lies in the heart of a promise, or in\nthe line of the Divine procedure, yet we must nevertheless make\nrequest.  \"Ye have not,\" said the Apostle James, \"because ye ask not.\"\n\"Ask,\" said the Master, His eye being open to the laws of the spiritual\nworld, \"and it shall be given you.\"\n\nThe prayer of the Head of the Church was heard, and He received the\nHoly Spirit to bestow Him again.  \"Having received of the Father the\npromise of the Holy Spirit,\" said the Apostle Peter, \"He hath shed\nforth this, which ye now see and hear.\"  Thus the Holy Spirit is the\ngift of the Father, through the Son, though He is equal with each of\nthe blessed Persons in the Trinity, and is with them to be worshipped\nand glorified.\n\n\nI. THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY GHOST.--That word, \"another\"--\"He shall\ngive you _another_ Comforter\"--is in itself sufficient to prove the\nDivinity and Personality of the Holy Ghost.  If a man promises to send\nanother as his substitute, we naturally expect to see a man like\nhimself, occupying his place, and doing his work.  And when Jesus\nforeannounced another Comforter, He must have intended a Person as\ndistinct and helpful as He had been.  A breath, an afflatus, an\nimpersonal influence could not have stood in the same category with\nHimself.\n\nThere are those who think that the Holy Spirit is to the Lord Jesus\nwhat a man's spirit is to his body; and imagine that our Lord simply\nintended that the spirit of His life-teaching and self-sacrifice would\nbrood over and inspire His followers; but this could not have fulfilled\nthe promise of \"the other Comforter.\"  It would simply have been\nHimself over again, though no longer as a living Person; rather as the\nmomentum and energy of a receding force which gets weaker and ever\nweaker as the ages pass.  Thus the spirit of Napoleon or of Caesar is\nbecoming little more than a dim faint echo of footsteps that once shook\nthe world.\n\nJesus knew how real and helpful He had been to His followers--the\ncentre around which they had rallied; their Teacher, Brother, Master;\nand He would not have tantalized them by promising another Paraclete,\nunless He had intended to announce the advent of One who would adjust\nHimself to their needs with that quickness of perception, and\nsufficiency of resource, which characterize a personal Leader and\nAdministrator.  There were times approaching when the little band would\nneed counsel, direction, sympathy, the interposition of a strong wise\nHand--qualities which could not be furnished by the remembrance of the\npast, fading like the colors on clouds when the sun has set; and which\ncould only be secured by the presence of a strong, wise, ever-present\nPersonality.  \"I have been one Paraclete,\" said the Lord in effect;\n\"but I am now going to plead your cause with the Father, that another\nParaclete may take My place, to be My other self, and to abide with you\nforever.\"\n\nThere is no adequate translation for that word _Paraclete_.  It may be\nrendered Comforter, Helper, Advocate, Interpreter; but no one word\nsuffices.  The Greek simply means one whom you call to your side, in a\nbattle, or a law-court, to assist you by word or act.  Such a One is\nChrist; such a One is the Holy Spirit.  He is a definite Person whom\nyou can call to, and lean on, and work with.  If a man were drowning,\nhe would not call to the wandering breath of the wind; but to any\nperson who might be on the bank.  The Spirit is One whom you can summon\nto your side; and it is therefore quite in keeping with Scripture to\npray to the Holy Spirit.  On the whole we are taught to direct prayer\nto the Father, through the Son, and as prompted by the Holy Spirit; but\nas a matter of practice and habit, it is indifferent which Person in\nthe Holy Trinity we address, for each is equally God.  As the Father is\nGod, so also is the Son, and so the Holy Spirit.  In her hymns and\nliturgies the Church has never hesitated to summon the Holy Spirit to\nher help.\n\nIt is in recognition of the Personality of the Holy Spirit that the\nhistorian of the Acts of the Apostles quotes His solemn words,\n\"Separate _Me_ Barnabas and Saul\"; tells us that Ananias and Sapphira\nlied to Him; and records that the Church at Jerusalem commenced its\nencyclical letter with the words, \"It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and\nto us.\"  Happy that body of Christians which has come to realize that\nthe Holy Ghost is as certainly, literally, and personally present in\nits midst, as Jesus Christ was present when, in the days of His flesh,\nHe tarried among men!\n\n\nII. A SEVENFOLD PARALLEL BETWEEN THE ADVENTS OF THE TWO\nPARACLETES.--(1) _Each was in the world before His specific\nadvent._--Long before His incarnation the delights of the Son of God\nwere with men.  In Angel-form, He visited their tents, spoke with them\nface to face, calmed their fears, and fought on their behalf.  He trod\nthe holy fields of Palestine with noiseless footfall that left no\nimpress on the lightest sands, long before He learned to walk with\nbaby-feet, or bore His cross up Calvary.\n\nSo with the Holy Spirit.  He brooded over chaos, strove with men before\nthe deluge, moved holy men to write the Scriptures, foreshadowed the\nadvent of the Messiah, equipped prophets and kings for their special\nmission.  In restraining evil, urging to good, preparing the way for\nChrist, the Holy Spirit found abundant scope for His energies.  But His\ninfluence was rather external than internal; savored rather of gift\nthan grace; and dealt more often with the few than with the many--with\nthe great souls that reared themselves to heaven like Alpine summits\ntouched with the fires of dawn, rather than with the generality of men,\nwho dwelt in the valley of daily commonplace, enwrapped in the mists of\nignorance and unbelief.  It was to be the special prerogative of this\nage, that He should be poured out on all flesh, so that sons and\ndaughters should prophesy, whilst servants and handmaidens participated\nin His gracious influences.\n\n(2) _The advent of each was previously announced._--From the Fall, the\ncoming of the great Deliverer was foretold in type and sign, in speech\nand act, in history and prophecy.  Indeed, as the time of the\nIncarnation drew nigh, as Milton tells us in his sublime ode on the\nIncarnation, surrounding nations had caught from the chosen people the\nspirit of expectancy, and the world was in feverish anticipation of the\ncoming of its Redeemer.  He was the Desire of all nations.  All the\nages, and all the family of man, accompanied Mary to Bethlehem, and\nworshipped with the Magi.\n\nSo with the Holy Spirit.  Joel distinctly foretold that in the last\ndays of that dispensation.  God would pour out of His Spirit; and His\nmessage is echoed by Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and others; till Jesus\ncame, who more specifically and circumstantially led the thoughts of\nHis disciples forward to the new age then dawning, which should be\nintroduced and signalized by the coming and ministry of the Spirit.\n\n(3) _Each was manifested in a body._--The Lord Jesus in that which was\nprepared for Him by the Father, and born of a pure Virgin.  We are\ntold, that He took on Him the form of a servant, and was made in the\nlikeness of man.  Similarly the Holy Spirit became, so to speak,\nincorporate in that mystical Body, the Church, of which Jesus is the\nHead.\n\nOn the day of Pentecost, the hundred and twenty who were gathered in\nthe upper room, and who, up to that time, had had no corporate\nexistence, were suddenly constituted a Church, the habitation and home\nof the Divine Spirit.  What the human body of Jesus was to the second\nPerson of the Holy Trinity, that the infant Church was to the third;\nthough it did not represent the whole body, since we must add to those\ngathered in the upper room many more in heaven and on earth, who by\nvirtue of their union with the risen Christ constituted with them the\nHoly Catholic Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who\nfilleth all in all.  \"This,\" said the Blessed Spirit, \"is My rest\nforever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.\"\n\n(4) _Each was named before His advent._--\"Thou shalt call His name\nEmmanuel.\"  \"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty\nGod, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.\"  Thus was the Lord\nJesus designated to loving hearts before His birth.\n\nSo also with the Holy Spirit.  The last discourses of Jesus are full of\nappellatives, each setting forth some new phase of the Holy Spirit's\nministry; some freshly-cut facet of His character.  The Spirit of\nTruth; the Holy Spirit; the Paraclete; the Spirit of Conviction--such\nare some of the names by which He was to be known.\n\n(5) _Each was dependent on another._--Our Lord said distinctly, \"The\nSon can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do\"; and He\nsaid of the Holy Spirit, using the same preposition, \"He shall not\nspeak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.\"\n\nWhat a conception is here!  It is as though the Holy Spirit were ever\nlistening to the Divine colloquy and communion between the Father and\nthe Son, and communicating to receptive hearts disclosures of the\nsecrets of the Deity.  The things which eye hath not seen, nor ear\nheard, God hath revealed unto us by His Spirit; \"for the Spirit\nsearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.\"\n\n(6) _Each received witness._--The Father bore witness to His Son on\nthree separate occasions.  On the first, at His baptism, He said, \"This\nis My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased\"; on the second, when the\nthree apostles were with Him on the holy mount, and He received from\nthe Father glory and honor; and on the third, when the inquiry of the\nGreeks reminded Him of His approaching death, and the voice from heaven\nassured Him that glory would accrue to the Father through His falling\ninto the ground to die.\n\nSo in regard to the Holy Spirit.  Seven times from the throne the\nascended Lord summons those that have ears, to hear what the Spirit\nsaith to the churches; as though to emphasize the urgent importance of\nHis message, and the necessity of giving it our most earnest heed, lest\nwe should drift past it.\n\n(7) _The presence of each is guaranteed during the present age._--\"I am\nwith you,\" saith the Lord, and they were among the closing words of His\nposthumous ministry, \"all the days, even unto the end of the age\"; and\nhere it is foretold that the Comforter would abide during the age, for\nso the phrase might more accurately be rendered.\n\nThis is specially the age of the Holy Spirit.  He may be grieved,\nignored, and rejected; but He will not cease His blessed ministry to\nthe bride, till the Bridegroom comes to claim her for Himself.  Oh, let\nus avail ourselves of His gracious presence to the utmost of our\nopportunity, that He may realize in us the full purpose of His\nministry.  Let us not pray for Him, as if in any degree He had been\nwithdrawn, but as believing that He is as much with the Church of\nto-day as on the day of Pentecost; as near us as when awe-struck eyes\nbeheld Him settling in flame on each meekly-bowed head.\n\nThe Lord said, \"He shall remain with you to the end of the age.\"  The\nage is not closed, therefore He must be with us here and now.  There\ncan be no waning of His grace or power.  The pot of oil is in the\nChurch, only she has ceased to bring her empty vessels.  The mine is\nbeneath our feet, but we do not work it as of yore.  The electric\ncurrent is vibrating around, but we have lost the art of switching\nourselves on to its flow.  It is not necessary then for us to pray the\nFather that He should give the Holy Paraclete in the sense in which He\nbestowed Him on the Day of Pentecost in answer to the request of our\nLord.  That prayer has been answered: the Paraclete is here; but we\nneed to have the eyes of our heart opened to perceive, and the hand of\nour faith strengthened that we may receive, Him.\n\nThe work of the Holy Spirit in and through us is conditioned by certain\ngreat laws, which call for our definite and accurate obedience.  Not on\nemotion, nor on hysteric appeals, nor on excitement, but on obedience,\ndoes the power of God's Spirit pass into human hearts and lives.\nTherefore, let us walk in the Paracletism of the Paraclete, continually\nin the current of His gracious influences, which will bear us on their\nbosom ever nearer to our Lord.  Oh to glorify Him; to know and love\nHim; to become passionately eager that all hearts should enthrone Him\nregardless of the personal cost it may involve!  Glory be to the\nFather, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the\nbeginning, is now, and shall be forevermore.  Amen.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nThe Three Dispensations\n\n\"The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth\nHim not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with\nyou, and shall be in you.\"--JOHN xiv. 17.\n\n\nThey are lofty themes which we have been discussing in the foregoing\npages; and just because they touch the highest matters of the spiritual\nlife, they involve us in profound responsibility.  It was because\nCapernaum had been exalted to heaven in privilege, that she could be\ncast down to hell.  Of those to whom much is given, much is required.\nBetter not to have known these truths of the inner life, if we are\ncontent to know them only by an intellectual apprehension, and make no\neffort to incorporate them into the texture of our character.  Few\nthings harden more certainly than to delight in the presentation of the\nmysteries of the kingdom, without becoming the child of the kingdom.\n\nThe object, therefore, which now engages us is less one of elucidation\nthan of self-examination.  Let us discern ourselves.  Let us see\nwhether we be in the faith.  Let us expose soul and spirit to the\ndiscrimination of the Word of God, which is a discerner of the thoughts\nand intents of the heart.\n\n\nI. THERE ARE TWO AVENUES OF KNOWLEDGE.--\"Whom the world cannot receive,\nbecause it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him.\"  Three things are\nspecified as beyond the range of the world's power: it does not\nreceive, it does not know, it does not see, the things of the unseen\nand eternal world.  It cannot see them, therefore it does not know\nthem, and therefore does not receive them, and this is especially true\nof its attitude toward the Holy Ghost.\n\nWhen the world hears talk of the Holy Spirit it brings to bear upon Him\nthose organs of cognition which it has been accustomed to apply to the\nobjects of the natural world, and even to the human life of Christ.\nBut, as might have been expected, these are altogether useless.  It is\nas absurd to endeavor to detect the presence of the spiritual and\neternal by the faculties with which we discern what is seen and\ntemporal, as it would be to attempt to receive the impression of a\nnoble painting by the sense of taste, or to deal with the problems of\nastronomy by the tests that are employed in chemical analysis.  The\nworld, however, does not realize its mistake.  It persists in applying\ntests to the Spirit of God which may be well enough in other regions of\ndiscovery, but which are worse than useless here.  \"The natural man\nreceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know\nthem, because they are spiritually discerned.\"  \"Whom the world cannot\nreceive, for it beholdeth Him not, neither knoweth Him.\"\n\nThere was a touch of this worldly spirit even in Thomas, when he said,\n\"Except I see in His hand the print of the nails, and thrust my hand\ninto His side, I will not believe\"; and in so far as the world-spirit\nis permitted to hold sway within us, our powers of spiritual perception\nwill be blunted, and become infected with the tendency to make our\nintellect or imagination our sole means of apprehending Divine truth.\n\nThere is a better way than this; and our Lord indicates it when He\nsays, \"Ye know Him, for He abideth with you, and shall be in you.\"\nPascal said, \"The world knows in order to love: the Christian loves, in\norder to know.\"  The same thought underlies these words of Christ.  The\nworld attempts to see the Spirit, that it may know and receive Him; the\nchild of God receives Him by an act of faith that he may know Him.\n\nAn illustration of this habit is given in the story of Naaman.  The\nspirit of the world whispered to him of the desirability of _knowing_\nthat the waters of Israel possessed curative properties, before he\ncommitted himself absolutely to the prophet's directions; and if he had\nwaited to know before bathing in them, he would have remained a\nhelpless leper to the end of his days.  His servants, however, had a\nclearer perception of the way of faith, and persuaded him to dip seven\ntimes in the Jordan.  He acted on the suggestion, dipped seven times,\nand his flesh came as that of a little child.  Similarly we are called\nto act upon grounds which the world would hold to be inadequate.  We\nhear the testimony of another; we recognize a suitability in the\npromise of the Scripture to meet the deep yearnings of our soul; we\nfeel that the words and works of Jesus Christ constitute a unique claim\nfor Him, and we open our hearts toward Him.  In absolute humility and\nperfect obedience we yield to Him our whole nature.  Though the night\nbe yet dark, we fling wide our windows to the warm southwest wind\ncoming over the sea.  The result is that we begin to know, with an\nintuitive knowledge that cannot be shaken by the pronouncements of the\nhigher criticism.  We have received the Spirit, and our after life is\ntoo short to unfold all that is involved in that unspeakable gift.  We\nknow Him because He abideth with us, and is in us.  No man knoweth the\nthings of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him; and we can\nonly know the Spirit of God when He has taken up His residence within\nus, and witnesses with our spirit, as One who is interwoven with the\nvery texture of the inner life.\n\nConsecration is therefore the key to this higher knowledge, and if any\nwho read this page are yearning after a discernment of the things of\nGod on which they may build the house of their faith amid the swirl of\nthe storm and the beat of the wave of modern doubt, let them open their\nentire nature, humbly to receive, diligently to obey that Spirit whom\nChrist waits to give to all who seek.\n\n\nII. THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THIS DISPENSATION.--\"He shall be _in_ you.\"\nIt has been repeatedly said that creation is the work of the Father,\nredemption of the Son, and regeneration of the Holy Spirit.  It may\nalso be said, that there are three dispensations: that of the Father,\nin the earlier history of mankind; that of the Son, culminating in our\nLord's ascension; and that of the Holy Spirit, in which we are now\nliving.  In the history of the world these were successive.  In the\nhistory of souls they may be the contemporaneous.  In the same house\none member may be in the dispensation of the Father, another in that of\nthe Son, and a third in that of the Holy Ghost.  It is highly\nnecessary, says the saintly Fletcher, that every good steward of the\nmysteries of God should be well acquainted with this fact, otherwise he\nwill not rightly divide the word of life.  There is peril lest we\nshould give the truth of one order of dispensation to those who are\nliving on another level of experience.\n\nThere is a remarkable illustration of this in the life of John the\nBaptist, who clearly realized the distinction on which we are dwelling,\nand used it with remarkable nicety, when approached by various classes\nof character.  When Gentile soldiers came to him, in Roman regimentals,\nhe merely bade them do violence to no man, and be content with their\nwages.  When Jews came he said, \"Behold the Lamb of God!\"  To his eagle\neye a further dispensation was unveiled to which he alluded when he\nsaid, \"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.\"\nSimilarly they to whom inquirers address themselves should diagnose\ntheir spiritual standing, that they may lovingly and wisely administer\nthe truth suitable to their condition.\n\n_The dispensation of the Father_ includes those who hope that He has\naccepted and forgiven them, but have no clear perception of the atoning\nwork of Christ; are governed rather by fear than love; tremble beneath\nthe thunders of Sinai more often than they rejoice at the spectacle of\nCalvary; are tossed to and fro between hope and despair; desire the\nfavor of God, but hesitate to speak confidently of having attained it.\nSuch are to be found in churches where the Gospel is veiled beneath\nheavy curtains of misconception and formalism.  In the same class we\nmight put men like Cornelius, who in every nation fear God and work\nrighteousness.\n\n_The dispensation of the Son_ includes those who clearly perceive His\nDivine nature, and rejoice in His finished propitiation; they know that\nthey are accepted in the Beloved; they receive His teachings about the\nFather; they submit to the rule of life which He has laid down; but\nthey know comparatively little of the inner life, or of their oneness\nwith Christ in resurrection and ascension; they understand little of\nwhat the apostle meant by speaking of Christ being formed in the soul;\nand like the disciples at Ephesus they know but little of the mission\nand in-filling of the Holy Spirit.\n\n_The dispensation of the Holy Spirit_ includes those who have claimed\ntheir share in Pentecost.  In their hearts the Paraclete dwells in\nsanctifying grace, on their heads He rests in mighty anointing.  The\nprevious class resemble Ruth the gleaner; the latter, Ruth the bride.\nThe one dwells in Romans vii. and Hebrews iii.; the other in Romans\nviii. and Hebrews iv.  For those the water has to be drawn from the\nwell, in these it springs up to everlasting life.  Oh to know the\n\"in-ness\" of the Holy Ghost.  Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you\nby the Spirit, unless ye be reprobate!\n\n\nIII. THE SYMPTOMS OF THE INDWELLING.--We must distinguish here, as Dr.\nSteele suggests, between what is variable, and what is constant.\n\n_These vary_--(1) The joy of realization, which is sometimes\noverpowering in its intensity, at other times like the ebbing tide.\n\n(2) Agony for souls, which would be insupportable if it were permanent.\nChrist only asks us to watch in Gethsemane for one hour.\n\n(3) Access in prayer.  Sometimes the vision is face to face; at others,\nthough we grasp as in Jacob's night-wrestle, we cannot behold.  Like\nEsther, we seem to wait in the ante-chamber.  As the lark of which\nJeremy Taylor speaks, we rise against the east wind.\n\n(4) The openings of Scripture.  The Bible does not seem to be always\nequally interesting.  At times it is like the scented letter paper,\nsmelling of aloes and cassia, bearing the handwriting we love; at\nothers it resembles the reading book of the blind man, the characters\nin which, by constant use, have become almost obliterated, so as hardly\nto awake answering thought.\n\n(5) The pressure of temptation.  We sometimes think that we are getting\nout of the zone of temptation.  The pressure is so reduced that we\nthink we shall never suffer again as we have done.  Then, all suddenly,\nit bursts upon us, as the fury of the storm, when, after an hour's\ncessation, it takes the mariner unawares.\n\nAll these symptoms are too variable to be relied upon for a diagnosis\nof our spiritual condition, or an evidence of the dispensation to which\nwe belong.\n\n_These are constant_--(1) The consciousness of being God's.  This is to\nbe distinguished from the outgoing of our faith and love toward God.\nAt the beginning of our experience we hold Him, but as the Holy Spirit\ndwells more fully we realize that we are held by Him.  It is not our\nlove to God, but His love to us; not our faith, but His faithfulness;\nnot the sheep keeping near the Shepherd, but the Shepherd keeping the\nsheep near to Himself.  A happy sense steals over the heart, as over\nthe spouse, \"I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me.\"\n\n(2) The supremacy of Jesus in the heart.  There is no longer a double\nempire of self and Christ, as in the poor Indian who said to the\nmissionary, \"I am two Indians, good and bad\"; but there is the\nundivided reign of Christ, who has put down all rule and authority and\npower--as in the case of Martin Luther, who said, \"If any one should\nask of my heart, who dwells here, I should reply, not Martin Luther,\nbut Christ.\"\n\n(3) Peace, which looks out upon the future without alarm, because so\nsure that Christ will do His very best in every day that lies hidden\nbeneath the haze of the future; which forbears to press its will too\nvehemently, or proffer its request too eagerly, because so absolutely\ncertain that Jesus will secure the highest happiness possible,\nconsistently with His glory and our usefulness to men.\n\n(4) Love.  When the Spirit of God really dwells within, there is a\nbaptism of love which evinces itself not only in the household, and to\nthose naturally lovable, but goes out to all the world, and embraces in\nits tenderness such as have no natural traits of beauty.  Thus the soft\nwaters of the Southern Ocean lap against unsightly rocks and stretches\nof bare shingle.\n\nWhere love reigns in the inner chamber of the soul, doors do not slam,\nbells are not jerked violently, soft tones modulate the speech, gentle\nsteps tread the highways of the world, bent on the beautiful work of\nthe messengers of peace, and the very atmosphere of the life is warm\nand sunny as an aureole.  There is no doubt of the indwelling Spirit\nwhere there is this outgoing love.\n\n(5) Deliverance from the love and power of sin, so that it becomes\ngrowingly distasteful, and the soul turns with loathing from the\ncarrion on which it once fed contentedly.  This begets a sense of\npurity, robed in which the soul claims kinship to the white-robed\nsaints of the presence-chamber, and reaches out toward the blessedness\nof the pure in heart who see God.  There is still a positive rain of\nsmut and filth in the world around; there is a recognition of the evil\ntendencies of the self-life, which will assert themselves unless\ngraciously restrained; but triumphing above all is the purity of the\nindwelling Lord, who Himself becomes in us the quality for which holy\nsouls eagerly long.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nThree Paradoxes\n\n\"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.\"\n\n\"The world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me.\"\n\n\"Because I live, ye shall live also.\"--JOHN xiv. 18, 19.\n\n\nThe Bible and Christian life are full of paradoxes.  Paul loved to\nenumerate them; they abound also in the discourses of our Lord.  Here\nare three.\n\nThe Master had declared His purpose of leaving His apostles and friends\nand returning to His Father: but in the same breath He says, \"I will\nnot leave you desolate; I come to you.\"\n\nAgain, He had forewarned them that He would be hidden from them; yet\nnow He tells them that they would still behold Him.\n\nFurther, with growing emphasis and clearness, He had unfolded His\napproaching death by the cruel Roman method of the cross; yet He claims\nthe timeless life of an ever-present tense and insists that their life\nwill depend on His.\n\nAbsent, yet present; hidden, yet visible; dying, yet living and\nlife-giving--such are the paradoxes of this paragraph in His marvellous\nfarewell discourse; and they reveal three facts of which we may live in\nperpetual cognizance.\n\n\nI. WE MAY ENJOY THE PERPETUAL RECOGNITION OF THE ADVENT OF CHRIST.--\"I\nwill not leave you orphans, or desolate, I come unto you\" (R. V.).\nNote the majesty of those last words; they are worthy of Deity; He\nspeaks as though He were always drawing nigh those He loves: \"I come\nunto you.\"\n\n_Christ is always present, yet He comes._--The Creator had been always\nimmanent in His universe, but He came in each creative act; the\nLawgiver had been ever-present in the Church in the wilderness, but He\ncame down on Sinai, and His glory lit up the peaks of sandstone rock;\nthe Deliverer was never for a moment absent from the side of the\nShepherd-King, but in answer to His cry for help He came down riding\nupon a cherub, flying on the wings Of wind; the Holy Spirit had been in\nthe world from the earliest days of prayer and inspired speech, but He\ncame down from the throne to sit on each bowed head in lambent flame.\nSo Christ is with us all the days, yet He comes.  He will come at last\nto receive His own to Himself, and to judge the world; but He comes in\ndark and lonely hours that we may not be desolate.\n\n  \"For warm, sweet, tender, even yet\n    A present help is He;\n  And faith has yet its Olivet\n    And love its Galilee.\n  The heeling of His seamless dress\n    Is by our beds of pain;\n  We touch Him in life's throng and press,\n    And we are whole again.\"\n\n\n_He comes when we need Him most._--When the storm is high, and the\nwater is pouring into the boat; when the house is empty because the\nlife that made it home has fled; when Jericho has to be attacked on the\nmorrow, and the Jordan crossed; when lover and friend stand aloof; when\nlight is fading before dimming eyes, and names and faces elude the\ngrasp of the aged mind; when the last coal is turning to grey ash; when\nthe rush of the river is heard in the valley below--Jesus says, I come.\nIt is in the hour of desolation, when Lazarus has been in the grave\nfour days already, that the glad tidings are whispered in the ear of\nthe mourner, \"The Master is come.\"  \"I will not leave you orphans,\" He\nsaid, \"I come unto you.\"  Oh, blessed orphanhood, it were well to be\nbereaved, to have such comforting!\n\n_He pays surprise visits._--He does not always wait to be invited; but\nsometimes, when we lie sleeping with wakeful hearts, we hear His gentle\nvoice calling to us, \"Arise, My love, and come away.\"  Then as we lift\nthe door-latch, our hand drops with the sweet-smelling myrrh which\nbetrays His presence.  How often when we have been losing ground,\ngetting lukewarm and worldly, we have suddenly been made aware of His\nreviving presence, and He has said, I come.  He comes, as the\nwood-anemones and snowdrops (the most fragile and tender flowerets of\nspring) penetrate the hard ground to announce that the winter is over\nand gone, and that the time of the singing of birds is come.\n\n_It is well to put ourselves in His way._--There are certain beaten\ntracks well-worn by His feet, and if we would meet Him we must frequent\ntheir neighborhood.  Olivet, where He used to pray; Calvary, where He\ndied; Joseph's garden, where He rose, are dear to Him yet.  When we\npray or meditate; when we commemorate His dying love at the memorial\nfeast; when we realize our union with Him in death and resurrection;\nwhen we open our hearts to the breathing of the Holy Spirit--we put\nourselves in His way, and are more likely to encounter Him when He\ncomes.  \"To them that look for Him shall He appear.\"  \"Behold the\nBridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him\"--but take the path by which\nHe is sure to travel.  Be in the upper room, with the rest of the\ndisciples, so that you may not, like Thomas, miss Him when He comes.\n\n_His footsteps are noiseless._--It is said of old, \"Thy footsteps are\nnot known,\" therefore we need not be surprised if He steal in upon us\nas a thief in the night, or as spring over the wolds.  There is no\nblare of trumpet or voice of herald; we cannot say, Lo here, or Lo\nthere; when the King comes there is no outward show; \"He does not\nstrive, nor cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the\nstreet.\"\n\n\"He entered not by the eyes,\" says St. Bernard, \"for His presence was\nnot marked by color; nor by the ears, for there was no sound; nor by\nthe touch, for He was impalpable.  How then did I know that He was\npresent?  Because He was a quickening power.  As soon as He entered He\nawoke my slumbering soul.  He moved and pierced my heart, which before\nwas stony, hard, and sick.  He began also to pluck up and destroy, to\nbuild and plant, to freshen the inner drought, to enlighten the\ndarkness, to open the prison-house, to make the crooked straight and\nthe rough smooth; so that my heart could bless the Lord with all that\nwas within me.\"\n\nOh, lonely, desolate soul, open thy door to Him; wait not on the alert\nto detect His entrance, only believe that He is there; and presently,\nand before ever thou art aware, thou wilt find a new fragrance\ndistilling through the heart-chamber, a new power throbbing in thy\npulse.\n\n\nII. WE MAY ENJOY THE PERPETUAL RECOGNITION OF THE PRESENCE OF\nCHRIST.--\"The world beholdeth Me no more, but ye behold Me.\"  Nothing\nmakes men so humble and yet so strong as the vision of Christ.\n\n_It induces humility._--When Isaiah beheld His glory more resplendent\nthan the sheen of the sapphire throne, he cried that he was undone;\nwhen Peter caught the first flash of His miraculous power gleaming\nacross the waves of Galilee, just when the fish were struggling in the\nfull net, he besought Him to depart, because he felt himself a sinful\nman; and when John saw Him on the Isle of Patmos, he fell at His feet\nas dead, though, surely, if any of the apostles could have faced Him\nunabashed, it had been he.\n\nThis is specially noticeable in the Book of Job.  Few books are so\nmisunderstood.  It is supposed to contain the description of the\nvictory of Job's patience; in reality it delineates its testing and\nfailure.  It shows how he who was perfect, according to the measure of\nhis light, broke down in the fiery ordeal to which he was exposed; and\nfinally was forced to cry, \"I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the\near, but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself and repent,\nin dust and ashes.\"\n\nWouldst thou be humble, wouldst thou know thyself a worm and no man,\nwouldst thou see that thou art verily undone, defiled, and helpless?\nThen ask the blessed Spirit to reveal Jesus in all His matchless beauty\nand holiness, eliciting the confession that thou are the least of\nsaints and the chief of sinners.  This is no forced estimate, when we\ntake into account the opportunities we have missed, the gifts we have\nmisused, the time we have wasted, the light which we have resisted, the\nlove which we have requited with neglect.\n\n_It produces strength._--See that man of God prone on the floor of his\nchamber, shedding bitter tears of godly sorrow, not forgiving himself,\nalbeit that he knows himself forgiven; bowing his head as a bulrush,\ncrying that he is helpless, broken, and at the end of himself--Will he\nbe able to stand as a rock against the beat of temptation, and the\nassault of the foe?  Yes, verily, for the same presence which is a\nsource of humility in private, will inspire to great deeds of faith and\nheroism when he is called to stand in the breach or lead the assault.\n\nIt is this vision of the present Lord that, in every age of the Church,\nhas made sufferers strong.  \"The Lord is on my right hand, I shall not\nbe moved,\" said one.  \"The Lord stood by me, and strengthened me,\" said\nanother.  In many a dark day of suffering and persecution; in the\ncatacombs; in the dens and caves where Waldenses hid; on the hillsides\nwhere the Covenanters met to pray; in the beleaguered cities of the\nNetherlands; in prison and at the stake--God's saints have looked to\nHim, and been lightened, and their faces have not been ashamed.\n\"Behold,\" said the first martyr, \"I see the heavens opened, and the Son\nof Man standing on the right hand of God.\"\n\nOh for more of the open vision of Jesus, ministered to us by the\ngracious Spirit!  Would that His words were oftener verified in our\nexperience:  \"Ye behold Me!\"  He is always with us; and if only our\neyes were not holden, we should behold Him with the quick perception of\nthe heart.  Indeed, the race can only be rightly run by those who have\nlearned the blessed secret of looking off unto Him.  \"We see Jesus.\"\n\nIt is a most salutary habit to say often, when one is alone, \"Thou art\nnear, O Lord.\"  \"Behold, the Lord is in this place.\"  We may not at\nfirst realize the truth of what we are saying.  His presence may be\nveiled, as the forms of mountains swathed in morning cloud.  But as we\npersist in our quest, putting away from us all that would grieve Him,\nand cultivating the attitude of pure devotion, we shall become aware of\na Divine presence which shall be more to us than a voice speaking from\nout the Infinite.\n\n\nIII. WE MAY ENJOY THE PERPETUAL RECOGNITION OF THE LIVING\nCHRIST.--\"Because I live, ye shall live also.\"  There are many\nlife-verses in this Gospel which shine like stars in the firmament of\nScripture.  Amongst them, in the first chapter, that, in the Word as\nmanifested to men, was _life_; and in the fifth chapter, that, \"as the\nFather had life in Himself He gave to the Son to have life also in\nHimself.\"  The Father is the fountain of life.  Eternal life is ever\nrising up in His infinite Being with perennial vigor; and all things\nliving, from the tiny humming-birds in the tropical forest to the\nstrongest archangel beside the sapphire throne, derive their being from\nHim.  Thus we have seen ferns around a fountain, nourishing their\nfronds on its spray.  All things owe their existence and continued\nbeing to the unmeasured life, which has been from all eternity\ntreasured up in God, and is ever flowing out from God.\n\nThis life was Christ's, in the mystery of the eternal Trinity, before\nthe worlds were made; but it was necessary that He should receive it\ninto His human nature, so as to become the reservoir and storehouse\nfrom which all who were one with Him might receive grace on grace.  \"I\nam come,\" He said, \"that they might have life, and that they might have\nit more abundantly.\"  This life dwelt in Him during His earthly\nministry, though comparatively few availed themselves of it; His death\nset it abroach for all the world; the smitten rock yielded streams of\nliving water; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit; from His\nthrone He proclaimed Himself as He that liveth, though He became dead,\nand is alive forevermore.\n\n_We live by His life._--Our life is as dependent upon Him as a babe's\non its mother.  Could ought happen to Him, we should instantly feel the\neffect.  Long before He succumbed, we must.  We have no independent,\nself-derived, or self-sustained life.  Apart from Him we wither.\n\n_We live in His life._--The tiny streamlet of our being has joined His,\nis merged in it, and flows on together with it, to the great ocean of\neternity.  To us to live is Christ, both here and hereafter.  Our aims\nand purposes are merged in His; we are enriched in all that enriches\nHim; gladdened by all that promotes His happiness and glory; made more\nthan conquerors through our oneness with Him, in the victory that has\novercome the world.\n\n_We live because He lives in us._--At the moment of regeneration He\ncame to indwell.  He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath life\nhath the Son.  It has pleased God to reveal His Son in us.  We have\nfound Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, and we\nhave found Him in our hearts.  Where dwellest Thou? we asked Him; and\nHe replied, Come and see; and He manifested Himself as having become to\nus the inward principle of an endless life.  Christ dwells deep in our\nheart, and we are beginning to comprehend the immensity of the Divine\nlove of which He is the exponent.\n\nLet us draw on this life more confidently, availing ourselves of it\nperpetually in all our time of need--in all time of our sickness and of\nour wealth, in adversity and prosperity, in the hour of mortal anguish\nand the day of judgment; and finding what we could not do or bear or\nencounter, Jesus can do and bear and meet in and through us, to the\nFather's eternal glory.\n\n  \"Lord Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me,\n  And all things else recede.\"\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nMany Mansions for God\n\n\"If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him;\nand we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.\"--JOHN xiv. 23.\n\n\nThe Immanence of God!  That God should be willing to make His home\n_with_ man is much; but that He should be willing to come in--to\nindwell, occupy, and possess our nature--this is incomprehensible to\nthe intellect, though it may be received and rejoiced in by the heart.\nThis is no subject for light and thoughtless speech.  We touch on the\nprofoundest mysteries of the Being of the Infinite, and the capacity of\nhuman nature.  Be reverent, O my soul, in the consideration of such a\ntheme, and take the shoes from off thy feet, for the Bush burns with\nfire!\n\nIt was owing to the question of Jude, that the universal application of\nour Master's words is so clear.  A day or two before, our Lord had\nentered Jerusalem amid the enthusiasm of the crowds, and the disciples\nfondly thought the long-expected time had arrived when He would\nmanifest Himself to the world as the Messiah.  \"This is the beginning\nof the Messianic reign,\" said each apostle in his secret heart, as the\ngreat procession passed over the shoulder of Olivet; and each began to\nwonder what special post would be allotted to him in the new empire\nthat seemed so close at hand.  These nascent hopes, however, had been\nrudely dissipated by our Lord's declaration that the world was to see\nHim no more, accompanied by the promise, \"But ye see Me.\"\n\nThe apostles therefore were inclined to think that in some special form\nthe manifestations of His grace and glory would be confined to them.\nHence Jude's question, \"What is come to pass, Master, that Thou wilt\nmanifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?\"  Jesus answered in\neffect, \"Think not that thou and thy fellows are to have the exclusive\nright of beholding and communing with Me.  What I offer to you is open\nto all who believe, love, and obey.  The gate which I throw open shall\nstand wide for all who choose to enter.  The veil shall be rent, that\nany who fulfill the spiritual conditions may see the light, and hear\nthe voice, and stand in the inner court.  If a _man_ love Me . . .\"\nNote those emphatic words, \"a man,\"--any man; thou and I.\n\n\nI. THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.--\"We will make our abode.\"  The word \"abode\"\nis here a translation of the Greek word which is rendered \"mansions\" in\na former part of this chapter.  \"We will make our _mansion_ with Him.\"\nGod is willing to become the mansion of the soul that believes in\nChrist, but asks in return that such a one should prepare a\nguest-chamber, and become a mansion in which He may dwell.  As He\nsteals with noiseless tread into the loving, believing heart, I hear\nHim say, \"This is My rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have\ndesired it.\"\n\n(1) _It is the Immanence of the Father._--Consider who this is of whom\nthe Saviour speaks.  The infinite God!  Time with all its ages is but\nthe flash of a moment in His eternity!  Space, \"beyond the soar of\nangel wings,\" is but a corner in His dwelling-place; matter, with its\nponderous mass, but the light dust that will not affect the level of\nthe scale!  The mighty sun, which is the centre of all worlds, but a\nmote floating in the beam of His being!  All the gathered wisdom of\nman, stored in the libraries of the world, but as a glow-worm's spark\ncompared with the meridian light of His wisdom!  O souls of men,\nconsider how marvellous that such a One, whom the heavens cannot\ncontain, who overflows their limits, asking for room that He may dwell,\nwill yet become the resident of our nature!\n\n_Its motive is Love._--\"The Father will love him.\"  This is wonderful!\nThe more so as we are told that His love toward us is identical with\nthat which He has toward our Lord.  Speaking of those who shall believe\nthrough His apostles' words, Jesus said, \"That the world may know that\nThou lovest them even as Thou lovest Me.\"  That God should condescend\nto think about our planet, which is as a leaf in the forest of being!\nThat He should deign to regard mankind, who, in size at least, are less\nthan a colony of ants that may have built their home at the foot of the\nHimalaya!  That He should pity our race!  This were much.  But that He\nshould _love_ the world, that He should _love_ individuals belonging to\nour race, that He should love them with the love He has toward the\nOnly-begotten--we could not have believed this unless we had been\nassured by the lips of infallible Truth.  But the supreme revelation\nwhich towers above the rest, like some great banyan tree amid the\nslender growth of the Indian forest, is that the Creator should indwell\nand find a mansion in the heart of His creatures.\n\n_It is dual, yet one._--\"We will come.\"  We!  Then, is there more than\nOne?  Who is this who dares class Himself with the supreme God within\nthe limits of a common pronoun, that challenges the love and trust and\nobedience of man, that poses as King?  The meekest and humblest of men.\nThe One who, above all others of the human family, seemed to have least\nto disturb or darken the incidence of the rays of truth upon His soul;\nwho has cast a light on all the dark problems of human life, and could\nnot possibly have been deceived in respect to His own nature.  His\nconceptions of the holiness, greatness, and purity of God have stood\nout in unrivalled magnificence from all others whatsoever; yet it is He\nwho couples in one small word His humanity with Deity, His meekness\nwith the Infinite Majesty, His personality with God's.  Is not this\nproof enough that He was conscious of His Divine nature?  Is not the\nfact of His not counting it robbery to be equal with God evidence that\nHe was God?  What can they make of this _We_, who hold that He was only\na good man and a great teacher?  Good men are humble men, great\nteachers know best their own limitations!\n\nIt is in, and with, and through the Son, and by the Spirit, that the\nFather comes to indwell.\n\n(2) _It is the Immanence of the Son.  To be loved by Him were\nmuch!_--\"I will love Him.\"  His love is of the rarest quality.  Most\nfree of the soil of selfishness, of any human love.  True and tender,\nstrong and sweet, inexorable in its demands upon Himself, inexhaustible\nin its outflow toward the objects of His affectionate regard.  Such\nlove as He gave to John, who grew like Him beneath the magic power of\nthat environment; as He gave to Mary, who perhaps most deeply\nunderstood Him; as He gave to Peter, winning him back from his\nwaywardness--brings with it a heaven of bliss, for which a man may well\nbe prepared to count all things but loss.  But there is a bliss beyond\nall this.  The Lover of men would indwell them.\n\n_It were much that He should seek our love._--\"He that loveth Me.\"  We\nmight have supposed that He would have been satisfied with the vastness\nof His dominion, and the myriad bright spirits that wait on His word!\nBut no, the thirst for love cannot be satisfied with gold, or bright\nangelic servants.  As Isaac could not find a companion among those who\ntended the cattle that browsed over the wolds of Canaan, or the troops\nof slaves that gathered round his father's tents, but Eliezer must\nbring a bride from across the desert; so the Son of God must needs come\nas a suitor to our world to find His Bride, who can share His inner\nthoughts and purposes.  Here is a marvel indeed.  As the village\nbecomes famous which provides the emperor's bride, so earth, though it\nbe least among her sister-spheres, shall have the proud preeminence of\nhaving furnished from her population the Spouse of the Lamb.  But,\ngreat as this marvel is, it is followed by the greater, that the\nImmortal Lover is willing to tenant the poor hearts, whose love at the\nbest is so faint and cold.\n\n_It were much that He should give us manifestations of His love._--\"I\nwill manifest Myself unto him.\"  Have you not sometimes taken up a\ndaisy, and looked into its little upturned eye, and thought and thought\nagain, till through the gate of the flower you have passed into an\ninfinite world of life, beauty, and mystery?  There are moments when\neven a flower is transfigured before us, and manifests itself to us as\na thought of God, a ray of His glory, the frail product of His infinite\nmind, the wick around which trembles the fire of the Shekinah!  Have\nyou not sometimes stood alone amid mountains, glaciers, wooded valleys,\nand rushing streamlets, till nature has dropped her veil, and revealed\nherself in a phase of beauty and a depth of meaning which struck you as\naltogether unique and singular?  So there are moments in the life of\nthe believer, when Christ, who is ever with us, manifests Himself as He\ndoes not to the world.  There is borne in upon the spirit a\nconsciousness that He is near; there is a waft of His breath, a savor\nof His fragrant dress, fresh from the ivory palaces.\n\nAll this is much: but how much more to be told that this glorious\nChrist, the Fellow of Jehovah, who with the Father and the Spirit is\nGod; the Organ of creation; the Mouthpiece of the Godhead; the Mediator\nof Redemption; the Monarch of all worlds; the Supreme Teacher, Guide,\nand Saviour of men--is prepared to repeat the experiences of Bethlehem,\nand make His abode in man!  \"_We_ will come unto Him, and make our\nabode with Him.\"\n\n(3) _Learn to revere the work of God in the souls of others._--\"For thy\nmeat,\" said the apostle, \"destroy not the soul for whom Christ died.\"\nHe might have added, \"and in whom Christ lives.\"  Weak and erring,\ntrying and vexatious, that fellow-believer may be, yet there is a\nchamber in his nature in which God has already taken up His abode.  The\nconflict between the light and darkness, the Christ-spirit and the\nself-spirit, may be long and arduous, but the issue is certain.  Help,\nbut do not hinder the process.  Be reverent, careful, mindful of the\npresence of God.\n\n_Be hopeful for thyself._--When an art-student asked Mr. Ruskin whether\nhe would ever be able to paint like Turner, the great critic replied,\n\"It is more likely that you will become Emperor of all the Russias!\"\nBut God never daunts a soul with such discouragement.  He first sets\nbefore it a great ideal--the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses,\nthe prayer of an Elijah, the love of a John--and then, as the source of\nall perfection, enters the soul, to be in it all that He has taught it\nto desire.\n\n_Count on the indwelling of His power._--The merchant of to-day has\nfacilities granted to no previous age.  The cablegram, telegram, and\ntelephone put him in communication with the markets of the world: steam\nand electricity are his willing slaves in manufacture: machinery with\nits unwearying iron fingers toils for him.  A single human brain, which\nknows how to avail itself of these resources, can multiply its\nconceptions indefinitely.  How vast the space between the untutored\nsavage, doing everything with his hands, and the merchant prince, who\nhas but to press the ivory-plated pushes fixed upon the walls of his\nroom!  But not less is the difference between the work we can\naccomplish by our natural resources, and that which we achieve when we\nrecognize that what is impossible to us is possible to Him who has come\nin to abide.  I cannot; but God is within me, and He can.\n\n\nII.  THE CONDITIONS OF THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.--(1) Love to Christ.--\"He\nthat loveth Me shall. . . .\"  We would love Him, but how?  Do not think\nof your love, but of His.  \"Love is of God.\"  Open the shutters of your\nbeing toward the love of God; we love because He first loves.  Love is\nthe reflection from us of what we have first received from God.\n\nLove is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit.  The fruit of the\nSpirit is Love.  Seek the in-filling and in-working of the Spirit; be\ncareful to obey His promptings to love; avoid grieving Him by\nbitterness, wrath, or evil speaking; sit as His willing pupil in the\nschool of love; cast on Him the responsibility of securing in your\nnature obedience to the primal law which is fulfilled in the one word,\n\"Thou shalt love.\"\n\nBeneath the nurturing grace of the Spirit, we shall be led to meditate\nmuch on the love of Jesus to us, especially as manifested in the death\nof the cross; and as we muse, the fire will burn, love will glow, and\nafford the condition of soul which is infinitely attractive to the\nDivine Lover, who requires our love, and produces the love which He\nrequires.\n\n(2)  Obedience to Christ.--Where there is true love, there will be\nobedience.  This rather than emotion.  Many a sincere soul who\nquestions its love, because its emotions are low or fluctuating, would\nrather die than disobey the least jot or tittle of His commandments.\nSuch a one loves.  \"He that hath My commandments\" (treasured in memory\nand heart), \"he it is that loveth Me.\"  Why do ye call Him, Lord, Lord,\nand do not the things that He says?  There may be the luscious language\nof the lip, but it does not deceive Him.  He looks under the leaves for\nfruit.\n\nDisobedience robs the soul of the sweet sense of Christ's indwelling.\nNothing can compensate for failure to obey.  Whatever the\nprotestations, there is no real love to Christ where His commands are\nknowingly disregarded and set at nought.  But each time we dare to step\nout in simple obedience to His will, it seems as though the inner light\nshines deeper down into the hidden places of our being, and the\nresidence of Christ extends to new chambers of the heart.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nChrist's Legacy and Gift of Peace\n\n\"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world\ngiveth give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it\nbe afraid.\"--JOHN xiv. 27.\n\n\nIt seems a little anomalous to talk of peace at a time when the\nwar-clouds are being swiftly blown up from the horizon, the sea\nroaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear: and yet, in the\ndeepest aspects, this is of all times the most suitable.  It is when\nthe storm rattles on the window-panes that the family draws closer\nround the fire, and the mother clasps her babe to her breast.\n\nThe word Peace is the Eastern salutation and benediction.  When one\nstranger encounters another, as they meet and part, they wish each\nother peace.  It was befitting, therefore, that at Christ's entrance\ninto our world, the first salutation to men, as conveyed by the angels,\nshould be, \"Peace on earth\"; and that His parting words should be,\n\"Peace be unto you.\"  But with what a wealth of meaning does the Lord\ninvest familiar words when they issue from His lips!  Let us draw nigh,\nand allow His sweet and soothing consolations to have their full effect.\n\n\nI. LET US DISTINGUISH BETWEEN \"PEACE\" AND \"MY PEACE.\"--\"Peace I leave\nwith you, My peace I give unto you.\"  There is a distinction between\nthese two.  The former refers to the result of His work for us on the\ncross: \"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our\nLord Jesus Christ\"; the latter refers to _His_ indwelling, who is our\nPeace.  The one He has bequeathed as a legacy to all men: the testator\ndied, and left in His will a perfect reconciliation between God and\nman, which is for all who are willing to avail themselves of it; the\nother is a _gift_, which must be appropriated and used, or it will be\nineffectual.\n\n_The order of these two varieties of peace is invariable._--We must\nhave peace _with_ God before we can enjoy the peace _of_ God.  We must\nreceive the atonement, with all its blessed comfort, before we can\nenter upon our heritage in Christ Jesus.  A believer, whose feet were\ndipping in the chill waters of the river, said to me recently, when\nspeaking of her enjoyment of some of the deeper aspects of Christian\nexperience, \"I am afraid I have been building from the top.  I see now,\nas I come near eternity, that one's foundations must be strong and sure\nbefore one can build on them.  I need now more than ever the blood of\nChrist.\"  This, perhaps, is one of the perils of the present day.  The\nChurch is arraying herself in her beautiful garments.  The gold pieces\nof Christian thought and life are becoming current coin, taken from the\ncoffers, where they have too long lain, and distributed broadcast.\nTreatises and tractlets on the innermost aspects of the blessed life\nare plentiful as flowers in May.  There is a danger, therefore, of\nyoung converts and others occupying themselves with such themes, and\nnot paying sufficient attention to the Divine order.\n\nChrist dying _for_ us on the cross must precede Christ living _in_ us\nby His Spirit; justification with its evidences must be well\napprehended before sanctification with its fruits; the peace _with_ God\nmust shed its benediction over the soul before it can enter upon the\npeace _of_ God.  Ah soul! thou hast experienced the former; dost thou\nknow the latter?  Dost thou know what it is for Christ to enter into\nthe closed doors of the inner chamber of the heart, and say, \"Peace be\nunto thee\"? what it is to hear His voice speaking above the tumult of\nthe inland lake of thy soul, and making a great calm? what it is for\nHim to deal with the springs of the inner life, which lie deeper than\nemotion or fancy, and pour in His infinite serenity, so that the\noutflow may be pellucid and tranquil?\n\nChrist lays stress on _His_ peace.  He must mean the very peace that\nfilled His own heart; not something like it, but the same, always\nkeeping the heart with the affections, and the mind with its thoughts.\nThis being so, we infer--\n\n_That His peace is consistent with a perfect knowledge of coming\nsorrow._--He knew all things that awaited Him (John xviii. 4): the\ntreachery of Judas, the denial by Peter, the forsaking by all, the\nshame and spitting, the cross and grave; and yet He spoke serenely of\nHis peace.  It is therefore consistent with the certain outlook toward\ndarkness and the shadow of death.  You may know from certain symptoms\nthat cancer has struck its fangs into your flesh, and that paralysis\nhas begun to creep along your spine, that your dearest is barked by the\nWoodsman for felling, that your means of subsistence will inevitably\ndry up; but, facing all these, as Jesus faced the cross, you may still\nbe conscious of a peace that passeth understanding.\n\n_That it is consistent with energetic action._--Men are disposed to\nthink that peace is one of the last fruits of the tree of life, which\ndrops into the hand of the aged.  A man says to himself, I shall have\nto relinquish this active life, to settle in some quiet country home in\nthe midst of nature, and then perhaps I shall know what peace means.  A\nsnug home and a competence, the culture of flowers, the slow march of\nthe seasons, tender home-love, far away from the hustling throng of the\nworld--these are the conditions of peace.  Not so, says Christ: \"Arise,\nlet us go hence.\"  Let us leave this quiet harbor, and launch out into\nthe stormy deep.  Let us leave this still chamber, around the windows\nof which the vines cling, and go forth into the garden where the cedars\nfight with the tempest, and amidst it all we shall find it possible to\nenjoy the peace that passeth knowledge.  Let men and women immersed in\nthe throng of daily toil, young men, busy men, understand that Christ's\npeace is for those who hear the bugle note of duty summoning them to\narise, and go hence.\n\n_That the chief evidence of this peace is in the leisureliness of the\nheart._--Christ's possession of peace was very evident through all the\nstormy scenes that followed.  With perfect composure He could heal the\near of Malchus, and stay the impetuosity of Peter; could reason quietly\nwith the slave that smote Him, and bid the daughters of Jerusalem not\nto weep; could open paradise to the dying thief, and the door of John's\nhome to the reception of His mother.  Few things betray the presence of\nHis peace more than the absence of irritability, fretfulness, and\nfeverish haste, which expend the tissues of life.\n\nOh that you may now receive from Christ this blessed gift!  Let the\npeace of Christ rule in your heart; it is your high privilege, be not\nbackward in availing yourself of it.  It will be as oil to the\nmachinery of life.\n\n\nII. THE SOURCES OF CHRIST'S PEACE.--(1) _The vision of the\nFather._--\"If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice because I said, I go unto\nthe Father.\"\n\nThroughout these closing chapters He seems able to speak of nothing\nelse.  His mind ranges from the disciples whom He was leaving to the\nFather to whom He was going.  Almost unconsciously He gives us a\nglimpse of His self-repression in staying so long away from His\nFather's manifested presence, when He says that if we loved Him we\nwould be glad to lose His bodily presence because He had gone to be\nwith the Father.  He gives us to understand how real and near the\nFather was to Him, and how He longed to be again in His bosom!  He was\nso occupied with this thought, that He reckoned little of what lay\nbetween.  Hail! ye stormy waters of death, stormy winds, and boisterous\nwaves, ye do but waft my soul nearer its haven in the Father's love!\n\nIt is the thought of the Father that gives peace, because it robs life\nof its terrors and death of its sting.  Why fear what life may bring\nwhen the Father has arranged each successive step of its pathway!  Why\ndread Judas or Caiaphas, Herod or Pilate since the Father lies between\nthe soul and them as a rampart of rock!  Why lose heart amid the\nperplexities and discouragements, whose dark shadows lie heavily on the\nhills, when in the green pastures of the valley the Father's love tends\nthe sheep!  Ask Christ to reveal the Father to you.  Live in His\neverlasting love, and learn what He can be amid the storm and tumult as\na very present help.\n\n(2) _Disentanglement from the world._--\"The prince of this world\ncometh, and hath nothing in Me.\"  He came first at the beginning of the\nSaviour's life, with temptations to his ambitions; he came again at its\nclose, with temptations to that natural shrinking from pain which is\ncharacteristic of a highly organized nature.  \"Back, Son of Man!  Thou\ncanst not bear the cross and spear, the nail and thorn!  Thy tender\nflesh will ill sustain Thee when the sorrows of death and the pains of\nhell get hold upon Thee!\"  So Satan came; but there was no response in\nthe heart of Christ, no answering voice from the depths of His soul, no\ntraitor within to join hands with the tempter without.  There was no\nsquare inch of territory in all Christ's nature which the devil could\nclaim, or from which he could operate.\n\nThis is a clue to Christ's peace, which we do well to follow till it\nlead us out into the open.  As long as we are entangled with this\nworld, peace evades us, just as sleep, which comes easily to the\nlaboring man who has nothing beyond his daily wage, vanishes from the\npillow of the merchant, who on stormy nights thinks uneasily of the\nvessels which carry his wealth far out at sea.  We must stand clear of\nthe ambitions of the world, of the fear or favor of man, of the\navaricious craving for wealth, or the fear of poverty.  We must put the\ncross of Christ between us and the world, which was judged at Calvary.\nWe must be able to say truly that our treasure is in heaven and our\nheart also, and that we seek the things where Christ sitteth at the\nright hand of God.  Then the stock-market may fluctuate, riches go or\ncome, men praise or hate, nought will affect our peace, any more than\nthe tumults of a continental city, in which we are spending a night in\ntransit, can cause us serious disturbance.\n\n(3) _Supreme love._--\"I love the Father.\"  I have so often noticed how\na supreme love in a young girl's life seems to calm and quiet her,\nbecause it draws the whole of her nature in one strong flow toward the\nman of her choice.  Before that, there was a waywardness, a\nvacillation, a nervous excitement, which passed away as soon as love\ndawned upon her soul.  So long as the heart is subject to every\ninfluence, it quivers and wavers as the magnet needle when swept by\nstreams of electricity.  A strong uniting love does for us what the\nstrong attraction of the pole does for the needle.  Christ loved the\nFather.  There was no difficulty in bearing what He sent, or doing what\nHe bade.  There were no rival claimants, no questionings or debate\nwithin the palace of His heart.  Every passion and emotion of His human\nnature was quieted and stilled in the set of His whole being toward the\nFather.  If you too would have peace, you must love; you must love\nsupremely Him who alone is worthy, who can never disappoint or fail.\nAnd in proportion as you love God, you will find pleasure in all\nbeautiful things, in all lovely persons, in all the fair gifts of\nnature and life.  Oh, love the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within\nme, love His holy name!\n\n(4) _A supreme source of authority._--\"As the Father gave Me\ncommandment, even so I do.\"  Every soul must have a supreme source of\nauthority in its life, if it is to have peace.  Its own whim, the\nsuggestion of passion, the vagrant impulse of the moment, are\ninconsistent with tranquillity.  There must be for each of us one voice\nwhich is imperative, one command which is indisputable, one authority\nwhich admits of no gainsaying.  If you will search your heart you will\nsee that this is so.  Compare the restlessness of the Book of Judges\nwith the tranquillity of the reign of Solomon, and you will have an apt\nillustration of your own experience before consecration put Christ on\nHis throne, and afterward.  When the true Melchizedek established his\nreign within you, at once your heart became Salem, the city of peace.\nWhen you put the government upon His shoulder, He set up His reign\nwithin you as the Prince of Peace.  Happy for you, if to the increase\nof His government there is no end; for of the increase of your peace\nthere will be no end either.\n\nCombine these four--the sense of God's presence and providence in the\ndetails of life; detachment from the world; a supreme love to God; the\nrecognition in everything that you are His slave--and you will comply\nwith the conditions of participating in the peace of Christ which He\noffers.  Some persons have a marvellous faculty of imparting their own\ntranquillity in an accident, a storm, an illness; their aspect, tones,\nmanner, are like the repose of a summer's evening after a sultry day:\nso shall Christ be to you, and you to others.\n\n\nIII. CHRIST'S GIVING CONTRASTED WITH THE WORLD'S.--\"Not as the world\ngiveth, give I unto you.\"\n\nThe world wishes peace, but lightly speaks the word; frequently wishing\nit when there is least warrant for it; wishing it without doing\nanything to produce it; wishing it whilst glorying over a wrong,\nhealing slightly a wound, covering with the turf the crater of a\nvolcano.  Christ, on the other hand, lays the foundations of peace in\nsuitable conditions of a holy and healthy life.\n\nWith the world, peace is a passing emotion; with Christ, a settled\nprinciple of action--the perfect balance and equilibrium of the soul,\nout of which comes all that is fair, strong, wholesome.\n\nThe world's peace consists in the absence of untoward circumstances;\nChrist's is altogether independent of circumstances, and consists in\nthe state of the heart.  It matters nothing to Him that in the world we\nhave tribulation.  He bids us be of good cheer, because in Him we shall\nhave peace.  The wildest conjunction of outward things cannot break the\nperfect peace which nestles to His heart, as Noah's dove to the hand\nwhich plucked it in from the weltering waters.\n\n\"Let not your heart be troubled,\" the Master says again.  You may be\ntroubled on every side, but be not troubled.  Do not let the trouble\ncome inside.  Watch carefully against its intrusion, as you would\nagainst that of any other form of temptation.  Let My peace, like a\nsentinel, keep you; and as you look forward to the unknown future, out\nof which spectral figures emerge, do not be afraid.  There is a part\nfor you to do, as well as for Me.  I can give you My peace, but you\nmust avoid any and everything that will militate against its possession\nand growth.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nThe Story of the Vine\n\n\"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman.\"--JOHN xv. I.\n\n\nWe have now a story to tell which, in the eye of heaven, will make our\nworld forever memorable and wonderful among her sister spheres.  It is\nthe story of the Vine, and how it was the Divine purpose our earth\nshould be its fruitful soil, and our race intimately associated with\nits growth and history.\n\n\"I am the _true_ Vine,\" said our Lord.  Not improbably, as He was\npassing forth with His disciples into the moonlit air, He perceived a\nvine clustering around the window or door; and with an eye ever awake\nto each touch of natural beauty, and a heart always alert for spiritual\nlessons, He turned to them and said, What that vine is in the world of\nnature I am in relation to all true and faithful souls.  I am the\n_true_ Vine--true, not as opposed to false, but true in the sense of\nreal, substantial, and enduring.  The essential, as distinguished from\nthe circumstantial; the eternal, as distinct from the temporary and\ntransient.\n\nNature is a parable of God.  In each of her forms we have a revelation\nof God.  Not so complete as that given through the mind of prophets, or\nthe life of Jesus Christ, but still a revelation of the Divine.  Each\nnatural object, as it stood in Eden's untainted beauty, displayed some\naspect of Him, whom no man can see and live.  The apple-tree among the\ntrees of the wood; the rose of Sharon: the lily of the vale; the cedar,\nwith its dark green foliage; the rock for strength; the sea for\nmultitudinousness; the heaven with its limpid blue, like the Divine\ncompassion, overarching all--these are some of the forthshadowings in\nthe natural world of spiritual qualities in the nature of God.  The\nvine was made the clinging, helpless plant it is, that it might forever\nremind men of certain deep characteristics of the Divine nature.\n\n\nI. THE VINE AND ITS BRANCHES.--_The unity of the vine_.  The vine and\nits branches constitute one plant.  Some branches may be trailed along\nthe trellis-work outside the cottage door, others conducted through\nhothouse after hothouse; yet one life, one stream of sap, one essential\nquality and character pervades them all, from the dark root, buried in\nthe soil, to the furthest twig or leaf.  Yonder branch, waving its\nfronds high up against the hothouse glass, cannot say to that long\nleafless branch hidden beneath the shelf, You do not belong to me, nor\nI to you.  No twig is independent of another twig.  However different\nthe functions, root and branches, leaves and cluster, all together make\none composite but organic whole.  So is it with Christ.  All who are\none with Him are one with each other.  The branches that were nearest\nthe root in the days of Pentecost are incomplete without the last\nconverts that shall be added in the old age of the world.  Those\nwithout these will not be made perfect.\n\nThis is the underlying truth of the holy Catholic Church.  Men have\ntried to show that it must be an outward and visible organization,\nconsisting of those who had received, through a long line of\napostolical succession, some mystic power for administering rites and\nconferring absolution, together with those who came beneath the touch\nof their priestly hands.  That theory has notoriously broken down.  But\nthe truth of which it is a grotesque travesty is presented in our\nLord's conception of the vine, deeply planted in the dark grave of\nJoseph's garden, which had reached down its branches through the ages,\nand in which every believing soul has a part.  Touch Christ, become one\nwith Him in living union, abide in Him, and you are one with the\nglorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the\nprophets, the noble army of martyrs and the Church of the First-born,\nwhose names are written in heaven.\n\n_The pliancy of the vine._--More than most plants it needs a\nhusbandman.  It cannot stand upright like other fruit-trees, but\nrequires a skillful hand to guide its pliant branches along the\nespaliers, or to entwine them in the trellis-work.  It suggests a true\nthought of the appearance presented to the world by Christ and His\nChurch.\n\nMrs. Hamilton King, in her description of the sermon preached in the\nhospital by Ugo Bassi, on the eve of the great movement which, by the\nexpulsion of the Austrians, gave Italy to the Italians, specially\ndwells on this.  Down five wards the prisoners are lying on the\nhospital-beds from which they will never rise again.  To them the deep\nvoice of the hero-preacher tells the story of the vine: how \"it is tied\nto a stake, and if its arms stretch out, it is but cross-wise; they are\nalso forced and bound.\"\n\nThus it was with Christ.  Never following His own way; always bound to\nthe imperative _must_ of the Father's will; yielded to the cross as a\nwilling Sufferer.  And so it has been with His followers.  Not strong\nto stand alone, but always yielded to the Father's will, that He should\nlead them whither He would--to a cross, if needs were; to persecution\nand shame, if this would better serve His purpose; to a Gethsemane, if\nthat were the only gate to life.\n\nYield thyself to those loving hands.  They may lead thee afar from thy\noriginal purpose--twisting thee in and out with many a contortion;\nfixing thee with nail and fastening; trailing thee over the wall, to\ndroop thy clusters to the hands of strangers.  Nevertheless, be sure to\nlet Him have His way with thee; this is necessary for the\naccomplishment of His purpose.\n\n_The suffering of the vine._--When, in the spring, \"the grace of the\ngreen vine makes all the land lovely, and the shoots begin to wind and\nwave in the blue air,\" the husbandman comes in with pruning-hook and\nshears, and strips it bare of all its innocent pride.  Nor is this all.\nEven in the vintage it is not allowed to glory in the results of the\nyear, \"the branches are torn down and trodden in the wine-press, while\nthe vine stands stripped and desolate.\"\n\nSo it has always been.  The well-being of the world has been greatly\npromoted through the Church, but always at an infinite cost to herself.\nChrist's people have always been a suffering people, and it is in exact\nproportion to their anguish that they have enriched mankind.  They have\nsaved others, but not themselves.  The red stream of blood that has\nvitalized the world, has flowed from broken hearts.\n\n  \"Measure thy life by loss instead of gain,\n  Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth;\n  For Love's strength standeth in Love's sacrifice,\n  And whoso suffers most hath most to give.\"\n\n\n_The interdependence of vine and branches._--In God from eternity dwelt\na wealth of love, pity, and yearning over the souls of men, that could\nnot express themselves directly.  There was no language for the\ninfinite passion of the Divine heart.  Hence the gift of the Son,\nthrough whom, when He had become flesh, the Infinite might express\nHimself.  But even this was not sufficient.  The vine-root is not\nenough in itself, it must have branches to carry its rich juices to the\nclusters, so that these may hang free of each other in the sun and air.\nChrist must have branches--long lines of saved souls extending down the\ncenturies--through which to communicate Himself to men.\n\nWe have seen how necessary the root is to the branches.  Only from it\ncan our fruit be found.  But let us humbly, yet gladly, believe that we\nare also necessary to Christ.  He cannot do without us.  The Son wants\nsons; angels will not suffice.  Through redeemed men alone can He\nachieve His eternal purpose.  I hear the Root pleading for more and yet\nmore branch-life, that it may cover the world with goodly shadow and\nfruit.\n\n\nII. FRUIT OR NO FRUIT.--From all that has been said, it is clear that\nthe one purpose in the vine is fruit-bearing.  See, here, how the\nDivine Teacher accentuates it.  \"Fruit,\" \"much fruit,\" \"more fruit.\"\nNothing less will content Him in any one of us.  For this we were taken\nout of the wild vine in which we were by nature, and grafted into Him;\nfor this the regeneration of the Holy Ghost, and the discipline of\nlife; for this the sunshine of His love, and the dew of the Holy Ghost.\nIt becomes each seriously to ask, \"Am I bringing forth fruit unto God?\nThere may be orthodoxy of doctrine, correctness in life, and even\nheartiness of service; but is there fruit, much fruit, more fruit?\"\n\n_Fruit!_--This is the only condition of being retained in living union\nwith the Vine.\n\n_Much fruit!_--Only thus will the Father be glorified.\n\n_More fruit._--Otherwise there must be the repeated use of the knife.\n\nNowhere does the Lord contemplate a _little fruit_.  A berry here and\nthere!  A thin bunch of sour, unripened grapes!  Yet it is too true\nthat many believers yield no more than this.  He comes to us hungry for\ngrapes, but behold a few mildewed bunches, not fit to eat!\n\nWhere there is _no fruit_, there has been no real union with the Vine.\nProbably you are a professor, but not a possessor; a nominal Christian,\nan attendant at church or chapel, but not really one with Christ.  True\nunion with Him produces a temper, a disposition, a ripe and mellow\nexperience which certainly indicates that Christ is within.  You cannot\nsimulate the holy joy, the thoughtful love, the tranquil serenity, the\nstrong self-control, which mark the soul which is in real union with\nJesus; but where there is real abiding, these things will be in us and\nabound, and we shall be neither barren, nor unfruitful in the knowledge\nof our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n\nIII. THE KNIFE AND THE FIRE.--\"Every branch in Me that beareth fruit,\"\nthe Father who is the Husbandman \"purgeth it that it may bring forth\nmore fruit.\"  Too many children of God, when passing through great\nphysical and other suffering, account it punishment.  Nay, it is not\npunitive, but purgative.  This is the pruning-knife, cutting away the\nshoots of the self-life, that the whole energy of the soul may be\ndirected to the manifesting of the life of the Lord Jesus.  It may seem\na grievous waste to see the floor of the hothouse or vineyard littered\nwith fronds and shoots and leaves, but there need be no lament: the\nbranches of the autumn will well repay each stroke of that keen edge\nwith fuller, richer fruit.  So we gain by loss, we live as we die, the\ninward man is renewed as the outer decays.\n\nThe knife is in the Father's hand; let us never forget that.  He will\nnot intrust this delicate and difficult work to man or angel.  Shall we\nnot be in subjection to the Father of our spirits and live?  Blessed be\nthe Father of our Lord Jesus, and our Father in Him.  He that spared\nnot Christ may be trusted to do the best for us.\n\nEmploying the same word, the Master said, \"Now ye have been pruned\nthrough the word that I have spoken to you.\"  Perhaps if we were more\noften to yield ourselves to the pruning of the Word, we should escape\nthe pruning of sore pain and trial.  If the work were done by the\ngolden edge of Scripture, it might make the iron edge of chastisement\nneedless.  Therefore, when we take the Word of God in hand, let us ask\nthe great Husbandman to use it for the pruning away of all that is\ncarnal or evil, so that His life may have unhindered sway.\n\nBut if we will not bear fruit we must be taken away.  We shall lose our\nsphere of Christian service, and be exposed as hollow and lifeless\nprofessors.  The vine-branch that has no wealth of purple clusters is\ngood for nothing.  Salt which is savorless is fit neither for the land\nnor the dunghill.  Vine-branches that bear no fruit are cast into the\nfire.  Professors that lack the grace of a holy temper, and the beauty\nof a consistent life are taken away.  \"Men cast them into the fire and\nthey are burned.\"\n\nThese three years the Divine Husbandman has come hungrily seeking fruit\nof thee, yet in vain.  Nevertheless, He will spare thee for this year\nalso, that thou mayest mend thy ways.  This is the reason of thy\nmultiplied anxieties; He is pruning thee.  If thou bearest fruit, it\nwill be well, eternally well; but if not, then it is inevitable that\nthou shalt be cut away as dead and useless wood.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\n\"Abide in Me, and I in you\"\n\n\"Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,\nexcept it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in\nMe.\"--JOHN xv. 4.\n\n\nThese words are so familiar by constant repetition, that their power to\nawaken the soul is greatly lessened.  They go and come through ear and\nmind, as a lodger who has gone and come with exactly the same\nappearance and at precisely the same hours for years, and no one\nnotices him now, because there is nothing novel about him to awake\nnotice or remark.  How good would it be if we could hear this tender\ninjunction for the first time.  Next to this, let us ask the Divine\nSpirit to rid it of the familiarity of long use, to re-mint it, and to\nmake it fresh and vital, that it may seem to us that we have never\nbefore realized how much Jesus meant, when He said, _Abide in Me_.\n\nPerhaps it may assist us, if we adopt another English word for _abide_,\nand one which, in some respects even more neatly, and certainly in\nsound, resembles the Greek.  It is the word _remain_; so that we may\nread the Master's bidding thus: _Remain in Me, and I in you_.\n\nThis word is often employed in the New Testament in connection with\nhouse and home.  \"Mary abode [or remained] with Elizabeth for three\nmonths\"; and \"There abide [or remain],\" said our Lord, when giving His\ndisciples direction for their preaching tour, and referring to some\nhospitable house which has been opened to welcome them.  It is used\nthree times in that memorable colloquy which introduced John and Andrew\nto their future Teacher and Lord; \"Master,\" they said, \"where abidest\n[or remainest] Thou; He saith unto them, 'Come and ye shall see.'  They\ncame therefore, and saw where He is remaining, and they remained with\nHim that day.\"  And again: \"Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for\nto-day I must remain in thy house.\"  We are to remain in Christ as a\nman stays in his home.\n\n_It is inferred, of course, that we are in Christ._--It would be absurd\nto bid a man remain in a house unless he were already within its doors.\nWe must be sure that we are in Christ.  Naturally we were\noutside--\"Remember,\" says the Apostle, \"that aforetime ye were separate\nfrom Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from\nthe covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the\nworld.\"  We were shoots in the wild vine, partaking of its nature,\ninvolved in its curse, threatened by the axe which lay at its root.\nBut all this is altered now.  The Father, who is the Husbandman, of His\nabundant grace and mercy, has taken us out of the wild vine and grafted\nus into the true.  \"Of God are ye in Christ Jesus.\"\n\nIt is quite true that we repented of our sins, and turned toward God;\nthat we have believed in Christ, and taken His yoke; that we have found\nrest under the shelter of His cross, and joy in expecting His advent;\nbut we must never forget that behind all these movements of our will,\nand choice, and faith, were the willing and doing of God Himself.  It\nis the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.  \"Blessed be the\nGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath begotten us again\nunto a living hope.\"  What confidence this gives us!  We are in Christ\nby the act of God's grace and power, and surely He who put us in, can\nkeep us there.  Did He not shut Noah into the ark, and keep him there\namid all the crash of the pitiless deluge!  We have only to consent to\nremain, and allow God to perfect that which concerneth us.  Be\nconfident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you,\nwill perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.\n\n_The stress which the Master lays on our abiding in Him._--He appears\nto summon all His forces to accentuate His parting message.  You always\nreserve your most important injunctions to the last, that they may\nremain fresh and impressive, as the train steams out of the station, as\nthe boat leaves the landing-stage; so Christ left this entreaty to the\nlast, that it might carry with it the emphasis of a parting message\nforevermore.  But note how He drives it home.  Its keyword occurs\neleven times in eleven consecutive verses.  He depicts the terrible\nresult if we do not abide: we shall wither, be taken away, and\nconsigned to the fire.  He shows how utterly we shall miss the one end\nof our existence, the glorification of the Father by fruit-bearing,\nunless we strenuously and continuously abide.  He allures by the\nthought of the much fruit; by the assurance of success in prayer; by\nthe promise of fullness of joy, of love, and of blessedness.  He\nentreats, commands, exhorts, all in one breath.  It is as though He\nwere to say, \"Children, I am leaving you; there are many things I\ndesire for you, many commands to utter, many cautions, many lessons;\nbut I am content to leave all unsaid, if only you will remember this\none all-inclusive bidding, Abide in Me, remain in Me; stay where God\nhas put you; deepen, emphasize, intensify the union already existing\nbetween you and Me.  From Me is your fruit found.  Without Me ye can do\nnothing.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  Grow up into Me in all things,\nwhich am the Head, rooted and built up in Me, and stablished by your\nfaith, even as ye were taught.\"\n\n_There are many analogies to this appeal._--The sun says to the little\nearth-planet, _Abide in me_.  Resist the temptation to fly into space,\nremain in the solar sphere, and I will abide in the formation of thy\nrocks, the verdure of thy vegetation, and all living things, baptizing\nthem in my fire.\n\nAbide in me, says the ocean to the alcove, that shows symptoms of\ndivision from its waves.  Keep thy channel unsilted and open, and I\nwill pour my fullness up to thy farthest shore, twice in every\ntwenty-four hours.\n\n_Abide in me_: the vine says it to the branch, that it may impart\nsupplies of life and fruit; the air says it to the lung, that it may\nminister ozone and oxygen to its cells; the magnet says it to the\nneedle, that it may communicate its own specific quality, and fit it to\nguide across the ocean the mighty steamer, laden with the freight of\nhuman life.\n\n_Abide in me_: the artist says it to the novice; Edison would say it to\nsome young Faraday; the preacher to the student.  Any man who is eager\nto impart his ideas to coming time is glad when some young life, eager,\nquick to receive formative impressions, presents itself.  Here, says\nhe, is my opportunity of incarnating myself afresh, and still living,\nspeaking, painting, when my life is done.  \"Stay with me, young soul,\nshare my home, saturate yourself with my ideas and methods of\nexpression, go to no other fields to glean, and I will give my best\nself in return.\"\n\nSo, also, the mother speaks to the child.  If she is wise she will be\nchary of handing it over to the nurse, or sending it away to the care\nof strangers, except for the hours necessary for education.  Companions\nand games, books and studies, shall be within the influences of her\nmother's love; and she, in return, will gladly bestow herself to the\neager life that waits on her every movement, look, and word.\n\nIn all these cases, it is always the stronger that pleads with the\nweaker to abide, promising the communication to fuller life.  Each, in\nmeasure, says, in the words of the glorious Christ, \"I am stronger,\nwiser, fuller, better than you; all is mine that it may be yours,\ntherefore, abide in Me, and I will abide in you.\"\n\n_Notice Christ's consciousness of sufficiency for the needs of\nmen._--It were blasphemous audacity to speak thus, if He were not more\nthan man.  He affirms that there can be no life apart from Him; that\nsouls not united with Him wither on the forest floor.  He says, that\nfruit-bearing is only possible to those who receive from His fullness\ngrace for grace.  He says, that to be in union with Him will secure\nunion with all holy souls.  He says, that if His words are carefully\npondered and obeyed, we shall make no petition which His Father will\nnot grant.  He says, that His love, in quality and quantity, is like\nthe love that God has toward Himself; that His commands take rank with\nthose of Deity.  He offers Himself to all mankind in coming ages, as\ntheir contemporary, and as the one sufficient source of life and\ngodliness.  All these assumptions are made in the range of these\nverses; and as we ponder them, we feel that the Speaker must be\nconscious of being other than human, and as possessing those infinite\nattributes which are the sole property of the Eternal.\n\nYet, who shall say that He has offered more than He can give?  Have not\nwe tested Him in each of these particulars, and do not we, who have\ncome to Him by faith, know that in no one item has He been guilty of\nexaggeration?  We were dead, but behold, we live!  We spent our\nenergies in profitless work; but now we bear fruit unto God.  We were\nlonely and isolated, but now have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to\nthe innumerable company of angels, and to the Church of the Firstborn.\nOur prayers were aimless and ineffective; but now we have the petitions\nwe desired.  New hope and joy have filled our hearts, as the ruddy\nclusters hang full and ripe in the autumn.  Prove Him for yourself and\nsee if this shall not be so for you also.  Only give yourself entirely\nup to Christ.  Abide in Him.  Remain in Him.  Let thought and speech\nand life be bathed in the influences of His Holy Spirit; Let the sap of\nHis life flow where the sap of the self-life was wont to flow; and lo!\nold things will pass away, and all things will become new.\n\n_The law and method of abiding._--There are two currents always flowing\nwithin our reach:\n\nThe Not I, and the I.\n\nThe last Adam, and the first.\n\nThe Spirit, and the flesh.\n\nGod has put us by His grace into the first of these.  The Master says,\n\"Stop there.\"  Much as when a father puts his little boy in the railway\ncarriage, _en route_ for home, and says, \"My boy, stop where you are.\nDo not get out; no change is necessary.\"  We are in Christ by\nregeneration and faith.  We may not always be thinking about Him; but\nwe remain in Him, unless by unfaithfulness or sin we consciously and\nvoluntarily leave Him.  And if we have left Him for a single moment, it\nis always possible by confession and renewal to regain our old position.\n\nThis is confessedly an inadequate figure of speech.  There is a sense\nin which the member cannot be amputated from the body, and the soul\ncannot be divorced from its union with Christ.  But we are not dealing\nnow with our integral oneness with Christ for life, but with our\nabiding union with Him for fruit-bearing and service.  And again we\nsay, for those who are so immersed in daily business, as to be unable\nfor long together to keep their minds fixed on Christ, that their\nabiding in Him does not depend on their perpetual realization and\nconsciousness of His presence, but on the faith that they have done and\nsaid nothing inconsistent with the holy bond of fellowship.\n\nYou are in a lift until you step out of it, though you may not be\nthinking of the lift.  You keep on a road until you take a turning\nright or left, although, engrossed in converse with your friend, you do\nnot think of the road.  You are in Christ amid the pressure of daily\ncare, and the haste of business, so long as your face is toward the\nLord, your attitude that of humble submission, and your conscience void\nof offence.  During the day it is therefore possible at any moment to\nsay, \"I am in Thee, O blessed Christ.  I have not all the rapture and\npassion of more radiant hours, but I am in Thee, because I would not by\na single act, leave Thy secret place.\"  If at such a moment you are\nconscious that you are not able to say as much, instantly go back over\nthe past few hours, discover the place when you severed yourself from\nyour Lord, and return.\n\nStudy Godet's beautiful definition of abiding: \"It is the continuous\nact by which the Christian lays aside all he might draw from his own\nwisdom, strength and merit, to desire all from Christ by the inward\naspiration of faith.\"\n\nWhenever, therefore, temptation arises to leave the words of Christ\n(ver. 7), for the maxims of the world, step back, remain in Him, deny\nyourself.\n\nWhenever you are tempted to leave the narrow path of His commandments\n(ver. 10), to follow the impulses of your own nature, reckon yourself\ndead to these that you may _run_ in those.\n\nWhenever you are tempted to forsake the holy temper of Christ's love,\nfor jealousy, envy, hatred, step back and say, I will not go out of my\nhiding-place, I elect to remain in the love of God.\n\nThe one effort of life is therefore reduced to a persistent resistance\nto all the suggestions of the world, the flesh and the devil; that we\nshould step out of that Blessed Man into whom the Father has grafted us.\n\nThen He abides in us.  He is strong where we are weak, loving and\ntender where we are thoughtless, holy where we fail.  He is in us as\nwisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and as the hope\nof glory.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nPrayer that Prevails\n\n\"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye\nwill, and it shall be done unto you.\"--JOHN xv. 7.\n\n\nChrist expected answers to His prayers, and in all His teaching leads\nus to feel that we shall be able to obtain, through prayer, what\notherwise would not come to our hand.  He knew all that was to be known\nof natural law and the Father's heart; but notwithstanding His perfect\nacquaintance with the mysteries of the Father's government, He said,\n\"Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.\"\n\nA careful comparison between the confident assurances of the Master,\nand the experience of Christians, as detailed in their biographies or\npersonal confessions, discloses a wide difference between His words and\nthe findings of His disciples.  Many have become accustomed to\ndisappointment in prayer.  They have asked so many things which they\nhave never received; have sought so much without finding; have knocked\nso repeatedly, but the door has remained closed.  We are in the habit\nof accounting for our failure by saying that probably our prayer was\nnot according to the will of God, or that God withheld the less that He\nmight give us something better.  In some cases there may be even an\nunspoken misgiving about the harmony of prayer with our Father's love\nand wisdom, or with a perfect confidence in Him as doing the best for\nus in the world.  We forget that if we prayed as we should, we should\nask what was according to His will.  We evade Christ's definite words,\n\"_Whatsoever_ ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do.\"\n\nWhen we consider the lives of some who have wrought mightily for God,\nit is clear that they had learned a secret which eludes many of us.\nTake this, for instance, from the biography of Dr. Burns Thomson.\n\"When much together as students,\" writes his friend, \"we agreed on\nspecial petitions, and the Lord encouraged us by giving answers, so\nearly and so definite, as could only have come from Himself, so that no\nroom was left for the shadow of a doubt that God was the Hearer and\nAnswerer of prayer.  Once the answer came the same day, and at another\ntime, whilst we were yet speaking.  My friend often spoke of our\nagreement, to the glory of Him who fulfilled to us His promise, and I\nrefer to it, to encourage others.\"  This is but one leaf out of the\ngreat library of prayers, intercessions, and supplications for all\nsaints, which stand recorded before God.\n\nWe naturally turn to our Lord's last utterances in which His\ninstructions about prevailing prayer are fuller than those of the\nSermon on the Mount; and than those given in the mid-passage of His\nearthly life, which depict the importunity of the widow with the unjust\njudge, and of the friend with his friend at midnight.  The words spoken\nin the chapter we are now considering are particularly pertinent to our\npurpose, because they deal exclusively with the age to which our Lord\nfrequently referred as \"that day,\" the day of Pentecost, the age of the\nHoly Ghost, the day of this dispensation.\n\n\nOUR LORD TEACHES THAT ANY PRAYER WHICH IS TO PREVAIL WITH GOD MUST PASS\nFIVE TESTS, though these are but different phases of the same attitude.\n\n(1) _The glory of the Father._--\"That the Father may be glorified in\nthe Son\" (John xiv. 13).  The one purpose of Christ on earth was to\nglorify the Father; and at the close of His life here He was conscious\nthat He had not striven in vain.  \"Now,\" said He, \"is the Son of Man\nglorified, and God is glorified in Him.\"  This was the purpose of His\nearthly career, and it was perfectly consistent with that of His\neternal being; for each person of the Holy Trinity is ever intent on\nunfolding and displaying the moral beauty of the other twain.  Having\nsat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Christ still pursues\nHis cherished purpose of making His Father known, loved, and adored.\nNo prayer, therefore, can hope to succeed with Him, or can claim His\nconcurrent intercession, which is out of harmony with this sublime\nintent.\n\nWhatever petition we offer should be submitted to this standard.  Can\nwe establish it in the presence of Christ, that our request will\npromote the glory of the Father?  Bring in your evidence--establish\nyour pleas--adduce your strong reasons.  If you can make good your\nclaim, your prayer is already granted.  But be sure that it is\nimpossible to seek the glory of God consistently with selfish aims.\nThese two can no more coexist than light and darkness in the same cubic\nspace.  The glory of God will ever triumph at our cost.  It is equally\ncertain that none of us can truly pray for the glory of God, unless we\nare living for it.  It is only out of the heart that has but one\npurpose in life and death, that those prayers emanate which touch the\ntenderest chord in the Saviour's nature, and awaken all His energies to\ntheir highest activity, \"That will I do.\"\n\n(2) _In Christ's Name._--\"Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name\" (John\nxiv. 13).  Throughout the Holy Scriptures, _name stands for nature_.\nThe Master says, \"You must ask My Nature.\"  In other words, when we\npray, it must not be as the self-nature, but as the Christian-nature\ndictates.  We always know when that is paramount.  It excludes\nboasting; it is pure, peaceable and loving; it is far removed from the\nglare and gaud of the world, it is full of Calvary, Olivet, and\nPentecost.  There are days in our life when we feel borne along on its\ntidal current; when Christ is in us, the hope of glory; when a power is\nworking within us beyond what we can ask or think; when we live, yet\nnot we, but Christ in us--these are the times most propitious for\nprayer.  Pour out your heart before God.  Let Christ, who is in you by\nthe Holy Spirit, speak to the Christ who is above you on the throne.\nLet the living water, which has descended from the eternal city, return\nback to its source through the channel of your heart.  This is praying\nin His Name, and according to His Nature.\n\nBefore we can expect our prayers to prosper, let us sit quietly down,\nand, putting aside all other voices, permit the Christ-nature to speak.\nIt is only in proportion as it countersigns our petitions that they\nwill reach the audience-chamber of eternity.  Surely, if this test were\nproperly applied, many of the petitions we now offer so glibly would\nnever leave our lips, and we should be satisfied about the fate of many\nanother prayer which, like some ill-fated barque, has left our shores,\nand never been heard of again.  But again let it be remembered that\nnone can pray in the name of Christ who do not live for that name, like\nthose early evangelists of whom John says that for the sake of the Name\nthey took nothing of the Gentiles.  The name of Christ must be\npredominant in life, if it is to be efficacious in prayer.\n\n(3) _Abide in Christ._--\"If ye abide in Me, . . . ask what ye will\"\n(John xv. 7).  We are in Christ, by the grafting of the great\nHusbandman, who took us out of the wild vine of nature, and\nincorporated us with Christ.  That union is forever, but its conscious\nenjoyment and helpfulness arise only in so far as we keep His\ncommandments.  A limb may be in the body, and yet be dislocated and\nuseless.  If you are in a train running through to your destination at\nthe terminus, all that is necessary is to resist the temptation to\nalight at the stations _en route_, and to remain where you are.  If,\nthen, God the Father has put you into Christ, and is seeking to\nestablish you in Him, be careful to resist every temptation or\nsuggestion to depart from living fellowship by any act of disobedience\nor unbelief.\n\nIf you abide in Christ in daily fellowship, it will not be difficult to\npray aright, for He has promised to abide in those who abide in Him;\nand the sap of the Holy Ghost, securing for you fellowship with your\nunseen Lord, will produce in you, as fruit, desires and petitions\nsimilar to those which He unceasingly presents to His Father.\nThroughout the ages Christ has been asking of God.  This is the\nperpetual attitude of the Son to the Father.  He cannot ask what the\nFather may not give.  To get then into the current of His prayer is to\nbe sure of success.  Abide in Him, that He may abide in you; not only\nin the activities of holy service, but in the intercessions and\nsupplications of the hour of private prayer.\n\n(4) _Submit prayer to the correction of the Word._--\"If My words abide\nin you\" . . . (John xv. 7).  Christ's words have been compared to a\ncourt of solemn and stately presences, sitting to try our prayers\nbefore they pass on into the Master's presence.\n\nHere is a prayer which is selfish and earth-born, grasping at the\nprizes of worldly ambition and greed.  But as it enters it encounters\nthat solemn word, \"_Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His\nrighteousness,_\" and it turns back surprised and ashamed.\n\nHere is another prayer, full of imprecation and unkindness toward some\none who has maligned or injured the petitioner.  But it is met by that\nsolemn word of the Master, \"_Love your enemies, pray for them that\ndespitefully use you,_\" and it hastens to retire.\n\nHere is another prayer full of murmuring regret because of the pressure\nof the cross, the weight of the restraining yoke.  But forthwith that\nnotable word of Christ forbids its further progress, saying, \"_In the\nworld ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome\nthe world._\"  In the presence of that reminder and rebuke, the prayer,\nabashed, turns away its face and departs.  Like the accusers of the\nwoman taken in the act of sin, prayers like these are inwardly\nconvicted of unfitness, and go forth.\n\nThe words of Christ forbid unsuitable prayer, but they also stir the\nheart with great desire for the realization of those good things which\nChrist has promised to them that love Him.  In this sense prayer\nbecomes a dialogue between the Master who says, \"Seek ye My face,\" and\nthe disciple who responds, \"Thy face, Lord, will I seek.\"\n\n(5) _Fruit-bearing._--\"I appointed you that ye should bear fruit\nthat . . .\" (John xv. 16).  In other words, answers to prayers depend\nvery largely on our ministry to others.  If we are prompted by desire\nfor our own comfort, peace, or enjoyment, we shall stand but a poor\nchance of audience in the secret of His presence.  If, on the other\nhand, our prayers are connected with our fruit-bearing--that is, with\nour ministry to others, with the coming of the kingdom, and the\naccomplishment of God's purpose of salvation--the golden sceptre will\nbe extended to us, as when Ahasuerus said to Esther, \"What is thy\nrequest?  Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.\"\n\nIs sun needed to ripen the fruit?  Ask for it.  The Father waits to\ngive it.  Is dew or rain needed that the pitchers may be filled to the\nbrim with water which is to be made wine?  Ask for it.  God is not\nunrighteous to forget your work and labor of love.  Ask for all but\npruning; this the Father will administer, according to the good\npleasure of His goodness.  The fruit-bearing branches have a right to\nclaim and appropriate all that is needed for the sweetening and\nripening of their precious burden.\n\nThe temple of prayer is thus guarded from the intrusion of the\nunprepared footstep by many tests.  At the foot of the marble steps, we\nare challenged for the watchword; and if we do not speak in harmony\nwith God's glory, our further passage is peremptorily stayed.  The key,\nengraven with the name of Jesus, will only obey the hand in which His\nnature is throbbing.  We must be in Him, if He is to plead in us.  His\nwords must prune, direct, and control our aspirations; His service must\nengage our energies.  We must take part in the camp with His soldiers,\nin the vineyard with His husbandmen, in the temple-building with His\nartificers.  It is as we serve our King, that we can reckon absolutely\non His answer to our prayers.\n\n\nTHREE CONCLUDING THOUGHTS REMAIN.\n\n_First_.  It is clear that our prayers depend very largely on our inner\nlife.  Where that is vigorous and healthy, they will be the same.  But\nlet deterioration and failure set in there, and the effect will be\ninstantly apparent in our prayers.  They act and react.  Out of the\nabundance of the heart the mouth speaks; and when the mouth is opened\nin prayer and supplication, the heart speaks.\n\n_Second_.  Bespeak the Spirit's indwelling.  He is the bond of\ncommunion and fellowship between the Father and the Son, and will lift\nus into the holy circle of that eternal life, so that the current may\npass through us with uninterrupted velocity and force.  He makes inward\nintercession for the saints according to the will and mind of God.\n\n_Third_.  Expect that prayer will become ever more engrossing, as the\nDivine impulse is yielded to; so that what now occupies but a\ncomparatively small portion of time and energy will become with us, as\nwith the great Apostle, an exercise which we prosecute with unceasing\nardor, an ever-delightful method of promoting the Redeemer's Kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nThe hatred of the World\n\n\"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that\nwhosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  And these\nthings they will do unto you, because they have not known the Father,\nnor Me.\"--JOHN xvi. 2, 3.\n\n\nHow near love and hate dwell in these words of Jesus!  He had been\nurging His disciples to cultivate perfect love, the love of God; He now\nturns to describe the inevitable hatred with which they would be\nassailed in the world that knew neither the Father nor Himself.  And if\nan additional motive were needed to induce that love, it would surely\nbe given by the consideration of that hate.\n\nThis is no unimportant theme.  It touches, very nearly, the lives of\nthousands of believers amongst us.  Though they have not to face the\nthumbscrew and the stake, they discover painfully enough that the\noffence of the Cross has not ceased.  There are amongst us many who\ndaily quiver under the venomous gibe of neighbor and fellow-workman,\nand find that their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Master\nhas suddenly changed their family and working-life from a garden of\nroses into a bed of thorns.  Many a young man in the city\ncounting-house, many a mechanic at the bench, many a traveller in the\ncommercial-room, many a student on the college-benches, is doomed to\ndiscover that the world does not love the Church better than in those\ndays when the fires gleamed in Smithfield, and men and women were\nburned to death for loving God.  But how sweet to know that all this\nverifies the Master's words: Ye are not of the world, even as I am not\nof the world.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own;\nbut because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the\nworld, therefore the world hateth you.\n\n\nI. WHAT THEN IS THE WORLD?--It consists of those who are destitute of\nthe life and love of God, as contrasted with those who have received\nand welcomed the unspeakable gift which is offered to all in Jesus\nChrist.  The great mass of the unregenerate and unbelieving, considered\nas a unity, is the world, as interpreted by our Lord and His apostles.\n\nThe world has its god and its religion, which was first instituted by\nCain at the gates of Eden; its prince, and court, and laws; its maxims\nand principles; its literature and pleasures.  It is dominated by a\npeculiar spirit which the apostle calls a lust or fashion, and\nresembles the German _Zeit-Geist_: an infection, an influence, a\npageantry, a witchery; reminding us of the fabled mountain of loadstone\nwhich attracted vessels to itself for the iron that was in them, and\npresently drew the nails from the timbers, so that the whole fabric\nfell a helpless, shapeless mass into the waves.  The votaries of the\nworld attach themselves to the objects of sense, to the things which\nare seen and temporal.  They have the utmost horror of poverty,\nsuffering, and humiliation; these they consider their chief evils to be\navoided at any cost; whilst they regard as the chief good, riches,\npleasure, and honor.\n\nThe world is thus a great unity and entity; standing together as a\nmighty kingdom; united and compacted together as Nebuchadnezzar's\nimage; environing the Church, as the great kingdoms of Assyria and\nEgypt did the chosen people of God in the days of the kings.  It\nresembles a pack of wolves.  \"Behold,\" said Christ, \"I send you forth\nas sheep in the midst of wolves.\"  Between such irreconcilable\nopposites as the Church and the world, there cannot but be antagonism\nand strife.  Each treasures and seeks what the other rejects as\nworthless.  Each is devoted to ends that are inimical to the dearest\ninterests of the other.  Each follows a prince, who met the prince of\nthe other, in mortal conflict.  Let us thank Him, who out of this world\nchose us for Himself.\n\n\nII. LET US TRACE THE STORY OF THE WORLD'S HATRED.--_It was foretold in\nEden_.  \"I will put enmity,\" so God spoke to the serpent, \"between thee\nand the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.\"  We are not disposed\nto treat that ancient record with which our Bible opens as romance or\nfairy story, but to regard it as containing a true and authentic record\nof what actually transpired.  That declaration is the key to the Bible.\nOn every page we meet the conflict, the bruising of the Church's heel\nby the dark powers, and the increasing area of victory covered by our\nEmmanuel, the Virgin's Child.  This hatred is then in the very nature\nof things, for this is but another name for God.  It is, like others of\nthe deepest facts in the experience of man, fundamental and inevitable,\nthe outcome of mysteries which lie beyond the ken of man.\n\n_And it has characterized every age._--Abel is slain by Cain, who was\nof the evil one, and slew his brother.  Joseph is put into a pit by his\nbrethren, and into a prison by his master's wife; the Hebrew is smitten\nby the Egyptian; David is hunted by Saul as a partridge on the\nmountains; Micaiah is hated by Ahab because he always testifies against\nhim; Jeremiah lives a very suffering stricken life, until he is slain\nin Egypt for remonstrating against a policy he could not alter; each of\nthe little company then listening to Christ is forecast for a martyr's\ndeath, with, perhaps, the exception of John himself, whose life was\nmartyrdom enough; Stephen sheds the blood of his pure and noble nature,\nand from that day to this the blood of the saints has poured in\nstreams, until the last harrowing records, which have come to light,\nonly of recent years, of the indescribable tortures and death of\nArmenian martyrs.\n\nEach age has had its martyr-roll.  They have been tortured, not\naccepting deliverance, have had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea,\nmoreover of bonds and imprisonment; have been stoned, sawn asunder,\ntempted, and slain with the sword; wandering in deserts and mountains\nand caves, and the holes of the earth: of whom the world was not worthy.\n\n_The root or ground of hatred is not due to the evil discovered in the\npersons, who are the objects of the world's hate._--\"They hated Me\nwithout a cause,\" our Saviour sorrowfully said.  There might have been\nsome cloke for the shamelessness of the world's sin, if He had not\nspoken words and done works among them such as none other ever said and\ndid; but in the face of the perfect beauty of His character, the grace\nand truth of His words, and the loveliness of His deeds, it was by\ntheir perfidy He was crucified and slain.  In vain He challenged them\nto convince Him of sin, and to bear witness to any evil which might\njustify their malicious cruelty.  They knew it was innocent blood; but\nthis knowledge, so far from mollifying them, only exasperated them the\nmore.\n\nThe world hates the Church, not for the evil that is in it, but for the\ngood.  It hates without cause.  The holier and purer a life is, the\nmore certainly it will attract to itself malignity and dislike.  The\nmore Christlike we are, the more we must suffer the relentless hate\nthat drove the nails into His hands, and the spear into His side.  Do\nnot be surprised at this.  Think it not strange concerning the fiery\ntrial which cometh to prove you, as though a strange thing happened\nunto you; but doubt and question and be in fear, if you meet only\nsmiles and flattery and such honors as the world can give.  You may\nthen ask yourselves whether you are not one of the world's own.\n\n_The real origin and fountain of the hatred of the world is due to\nSatan's antagonism to God._--In his original creation, he was doubtless\nas fair as any of the firstborn sons of light; but in his pride he\nsubstituted himself for God, and love faded out of his being, making\nway for the unutterable darkness of diabolic hate.  Satan hates God\nwith a hatred for which there are no words; and therefore when the\nFather sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, Satan gathered up\nevery energy and resource of his nature to dog His steps, and make His\ncourse through the world as painful as possible.  Do you wonder that\nthe life of Jesus was so full of suffering?  It could not have been\notherwise.  Directly God, in the person of Jesus, stepped down into the\ntime-sphere, and assumed the conditions of earth and death, He came\nwithin the range of the utmost that Satan could do to molest and injure\nHim.  Similarly, when the blessed Lord becomes the tenant of the heart,\nand in proportion as He is so, that heart attracts to itself the hatred\nwith which the devil from the beginning has hated God.  \"If they have\npersecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they have kept My\nsaying, they will keep yours also.  And these things will they do unto\nyou, because they have not known the Father nor Me.\"\n\n_It is natural for the evil to hate the good._--First, the sinner has\nan uneasy conscience, and it hurts him to come in contact with those\nwhose character reminds him of what he ought to be, and might be, and\nperhaps once was.  The diseased eye dreads the light.  The uncanny,\nslimy things that lurk beneath stones, and in dark caves, squirm in\npain when you let in the day.  The Turkish Sultan dislikes the presence\nof British representatives, and correspondents of the Daily Press, amid\nthe dark deeds of blood and lust by which he is making Armenia a\ndesert.  \"Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to\nthe light, lest his deeds should be reproved.\"\n\nIn addition to an uneasy conscience, the sinner has an unbroken will.\nHe stoutly resists the impression of a superior and condemning\ngoodness.  He hardens his heart, and strengthens its defences.  \"Who is\nthe Lord, that I should obey His voice?  Double the tale of bricks:\nsummon the choice chariots and veteran soldiers of Egypt, that we may\npursue, overtake, and divide the spoil.\"  Such are the successive boats\nand challenges of the hardened heart.\n\nIs it to be wondered at, under such conditions, that the wicked\nplotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth, that\nhe draws his sword and bends his bow, to shoot privily at the upright\nof heart?  \"The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.\nThe Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is\njudged.\"\n\n_The great object of this hatred is to overcome the good._--In this\nrespect the hate of the world is like the love of the Church.  The\nchild of God loves, that he may overcome the evil in the world, by\nconverting evil-doers from the error of their ways and assimilating\nthem to holiness; the child of the devil hates, that he may overcome\nthe good of the world, by arresting their goodness, and assimilating to\nevil.  Ah, how thankful we may be that we are not of the world, but\nhave been chosen out of it; for it lieth in the wicked one, and is\ninfected with the hatred of hell.\n\nIt is not difficult, therefore, to go through the world, and escape its\nhate.  We have only to adopt its maxims, speak its language, and\nconform to its ways.  In the well-known picture of the Huguenots, the\nyoung girl, with pleading, upturned face, seeks to tie the Royalist\nscarf around her lover's arm.  She will secure his safety if she\nsucceeds!  Ah, how many pleading glances are cast at us to induce us to\nspare ourselves and others, by toning down our speech, and covering our\nregimentals by the disguising cloke of conformity to the world around!\n\"If you do not approve, at least you need not express your\ndisapproval.\"  \"If you cannot vote for, at least do not vote against.\"\nIf you dissent, put your sentiments in courtly phrase, and so pare them\ndown that they may not offend sensitive ears.  Such is the advice,\nwhich is freely proffered.  But those who follow it quickly discover\nthat the compromise of principle involves certainly and awfully the\nloss of influence for good.\n\n\nIII. OUR BEHAVIOR AMID THE WORLD'S HATRED.--We have fallen on evil\ndays.  The world has been coated over with a Christian veneer, whilst\nthe Church has become leavened with the subtle spirit of the world.  It\nis hard to come out and be separate, because in the dim twilight one is\napt to mistake friend and foe.  The bribes are so rich for those who\nconform, the dissuasive so strong for those who refuse to bow to the\ngreat golden image.  But our duty is clear.  We must be true to the\nspirit of Christ.  We must live a holy and unworldly life; we must\navoid all that might be construed as an unworthy compromise of the\ninterests of our Master's Kingdom.\n\nAnd through all the pitiless storm of hate that beats in our faces, we\nmust be glad.  \"Blessed are ye,\" said our Lord, \"when men shall revile\nyou, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you\nfalsely for My sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad.\"  And why rejoice?\nBecause your reward is great in heaven; because you know that you are\nnot of the world; because you are shown to be on the path trodden by\nthe saints before you, every step of which has been trodden amid\nsimilar manifestations of the devil's hate.\n\nMoreover, abound in love.  Let there be no slackening of the patient,\ntender, pitying love, which heaps coals of fire on the head of the\nwrongdoer, and will never rest content until it has subdued the evil of\nhis heart, overcoming it with good.  Love must ultimately conquer hate,\nas surely as tomorrow's sun will conquer the darkness that now veils\nthe landscape.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nThe Work of the Holy Spirit on the World\n\n\"He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of\njudgment.\"--JOHN xvi. 8.\n\n\nThree facts forced themselves home on the apostles during the Lord's\nparting words.  _First_, that they were to be bereaved of their\nMaster's presence (ver. 5).  _Second_, that they were to be left alone,\namid the world's hatred--\"Whosoever killeth you\" (ver. 2).  _Third_,\nthat their mission would be witness-bearing to the unseen Lord (xv. 27).\n\nAnd as they fully realized all that these facts involved, they became\ntoo absorbed in their own sorrowful conclusions to inquire what bourn\nthe Master sought as He set sail from these earthly shores.  \"O\nMaster,\" they said in effect, \"why canst Thou not stay?  Our orphaned\nhearts will never be able to endure the blank which Thy absence will\ncause.  Easier could a flock of sheep withstand the onset of a pack of\nwolves than we the hatred of the world!  And as for our\nwitness-bearing, it will be too feeble to avail aught.\"\n\nAnd the Master, in effect, answered thus: \"I will not leave you without\naid.  I shall still be with you, though unseen.  My presence shall be\nrevealed to your spirits, and made livingly real through the blessed\nComforter.  He will be with you, and in you.  He will authenticate and\ncorroborate your witness.  He shall testify of Me; and when He is come,\nHe will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.\nYou see then that I shall be able to help you better by sending the\nHoly Spirit than by staying with you Myself.  It is expedient for _you_\nthat I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not come to\nyou, but if I depart I will send Him unto you.\"\n\nWe may not be able to fathom all the reasons for Christ's withdrawal\nbefore the Spirit's advent was possible.  But some of them are obvious\nenough.  The full union of the Son of God with our race must be secured\nthrough death and resurrection, and His full union with the Father must\nbe indicated in His glorification with the glory He had or ever the\nworlds were made, before He could be the perfect channel of\ncommunicating the Divine fullness to our human nature.  The Head must\nbe anointed before the Body.  There must be no physical distraction\narising from the outward life of Jesus to compete with the spiritual\nimpression of His unseen presence.  The text must be completed before\nthe sermon can be preached.  Christ must die, or there can be no\nwitness to His atonement; must rise, or there can be no testimony to\nHis resurrection; must ascend, or there can be no declaration as to His\nfinished work and eternal intercession.  Since the Spirit reveals\nChrist, all that was appointed unto Christ to do must be completed ere\nthe Spirit can commence His ministry.\n\nThe work of the Spirit on the world is through the Church, and is\ndescribed by our Lord as threefold.  By His revelation of Christ He\ncreates three convictions.  Each of these is necessary to the\nregeneration of man.  There must be the sense of sin, or he will not\nseek the Saviour.  There must be a belief that righteousness is\npossible, or the convicted sinner will die of despair.  There must be\nthe assurance that sin is doomed, and shall be finally vanquished, or\nthe baffled warrior will give up the long conflict as hopeless.\n\n\nI. THE CONVICTION OF SIN.--We are constantly meeting people who are\nperfectly indifferent to Christianity, because they say they do not\nfeel their need of it.  Why should they trouble about it, when they\nsuppose themselves able to do perfectly well without it?\n\nIn dealing with these, it is a great mistake to entice them toward the\ngospel by describing the moral grandeur of Christ's character and\nteaching.  We should at once seek to arouse them to a sense of their\ngreat sinfulness.  When a man realizes that his life is being eaten out\nby some insidious disease, he will need no further urging to go to a\nphysician.  This is the weakness of modern preaching--that we expatiate\non the value of the remedy to men who have never realized their dire\nnecessity.\n\nBut what is the truth most appropriate for producing the conviction of\nsin in the human breast?  \"Preach the Ten Commandments in all their\nstern and uncompromising 'shalts' and 'shalt-nots,'\" cries one.  \"Read\nout the descriptions given in Scripture of the evil things that lurk in\nthe heart of man as filthy things in darksome caves,\" says another.\n\"Show men the results of sin, take them to the edge of the bottomless\npit,\" insists a third.  But not one of these is the chosen weapon of\nthe Holy Spirit.  He convicts men of the sin of refusing to believe in\nJesus Christ.\n\nThere stands the Cross, the evidence and symbol of God's love; and\nthere stands the risen Christ, offering Himself to men.  There is\nnothing which more certainly proves the innate evil of the human heart\nthan its refusal of that mystery of grace.  Disbelief is the creature,\nnot of the intellect, but of the will.  It is not the result of\ninability to understand, but of stubborn obstinacy and stiffneckedness.\nHere is the supreme manifestation of moral beauty, but man has no eyes\nfor it.  Here is the highest revelation of God's desire for man to be\nreconciled with Him, and be at one with Him, His happy child; but man\neither despises or spurns His overtures.  Here is the offer of pardon\nfor all the past, of heirship of all the promises, of blessedness in\nall the future, but man owns that he is indifferent to the existence\nand claims of God, and is quite willing to accept the sleeping\nretribution of bygone years, and to risk a future irradiated by no star\nof hope.  Here is God in Christ beseeching him to be reconciled,\ndeclaring how much the reconciliation has cost, but the frail child of\nyesterday absolutely refuses to be at peace.  No trace of tears in his\nvoice, no shame on his face, no response to God's love in his heart.\n\nThis is sin at its worst.  Not in a Nero drenched with the blood of\nrelatives and saints; nor in an Alva expert to invent new methods of\ntorture; nor in the brutalized expression of the felon; nor in the\ndegradation of the heathen: but in those beside you, who have heard of\nthe love of Jesus from their earliest childhood, and who know that He\ndied for them, and waits to bless them, but who deliberately and\npersistently refuse Him, you will find the most terrible revelations of\nwhat man is capable of.  \"This is the condemnation, that Light is come\ninto the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their\ndeeds were evil.\"\n\nConviction in itself is not enough.  Many have been convicted who have\nnever gone on to conversion.  They have dropped to the ground as\nuntimely fruit, blighted before its maturity.\n\nConviction of sin does not come to all in the same manner or to the\nsame extent.  Indeed, those who have come to Christ in early life are\nin a degree exempt from drinking this bitter cup, though they have much\ntenderness of conscience afterward.\n\nDo not wait for more conviction, but come to Jesus as you are, and tell\nHim that the saddest symptom in your case is your inability to feel as\nyou know you should.  Do not tarry to be convinced of sin.  Do not stay\naway till you feel more deeply.  Do not suppose that strongly roused\nemotions purchase His favor.  His command is absolute--_Believe_.  But\nwhenever that true repentance is wrought which needs not to be repented\nof, or those tears of penitence fall from the eyes of the suppliant,\nthe means will always be the person and work and love of Jesus Christ.\nThis is the burning-glass through which the Spirit focuses the rays of\nGod's love on ice-bound hearts.\n\n\nII. THE CONVICTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.--The aggravation of sin of which\nthe Spirit convicts the sinner seems to present a gloom too dark for\nany ray to penetrate.  He cannot forget.  The dead past will not bury\nits dead.  The wind of eternity blows away the leaves with which he\ntries to hide the corpses of murdered opportunities, broken hearts, and\ndissipated years.  He cannot forget.  He may close his eyes, but still\nthe memories of the past will haunt him, the deeds he would undo, the\nwords he would recall, the dark ingratitude toward the love of Jesus.\nConscience is a flaming terror till a man finds Christ as his Saviour.\nHer brow is girt with fire, her voice peals with doom.\n\n\"Can I ever be cleansed?\" cries the convicted soul.  \"Can these awful\ngnawings be silenced, and these terrors laid?  Can I rise from this\nruin and become a new, righteous, God-like man?\"  These questions are\nanswered by the Spirit who induced them.  \"There is righteousness,\" He\nsays, \"because Christ is gone to the Father, and ye see Him no more.\"\n\nHe is gone to the Father; and the seal of Divine authenticity has\ntherefore been placed on all He said and did in the Father's name.\n\nHe is gone to the Father; and it is clear, therefore, that He has been\naccepted as the Saviour and Redeemer of men.\n\nHe is gone to the Father in the likeness and nature of men; evidently,\nthen, man is an object of God's love, is reconciled to God, and is\nadmitted to the rights and privileges of a son and heir.\n\nThe work of Jesus on man's behalf finished at the Cross, accepted by\nthe Father--of which the resurrection is witness--presented by our\nGreat High Priest within the veil, is the momentous truth which the\nHoly Spirit brings home to the convinced sinner.  And inasmuch as we\nare unable to see within the veil and discern the Divine marks of\napproval and acceptance, the Holy Spirit descends, and in His advent\nproves that Jesus has gone where He said, and done what He promised.\n\nHow do we know that the work of Jesus Christ has been accepted in the\ncourts of eternity?  On this wise.  Before He died the Master said that\nHe went to the Father, and that when He was glorified He would ask and\nreceive the Spirit in His fullness.  After days had elapsed and the\nsecond week from His ascension was already passing, the Spirit in\npentecostal fullness fell upon the waiting Church, giving it an\naltogether new power to combat with the world.  What the wagons were to\nJacob, proving that Joseph lived and thought of him still, and was\nindeed supreme in Egypt, that the day of Pentecost was in declaring\nthat Christ's personal righteousness had been vindicated, and that the\nrighteousness He had wrought out for man had received the hallmark of\nthe Divine assay.  Therefore the apostle says, \"The Holy Ghost also is\na witness to us that He hath perfected forever by one offering them\nthat are sanctified.\"  And again, \"Him hath God exalted with His right\nhand to be a Prince and a Saviour; and the Holy Ghost, whom God hath\ngiven to them that obey Him, is witness of these things.\"\n\n\nIII.  THE CONVICTION OF JUDGMENT.--When we have been freed _from_ sin,\nand made righteous in Christ, we are left face to face with a\ntremendous struggle against sin.  The sin of the past is indeed\nforgiven, the voice of conscience has been hushed, the sinner rejoices\nto know that he is accepted on the ground of righteousness; but the old\ntemptations still crop up.  Passion prompts us to live for present\ngratification; the flesh deadens the burning aspirations of the spirit.\nWe ask in sad earnestness, How shall we be able to survive the terrible\nstruggle and to come off victorious?  It appears a vain hope that we\nshould ever rise to perfect and victorious purity.\n\nAt such a time the Comforter convinces us of judgment.  Not, as the\nwords are so often misquoted, of judgment to come, but in the sense in\nwhich our Lord spoke of judgment to the inquiring Greeks: \"Now is the\njudgment of this world; now shall the Prince of this world be cast\nout.\"  Our Lord's references to the existence and power of Satan are\nalways distinct and unhesitating.  It is impossible to accept Him as\nour supreme Teacher without accepting His statements concerning His\ngreat antagonist, to undo whose work brought the Son of God to earth.\n\nThe whole Gospel is a story of the duel in which our Lord forever\nworsted and mastered Satan.  The conflict began with the lonely\nstruggle of the temptation in the wilderness; it pervaded Christ's\nearthly career; it culminated in the Cross.  Its first note was, \"If\nThou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread\"; its\nlast note was, \"If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross.\"\nBut when our Lord cried, \"It is finished,\" with the shout of a\nconqueror, He proclaimed to the universe that, though tempted to the\nuttermost, He had not yielded in one particular, that evil was not an\neternal power, that wrong was not omnipotent.  The Cross was the crisis\nof this world's history: the prince of this world measured himself for\none final wrestle with the Son of God.  Had he succeeded, evil would\nhave reigned; but since he failed he fell as lightning from heaven.\n\nOn this fact the Holy Spirit loves to dwell.  He unfolds its full\nmeaning.  \"See,\" He says, \"Christ has conquered for you, and in your\nnature.  You meet a foe who is not invincible.  Christ conquered, not\nfor Himself, but for all who believe.  The prince of this world has\nbeen judged and found wanting.  He is condemned forevermore.  Only\nabide in the last Adam, the Lord from heaven, and let Him abide in you,\nand He will repeat through you His olden victories.\"\n\nWhat a majestic thought is here!  The world comes to us first with its\nfascinations and delights.  She comes to us next with her frowns and\ntortures.  Behind her is her prince.  But since he has been cast out by\na stronger than himself, and exists only on sufferance, his most potent\nbribes and lures, his most violent onsets, his most unscrupulous\nsuggestions, must collapse.  Believer, meet him as a discredited and\nfallen foe.  He can have no power at all over thee.  The Cross bruised\nhis head.  Thou hast no need to fear judgment.  It awaits those only\nwho are still in the devil's power.  But thou mayest rejoice that for\nthee a victory waits, the measure of which will only be explored when\nthou seest the devil cast into the bottomless pit, and thence into the\nlake of fire.\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nChrist's Reticence Supplemented by the Spirit's Advent\n\n\"I have yet many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them\nnow.\"--JOHN xvi. 12-15.\n\n\nHow confidently our Lord speaks of the Spirit's advent; not more so did\nthe prophets foretell His own.  Repeatedly He returns to the phrase,\n_When He is come_.  The advent of the Spirit to the heart of the Church\non the Day of Pentecost, was as distinct and marked an event as the\nadvent of the Son of God Himself to the manger-bed of Bethlehem.  Let\nevery reader of these words be sure of having taken the full advantage\nof His Presence, just as we would wish to have availed ourselves to the\nuttermost of the physical presence of Christ, had our lot so befallen.\n\n\nI. THE THEME OF THIS PARAGRAPH IS THE INCOMPLETENESS OF OUR LORD'S\nTEACHING.--For three and a half years He was perpetually pouring forth\nHis wonderful words; in many _different places_--the market-place, the\nhome at Bethany, the hillside, the Temple cloister; to many _different\naudiences_--now in thronging crowds, and again to the secret disciple\nwhose footfall startled the night, or the lone woman drawing water from\nthe well; on many _different themes_--to mention all of which would be\nimpossible, though He never spoke on any subject, common as a wayside\nflower, without associating with it thoughts that can never die.  We\nhave but a small portion of His words recorded in the Gospels, it is\ntherefore the more remarkable that He left anything unsaid, and that at\nthe close of His ministry He should have to say, _I have yet many\nthings to say unto you_.  Many parables, fair as His tenderest, woven\nin the productive loom of His imagination, remained unuttered; many\ndiscourses, inimitable as the Sermon on the Mount, or as this in the\nupper room, unspoken; many revelations of heavenly mystery not made.\n\nA comparison between the Gospels and the Epistles will indicate how\nmuch our Lord had left unsaid.  The relation of the law of Moses to His\nfinished work was left to the Epistle to the Romans: the relation\nbetween His Church and the usages of the heathen world, for the Epistle\nto Corinth: the effect of His resurrection on the sleeping saints for\nthe Epistle to the Thessalonians.  He said nothing about the union of\nJew and Gentile on terms of equality in His Church; this mystery,\nhidden from ages and from generations, was only fully unveiled in the\nEpistle to the Ephesians.  It was left for the Epistle to the Hebrews\nto disclose the superseding of the Temple and its ritual by the\nrealities of the Christian dispensation.  The practical precepts for\nthe right ordering of the Churches were left for the pastoral Epistles;\nand the course of the Church through the ages of the world's history,\nfor the Apocalypse of the beloved Apostle.  When we perceive the many\nthings, taught in the Epistles, which were not unfolded by the Lord, we\ndiscern a fresh meaning in His assurance that He left much unsaid.\n\nWe are perpetually assailed by the cry, \"Back to Christ,\" which is\nsignificant of men's weariness of theological system, and organized\necclesiasticism, and of a desire to get away from the accretions of the\nMiddle Ages and the dead hand of Church Tradition, into the pure,\nserene, and holy presence of Jesus of Nazareth.  It always seems to us\nas if the cry should be _Up to_ Christ, rather than _Back_ to Him.  To\nput it as men generally do, suggests the inference that Christ lies far\nin the wake of human progress, and behind the haze of eighteen\ncenturies; that He was, but is no longer, a potent factor in the\nworld's life; whereas He is here, now, with us, in us, leading us as of\nold through rugged passes, and to mountains of transfiguration.\n\nIf the endeavor to get back to Christ means the Synoptic Gospels to the\nexclusion of the fourth, or the Epistles; or the Sermon on the Mount to\nthe exclusion of the Epistle to the Romans; or Jesus to the exclusion\nof His Apostles, we feel it is but half the truth.  Our Lord Himself\nprotested that His teachings were incomplete, that there was much left\nunsaid which would be said by the Comforter, as even He could not,\nbecause the Spirit of God speaks in the inner shrine of the soul,\nuttering to the inner ear, truths which no voice could speak or ear\nreceive.  Let us always remember therefore that the Gospels must be\ncompleted by the Epistles, and that the Spirit who spake in the Son,\nspake also in those whom the Son had prepared to be His mouthpieces to\nmen.\n\n\nII. THE PARTIAL MEASURE OF HUMAN ABILITY TO KNOW.--\"Ye cannot bear them\nnow.\"  Our Lord's reticence did not arise from ignorance, He could have\nsaid so much had He not been able to say more.  All things were naked\nand open to His eye, but He had a tender regard for these men whom He\nloved.\n\n_Their bodies_ could not bear more.  When the mind is strongly wrought\nupon, the delicate organism of the body is deeply affected.  On the\nbanks of the river Hiddekel, words of such wondrous importance were\nuttered to the lonely exile, that Daniel fainted, and was sick many\ndays.  \"When I saw Him,\" says John, \"I fell at His feet as dead.\"\nFlavel, on more than one occasion, asked that the excessive revelation\nmight be stayed.  Our Lord, therefore, feared that in their weakened\nstate, torn by anxiety and sorrow, His followers would collapse if\nfurther strain were imposed upon their powers of spiritual apprehension.\n\n_Their minds_ could not bear more.  The mind cannot receive more than a\ncertain amount.  After a while its eye gets weary, it ceases to\nreceive, and even to remember.  There are multitudes of cases in which,\nwhen too great a weight has been crowded on the delicate organism\nthrough which thoughts move, its balance has been upset, and it has\ndrivelled into idiocy.  Against this danger, also, our Lord guarded,\nfor His disciples were already excited and over-strained.  Their brains\nwere so exhausted that in a few moments they would be sleeping on the\ncold ground of Gethsemane.  Had He poured the light of the other world\nin full measure upon them, the tide of glory had submerged them, like\nspent swimmers.\n\n_Their affections_ could not bear more.  Because He had spoken to them,\nsorrow had filled their heart, and He forbore to describe the valley of\nshadow through which they were still to pass, lest their hearts should\nbreak.  They had hardly commenced to drink its cup: what would its\ndregs be?  The footmen had wearied them: how would they contend with\nhorses?  The brink had terrified them: how would they do in the\nswellings of Jordan?\n\nIt is thus that He deals with us still.  He knows our frame, and\nproportions our trials to our strength.  He carefully feels our pulse\nbefore commencing the operation through which He would lead us to\nperfect health.  He tempers His discipline to our spiritual capacity.\nWe desire to know many things: the reason why sin has been permitted,\nthe fate of the impenitent; the state of the great masses of men who\nhave passed into eternity without a true knowledge of God.  Peter asks\nfor John, \"What shall this man do?\"  Each wants to know the secret\nplans, whether for himself, or his beloved, which are lying in the mind\nand purpose of the Eternal.  What will the end be?  Where does that\npath lead by which I am going, and which descends steeply into the\nravine?  Will the fight between evil and good be much prolonged?  What\nare hell, and the bottomless pit, and the meaning of Christ's\nreferences to the undying worm and unquenchable flame?  And Christ\nsays, \"My child, you cannot bear it; you could not sleep at night, you\ncould not play with the merry children by day, you could not perform\nyour slender tasks, if you knew all that I know, and see as I see.  Be\nat rest.  Trust Me.  I will tell you as soon as you are strong enough.\nNothing shall be kept back from you, all shall be revealed.\"  And\nsurely the sufferings and limitations of this present time will not be\nworthy to be compared with the exceeding weight of glory, when in the\npresence of our Lord we shall see eye to eye, and know even as we are\nknown.\n\nIn the light of these words we may get comfort.  When some crushing\ntrouble befalls us, He who only spoke as they were able to bear, will\nnot permit the flame to be hotter, the tide stronger, or the task more\ntrying than we have strength for.  We often do not know our strength\nnor the power of His grace.  Sorrow may be sent to reveal us to\nourselves, and show how much spiritual energy we have been silently\nacquiring.  Do not, therefore, run to and fro, and say, \"It is too\nmuch, I cannot bear it.\"  But know and be sure that Christ has\nascertained your resources, and is sure of your ability, before He\npermits the extreme ordeal to overtake you.  Dare to say with the\napostle, \"I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.\"\n\n\nIII. THE TEACHING OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT.--His _personality_ is\nunmistakable; though the Greek word for Spirit is neuter, a masculine\npronoun is used in conjunction with it when Jesus says, \"He, the Spirit\nof Truth.\"  The personal Christ sent as a substitute for Himself no\nmere breath or influence, but the personal Spirit.  The Advocate before\nthe Throne is well represented by the Advocate in the heart of the\nChurch, and these two agree in one.  Distinct as different Persons, but\none in the mystical unity of the Holy Trinity.\n\nNote the _method_ of the Holy Spirit.  He teaches truth by taking of\nthe things of Christ and revealing them.  There are two methods of\nteaching children, by precept, and by example.  I go into a schoolroom\none summer afternoon, and remark the hot cheeks and tired eyes of the\nlittle ones.  Outside the open window the bees are droning past, the\nbutterflies flit from flower to flower, and nature seems to cry to the\nlittle hearts, \"Come and play with me.\"  Does a garden ever look so\nbeautiful as to children shut up to their studies?  \"What are you\nlearning, little ones?\" I say.  \"Botany,\" is the sad answer  \"We've got\nto learn all these hard names, and copy these diagrams.\"  \"Well,\" I\nsay, \"shut up your books, and come with me.\"  And presently I teach\nthem more botany by contact with the flowers themselves, than they\nwould have learned by hours of poring over lesson-books.  It is so the\nSpirit teaches.  Is gentleness or purity, self-sacrifice or prayer, the\nlesson that we are set to acquire?  There is no need for Him to make a\nnew revelation to us.  It is enough if He but bring us face to face\nwith Jesus, and show these qualities shining through His words and\ndeeds.  The truth certainly, but the truth as it is in Jesus.\n\nThe condition of proficiency in the Spirit's school is _obedience_.\n\"He will _guide_ you into all truth.\"  This word is very significant.\nLiterally it means, _Show the way_.  Ordinarily men ask to know the\ntruth before they obey.  The Spirit demands that they should obey\nbefore they know.  Let me know the outcome of this act; its philosophy,\nits reasonableness, its result, then I will obey.  But the Spirit\nanswers, \"It is enough for thee, O child of man, to know Me.  Canst\nthou not trust?  Wilt thou not obey?  And as thou obeyest thou shalt\nknow.  Take this path, plod along its difficult way, climb where it\nclimbs, so shalt thou ascend the steep of obedience, and at each step a\nfurther horizon of the truth will open outspread beneath thee.\"\n\nLet us be more sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit, following\nwhithersoever He clearly indicates, as when the Spirit said to Philip,\n\"Go, join thyself to this chariot.\"  We shall know when we follow on to\nknow the Lord.  His going forth is prepared for those who are prepared\nto obey whatsoever He may appoint.\n\nThe aim of the Spirit is to glorify our Lord.  \"He shall glorify Me,\nfor He shall receive of mine.\"  The Spirit's presence, as such, should\nnot be a subject of our close scrutiny, lest we conflict with His holy\npurpose of being hidden, that Jesus may be all in all before the gaze\nof saint and sinner.  He is so anxious that nothing should divert the\nsoul's gaze from the Lord whom He would reveal, that He carefully\nwithdraws Himself from view.  \"There must be nothing, not even God\nHimself, to distract the heart from Jesus, through whom we come to God.\nBut remember that when you have the most precious views of your dear\nLord, it is because the Holy Spirit, all unseen, is witnessing and\nworking within you.\"\n\nThe _authority_ of the Holy Spirit appears in the words, \"He shall not\nspeak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.\"\nWhere does He hear the truths He utters?  Where?  There is only one\nplace.  In the depths of the eternal throne, in the heart of Deity\nitself, in the secret place of the Most High.  Oh, marvel! surpassing\nthought, yet true! that things which pass between the Father and the\nSon, in the depths which no angel can penetrate, may be disclosed and\nmade known to those humble and contrite hearts who are willing to make\na space and pause for the Divine Spirit to speak the deep things of God.\n\nMay it be ours to be patient and willing pupils in this heavenly school\nin which the Holy Spirit is Teacher, and Jesus the Text-Book, and\ncharacter the essential condition of knowledge.\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\nThe Conqueror of the World\n\n\"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have\novercome the world.\"--JOHN xvi. 33.\n\n\nIt was the road between Jerusalem and the Gate of the Garden.  Behind,\nlay the city bathed in slumber; before, the Mount of Olives with its\nterraced gardens; above, the Passover moon, pouring down floods of\nsilver light that dropped to the ground through the waving branches of\nthe trees.  The Lord was on His way to betrayal and death, along that\npath flecked by checkered moonlight.\n\nThe farewell talk had been prolonged until the disciples had grasped\nsomething of the Master's meaning.  With many a comforting assurance it\nhad borne them forward to the magnificent but simple declaration, \"_I\ncame forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave\nthe world, and go to the Father_\" (ver. 28).  At that announcement\nlight seems to have broken in upon their hearts, and they said unto\nHim, \"_Lo, now speakest Thou plainly, . . . by this we believe that\nThou camest forth from God._\"  Jesus replied, not as translators render\nit, \"_Do ye now believe_\"; but as it should be rendered, \"_At last ye\nbelieve_\"; and He proceeded to formulate three paradoxes:\n\nFirst, That within an hour or so He would be alone, yet not alone.\n\nSecondly, That they would have tribulation, and yet be in peace.\n\nThirdly, That though He was going to His death, He was certainly a\nconqueror, and had overcome the world, whose princes were about to\ncrucify Him.\n\nThat word _overcome_ appears to have been used only this once by our\nLord; but it made a lasting impression on the Apostle John, who\nconstantly makes use of it in his Epistle.  We meet with it _six_ times\nin his brief first Epistle, and _sixteen_ times in the Book of\nRevelation.  Who can forget the sevenfold promise spoken by the risen\nLord to those who overcome; or the sublime affirmation concerning the\nmartyrs, that they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of\ntheir testimony?\n\n\nI. CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES HAVE A COMMON FOE--\"The world.\"--And what\nis the world?  _It is well to take the inspired definition given in 1\nJohn ii. 16_.  After enumerating her three daughters--the lust of the\nflesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--the apostle goes on\nto say:  \"All that is in the world is not of the Father,\" _i.e._, does\nnot originate or proceed from Him, but has its source in the world\nitself.  We might reverse this proposition and say:  \"All that does not\nemanate from the Father, which you cannot trace back to His purpose in\ncreation, is that mysterious indefinable influence or spirit which\nmakes the world.\"  The world, in this sense, is not primarily a thing,\nor a collection of people, but a spiritual influence poured out into\nthe very atmosphere of our lives.\n\nThe spirit of the world insinuates itself everywhere.  It is what we\ncall society; the consensus of fashionable opinion; the spirit which\nfinds its satisfaction in the seen and transient; the ambition that is\nencircled by the rim of an earthly horizon; the aims, plans, and\nactivities which are comprehended, as the Preacher says, \"under the\nsun.\"  You meet it in the school, where little children judge each\nother by their dress and the number of horses their fathers keep; in\nthe country town, where strict lines are drawn between the professional\nor wholesale man and the retailer; in gatherings of well-dressed\npeople, stiff with decorum and the punctilious observance of etiquette.\n\nThe world has formulated its _Beatitudes_, thus:\n\n\"Blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit the earth.\"\n\n\"Blessed are the light-hearted, for they shall have many friends.\"\n\n\"Blessed are the respectable, for they shall be respected.\"\n\n\"Blessed are they who are not troubled by a sensitive conscience, for\nthey shall succeed in life.\"\n\n\"Blessed are they who can indulge their appetites to the full, for they\nshall be filled.\"\n\n\"Blessed are they who have no need to conciliate their rivals, for they\nwill be saved from anxiety.\"\n\n\"Blessed are they who have no poor relations, for they shall be\ndelivered from annoyance.\"\n\n\"Blessed are they of whom all men speak well.\"\n\nThe world's code says, \"Do as others do; don't be singular; never\noffend against good taste; have a tinge of religiousness, but remember\ntoo much is impracticable for daily life; whatever you do, don't be\npoor; never yield an inch, unless you are going to make something by\nthe concession; take every advantage of bettering your position, it\nmatters not at what cost to others--they must look after themselves, as\nyou to yourself.\"\n\nBut it was reserved for John Bunyan to draw Madame Bubble's portrait:\n\"This woman is a witch.  'I am mistress of the world,' she says, 'and\nmen are made happy by me.'  She wears a great purse at her side; and\nher hand is often in her purse fingering her money.  Yea, she has\nbought off many a man from a pilgrim's life after he had fairly begun\nit.  She is a bold and impudent slut also, for she will talk to any\nman.  If there be one cunning to make money, she will speak well of him\nfrom house to house.  None can tell of the mischief she does.  She\nmakes variance betwixt rulers and subjects, 'twixt parents and\nchildren, 'twixt a man and his wife, 'twixt the flesh and the heart.\nHad she stood by all this while,' said Standfast, whose eyes were still\nfull of her, 'you could not have set Madame Bubble more amply before\nme, nor have better described her features.'  'He that drew her picture\nwas a good limner,' said Mr. Honest, 'and he that so wrote of her said\ntrue.'  'Oh,' said Standfast, 'what a mercy it is that I did resist\nher! for to what might she not have drawn me?'\"\n\n\nII. CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES HAVE A COMMON CONFLICT.--It is inevitable\nthat there should be collision, and therefore conflict, and as a result\ntribulation.  The world-spirit will not brook our disagreement with its\nplans and aims, and therefore they who persist in living godly lives in\nthis present evil world must suffer persecution.\n\n_Conflict about the use of power and prerogative._--At His baptism our\nLord was proclaimed to be the Son of the Highest, and anointed with the\nHoly Ghost and with power.  Instantly the Prince of this world came to\nHim with the suggestion that He should use it for the purposes of His\nown comfort and display.  \"Make these stones bread for thine hunger;\ncast Thyself down and attract the attention of the crowds.\"  Here were\nthe lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes.  But our Lord refused\nto use for Himself the power which was entrusted to Him for the\nbenediction and help of men.\n\n_Conflict as to the way of helping and saving men._--The world's way\nwas to leap into the seat of power at any cost, and from the height of\nuniversal authority administer the affairs of the world.  But Christ\nknew better.  He saw that He must take the form of a servant, and\nhumble Himself to the lowest.  If He would save men, He cannot save\nHimself: if He would bring forth much fruit, He must fall into the\nground to die: if He would ascend far above all heavens, bearing us\nwith Him to the realms of eternal day, He must descend first into the\nlower parts of the earth.\n\n_Conflict in the estimate of poverty and suffering._--The world looked\non these as the most terrible disasters that could befall.  Christ, on\nthe other hand, taught that blessedness lay most within reach of the\npoor in spirit, the mourners, the merciful, the forgiving, and the\npersecuted.  But the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, when they\nheard all these things, scoffed at Him.\n\n_Conflict in their diverse notions of royalty._--The Jews looked for a\nMessiah who should revive the glories of the days of David and Solomon,\ndriving the Gentiles from the land, and receiving the homage of the\nsurrounding nations, whilst every son of Abraham enjoyed opulence and\nease.  Referring to this expectation, the Master said, \"My kingdom is\nnot of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My\nservants fight.\"  His conception of royalty was founded on service,\nwhich would wash the disciples' feet; on humility, which meekly bore\nthe heavy yoke, on patience, which would not quench the smoking flax,\non suffering, which flinched not from the cross; on the nobility and\ndignity of the inner life, which shone through the most humble\ncircumstances, as the transfiguration glory through His robes.  For\nthis He died.  The chief priests and scribes hunted Him to death,\nbecause He persisted in asserting that He was the true King of men.\n\"And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the Cross, _Jesus of\nNazareth, the King of the Jews_.\"\n\n_There was conflict in regard to religion._--The people of Christ's day\nwere very religious.  The world likes a flavor of religion.  It makes a\ngood background and screen, it serves to hide much that is unbecoming\nand questionable; it is respectable, and satisfies an instinctive\nlonging of the soul.  But the world manages its religion in such a way\nas not to interfere with its self-aggrandizement; but, in fact, to\npromote it.  Christ, on the other hand, taught that religion was for\nthe Father in secret; and consisted, not in the rigorous observance of\noutward rite, but in pity, mercy, forgiveness, solitary prayer, and\npurity of heart.\n\nThus the Lord's life was the reversal of everything that the world\nprized.  Wherever He touched it there was conflict and collision,\nstrong antagonism was evoked, and profound irritation on the part of\nthe poor hollow appearance-loving world.  So it must be with His\nfollowers.  \"These pilgrims must needs go through the fair.  Well, so\nthey did; but behold, even as they entered into the fair, all the\npeople in the fair were moved, and the town itself, as it were, in a\nhubbub about them.  They were clothed with such kind of raiment as was\ndiverse from the raiment of any who traded in that fair; few could\nunderstand what they said; and the pilgrims set very light by all their\nwares.  And they did not believe them to be any other than bedlams and\nmad.  Therefore they took them and beat them, and besmeared them with\ndirt, and then put them in the cage, that they might be made a\nspectacle to all the men at the fair.\"\n\nChild of God, your conflict may be altogether _hidden_ from the eyes of\nthose around you, _lonely_ with the awful loneliness of one in a crowd\nof unsympathizing strangers, _painful_ with the tribulation that Christ\nforetold.  You have been ridiculed, sneered at, maligned; your tools\nhidden, your goods injured, violence threatened or executed.  You have\nbeen as a speckled bird, pecked at by the birds around.  But this is\nthe way the Master went.  By these marks you may be sure that you are\nin the way of His steps.\n\n\nIII. THE COMMON VICTORY.--\"Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.\"\n\nIn the midst of a battle, when the soldiers are weary with fatigue,\ngalled with fire, and grimed with smoke, if the general rides into the\nmidst to cheer them with a few hearty words, and tells them that the\nkey to the position is in their hands, they cheer him enthusiastically,\nand take up new hope.  So down the line our Leader and Commander sends\nthe encouragement of these inspiring words.  Let us drink their comfort\nand encouragement to the full, that, amid our tribulation, in Him we\nmay have peace.\n\n_He conquered for Himself._--The Lord has shown that a great and\nblessed life is possible on conditions which the world pronounces\nsimply unendurable.  He would not accept the world's maxims, would not\nbe ruled by the world's principles, did despite to the world's most\nfavorite plans.  He even tasted the dregs of reprobation that the world\nmetes out to those who oppose her, enduring the cross, and despising\nthe shame.  But His life was blessed while it lasted, His name is the\ndearest and fairest treasure of our race, and He holds an empire such\nas none of the world's most favored conquerors ever won.  Does not this\nshow that the world is a lying temptress, that there is another and a\nbetter policy of life than hers, that the real sweets and prizes of\nthis brief existence are, after all, not in her gift.  Christ has\novercome the world.  Her prince came to Him, but found no response to\nany of His proposals.  He disregarded her flatteries and threatenings;\nHe would not have her help and despised her hate; He prosecuted His\npath in defiance of her, and has left an imperishable glory behind.\nThus He overcame the world.\n\n_And he conquered as our representative and head._--What He did for\nHimself He is prepared to repeat in the life-story of His followers.\nAh! lonely soul, thou shalt not be left unaided to withstand the\nseductions of the temptress world; Jesus is with thee, thy Great-heart\nand Champion.  As the Father was with Him, so He is with thee; so thus\nthou mayest boldly say, \"The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what\nman can do unto me.\"\n\nHe does more.  Behind the light of this world's glory, Jesus reveals\nanother; and it is as when the sun rises, while the yellow moon still\nlingers in the sky.  The world has no glory by reason of that glory,\nwhich excelleth.  We are content with this world until He reveals the\nglory of the unseen and eternal; then a holy discontent arises with us,\nsuch as the patriarchs felt toward Canaan, when by faith they beheld\nthe city which hath foundations.  I only say to you, get that vision,\nand it becomes as easy for you to refuse the passing and worthless\nattractions of the world as for an angel to ignore a wanton's beauty,\nor a child to make light of diamonds in the rough.\n\nIn Jesus you may have peace.  It is not certainly ours, unless we\nfollow the two conditions He lays down.  First, of abiding in Him; and,\nsecondly, of meditating on His words.  But if these be observed we\nshall have in the midst of strife, just as there is an oratory in the\nheart of the castle keep; a hollow cone in the midst of the candle\nflame; and a centre of safety in the midst of the sweeping whirlwind.\nOh, abide there, child of God!\n\nAnd, in addition to peace, there shall one day be victory.  We also\nshall overcome, and shall sit with Christ on His throne, as He\novercame, and sits with the Father upon His.  Then the fruit of the\ntree of life, immunity from the second death, the hidden manna, the\nwhite stone, the morning star, the confession before the angels of God,\nand the pillar in the temple of Eternity!\n\n\n\n\nXXI\n\nConsecrated to Consecrate\n\n\"For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be\nsanctified in truth.\"--JOHN xvii. 19.\n\n\n\"The most precious fragment of the past,\" is the unstinted eulogium\nwhich a thoughtful man has passed on this transcendent prayer;\ntranscending in its scope of view, its expressions, its tender pathos,\nall other prayers of which we have record.\n\nIts primary characteristic is _timelessness_.  Though uttered within a\nfew hours of Calvary, it contains thoughts and expressions which must\nhave been familiar to our Lord at any moment during the centuries which\nhave followed.  As we study it, therefore, we are listening to words\nwhich have been uttered many times on our behalf, and will be uttered\nuntil we are with Him, where He is, beholding the glory of the Divine\nSon, superadded to that of the Perfect Servant.\n\nThe R. V. margin substitutes the word _consecrate_ for _sanctify_, and\nit probably conveys a better meaning, because devotion to the will of\nGod is prominent, rather than the holiness of personal character.\nDevotion to God's will is the primary thought suggested by the word;\nbut of course it involves a blameless and spotless character.  Thus we\nmight read the words, \"For their sakes I consecrate Myself, that they\nalso may be consecrated in truth.\"  Through the dim twilight the Lord\nclearly foresaw what was awaiting Him--the agony and bloody sweat, the\ncross and passion, the foresakenness and travail of His soul.  The\ncross with out-stretched arms waited to receive Him; the midnight\ndarkness to engulf Him, the murderous band to wreak their hate on the\nunresisting Lamb--and yet He flinched not, but went right forward,\nconsecrating Himself.\n\n  \"Twas thus He suffered, though a Son,\n    Foreknowing, choosing, tasting all,\n  Until the dreadful work was done\n    And drank the bitter cup of gall.\"\n\n\nI. THE SUBJECTS OF CHRIST'S SOLICITUDE.--In the earlier verses the Lord\nspeaks of Himself, of His finished work, of the glory which He had\nleft, of that to which He went, asking only that He might be able to\nglorify the Father in every movement of His coming sorrow (1-5).\n\nThen He launches Himself on the full current of intercession, and\npleads for those who had been given to Him, as distinguished from the\nworld of men out of which they had come.  Evidently the same thought\nwas in His mind as inspired His words in John x., when He spoke of the\nsheep whom the Father had given to Him, that He might give them eternal\nlife (27-29).  And it may be that each of these two utterances was\ninspired by older words yet, that Zechariah had addressed to the poor\nof the flock when he cut asunder his two slaves, Beauty and Bands\n(Zech. xi. 7-14).\n\nThe underlying conception in all these passages seems to be that the\nFather has entrusted to the special keeping of Jesus certain elect\nspirits having an affinity to His nature, and who should stand in the\ninner circle to Him because associated with Him from high redemptive\npurpose.  All souls are God's by right of creation, and all are\nincluded in the redemption wrought on the cross; but not all had been\nincluded in the Divine gift of which Jesus speaks, \"Thine they were,\nand Thou gavest them Me.\"  We conclude that in the eternity of the\npast, as the Father beheld all future things as though they were\npresent, and surveyed the vast multitudes of the human family, He\ndiscerned those who would be attracted by indissoluble union with His\nSon, manifest in the flesh; and whom He did foreknow, these also He did\npredestinate to be His flock, His brethren and sisters, His chosen band\nof associates in His redemptive purpose.  These were the subjects of\nHis powerful solicitude, \"I make request, not for the world, but for\nthose whom Thou hast given Me.\"\n\nWhat then?  Did not God care for the world?  Certainly.  He so loved\nthe world that He gave His only begotten Son.\n\nHow then can we reconcile the love of God to the world with the\nselection of some as the flock of the Lamb, whilst the great world\nseems expressly excluded from His prayer?  That question is fitly put.\nThe emphasis is on the word seems.  It is only to the superficial view\nthat the world is excluded.  Are the planets excluded from the law of\ngravitation because suns are filled with fire and light?  Are the lower\norders of creation excluded from the circle of enjoyment because man\nwith his high organization is more richly endowed than they?  Are\nsufferers excluded from the healing virtues of nature because a\ncomparative few are specially qualified as surgeons and physicians?\nCan a missionary be charged with neglecting a dark continent because he\nconcentrates thought and care on a few elect spirits gathered around\nhim?  For instance, could Columba be held guilty of neglecting the\nPicts and Scots when on Iona's lone isle he focused his care upon the\nhandful of followers who assembled around the ancient pile, whose ruins\nare his lasting memorial?  There is but one answer to these questions.\nElection is not exclusive, but inclusive.  Its purpose is not primarily\nthe salvation or delectation of the few, but their equipment to become\nthe apostles to the many.  And if Jesus thought, cared, and prayed so\nmuch for those whom the Father had given Him, His ulterior thought was\nthat the world might believe that the Father had sent Him (ver. 21).\nIf then it should be proved that you, my reader, are not included in\nthe band of the given ones, that would not necessarily involve you in\nthe eternal condemnation and loss of the future; though it would\nexclude you from sharing with Christ in His lofty mission to the sons\nof men.\n\nWhat are the marks then that we belong to the inner circle of the given\nones?  They are these--\n\n1. That we have come to Him (John vi. 37).\n\n2. That we hear His voice, listening for the slightest indication of\nHis will (John x. 27).\n\n3. That we follow His steps through the world.\n\n4. That we receive His words and believe that the Father sent the Son\nto be our Saviour.\n\n5. That the world hates us (ver. 14).\n\nWheresoever these marks are present, they indicate the hand of the\nGreat Shepherd and Bishop of Souls, and though we be amongst the most\ntimid and worthless of the flock, He is pledged to keep us, so that\nnone shall snatch us from His hand, and conduct us through the valley\nof the shadow to those dewy upland lawns over which He will lead us\nforevermore.\n\n\nII. WHAT HE SOUGHT FOR THEM--\"that they might be consecrated in truth.\"\n\nChrist does not ask that His own should be forgiven, comforted,\nsupplied with the good things of life--all thought for these pales in\nthe presence of His intense desire that they should be consecrated,\n_i.e._, inspired by the same consuming passion as was burning in His\nheart.  He knew that He was no more in the world.  High business\nconnected with its interests summoned Him to the far country, whither\nHe went to receive the kingdom and return.  But He desired that the\npassion which filled His soul, His tears, His prayers, and, to an\nextent, His sufferings, might always be represented amongst the sons of\nmen, embodied in human lives, finding utterance through human lips.  He\ncould not Himself perpetuate his corporeal visible ministry among men,\nand therefore desired with a great desire that those whom the Father\nhad given Him should evermore show forth His death till He came.  Not\nsimply by gathering at His table, but by going forth to live His life,\nand fill up that which is behind of His sufferings.\n\nIs this your life?  We have sometimes heard consecration stated as\nthough it were a matter of choice whether believers should bind\nthemselves by its obligations or not.  When a student enters the\nuniversity there are certain subjects in which he must matriculate, but\nthere are special ones which he may graduate in or not, as he pleases.\nShould he refuse them, he is not blamed.  The matter was within his\noption.  Now, let it be clearly understood from these words of Christ\nthat consecration is not in the same sense optional, but obligatory.\nFor all those whom the Father had given Him He pleaded with His dying\nbreath that they should be consecrated; and if you are not consecrated,\nif there are extensive reserves in your life, if you are holding back\npart of the price, if you are saying of aught that you have, It is my\nown, I shall do as I choose, then understand that you are in direct\nconflict against Christ's purpose and prayer.  He asked that you might\nbe consecrated; and you have chosen to regard consecration as the craze\nof the fervid enthusiast.\n\n\nIII. CHRIST'S METHOD OF SECURING THE CONSECRATION OF HIS\nSERVANTS.--\"For their sakes I consecrate Myself.\"\n\n(1) _There is the potency of example._--\"He hath left us an example to\nfollow in His steps.\"  \"He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself\nalso to walk even as He walked.\"  Once when He was praying in a certain\nplace His disciples said, \"Lord, teach us to pray.\"  They had come\nwithin the powerful attraction of His Spirit.  Like a swift current it\nhad caught them, and they were eager to emulate Him.  It is impossible\nfor the saint to gaze long on the stigmata without becoming branded\nwith the marks of Jesus; impossible to see Him hasting to the cross\nwithout being stirred to follow Him; impossible to behold the intensity\nof His purpose for a world's redemption without becoming imbued with\nit; impossible to see Him in love with the cross without feeling a\nsimilar infatuation; impossible to behold Him plunging into the dark\nfloods of death that He might emerge in the sunlit ocean, without the\nconsciousness of the uprising of an insatiable desire to be like Him,\nto drink of His cup, and be baptized with His baptism, to fall into the\nground to die, that He may not abide alone, to know the fellowship of\nHis sufferings, and conformity to His death, that He may appoint unto\nus a kingdom, as the Father hath appointed to Him.\n\n(2) _There is our implication in His mediatorial work._--\"I have been\ncrucified with Christ,\" the apostle said.  And, again, \"Ye died with\nChrist from the rudiments of the world.\"  Of course, Christ died _for_\nus, presenting to the claims of a broken law a perfect satisfaction and\noblation.  It is also true that we died _with_ Him, were _in_ Him as\nour Representative, wrought _through_ Him as our Forerunner; the first\nfruit-sheaf contained the promise of all its companions.\n\nConsider for a moment a remarkable expression that casts light on this\nwhole subject.  In that memorable discussion with the Jews in Solomon's\nporch, which practically closed our Lord's public ministry, He said\nthat the Father had sanctified and consecrated Him and sent Him into\nthe world (John x. 36).  In these sublime words He undoubtedly refers\nto a moment which preceded the Incarnation, when the Godhead designated\nthe Second Person to redeem men?  Was it the same moment, think you, as\nthat in which Jesus said, \"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but\na body thou hast prepared for Me (or, Mine ears hast thou pierced).  I\ndelight to do Thy will, O My God.\"  If so, what an august scene that\nmust have been when, in the presence of the assembled hierarchies of\nheaven, the Father solemnly set apart the Son for His redemption work,\nconsecrating Him to bring in everlasting salvation, to destroy the\nworks of the devil, and to bring together in one the children of God\nthat are scattered abroad!\n\nIn that solemn consecration of the head all the members were included.\nThe King stood for His kingdom; the Shepherd for His flock.  Any who\nrefuse to be consecrated contravene and contradict that momentous\ndecision.\n\nWhen Christ approached His death, in these words He renewed His act of\nconsecration, and again implicated those who belong to Him; bearing us\nwith Him, He went to the cross, involving us by His actions, He yielded\nHimself up to death.  In His holy purpose we were quickened together\nwith Him, and raised up together, and made to sit together in the\nheavenly places; and by the same emphasis that we declare ourselves to\nbe His, we confess that we are amongst those who are bound to a life of\nconsecration.  We are pledged to it by union with our Lord.  We cannot\ndraw back from the doorpost to which He was nailed without proving that\nwe are deficient in appreciating the purpose which brought Him to our\nworld, the surrender that withheld not His face from spitting, His soul\nfrom the shadow of death.\n\n\nIV. OUR DUTY.--\"Yield yourselves unto God.\"  When Abraham Lincoln\ndedicated, for the purposes of a graveyard, the field of Gettysburg,\nwhere so many brave soldiers had lost their lives, he said: \"We cannot\ndedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.  The\nbrave men who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our power\nto add or detract.  It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to\nthe unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly\nadvanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task\nremaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased\ndevotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of\ndevotion; and that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not\nhave died in vain.\"\n\nThese noble words, when we have made the needful alterations and\nadaptations, are most applicable to our present point.  Let us dedicate\nourselves to the great task before us, and to which Jesus has pledged\nus.  Let us devote ourselves to this great cause for which Jesus died.\nLet us highly resolve that He shall not have died in vain.  Let us\noffer and present ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable,\nholy, and living sacrifice unto God, that His will might be done\nthrough us, as it is done in heaven.\n\n  \"My Master, lead me to Thy door;\n    Pierce this now willing ear once more;\n  Thy bonds are freedom, let me stay\n    With Thee, to toil, endure, obey.\n\n  \"Yes; ear and hand, and thought and will!\n    Use all in Thy dear slavery still!\n  Self's weary liberties I cast\n    Beneath Thy feet; there keep them fast.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXII\n\nThe Lord's Prayer for His People's Oneness\n\n\"That they may all be one. . . .  One in us. . . .  That they may be\none, even as we are one. . . .  Perfect in one.\"--JOHN xvii. 21-23.\n\n\nThus our High Priest pleaded, and thus He pleads.  In all the power of\nHis endless life, He ever liveth to bear this great petition on His\nheart: and as the weight of the jewelled breast-plate lay heavy on the\nheart of the high priests of old, so does it press on Him, as the ages\nslowly pass by in their never-ceasing progress toward the consummation\nof all things.  Listen to that voice, sweet and full as the distant\nrush of many waters, as it pleads in the midst of eternity that those\nwhich believe in Him may be one.\n\nNor is it true that this prayer awaits an answer indefinitely future.\nThere seems good reason to believe, as we shall see, that in these\nwords our Lord was making a request, which began to be fulfilled on the\nDay of Pentecost: and is being fulfilled continually, although the\noneness which is being realized is still, like His kingdom, in mystery,\nand is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.  Then, as the\ngauzy mists of time part before the breath of God, the accomplished\noneness of the Church shall stand revealed.\n\n\nI. THE ONENESS OF BELIEVERS IS A SPIRITUAL ONENESS.--Can there be any\nreasonable doubt of this when our Master asks so clearly that we may be\none, _as the Father and He are one_?  The model for Christian unity is\nevidently the unity between the Father and Son by the Holy Spirit; and\nsince that unity, the unity of the blessed God, is not corporeal, nor\nphysical, nor substantial to the eye of the flesh, may we not\ninfer--nay, are we not compelled to infer--that the oneness of\nbelievers is to be after the same fashion, and to consist in so close\nan identity of nature, so absolute an interfusion of spirit, as that\nthey shall be one in aim, and thought, and life, and spirit,\nspiritually one with each other, because spiritually one with Him?\n\nThe Church of Rome, which has ever travestied in gross material forms\nthe most spiritual conceptions of God, sought to prove herself the true\nChurch by achieving a oneness of her own.  It was an outward and\nvisible oneness.  In the apostate church every one must utter the same\nformularies, worship in the same postures, and belong to the same\necclesiastical system.  And its leaders did their best to realize their\ndream.  They endeavored to exterminate heresy by fire, and sword, and\ntorture.  They spread their network through the world.  And just before\nthe dawn of the Reformation they seemed to have succeeded.  At the\nbeginning of the sixteenth century, Europe reposed in the monotony of\nalmost universal uniformity, beneath the almost universal supremacy of\nthe Papacy.  Rome might indeed have adopted the insolent language of\nthe Assyrian of prophecy: \"As one gathereth eggs, so have I gathered\nall the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the\nmouth, or peeped.\"  And what was the result?  _What but the deep sleep\nof spiritual death_?  And herein lay the most crushing condemnation of\nthe Roman Catholic conception of the unity of the Church.\n\nMany modern notions of Christian unity seem to proceed on the same\nline.  The assent to a certain credal basis, the meeting in great\nCatholic conventions, the exchange of pulpits--these seem to exhaust\nthe conceptions of large numbers, and to satisfy their ideal.  But\nsurely there is a bond of union deeper, holier, more vital and more\nblessed than any of these, which shyly reveals itself, now and again,\nin one or more of them, but is independent of all, and when all of them\nare wanting, still constitutes us _one_.  And what is that bond of\nunion but the possession of a common spiritual life, like that which\nunites the Father and the Son, and which pervades us also, making us\none with each other, because we are already one with God?\n\nYou may not care to admit it; you may even be ignorant of the full\nmeaning of this marvellous fact; you may live an exclusive life, never\ngoing beyond the walls of some small conventicle, or the barriers of\nsome strict ecclesiastical system; you may bear yourself impatiently\nand brusquely toward those who differ from you; you may even brand them\nwith your anathema: but if they are one with God, by His gracious\nindwelling Spirit of Life, and if you are also one with Him, you\npositively cannot help being one with them.  Your creed may differ, or\nyour mode of worship, or your views about the Church; but you cannot be\notherwise than one with those who are one with God, in a union which is\nnot material but spiritual.\n\n\nII. THIS ONENESS ALSO ADMITS OF GREAT VARIETY.--\"One, as Thou, Father,\nart in Me, and I in Thee.\"  Now, of course, we all admit the unity of\nthe Godhead.  The first article of the Jew is also the first article of\nthe Christian, that the Lord our God is one God, one in essence, one in\npurpose, one in action.  The Son does nothing of Himself; the Father\ndoes nothing apart from the Son; the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the\nFather and the Son.  We cannot, as yet, understand this mystery; but\nwith reverence we accept it as the primary basis of our faith.\n\nBut though God is One, there is evidently a variety of function in the\never-blessed Trinity.  The Father decrees, the Son executes.  The\nFather sends, the Son is sent.  The Father works in Creation, the Son\nin Redemption and Judgment.  And the functions of both Father and Son\ndiffer from those of the Holy Spirit.\n\nIf, then, the unity of the Church is to resemble the unity of the\nGodhead, according to our Lord's request, we may expect that it will\nnot be physical, nor mechanical, nor a uniformity; but it will be a\nvariety in unity--a unity of Spirit and purpose, and yet a unity which\nadmits of very diverse functions and operations.  Diversities of gifts,\nbut the same Spirit.  Differences of administrations, but the same\nLord.  Diversities of operations, but the same God which worketh all in\nall.\n\n(1) _The very conception of unity involves variety._--You take me out\ninto a piece of waste land, and pointing to a heap of bricks say,\n\"There is a unity.\"  I at once rebut your assertion; there is\nuniformity undoubtedly, but not unity.  Unity requires that a variety\nof _different_ things should be combined to form one structure and\ncarry out one idea.  A collection of bricks is not a unity, but a house\nis.  A pole is not a unity, but a hop-plant is.  A snow atom is not a\nunity, but a snow crystal is.  And when our Lord spoke of His disciples\nas one, He not only expected that there would be varieties amongst\nthem, in character, mind, and ecclesiastical preference; but by the\nvery choice of His words He meant us to infer that it would be so.  The\nunity on which He set His heart was not a uniformity.\n\n(2) _But with variety there may be the truest unity._--There is variety\nin the human body--from eyelash to foot, from heart to blood-disc, from\nbrain to quivering nerve-fibre; yet, in all this variety, each one is\nconscious of an indivisible unity.  There is variety in the tree: the\ngiant arms that wrestle with the storm, the far-spreading roots that\nmoor it to the soil, the myriad leaves in which the wind makes music,\nthe cones or nuts which it flings upon the forest floor; yet for all\nthis it is one.  There is a variety in the Bible: variety of\nauthorship--king, prophet, priest, herdsman, and fisherman, scholar,\nsage, and saint; variety of style--prose, poetry, psalmody, argument,\nappeal; variety of age--from the days of Moses to those of John, the\nbeloved apostle, writing amid the persecutions of the empire; yet for\nall this there is a oneness in the Bible which no mere binding could\ngive.  So with the Church of Christ: there may be, there must be\ninfinite varieties and shades of thought and work.  Some will prefer\nthe methods of Wesley, others the freedom of Congregationalism.  Some\nwill pray most naturally through the venerable words of a Liturgy,\nothers in the deep silence of a Friends' Meeting.  Some will thrive\nbest beneath the crozier of the Bishop, others in the plain barracks of\nthe Salvation Army; but, notwithstanding all this variety, there may be\na deep spiritual unity.  Many folds, but one flock; many regiments, but\none army; many stones, but one breast-plate.  \"There is one body, and\none Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one\nLord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above\nall, and through all, and in you all.\"\n\n\nIII. THE BASIS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY IS THE UNION OF EACH BELIEVER TO\nCHRIST.--\"I in them, that they may be made perfect in one.\"  However\nmuch true believers in Christ differ, there are two points in which\nthey agree.\n\n(1)  _Each believer is in Christ_: in Christ's heart, loved with an\neverlasting love, the beloved name engraven on its secret tables; in\nChrist's book, enrolled on those pages which are sealed so fast that He\nalone can break the seven-fold seal; in Christ's hand, which holds the\nocean as a drop upon its palm, and which was pierced on Calvary, from\nwhich no power shall ever pluck the trembling soul; in Christ's grace,\nrooted as a tree in luxuriant soil, or a house in a foundation of rock;\nbut above all in Christ's Person, for He is the Head, \"from whom the\nwhole body is fitly framed and knit together by that which every joint\nsupplieth.\"  There are innumerable texts which speak of the Church as\nthe Body of Christ (Eph. i. 23; Col. i. 24); and directly a man\nbelieves in Christ, he becomes a member of that mystical body.  \"We are\nmembers of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.\"  You may be a\nvery obscure member, or even a paralyzed member; but be sure of this,\nif you are a Christian you are in Christ, as the eye is in the\neye-socket, the arm in the shoulder-joint, and the finger in the hand.\n\n(2) _Christ is in each believer._--The texts that teach Christ's real\npresence in the believer are as numerous as spring flowers.  \"Christ\nliveth in me.\"  \"Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be\nreprobates?\"  \"Ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and\nI in you.\"  The Lord Jesus is in the heart which makes Him welcome, as\nthe steam is in the piston, as the sap is in the branch, as the blood\nis in the heart, as the life is in the body.  It would be impossible\nfor words to describe a more intense spiritual Oneness than that which\nis here presented to us.  The Saviour is in each of us, as the Father\nis in Him, and we are in Him, and He in God.  \"Our life is hid with\nChrist in God.\"  Therefore we are not only one with Jesus Christ, but\nthrough Him we are one with God.  \"I in them, Thou in Me.\"  The very\nlife of God is pouring its glorious tides through us, and would do so\nmore largely if only we were more receptive and obedient.  He pours\nwater out of the mouth of the Congo at the rate of 1,000,000 tons per\nsecond; and is willing to do marvels as mighty through each believer.\nAnd as this life permeates us all alike, it makes us not only one with\nthe blessed God, but one with all who believe, as the blood makes all\nthe members of the body one, and the sap the branches of the tree.\n\n\nIV. _THE MEANS OF THIS SPIRITUAL UNITY ARE THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY\nSPIRIT._--Influence means _inflow_.  It was by the Holy Spirit that our\nLord's human nature was made one with His Father's.  And this same Holy\nSpirit He has bequeathed to us, that He may be the same bond of\nspiritual life between us and our Lord as He was between our Lord and\nHis Father.  May not this be the meaning of His words:  \"The glory\nwhich Thou gavest Me I have given them, that they may be one as we are\none\"?  May not that glory have consisted in the oneness of His human\nnature with God the Father, by the Holy Spirit?  And if so, it may be\nshared by us.  The more that believers receive the indwelling of the\nHoly Spirit, the more clearly will they appreciate this great mystery,\nand the more closely will they be drawn to all other believers, hushing\njealous thoughts and uncharitable words, and \"endeavoring to keep the\nunity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.\"\n\n_It is abundantly clear, then, that this unity cannot be broken unless\nwe break away from Christ_.  Men have used that word schism with\nterrible effect.  If a man has broken away from some visible church,\nthey have pointed to him as a schismatic.  But what is schism?  It is a\nbreaking away from the Body of Christ.  But what is the Body of Christ?\nThe Roman Catholic will tell you that it is the Church of Rome; the\nAnglican will tell you that it is the Church of England; the High\nChurchman will tell you that it is the collection of churches which\nhold the doctrine of Apostolic Succession.  What vestige of Scriptural\nproof is there for these assertions?  What an absurdity it is to be\ntold that we must submit to an outward rite, or we cannot belong to the\nBody of Christ!  What then would become of all the saints and martyrs\nwho died without membership with one of these visible organizations?\nNo, the Body of Christ, as Scripture plainly teaches, is that great\nmultitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and\npeoples, and tongues, and sects, and eras, who are united by faith with\nthe Saviour.  The Church of Christ is not conterminous with any earthly\nor visible organization; it is long as the ages, wide as the poles,\nbroad as the charity of God; it includes all in heaven and on earth who\nhold the Head.  The only condition of membership in that Church is\nsimple faith in Christ.  And the only method of severance from that\nChurch is through the severance of the soul's trust in Christ.  He only\nis a schismatic who ceases to be Christ's.\n\nThe Papal Legate told Savonarola that he cut him off from the Church\nMilitant and from the Church Triumphant.  \"From the Church Militant you\nmay,\" was the martyr's reply; \"but from the Church Triumphant, never.\"\nIt was well spoken; but Savonarola might have gone further, and defied\nthe scarlet-coated functionary even to cut him off from the Church\nMilitant--nothing could do that but apostasy.  A man may be\nexcommunicated from our church systems, or he may never have belonged\nto one of them; but so long as he believes in Christ, he is a member of\nthe Holy Catholic Church.  And schism is more likely to be charged\nagainst those who violate the spirit of Christian charity in making\nharsh and false statements against their fellow-members in the Body of\nChrist.  Let us not retaliate, lest we also commit that sin.  We can\nafford to wait.  _Five minutes in heaven, or less, will settle it all_.\n\n_The object for which Christ prayed_ is already being partially\naccomplished.  The world may not be as yet surrendering to the claims\nof Jesus Christ, but it is becoming increasingly impressed with His\nDivine mission: \"that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.\"\nAnd in proportion as the Holy Spirit pervades and fills the hearts of\nthe children of God, the manifestation of the Life of God in them, and\nthrough them, will have an ever-increasing effect, and will do what\nchurch systems and even the preachings of her thousand pulpits cannot\neffect in convincing and saving men.\n\nLet us remember that Christ's own conception of the unity of His Church\nis that which is the result of the indwelling of the one Spirit.  Such\nunity is already a fact in the eye of God, though undiscerned as yet in\nall its fullness by men.  Let us thank God that this marvellous request\nhas been already so largely realized, and let us dare to hold\nfellowship as Christians with all those who are indwelt by the Spirit\nof the Life, which is also in Christ Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\nThe Love that Bound Christ to the Cross\n\n\"Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went\nforth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?\"--JOHN xviii. 4.\n\n\nThe Cedron was never more than a mountain brook, and it is now dry.\nIts stony bed alone shows where it used to flow through the valley that\nseparated Mount Zion from the Mount of Olives.  The main road which led\nfrom the city gate, over the Mount of Olives to Bethany and Jericho,\ncrossed it by an ancient bridge, from which, on this especial night, a\nfair scene must have presented itself.\n\nAbove, the Passover moon was shining in full-orbed splendor turning\nnight into day.  Beneath, the little stream was brawling down the\nvalley, catching the moonlight on its wavelets.  On the one slope dark,\nthick woods, above which rose the ancient walls and gates of the city,\non the other, the swelling slopes of Olivet.  Presently the Lord\nemerged out of the shadow, engaged in earnest converse with the\napostles; crossed the bridge, but, instead of pursuing the path as it\nwound upward toward Bethany and Bethphage, they all turned into a large\nenclosure, well-known as the garden of the oil-press, and which we know\nbest as Gethsemane.  Somewhere, no doubt, within its enclosure stood\nthe rock-hewn trough in which the rich juicy olives were trodden by\nnaked feet.  \"When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His\ndisciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into which He\nentered, and His disciples.\"\n\nThe sequel was so fully narrated by the other evangelists that there\nwas no need for the writer of this narrative to tell of the awful\nanguish, the broken cries, the bloody sweat, the running to and fro of\nthe disciples, the sleep of the chosen three, the strengthening angel.\nHe confines himself almost entirely to the circumstances of the Lord's\narrest.\n\nTwo hours only had passed since Judas left the supper-table; but that\nhad given him all the time needed for the completion of his plan.\nHastening to the authorities, he had told them that the favorable\nmoment had arrived for his Master's arrest; that he knew the lonely\nspot to which He was wont to resort for meditation and prayer; and that\nhe had need of an armed band to overpower all possible resistance on\nthe part of Himself or His followers.  This they were able to supply\nfrom the guards and custodians of the Temple.  They were going against\nOne who was deserted and defenceless; yet the soldiers were armed with\nsticks and staves.  They were about to arrest One who would make no\nattempt at flight or concealment, and the moon was full; yet, lest He\nshould make His escape to some limestone grotto, or amid the deep\nshadows, they carried torches and lanterns.\n\nThe Lord had just awoke His disciples for the third and last time, when\nprobably His ear detected the tread of hurrying feet, the muffled clank\nof swords, the stifled murmur of an advancing crowd; perhaps He saw\nalso the glancing lights, as they advanced through the garden shrubs,\nand began to encircle the place where He had prayed.  By such signs,\nand especially by the inner intimation of the Holy Spirit, He knew all\nthings that should come upon Him, and without waiting for His enemies\nto reach Him, with calm and dignified composure He went forth to meet\nthe rabble band, stepping out into the moonlight and saluting them with\nthe inquiry, \"Whom seek ye?\"\n\nThere are some deep and memorable suggestions here as to the\n\nVOLUNTARINESS OF CHRIST'S DEATH.\n\nIn order to His death having any value it must be free.  If it could be\nshown that He had no choice than to die, because His own purpose was\novermastered by the irresistible force of circumstances, His death\ncould not have met the claims of a broken law, or inaugurated a new\ncode of morals to His Church.  But there are several points in this\nnarrative which make it clear that He laid down His life of Himself,\nthat none took it from Him, that He had power to lay it down, and power\nto take it again.\n\n(1) When Jesus asked them the question, \"Whom seek ye?\" there were, no\ndoubt, many in the band who knew Him well enough, and that He was the\nobject of their midnight raid; but not one of them had the courage to\nanswer, \"Thee.\"  A paralyzing awe had already commenced to cast its\nspell over their spirits.  Those who knew Him shrank from identifying\nHim, and were content to answer generally, \"Jesus of Nazareth.\"  But\nwhen He answered, \"I am He,\" what was it that so suddenly affected\nthem?  Did some stray beams of concealed glory burst forth from their\nconfinement to indicate His majesty?  Did they dread the putting-forth\nof that power which had been so often exerted to save and bless?  Or,\nwas there a direct miracle of Divine power, which secured their\ndiscomfiture?  We cannot tell.  But, whatever the cause, the crowd\nsuddenly fell back in confusion, and were flung to the ground.\n\nHere, for a moment, the would-be captors lay, as though pinioned to the\ndust by some unseen hand.  The spell was soon withdrawn, and they were\nagain on their feet, cursing themselves for their needless panic.\nBut--and this is the point--the power that sent that rough hireling\nband reeling backward to the ground could easily have held them there,\nor plunged them as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, into living graves.  \"One\nflash came forth to tell of the sleeping lightning which He would not\nuse\"; and then, having revealed the might, which could have delivered\nHim from their puny arms, He returned to His attitude of willing\nself-surrender.  Who, then, shall say that our Saviour's death was not\nHis own act and deed?\n\n(2) When that rabble crew were again on their feet, confronting Jesus,\nHe asked them a second time, _Whom seek ye_?  Again they replied,\n\"Jesus of Nazareth.\"  Jesus answered, \"I have told you that I am He;\nif, therefore, ye seek me, let these go their way.\"  And, forthwith, He\nput forth such a power over His own as secured their freedom from\narrest.\n\nIt is evident that it was no part of His foes' purpose beforehand to\nlet them go; for, on their way back they arrested a young man, probably\nMark himself, whom curiosity had drawn from his bed, and whom they took\nfor one of His disciples.  He escaped with great difficulty from their\nhands.  It is hardly doubtful that if some special power had not been\nexerted over them, they would have treated the whole of the followers\nof Jesus as they sought to treat Him.  Is it not evident, then, that\nthe power which secured the safety of His disciples could have secured\nthat of the Master Himself; or that He might have passed away through\nthe midst of them, as He did through the infuriated crowd which\nproposed to cast Him headlong over the precipice near Nazareth at the\ncommencement of His ministry?  Every arm might have been struck\nnerveless, every foot paralyzed with lameness.  Who, then, shall deny\nthat Christ's death was His own act?\n\n(3) But again, when Jesus had spoken thus there seemed some wavering\namong His captors, perhaps a hesitation as to who should first lay hand\non Him.  At this juncture, when the whole enterprise threatened to\nmiscarry, Judas felt that he must, at all hazards, show how safe it was\nto touch the person of his Master; so, though the bold challenge of\nJesus had made the preconcerted signal needless, he resolved still to\ngive it, that the spell of that presence might be broken.  The traitor,\ntherefore, stepped up and kissed the Lord.\n\nEncouraged by this sacrilegious act, His myrmidons now laid hands on\nJesus, grasping His sacred person as they might have done Barabbas, or\nsome other member of his gang.  They then proceeded to bind Him after\nthe merciless Roman fashion.  Peter could not bear to see this.  He\nsprang forth from the covert of the shadow, drew his sword, and cut at\nthe nearest assailant's head.  But the blade, glancing off the helmet,\ncut off the ear.\n\nIt was an unwelcome interference with the behavior of the meek and\ngentle Lord, whose hand was already bound.  It could not be permitted.\n\"Suffer ye thus far,\" He said to the rude soldier who was binding Him,\nand with His own finger touched the ear, stanched the flowing blood,\nand healed it.  It has been remarked that this was the only act of\nhealing wrought on one for whom it was neither asked of Him, and who\nhad no faith in His beneficent power.  But, surely, the hand that could\nwork that miracle could have broken from the bonds that held it as\neasily as Samson from the two new cords which burned as flax in the\nflame.  The power with which Jesus saved others might have saved\nHimself.  Who, then, shall say that His death was not His own free act?\nListen, moreover, to His own words.  Then said Jesus unto Peter, \"Put\nup thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath given Me,\nshall I not drink it?\"  \"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My\nFather, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of\nangels; but how then shall the Scripture be fulfilled that thus it must\nbe?\"\n\nAs, then, we view the death of the Cross we must ever remember the\nvoluntariness of that supreme act, which is all the more conspicuous as\nthe agony of the Garden reminds us how greatly the Lord's spirit\ndreaded the awful pressure of the world's sin, which made Him cry: \"My\nGod, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\"  How greatly He must have\nloved us!  It was love, and only love, that kept Him standing at the\nbar of Pilate, bending beneath the scourge of the soldiers, hanging in\napparent helplessness on the cross.  Not the iron hand of relentless\nfate; not the overpowering numbers or closely-woven plots of His foes;\nnot the nails that pierced His quivering flesh.  No, it was none of\nthese.  It was not even the compulsion of the Divine purpose.  It was\nHis own choice, because of a love that would bear all things if only it\nmight achieve redemption for those whom He loved more than Himself.\n\"He loved me, and gave Himself for me.\"\n\nSurely we may trust that love.  If it moved Him to endure the Cross and\ndespise the shame, is there anything that it will withhold, anything\nthat it will not do?  His love is stronger than death, and mightier\nthan the grave.  Strong waters cannot quench it, floods cannot drown\nit.  It silences all praise, and beggars all recompense.  To believe\nand accept it is eternal life.  To dwell within its embrace is the\nforetaste of everlasting joy.  To be filled by it is to be transfigured\ninto the image of God Himself.\n\n\n\n\nXXIV\n\nDrinking the Cup\n\n\"The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?\"--JOHN\nxviii. 1-14.\n\n\nIn our Master's arrest the one feature which stands out in unique\nsplendor is its voluntariness.  He went into the garden \"knowing all\nthings that should come upon Him.\"  Even at the last moment He might\nhave evaded the kiss of the traitor, and the binding thong with which\nMalchus sought to manacle His gracious hands.  The spell of His\nintrinsic nobleness and glory, which had flung His captors to the\nground, might have held them there; the power that could heal the\nwounded ear might have destroyed with equal ease the entire band.\n\nThe reason for all this hardly needs explaining.  His life and death\nwere not merely a sacrifice, but a self-sacrifice.  He freely gave\nHimself up for us all.  Each believer may dare to appropriate the words\nof the apostle: \"He loved me, and gave Himself for me.\"  It was through\nthe Eternal Spirit that He offered Himself without spot to God.  It was\nfrom His own invincible love that He gave Himself for the Church, His\nBride.  \"From beginning to end the moving spring of all His actions was\ndeliberate self-devotedness to the good of men, and the fulfillment of\nGod's will, for these are equivalents.  And His death as the crowning\nact of this career was to be conspicuously a death embodying and\nexhibiting the spirit of self-sacrifice.\"  Let us learn:\n\n\nI. THE SUPREME NOBILITY OF SURRENDER TO THE EVITABLE.--It is, of\ncourse, most noble, when the martyr goes to his death without a murmur\nof complaint; allowing his enemies to wreak their vengeance without\nrecrimination or threatening; bowing the meek head to the block;\nextending the hand to the hungry flame.  He has no alternative but to\ndie; there are no legions waiting under arms to obey his summons; no\nJohn of Gaunt to stand beside him, as beside Wycliffe, to see him\nfairly tried and insist on his acquittal.  Then, there is nothing for\nit but to evince the patience and gentleness of Christ in being led as\na lamb to the slaughter.\n\nBut though this spectacle stirs the hearts of men, there is one still\nmore illustrious--when the sufferer bends to a fate which he might\neasily avoid, but confronts for the sake of others.  The former is\nsubmission to the inevitable, this to the evitable.  That is bearing a\nyoke which is imposed by superior authority; this taking a yoke which\nmight be evaded without blame, as judged by the tribunal of public\nopinion.  And this is the sublimest spectacle on which the eye of man\nor angel can rest; for thus the sacrifice of Christ finds its noblest\ncounterpart and fulfillment.\n\nWhen a missionary, with ample means and loving friends, deliberately\nspends among squalid and repulsive conditions, the precious years which\nmight have been passed among congenial society and luxurious comfort in\nthe homeland; chooses a lot from which nature inevitably shrinks\ninstead of that to which every conclusion but one points, and stays at\nhis post, though his return, so far from being resented, would actually\nbe favored by all whose opinion is of weight--this is a voluntary\nsubmission to the evitable.\n\nWhen a home pastor stays by his poor flock because they need him so\nsorely, and sets his face toward grinding poverty and irksome toil when\nthe city church invites him to a larger stipend and wealthier\nsurroundings--this again is a voluntary surrender to the evitable.\n\nWhen a wealthy bachelor is willing to forego the ease and quiet of his\nbeautiful home in order to welcome the orphans of his deceased brother,\nwho might have been sent to some charitable institution or cast on\nstrangers, that they may be beneath his personal supervision, and have\na better chance in life--this again is voluntary submission to the\nevitable.\n\nIn each such case, it is not inevitable that the cross should be borne,\nand the hands yielded to the binding thong.  The tongue of scandal\ncould hardly find cause for criticism if the easier path were chosen.\nPerhaps the soul hardly realizes the kindredness of its resolve with\nthe loftiest that this world has seen.  But it is superlatively\nbeautiful, nevertheless.  And let it never be forgotten, that nothing\nshort of this will satisfy the standard of Christ.  No Christian has a\nright to use all his rights.  None can claim immunity from the duty of\nseeking the supreme good of others, though it involve the supreme cost\nto himself.\n\n\nII. THE RECOGNITION OF GOD'S WILL IN HIS PERMISSIONS.--In the bitter\nanguish which had immediately preceded the arrest, our Lord had\nrepeatedly referred to His cup.  \"If this cup,\" He said, \"may not pass\nfrom Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.\"  The cup evidently\nreferred to all the anguish caused to His holy nature in being numbered\namong the transgressors, and having to bear the sin of the world.\nWhether it was the anguish of the body, beneath which He feared He\nwould succumb, as some think; or the dread of being made a\nsin-offering, a scape-goat laden with sin, as others, or the chill of\nthe approaching eclipse, which extorted the cry of forsakenness, as\nseems to me the more likely--is not pertinent to our present\nconsideration.  It is enough to know that, whilst there was much that\ncried, \"Back!\" there was more that cried, \"On!\"--and that He chose from\nthe profoundest depths of His nature, to do the Father's will, to\nexecute His part in the compact into which they had entered before the\nworlds were made, and to drink to the dregs the cup which His Father\nhad placed in His hands.\n\nBut here we note that to all appearances the cup was mingled, prepared,\nand presented by the malignity and hate of man.  The High Priests had\nlong resolved to put Him to death, because His success with the people,\nHis fresh and living comments on the law, His opposition to their\nhypocrisies and pretensions had exasperated them to madness.  Judas\nalso seemed to have had a conspicuous share in his discovery and\narrest.  Had we been left to our unaided reasonings we might have\nsupposed that the most bitter ingredients of His cup had been supplied\nby the ingratitude of His own, the implacable rancor of the priests,\nand the treachery of Judas; but, see, He recognizes none but the\nFather--it is always _the Father_, always the cup which the Father had\ngiven.\n\nThere had been times in our lives when we may have been tempted to\ndistinguish between God's appointments and permissions, and to speak of\nthe former as being manifestly His will for us, whilst we suspended our\njudgment about the latter, and questioned if we were authorized in\naccounting them as being equally from Heaven.  But such distinctions\nare fatal to peace.  Our souls were kept in constant perturbation, as\nwe accounted ourselves the shuttlecock of rival powers, now God's, now\nman's.  And we ended in ruling God out of more than half our life, and\nregarding ourselves as the hapless prey of strong and malicious forces\nto which we were sold, as Joseph to the Ishmaelites.\n\nA deeper reading of Scripture has led us to a truer conclusion.  There\nis no such distinction there.  What God permits is as equally His will\nas what He appoints.  Joseph tells his brethren that it was not they\nwho sent him to Egypt, but God.  David listens meekly to Shimei's\nshameful words, because he felt that God allowed them to be spoken.\nAnd here Jesus refuses to see the hand of His foes in His sufferings,\nbut passes beyond the hand which bore the cup to His lips to the Father\nwho was permitting it to be presented, and reposed absolutely in the\nchoice of Him of One who loved Him with a love that was before the\nfoundation of the world.\n\nOh, sufferer! whether by those strokes, which, like sickness or\nbereavement, seem to come direct from heaven, or by those which, like\nmalicious speeches or oppressive acts, seem to emanate from man, look\nup into the face of God, and say, \"My Father, this is Thy will for me;\nThine angels would have delivered me had it been best.  But since they\nhave not interposed, I read Thy choice for Thy child, and I am\nsatisfied.  It is sweet to drink the cup which Thy hands have prepared.\"\n\n\nIII. THE DEEP LAW OF SUBSTITUTION.--Some of the rabble crowd had\nprobably shown signs of a disposition to arrest some of Christ's\nfollowers.  He, therefore, interfered, and reminded them of their own\nadmission, that _He_ was the object to their midnight raid, and bade\nthem allow _these_ to go their way.  Is it surprising that the\nevangelist generalizes this act, finding in it an illustration of His\nMaster's ceaseless interposition on behalf of His own--that of those\nwhom the Father had given Him He should lose none.\n\nIn brief, this scene affords a conspicuous and striking illustration of\nthe great doctrine of substitution.  As the Good Shepherd steps to the\nfront and sheathes the swords of His foes in His own breast, while He\ndemands the release of the cowering flock, He is doing on a small scale\nwhat He did once and forever on Calvary; when, exposing Himself to the\npenalty due to sin, and braving the concentrated antagonism of a broken\nlaw, the drawn sword of inviolable justice, the sharpness of death, the\nshame of the cross, and the humiliation of the grave, He said, \"If ye\nseek Me, let these go their way.\"\n\nChrist sheltered us without reckoning the cost to Himself.  He stood to\nthe front, and bore the extreme brunt of all that was to be borne.  He\nsubstituted His suffering for ours, His wounds for our pain, His death\nfor our sins.  If you are fearing the just recompense of your sins,\nlike a band of arresting soldiers lurking in the dark shadows and\nthreatening to drag you forth to pay the uttermost farthing, take\nheart; Jesus has met, and will meet, them for you.  Listen to His\nmajestic voice, saying, \"Take Me, but let this soul, who clings to the\nskirts of My robe, go his way.\"  He is arrested, and led away; thou art\nfree--that in thy freedom thou shouldest give thyself to be His very\nslave.\n\n\n\n\nXXV\n\nThe Hall of Annas\n\n\"They led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to\nCaiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.\"--JOHN xviii. 13.\n\n\nThe band that had arrested Jesus led Him back across the Kedron bridge,\nup the steep ascent, and through the ancient gateway, which at this\nseason of the year stood always open, even at night.\n\nThe passage of the armed men through the quiet streets must have\naroused from their slumbers many sleepers, who hurried to the windows\nto see them pass below in the clear moonlight.  But no one guessed who\nwas being taken into custody, and most of them probably thought that\nthe soldiers had captured some more of the Barabbas gang, who, at that\nseason of the year, would make a rare harvest by plundering pilgrims to\nthe feast.\n\nTheir destination, in the first place, was the mansion of Annas, the\nhead of the reigning priestly family, who was father-in-law of the\nactual high priest.  He was now an old man; wealthy, aristocratic, and\nladen with all the honors his nation could give.  For many years he had\nworn the high priest's robes, and though he had now nominally retired\nfrom that exalted office, he still kept his hand upon the reins of\ngovernment.  Caiaphas, at the time of which we speak, had held the\npriesthood for seventeen years under his tutelage; and he retained it\nfor five years after.  It is easy therefore to understand why Annas is\ndescribed as the high priest.  He was still the most powerful living\nbearer of that title.  The whole family partook of his character, and\nwas notorious for unwearied plotting.  The gliding, deadly, snake-like\nsmoothness with which Annas and his sons seized their prey is said to\nhave won them the name of hissing vipers.\n\nAnnas and Caiaphas probably shared the same cluster of buildings, which\nwas presumably the official residence of the high priestly family.  In\nthe East the houses of the great are frequently a group of buildings of\nunequal height standing near each other and surrounded by the same\ncourt, but with passages between, independent entrances, and separate\nroofs.  Sometimes they would form a square or quadrangle with porticos\nand corridors around it, plants and fountains in the midst, and a\nslight awning overhead to protect the open courtyard from the sun or\nrain, the communication with the street being through a smaller\ncourtyard and archway, called in the Gospels \"a porch.\"  In some such\ncluster of splendid buildings Annas and Caiaphas and others of their\nfamily would live, and the whole would be called the high priest's\npalace.\n\nIn one of the large reception halls Annas waited, impatient and\nfeverish, to know the result of the midnight expedition.  He had a\nnervous dread of what Jesus might do when driven to bay; and dreaded\nlest the secret should leak out, and the Galilean pilgrims rise in\ndefence of their favorite Prophet, whom four days before they had\nescorted into the city with shouts.  What if Judas should not prove\ntrue?  All these disquieting thoughts chased each other like pursuing\nphantoms through his mind, and it was an immense relief when the clank\nof weapons in the court assured him of the safe return of Malchus'\nparty, and answering voices told him that Jesus was at last safe within\nhis power.\n\nThe prisoner was at once brought before the old man, who eagerly\nscrutinized his features in the flickering light of lanterns and\nflambeaux, casting shadows which a Rembrandt would have loved to paint.\nOne or two intimates may have stood around Him; but the main inquiry\nwas left to Himself, as He put the Master through a preliminary and\ninformal examination, in the hope of extracting from His replies\nmaterials on which the court, which was hastily summoned for an early\nhour in the morning, might proceed.\n\nOn the surface the inquiry seemed fair and innocent enough.  The high\npriest, we learn from verse 19, asked Jesus of His disciples and His\ndoctrine.  But the lamb-skin hid a wolf.  For the questions were so\nworded as to entangle, and to provide material on which to found the\nsubsequent charge, which was even then being framed, that Jesus was a\ndisturber of the public peace, and a teacher of revolutionary doctrine.\n\n_First, then, about His disciples._--Annas would like to be informed\nwhat this association of men meant.  Why were they formed into a\nsociety?  By what bond were they united?  What secret instructions had\nthey received?  What hidden objects had they in view?  If Jesus refused\nto answer these questions, might it not be made to appear that an\nattempt was on foot to organize a confederation throughout the entire\ncountry?  If so, it would be easy to awaken the jealousy of the Roman\nauthorities, and lead them to feel that they must take immediate steps\nto stamp out the plot by executing the ringleader.\n\n_And, next, as to His doctrine._--Had not Jesus repeatedly spoken about\nthe Kingdom of Heaven?  What did this mean?  Was He contemplating the\nsetting up of a kingdom?  Did He intend it to be understood that He was\nthe expected Messiah, and that He meditated revolt against Rome?  Was\nthe manifestation of force, which had accompanied His recent entrance\ninto the city, at His instigation?\n\nOur Lord at once penetrated the design of His crafty interrogator.  And\nin His answer He took care not to mention His disciples, speaking only\nof Himself.  He affirmed that He had nothing to say which He had not\nalready said a hundred times in the synagogues and the Temple, before\nfriends and foes.  He had no secret doctrines for the initiated, but\nhad declared all that was in His heart.  Between His disciples and\nHimself there had been no connection other than was obvious on the\nsurface.  No meetings under cover of night; no discussions of\nrevolutionary topics; nothing that could not bear the fullest scrutiny.\n\"I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue and in the\ntemple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret [that is, in the\nsense in which you use the word] I have said nothing.  Why askest thou\nMe?  Ask them which heard Me what I have said unto them: behold, they\nknow what I have said.\"\n\nOur Lord's reference to those who had heard Him is probably an allusion\nto the armies of spies whom Annas had set on His track, watching His\nactions, reporting His words.  Was not this examination of the prisoner\na confession that the close scrutiny to which He had been subjected for\nso long had failed to elicit aught on which a criminal charge could be\nbased?  Jesus knew that His most secret words had been tortured in vain\nto yield an accusation against Him.  How great then was the hypocrisy\nwhich could feign ignorance!  How evident it was that Annas was only\nintent on inveigling his prisoner to say something on which to base his\nafter-accusation.\n\nAll this was implied in our Lord's noble and transparent words.  We\nshall see that He adopted another tone when He was properly arraigned\nbefore the assembled Sanhedrim; but in this more private, injudicial,\ninquisitorial interview, with one scathing rebuke He tore away the\ncloak of assumed ignorance with which this crafty man veiled his\nsinister purpose, and laid His secret thoughts open to the gaze of all.\n\nFor the time Annas was silenced.  He had made small headway in the\ninformal examination of his prisoner, and he now gave it up.  Whatever\nresentment he may have felt at our Lord's answer he carefully\nconcealed, biding the hour when he might vent the vials of his hate\nwithout stint.\n\nWe must not suppose there was any anger in that long-suffering heart\ntoward this judge.  He was even then about to die for _Him_, and to\nbear the guilt of the very sin He so pitilessly exposed.  But surely it\nwas the part of love to show Annas what he was, and to utter words of\nrebuke in which, as in a mirror, his secret thoughts might be revealed.\nBut if, in the moment of His humiliation, Jesus could thus search and\nreveal a man, what will He not do when He is no longer prisoner, but\nJudge?  Oh, those awful eyes, which are as a flame of fire!  Oh, those\nawful words, which pierce to the dividing asunder of the joints and\nmarrow, and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart!  What wonder\nthat men shall at last call on the rocks to hide them from the wrath of\nthe Lamb!  Kiss the Son, lest ye perish from His presence, when His\nwrath is kindled but a little!  Blessed are they who can stand before\nHim without blame!\n\nThen followed one of the grossest indignities to which our Lord was at\nthis time subjected.  On speaking thus, one of the officers, in the\nspirit of that despicable flunkeyism which will sacrifice all nobility\nand self-respect to curry the flavor of a superior, smote our Lord with\na rod, saying, \"Answerest thou the high priest so?\"\n\nWhen afterward they came around Him to mock and smite, He answered\nnothing; but when this first stroke was inflicted the Master said\nquietly, \"If I have spoken what is false or unbecoming, prove that I\nhave done so; but if you cannot, why do you strike Me?  No one has the\nright to take the law into his own hands, much less a servant of the\ncourt.\"\n\nIt is impossible not to recall the mighty utterances against the\nresistance of wrong, spoken from the Mount, in the Messiah's manifesto:\n\"I say unto you that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee\non thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.\"  Clearly our Lord did\nnot literally do so in this instance, because He saw an opportunity of\nrevealing to this man His true condition, and of bringing him to a\nbetter mind.  Our bearing of wrong must always be determined by the\nstate of mind of those who ill-use us.  In the case of some we may best\narrest them by the dignity of an unutterable patience, which will bear\nto the utmost without retaliation--this is to turn the other cheek.  In\nthe case of others we may best serve them by leading them calmly and\nquietly to take the true measure of their crime.  In all cases our\nprime consideration should be, not what we may be suffering, nor the\nutter injustice which is meted out to us; but how best to save the\nevil-doer, who is injuring his own soul more fatally than he can\npossibly injure us, and who is sowing seeds of harvest of incredible\ntorture to his own conscience, in the long future which lies behind the\nveil of sense.\n\nIf only we could drink in the pure love of Jesus, and view all wrong\nand wrong-doers, not in the light of _our_ personal interest, but of\n_their_ awful condition and certain penalty; if only we could grieve\nover the infinite horror of a warped and devil-possessed soul, drifting\nlike a ship on fire before the breeze, straight to the rocks; if only\nwe could see the wrong done to our Father God and His sorrow, we should\nunderstand Chrysostom's beautiful comment on this scene: \"Think on Him\nwho said these words; on him to whom they were said; and on the reason\nwhy they were said; and, with Divine power, they will cast down all\nwrath that may arise within thy soul.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXVI\n\nHow it fared with Peter\n\n\"Peter stood at the door without.  Then went out that other disciple,\nwhich was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the\ndoor, and brought in Peter.\"--John xviii. 16.\n\n\nRemember that this very circumstantial account was given by one who was\nan eyewitness of the whole scene; and who, withal, was then and in\nafter years the warm friend and companion of Peter.  But his love did\nnot lead him to conceal his brother's sins.  Peter himself would not\nhave wished him to do so, because where sin had abounded, grace had had\nthe greater opportunity to super-abound.\n\nAt the moment of the Lord's arrest, all the disciples forsook Him and\nfled.  \"The Shepherd was smitten and the flock scattered.\"  Two of\nthem, however, speedily recovered their self-possession, and followed\nat a distance, eager to see what would befall.  When the procession\nreached the palace gate John seems to have entered with the rest of the\ncrowd, and the ponderous, massive doors closed behind him.  On looking\nround for Peter he missed him, and concluding that he had been shut out\nand was still standing without, he went to the maid that kept the\nwicket-gate, opening in the main entrance doors for the admission of\nindividuals, and asked her to admit his friend.  She recognized him as\nbeing well known to the high priest, and readily assented to his\nrequest.\n\nA fire of wood had been hastily lighted in the open courtyard, and cast\nits rays on the chilly April night; so that whilst Jesus was being\nexamined by Annas the men who had taken part in the night adventure\nwere grouped around the fire, discussing the exciting incident, with\nits moment of panic, the case of the arrest, the hurt and healing of\nthe ear of Malchus, the seizure of the rich Eastern dress from the\nyoung man whom they had encountered on their homeward march.  Peter did\nnot wish to be recognized, and thought that the best way of preserving\nhis incognito was to put on a bold face and take his place among the\nrest as though he, too, had been one of the capturing band, and had as\nmuch right to be there as any other of that mixed company.  So he stood\nwith them, and warmed himself.\n\nMeanwhile, the doorkeeper, leaving her post, came to the fire, and in\nits kindling ray her eye fell upon Peter's face.  She was surprised to\nsee him there, feigning to be one of themselves.  If, like John, he had\ngone quietly into some recess of the court, and waited unobtrusively in\nthe shadow, she could have said nothing.  In her kind-heartedness she\nwould have respected them both; for she knew that they sympathized with\nthe arrested Nazarene.  But to find him there talking and acting as\nthough he had no personal interest in the matter was so unseemly and\nunfit that she was provoked to expose him.  She looked at him\nearnestly--as another evangelist tells us--to be quite sure that she\nwas not mistaken; and feeling quite certain in her identification, said\nabruptly, \"Art _thou_ not one of this man's disciples?\"\n\nPeter was taken off his guard.  If he had been arrested, and taken for\ntrial, he would no doubt have played the hero--he had braced himself up\nfor that; but he had not expected that the supreme trial of his life\ncould come in the question of a servant-maid.  It is so often thus.  We\nlock and bolt the main door, and the thief breaks in at a tiny window\nwhich we had not thought of.  We would burn at the stake; but in an\nhour of social intercourse with our friends, or a trivial business\ntransaction, we say the word which fills our life with regret.\nConfused at the sudden pause in the conversation, and the turning of\nall eyes toward himself, Peter's first impulse was to allay suspicion,\nand he said bluntly, \"I am not.\"  Such was his _first_ denial.\n\nAfter this, as Matthew and Mark tell us, he went out into the outer\nporch or gateway, perhaps to avoid the glare of the light and the\nscrutiny of those prying eyes.  He remembered afterward that, at the\nsame moment, a cock was heralding the dawn--the dawn of the blackest,\nsaddest day that ever broke upon Jerusalem, or the world.  But its\nwarning notes were just then lost on him; for there another maid,\nspeaking to some male acquaintances, pointed him out as one of the\nNazarene's friends.  \"This man also was with Jesus the Nazarene.\"\nProbably no harm was meant, but the words alarmed Peter greatly, and he\ndenied, as Matthew says, with an oath, \"I know not the man.\"  This was\nthe _second_ denial.\n\nAn hour passed; Peter, as we learn from the twenty-fifth verse, was\nagain at the fire, and it was hardly possible for him to talk in a\nlarge company without unconsciously, and by force of character, coming\nto the front and taking the lead.  His perturbed spirit was perhaps the\nmore vehement to drown conscience.  But now he is challenged by many at\nonce.  They say unto him, \"Art not thou also one of His disciples?\"\nAnd another saith, \"Of a truth, thou wast with Him\"; and another, a\nkinsman to Malchus, and therefore specially likely to remember his\nrelative's assailant, saith, \"Did I not see thee in the garden with\nHim?\"  Beset and badgered thus, Peter begins to curse and to swear,\nsaying, \"I know not the man of whom ye speak.\"  When men lose their\ntemper, they drop naturally into their native speech; and so, as\nPeter's fear and passion vented themselves in the guttural _patois_ of\nGalilee, he gave a final clue to his identification.  \"Thou art a\nGalilean, thy speech betrayeth thee.\"  And again he denied with an\noath, \"I know not the man.\"  This was his _third_ denial.  And\nimmediately the cock crew.\n\nIt may have happened that, at this moment, Jesus was passing from Annas\nto Caiaphas, and cast on Peter that marvellous look of mingled sorrow\nand pity, of suffering more for His sake than his own, and of tender\nallusion to the scene and words of the previous evening, which broke\nPeter's heart, and sent him forth to weep bitterly.\n\nThe light was breaking over the hills of Moab, flushing with roseate\nhues the marble pinnacles of the temple, whilst the city and\nsurrounding valleys were still shrouded in the grey gloom, as Peter\nwent forth alone from the high priest's palace.  Only those whose last\nwords to the beloved dead were rude and thoughtless--not expecting that\nthere would be no opportunity to unsay them and ask forgiveness, but\nthat, ere they met again, death would have sealed in silence the only\nlips that could speak words of relief and peace--can realize just what\nPeter felt.  Did he know Him?  Of course he did, and ever since that\nmemorable hour, when Andrew first brought him into His presence, he had\nbeen growing to a more perfect knowledge.  Did he love Him?  Of course\nhe did; and Jesus, who knew all things, knew it too.  But why had he\nacted thus?  Ah, the reasons were not far to seek.  He had boasted of\nhis superiority to all his brethren; had relied on his own braggart\nresolutions; had counted himself strong because he could speak strongly\nand loudly when danger was not near; had thought that he could cope\nwith Satan, though arrayed in no stronger armor than that which his\nred-hot impulse forged.  He thought his resolutions wheat and his\nMaster's cautions light as chaff; he had to learn his weakness and see\nhis confidence winnowed away as clouds of chaff while Satan sifted him.\n\nThe resolutions of the evening are not strong enough to carry us\nvictoriously through the morning conflict.  We must learn to watch and\npray, to lie low in humility and self-distrust, and to be strong in the\ngrace which awaits all tempted ones in God.\n\nAnd where could Peter go to weep his bitter tears but to Gethsemane!\nHe would surely seek out the spot where his Master's form was still\noutlined in the crushed grass, and his tears would fall where the\nbloody sweat had fallen but a few hours before.  But how different the\ncause of sorrow!  The anguish of the blessed Lord had none of the\ningredients that filled the cup of Peter to the brim!  And all the\nwhile the memory of that sorrow, of those broken cries, of that coming\nand going for sympathy, of those remonstrances against his senseless\nsleep, and of that last tender, yearning, pitiful look of love, came\nback on him to arouse successive surges of grief.  Contrast Christ's\nlove with your ingratitude, Christ's constancy with your fickle\ndevotion, Christ's meekness to take the yoke of His Father's will, and\nyour unwillingness to bear His cross of shame, and ask if you, too,\nhave no cause for tears like those that Peter shed.\n\nIt is remarkable that Peter should have fallen here.  His open,\ningenuous nature was not given to lying, his impetuous character was\nnot prone to cowardice.  Accustomed from boyhood to meet death in the\nwrestle with nature for daily sustenance, he was not subject to the\napprehensions of a nervous dread.  None of his fellow-disciples would\nhave expected the rock-man to show that he was clay or sand after all.\nBut this was permitted that we might learn that our noblest natural\nqualities as much need to be dealt with by the grace of God as our\nvices and defects.  Many a fortress has been taken from a side which\nwas deemed impregnable.  No one expected that Wolfe would assail Quebec\nfrom the Heights of Abraham.\n\nHow often we have fallen into the same trap!  We have, perhaps, been\nthrown into a company where it was fashionable to sneer at evangelical\nreligion, and we have held our peace; where the ready sneer was passed\non those who dared still to believe in miracle and inspiration, and we\nhave been silent, where condemnation has been freely passed on some man\nof God whom we owned as friend, and knew to be innocent, and we have\nnot tried to vindicate him; where some great religious movement in\nwhich we were interested was being discussed and condemned, whilst we\nhave coolly joined in the conversation as if we had not made up our\nminds, or were totally indifferent.  We have been unwilling to be\nunpopular, to stand alone, to bear the brunt of opposition, to seem\neccentric and peculiar.  Let those who are without sin cast their\nstones at Peter; but the most of us will take our place beside him, and\nrealize that we, too, have given grief to Christ, and grave cause to\nHis enemies to blaspheme.\n\nBut, be it remembered, the true quality of the soul is shown, not in\nthe way in which it yields to temptation in some moment of weakness and\nunpreparedness, but in the way in which it repents afterward.  Do we\nweep, not for the penalty we dread, but because we have sinned against\nChrist?  Are we broken down before Him, waiting till He shall restore?\nDo we dare still to believe in His forgiving and renewing grace?  Then\nthis is a godly repentance, which needs not to be repented of.  These\nare tears which His love shall transform to pearls.  How different this\nto the attitude of a Judas!  Each fell; but in their demeanor afterward\nthe one was shown to be gold, silver, precious stones; the other wood,\nhay, and stubble.\n\nHow may we be kept from falling again?\n\n(1) Let us not sleep through the precious moments which heaven affords\nbefore each hour of trial; but use them for putting on the whole armor\nof God, that we may be able to stand in the evil day.\n\n(2) Let us not cast ourselves needlessly into situations where our most\ncherished convictions are likely to be assailed by wanton men; though\nif God should lead us there we need not fear, for it will be given us\nin the same hour what to answer.  Take care of warming yourself at the\nworld's fire.\n\n(3) Let us keep within the environing presence of our Lord.  It is\nalways right to do right; always safe; always blessed.  Satan can only\nhurt us when he allures us out of that safe hiding-place.  Never\nforsake the things which are pure, and lovely, and of good report.\nYou, in Jesus, shall yet overcome the world if you refuse to allow the\nworld to come between Him and you.\n\n\n\n\nXXVII\n\nThe Trial before Caiaphas\n\n\"Annas had sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.\"--JOHN xviii.\n24.\n\n\nIt was as yet but two or three o'clock in the morning.  Jerusalem was\nstill asleep, and well it was for the foes of Jesus that no suspicion\nof what was on foot had breathed into the minds of the crowds of\npilgrims; for, had the Galileans only known what was being done to\ntheir favorite prophet, they would have risen, and the plot must have\nmiscarried before Jesus was handed over to the Romans.  But, as the\nLord said, \"It was their hour and the power of darkness.\"  The darkest\nhour before the dawn!\n\nWhen Annas had completed his preliminary inquiry he gave orders that He\nshould again be bound with the thongs of which He had been relieved,\nand led to that part of the palace specially used by Caiaphas, who was\nHigh Priest, but a mere puppet in the hands of the wily Annas.  By this\ntime the leading Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests, had been got\ntogether, summoned by special messengers; and though the formal meeting\nof the Council was probably not held till a little later (compare Matt.\nxxvi. 57 with xxvii. 1, 2), the trial was really conducted at that\nuntimely hour, and the evidence procured on which final action was\ntaken.\n\nThey awaited the Prisoner in one of the larger halls of the palace,\nsitting in Oriental fashion on cushions and pillows, in a half-circle,\nwith turbaned heads, crossed legs, and bare feet; the High Priest in\nthe centre, the others, on either side, according to age.\n\nAll the rules of justice were violated.  The judge was chief\ninquisitor; witnesses against the prisoner were alone summoned; and the\nCourt set itself from the first to get evidence to put the accused to\ndeath.\n\nEver since Jesus had commenced His ministry it had been certain that He\nwould have to face some such tribunal as this.  His soul was aflame for\nRighteousness and Truth; it was inevitable that He should come into\nconflict with these representatives of a traditional and external\nreligiousness, which consisted in a number of formal rules and rites\nfrom which the life had long since fled.\n\nThis Gospel specially narrates the progress of the quarrel in the holy\ncity.  As far back as ch. ii. 18 we are told that there had been an\naltercation on the Lord's right to cleanse the Temple.\n\nCh. iv. 1-3.--He left Judaea because of the irritation of the Pharisees\nat the numerous baptisms which were taking place under His ministry.\n\nCh. v. 18.--He was only at the beginning of the second year of His\nministry, and had just healed the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda,\nand we find the Jews consulting how they might kill Him, and He was\ncompelled again to retire from Judaea.\n\nCh. vii. 19.--Such was the spirit of vindictiveness excited against our\nLord that when twelve months afterward He came to Jerusalem at the\nFeast of Tabernacles, one of His first words was, \"Why go ye about to\nkill Me?\"  The people were well acquainted with the designs of the\nrulers (vers. 25, 26); and ultimately officers were sent to arrest Him\n(vers. 30, 32).\n\nCh. viii. 59.--They were so exasperated with His words that they took\nup stones to stone Him.\n\nCh. ix. 34.--They excommunicated the blind man because their hated foe\nhad cured him, and he in his favor had dared to protest.\n\nCh. x. 31.--The Jews (and the Apostle always uses that word of the\nSanhedrim and their allies) took up stones to cast at Him; and in verse\n39 we read that they sought again to take Him; but He escaped out of\ntheir land to Perea, where He remained until the message of the sisters\ncalled Him from His retreat.\n\nCh. xi. 47.--The raising of Lazarus produced such an effect that a\nspecial council was called to consider what should be done, with the\nresult that from that day they took counsel to put Him to death.\n\nCh. xii. 10.--Their malignity was so great that they consulted whether\nthey should not put Lazarus to death also; because by reason of him\nmany of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.\n\nIt was all this that made them fall in so eagerly with the proposal of\nJudas that he should betray Him unto them.\n\nNow at last they had Him in their power, and their object was to\nconvict Him of some crime which would justify the infliction of the\nseverest sentence of the law.  To preserve the appearance of justice,\nwitnesses were called to testify to some action or speech which would\ninvolve blasphemy against their law, and, if possible, against the\nRoman law as well; and it was necessary that two of them should agree\nin some specific charge.  The chief priests, and elders, and all the\ncouncil, Matthew tells us, sought for witness against Jesus to put Him\nto death.  They brought forward many, but either their charges did not\nreach the required degree of criminality, or the clumsy witnesses,\nbrought hastily forward, undrilled beforehand, broke down so grossly in\ntheir story that for shame's sake they had to be dismissed.\n\nAt last two witnesses appeared who seemed likely to agree on a very\nmomentous charge.  They said they had heard Him utter, more than two\nyears ago, words which seemed to threaten the very existence of the\ntemple.  But, when more closely questioned, their witness also broke\ndown utterly.  It seemed as though Jesus was not to die, except on His\nown testimony to His own supreme claims.  All lesser counts failed.\n\nAll this time, as witness after witness was brought in, our Lord\nmaintained an unbroken silence.  He seemed as though He heard not, but\nwas absorbed in some other scenes from those transpiring around.  What\nneed was there for Him to interpose, when all the charges proved\nabortive?  He was, moreover, waiting till the Father gave Him the\nsignal to open His lips.\n\nAt last Caiaphas could restrain his impatience no longer; he sprang to\nhis feet, and with unconcealed fury fixed his eyes on Jesus and said:\n\"Answerest Thou nothing?  Hast Thou nothing to say, no question to put,\nno explanation to offer as to what these witnesses say?\"  Jesus quietly\nreturned the look, but held His peace.  There are times when it is\ntreason to hold our peace, when God demands of us to raise our voice\nand cry like a trumpet.  But when it is clear that high-handed wrong is\nbent on securing the condemnation of the innocent, and that the case is\nprejudged, it is the highest wisdom to be as a lamb dumb before its\nshearers, and not open the mouth.\n\nThere was a last alternative.  Caiaphas might put Jesus on His oath,\nand extort from His own lips the charge on which to condemn Him; but he\nwas evidently reluctant to do it, and only availed himself of this\nprocess as a last resource.  It was well known to this astute and\ncunning priest that Jesus on more than one occasion had claimed, not\nonly to be the long-expected Messiah, but to stand to God in the unique\nrelationship of Son.  Nearly two years before, He had called God His\nown Father, making Himself equal with God (John v. 18); and again,\ncomparatively recently, at the Feast of Dedication, He had claimed that\nHe and the Father were one; in consequence of which the bystanders\nthreatened to take His life because that, being a man, He made Himself\nGod (x. 31-33).  Gathering, therefore, the two claims in one, and in\nthe most solemn form, putting Jesus on His oath, the High Priest said\nunto Him, \"I adjure Thee by the Living God, that Thou tell us whether\nThou be the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?\" (Matt. xxvi. 63; Mark xiv.\n61).  There was no need for further hesitation.  Charged in this way,\nin the highest court of His nation, and by the representative of His\npeople, He could not hold His peace without inconsistency with the\nwhole tenor of His life and teaching.  John, representing His disciples\nand friends, must be assured that his Master did not vacillate by a\nhair's-breadth at that supreme moment.  Those high officials must\nunderstand, beyond the smallest possibility of doubt, that if they put\nHim to death He would die on the supreme count of His Messianic and\nDivine claims; and, therefore, amid the breathless silence of the\ncourt, without a falter in the calm, clear voice, Jesus said, \"I AM.\"\nThe Father that sent Him was with Him; He had not left Him in that\nawful moment _alone_, and it was a great pleasure to the Saviour to be\nable publicly to avow the relationship, which was shedding its radiance\nthrough His soul.  Then, with evident allusion to the sublime vision of\nDaniel, he added, \"Ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right\nhand of power, and coming with the clouds of Heaven.\"  Though Son of\nGod, He was not less the Son of Man; and though one with the Father,\nbefore the worlds were made, was yet prepared to exercise the functions\nof the expected Prince of the House of Israel.  This is the force of\n_nevertheless_ in Matt. xxvi. 64--\"I am Son of God: _nevertheless_, ye\nshall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power.\"\n\nThe words were very grateful to the ears of Caiaphas and his\nconfederates, as they afforded ground for the double charge they\nneeded.  For a man to claim to be Son of God would make him guilty of\nblasphemy, and he must be put to death according to Jewish law; whilst\nif there was a prospect of his setting up a kingdom, the Romans'\nsuspicions would be at once aroused.  But in their glee at having\nentrapped their victim they must not forget to show a decorous horror\nof His crime.  In well-assumed dismay the High Priest rent his clothes,\nsaying, \"He hath spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of\nwitnesses?  Behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy.\"  And then came\nthe decisive question which the judge was wont to put to his\nco-assessors, \"What think ye?  And they all condemned Him to be guilty\nof death.\"\n\nThen ensued a brief interval, until the early formal session of the\nSanhedrim could be held: and during this recess the disgraceful scenes\nwere repeated which had already taken place in the hall of Annas.  Luke\ntells us that the men that held Jesus mocked Him, beat Him, and asked\nHim to prophesy who it was that smote Him.  Matthew adds that they spat\nin His face.  But Mark lets in still more light on the horror of the\nscene, when he appears to distinguish between _some_ who began to spit\non Him, and to cover His face, and _the officers_ who received Him with\nblows of their hands.  And the expression some occurs so immediately\nafter the record of their condemning Him, that the suggestion seems\nirresistible that several of these reverend dignitaries did not\nhesitate to disgrace their grey hairs in personally insulting the meek\nand holy sufferer, venting their spleen on one who gave no show of\nretaliation, though one word from those pale compressed lips would have\nlaid them low in death, or withdrawn the veil of eternity, behind which\nlegions of angels were waiting impatient to burst upon the impious\nscene.  But do not condemn them as though they were sinners beyond all\nothers; remember that we have all the same evil human heart.\n\nAt last the morning broke, and as soon as it was day the assembly of\nthe elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priest and\nscribes; and they led Jesus away into their council (Luke xxii. 66).\nThis scene had already been so well rehearsed that it probably did not\ntake many minutes to run through the necessary stages, according to the\nprecise formulae of Jewish procedure.  The method that had already\nproved so valuable was quickly repeated.  Questioning Him first as to\nHis Messiahship, Caiaphas, as spokesman to the rest, said formally, \"If\nThou art Christ, tell us.\"\n\nIt was a sorry figure that stood before them.  Dishevelled and in\ndisarray, with disordered garments, the spittle still hanging about His\nface, and the marks of the awful storm and mental anguish stamped on\nevery feature, the innate dignity and glory of Jesus shone out in His\nevery movement, and notably in His majestic answer, \"What do you ask\nMe?  You have no real desire to know!  If I tell you, ye are in no mood\nto believe!  And if I ask you your warrant for refusing to believe, if\nI argue with you, if I adduce Scripture to support My claims, ye will\nnot answer; but though I read the motive of your inquiry, I will give\nyou all the evidence you desire.  From henceforth shall the Son of Man\nbe seated at the right hand of God.\"\n\nAs to the other charge, involving His Divine nature, the admission of\nwhich involved the crime of blasphemy, they were too eager to wait for\nCaiaphas; but with swollen faces, excited gestures, and loud cries,\nrising from their seats, and gesticulating with the fury of religious\nfrenzy, they _all_ said, \"Art Thou then the Son of God?\"  And He said\nunto them, solemnly and emphatically, \"Ye say that which I am.\"\n\nThen they turned to one another and said, \"What further need have we of\nwitness? for we have heard from His own mouth.\"  The inquiry was at an\nend so far as Jesus was concerned.  But they held a further council\nagainst Him, how to construct the indictment which would compel Pilate\nto inflict death; for the execution of the sentence of death was kept\nresolutely by the Roman Procurator in his own hands.\n\nFinally, as soon as they dared disturb him, they led Jesus from\nCaiaphas into the Praetorium, the palace of the Roman governor, who, in\naccordance with his custom, had come up from his usual residence at\nCaesarea to the Jewish capital, partly to keep order amid the vast\ncrowds that gathered there at the feast, seething with religious\nfanaticism, and partly to try the cases which awaited his decision.\nThe Jewish authorities anticipated no great difficulty in securing from\nhim the necessary ratification of the death sentence.  It surely would\nnot matter to him to add another to the long tale of robbers and\nrevolutionaries which are awaiting the cross, the more especially as\nthey were able to prefer a charge of treason against the Roman power\nsubstantiated by the prisoner's own admissions made recently in their\npresence.\n\nIt is an awful spectacle, and one over which we would fain draw a veil;\nbut let us dare to stay to watch the evolution of the diabolical plot\nto the end.  This, at least, will become manifest--that Jesus died,\nbecause He claimed to be the Son of God, in the unique sense of oneness\nwith the Father; that made Him equal with God, and constituted\nblasphemy in the eye of the Jewish law.  And He who has taught the\nworld Truth could neither have been a deceiver, nor deceived, in this\nhigh claim.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII\n\n\"Judas, which Betrayed Him\"\n\n\"Judas, which betrayed Him.\"--JOHN xviii. 2.\n\n\nOn the Wednesday evening before our Lord died, He supped with His\ndisciples in Bethany at the House of Simon.  Lazarus was there, and his\nsisters--Martha, who served, and Mary, who anointed Him beforehand for\nHis burying.  The Master's reception of this act of love, and His\nrebuke of the parsimony which sought to check all such manifestations\nof devotion, exasperated Judas beyond all bounds; so, after supper,\nwhen Jesus and the rest had retired to their humble lodgment, he\ncrossed the intervening valleys and returned by the moonlight to\nJerusalem.\n\nAt that untimely hour the Sanhedrim may have been still in session,\nplotting to destroy Jesus.  At any rate, the chief priests and captains\nwere quickly summoned.  Judas may have been in communication with some\nof them before; but, in any case, he met with a glad welcome.  They\nwere glad, and covenanted to give him money.\n\nIn the word, _communed_ with them, used by the evangelist Luke, it is\nsuggested that there was a certain amount of bargaining and haggling\nbefore the sum was fixed.  Perhaps he wanted more, and they offered\nless, and at last he was induced to take less than he had hoped, but\nmore than they had offered; and the price of betrayal was fixed at\nthirty pieces of silver, about 8 pounds, the price of a slave.  From\nthat moment he sought opportunity to betray Him unto them.\n\nAt the Passover Supper provided on the next day by Peter and John in\nthe upper room, Judas must have reclined on the Lord's left, and John\nupon His right, so that the beloved disciple could lean back his head\non the bosom of his Friend.  When all were settled, Jesus exclaimed,\nwith a sigh of innermost satisfaction, \"With desire I have desired to\neat this Passover with you before I suffer\"; and as He uttered the\nwords, Judas must have felt a thrill passing through his nature, as he\nrealized more clearly than any around that table, what was approaching.\nEvidently, then, the Master had guessed what was being prepared for\nHim!  Did He also know the share that he had had in preparing it?  In\nany case, it was clear that, so far from resisting, He was prepared to\nsuffer.  Apparently, He would not take the opportunity of asserting His\nclaims; but would allow events to take their course, yielding Himself\nto the will of His foes!\n\nWhen He had given thanks, the Lord passed round the first cup; then\nfollowed the washing of the disciples' feet, in the midst of which He\nlooked sorrowfully toward Judas, exclaiming, \"Ye are clean, but not\nall\"; for He knew from the first who would betray Him.  It was with a\nstrange blending of awe and wonder that the little group saw the dark\ncloud of anguish gather and rest on the beloved face when, on resuming\nHis place, He was troubled in the spirit, and testified, and said,\n\"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me.\"  The\ndisciples looked at one another, doubting of whom He spoke, and Peter\nbeckoned to John to ask.  But Judas knew.  And when He went on to say,\n\"The Son of Man goeth, even as it is written of Him; but woe unto that\nman through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! good were it for that man\nif he had not been born\"--again Judas' heart smote him.  It may be that\nhe asked himself whether he might not even now draw back.\n\nFor three years he had played his part so well that, in spite of his\nconstant pilfering from the bag which held the slender resources of the\nlittle band, no one suspected him.  His fellow-disciples might contend\nfor the first places at the table, but all felt that Judas, at any\nrate, had a prescriptive right to sit near Jesus.  All round, in\nsorrowful tones, the question passed, \"Lord, is it I?\"  Each, conscious\nof the unfathomed evil of his own nature, thought himself more likely\nto be the traitor than that the admirable Judas should do the deed.  It\nwas terrible to know that the Shepherd should be smitten, and the flock\nscattered; but more, that the Master would be betrayed by the inner\ncircle of His friends!  But there seemed no reason for challenging His\nannouncement, backed as it was by a quotation from a familiar Psalm,\n\"He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray\nMe.\"  From these words also it was evident that the traitor must be one\nof two or three; for only these could reach the common dish in which\nJesus dipped His food.\n\nIt became, therefore, more and more clear to Judas, that the Master\nknew perfectly well all that had transpired, and he said to himself,\n\"If He knows so much, it is almost certain that He knows all.\"\nTherefore, partly to disarm any suspicions that might be suggested to\nthe others if he did not take up their question, partly because he felt\nthat probably there was nothing to be gained by maintaining his\ndisguise before Jesus, and being withal feverishly anxious to know how\nmuch of his plan was discovered, he asked, adopting the colder title\nRabbi, rather than that of Lord, as employed by the others, \"Rabbi, is\nit I?\"  Probably the question was asked under his breath, and that\nJesus replied in the same tone, \"Thou hast said.\"\n\nImmediately the thoughts of Judas sprang back to the foot-washing, and\nall the other marks of extraordinary tenderness with which Jesus had\ntreated him.  At the time he had thought, \"He would not act like this\nif He knew all.\"  Now, however, he realized that Jesus had acted in the\nfull knowledge of all that had passed, and was passing in his heart.\nIt must have struck him as extraordinary that the Master should\ncontinue to treat him thus when He had read the whole dark secret.  Why\ndid He not unmask and expose him?  Why not banish him from His company?\nWhy count him still on speaking terms?  Not till afterward was he aware\nof Jesus' motive, nor did he detect the loving purpose which was laying\nsiege to his stony heart as though to turn him from his evil purpose\nbefore it was too late.\n\nOnce more the Lord made an effort to prove to him that though He knew\nall He loved him still, even to the end.  It was the Jewish custom for\none to dip a morsel in the common dish and pass it to another in token\nof special affection, so when He had dipped the sop, Jesus took and\ngave it to Judas, the son of Simon.  He had previously answered John's\nwhispered question, \"Lord, who is it?\" which had been suggested by a\nsign from Peter, by saying, \"He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I\nhave dipped it.\"  But He did not give the token of love merely as a\nsign to John and Peter, but because He desired to assure Judas that,\nnotwithstanding His perfect knowledge, His heart was full of tender\naffection.\n\nBut when the sun strikes on a foetid pond, its rays, beneath which all\ncreation rejoices, bring out the repulsive odors that otherwise had\nslept undiscovered; so the love of God is ever a savor of life unto\nlife or of death unto death, and the very fervor of Christ's love seems\nto have driven Judas almost to madness.  Shutting his heart against the\nSaviour, he opened it to Satan, who was waiting his opportunity.\n\"After the sop, then Satan entered into him.\"  Instantly the Master saw\nthe change, and knew that He could do nothing more to save His disciple\nfrom the pit which he had digged for himself.  Nothing could be gained\nby further delay.  Jesus therefore said unto him, \"That thou doest, do\nquickly.\"\n\nSo carefully had the Lord concealed His knowledge of Judas' real\ncharacter that none of those who sat at table guessed the real\nsignificance and purport of His words.  For some thought, because Judas\nhad the bag, that Jesus said unto him, \"Buy what things we have need of\nfor the feast\"; or that he should give something to the poor.  Only\nJohn, and perhaps Peter, had the slightest suspicion of his possible\nerrand.  The sacred narrative adds significantly, \"He then having\nreceived the sop, went out straightway, and it was night\"; as though\nthe black pall of darkness were a befitting symbol of the blackness of\ndarkness that was enveloping his soul--a night broken only by one star,\nwhen Jesus once more in the garden sought to arrest him with the words,\n\"Friend, to what a deed thou art come!  Betrayest thou the Son of Man\nwith a kiss?\"  But that lone star was soon obscured.  The cloud-wreath\nhastened to conceal it.  Head-long and precipitate over every obstacle,\nhe rushed to his doom, until his career was consummated in the\ndespairing act which the Evangelist so solemnly records.\n\nThe specified fee was no doubt paid to Judas, on his delivery of Jesus\ninto the hands of the High Priest.  As soon as the great doors closed\nbehind the arresting band, Judas went to some inner pay-office, claimed\nhis money, and then waited in the shadow to see what befell.  Perhaps\nhe met John; and if so, avoided him.  Perhaps he heard Peter deny the\nLord with oaths, and congratulated himself that there was not much to\nchoose between them.  But for the most part his mind was absorbed in\nwhat was transpiring.  He beheld the shameful injustice and inhumanity\nof the trial.  Though he had kissed his Master's face, his soul winced\nfrom the blows and spittle that befell it.  Perhaps he had entertained\nsome lingering hope and expectation that when the worst came to the\nworst the Master would use on His own behalf the power He had so often\nused for others.  But if that thought had lodged in his mind, the dream\nwas terribly dissipated.  \"He saw that He was condemned.\"\n\nThen the full significance of his sin burst upon him.  The veil fell\nfrom his eyes, and he stood face to face with his crime in all its\nnaked horror.  His ingratitude, his treachery, his petty pilfering, his\nresistence of a love which the strong waters of death could not\nextinguish.  And the money scorched his hand.  A wild and haggard man,\nhe made his way into the presence of the chief priests and scribes, as\nthey were congratulating themselves on the success of their plot.\nThere was despair on his face, a piercing note in his voice, anguish in\nhis soul; the flames of hell were already consuming him, the thirst of\nthe bottomless pit already parching his lips; his hand convulsively\nclutched the thirty pieces of silver.\n\n\"I have sinned,\" he cried.  \"I have sinned.  He whom you have condemned\nis innocent; take back your money, only let Him go free; and oh,\nrelieve me, ye priests, accustomed to deal with burdened hearts,\nrelieve me of this intolerable pain.\"\n\nBut they said, with a gleam as of cold steel, \"What is that to us?\nThat is your business.  You made your bargain, and you must stand to\nit: see thou to it.\"\n\nHe knew that it was useless to parley with them.  That icy sarcasm,\nthat haughty indifference, told him how man must ever regard his\nmiserable act.  He had already refused the love of God, and dared not\nexpect anything more from it.  He foresaw how coming ages would spurn\nand abhor him.  There seemed, therefore, nothing better than to leap\ninto the awful abyss of suicide.  It could bring nothing worse than he\nwas suffering.  Oh, if he had only dared to believe in the love of God,\nand had fallen even then at the feet of Jesus, he might have become a\npillar in His temple, and an apostle of the Church.  But he dared not\nthink that there could be mercy for such as he was.  He passes out into\nthe morning air, the most wretched of men, shrinks away into some\nlonely spot, puts a rope around his neck, and dies.\n\nWe have been accustomed to think of Judas as one whose crime has put\nhim far in front of all others in the enormity of his guilt.  Dante\ndraws an awful picture of him as alone even in hell, shunned by all\nother sinners, as Turkish prisoners will shun Christians, though\nsharing the same cell.  But let us remember that he did not come to\nsuch a pitch of evil at a single bound.  There was a time, no doubt,\nwhen, amid the cornfields, vineyards, and pastoral villages of his\nnative Kerioth, he was regarded as a promising youth, quick at figures,\nthe comfort of his parents, the pride of his instructors, the leader of\nhis comrades.\n\nDuring the early years of His manhood, Jesus came through that court\ncountry on a preaching tour, and there must have been a wonderful\nfascination in Him for young men, so many of whom left their friends\nand callings to join and follow Him.  Judas felt the charm and joined\nhimself to the Lord; perhaps Jesus even called him.  At that time his\nlife must have been fair, or the Master would never have committed\nHimself to him.  He was practical, prompt, and businesslike, the very\nman to keep the bag.  But the continual handling of the money at last\nawoke within him an appetite of the presence of which he had not been\npreviously aware.  He did not banish it, but dwelt on it, allowing it\nto lodge and expand within him, till, like a fungus in congenial soil,\nit ate out his heart and absorbed into itself all the qualities of his\nnobler nature, transmuting them into rank and noisome products.  All\nlove for Christ, all care for the poor, all thought of his\nfellow-disciples, were quenched before that remorseless passion; and at\nlast he began to pilfer from those scant treasures, which were now and\nagain replenished by those that loved to minister to the Master's\ncomfort.  At first, he must have been stung by keen remorse; but each\ntime he sinned his conscience became more seared, until he finally\nreached the point when he could sell his Master for a bagatelle, and\nbetray Him with a kiss.\n\nAlas!  Judas is not the only man of whom these particulars have been\ntrue.  Change the name and you have an exact description of too many.\nMany a fair craft has come within the reach of the circling eddies of\nthe same boiling whirlpool, and, after a struggle, has succumbed.  The\nyoung man hails from his native village home, earnest and ingenuous.\nAt first he stands firm against the worldly influences around; but\ngradually he becomes careless in his watch, and as money flows in he\nrealizes the fascination of the idea of being a wealthy man.  He\nbecomes increasingly absorbed, until he begins to drift toward a goal\nfrom which in other days he would have shrunk in horror.  If any reader\nof these words is conscious of such a passion beginning to lay hold of\nhim, let him beware, lest, like Judas, he be lost in the divers hurtful\nlusts which drown men in perdition.\n\nAnd if already you have been betrayed into sins which would bear\ncomparison with that of Judas, do not despair--true, you have sinned\nagainst light and love, the eager, tender pleadings of God's love; but\ndo not give up hope.  Cast yourself on a love which wants to abound\nover sin, and glories in being able to save to the uttermost.\n\n\n\n\nXXIX\n\nThe First Trial before Pilate\n\n\"Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it\nwas early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest\nthey should be denied; but that they might eat the Passover.\"--JOHN\nxviii. 28.\n\n\nThere is no doubt that had Pilate been absent from Jerusalem at the\ntime of our Lord's trial before the Sanhedrim, they would have rushed\nHim to death, as afterward Stephen, and have risked the anger of the\nGovernor.  But they dared not attempt such a thing beneath the eyes of\nthe dreaded Roman eagles.  They must needs obtain Pilate's countersign\nto their death sentence, and, indeed, consign their victim to him for\nexecution.  The Lord was to die, not the Jewish death by stoning, but\nthe terrible Roman death of crucifixion.\n\nThe day then breaking was that before the Passover.  If the order for\nexecution were not obtained that morning, the case could not come on\nfor seven days, and it would have been highly impolitic, from their\npoint of view, to keep Jesus so long in bonds.  The national sentiment\nmight have awoke and refused to sanction their treachery.  For the same\nreason it was necessary to carry the sentence into effect with as\nlittle delay as possible, or the whole plot might miscarry.  Then led\nthey Jesus from Caiaphas to the official residence of Pilate, which had\nbeen the palace of the magnificent Herod--_and it was early_.\n\nIn the palace there was a hall where trials were usually conducted; but\nthe Jewish dignitaries who had not scrupled shamelessly to condemn\nJesus were too scrupulous to enter the house of a Gentile on the eve of\nthe feast, for fear there might be a single grain of leaven there, and\nthe mere suspicion of such a thing would have disqualified them from\nparticipating in the feast.  Remember that these men had just broken\nevery principle of justice in their treatment of Jesus, and now they\npalter over minute points of Rabbinical casuistry.  So Philip of Spain\nabetted the massacres of Alva, but rigorously performed all the rites\nof the Church; and the Italian bandit will carefully honor priest, and\nhost, and church.  How well our Lord's sharp sword cut to the dividing\nof soul and spirit, in such cases as these: \"Ye pay tithe of mint, and\ncummin, and anise, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law.\"\nIt is an evil day when religion and morality are divorced.\n\nPilate knew too well the character of the men with whom he had to do,\nto attempt to force their scruples, and went out to them; so that for\nmost of the time his intercourse with Jesus was apart from their\ninterference and scrutiny.  Without much interchange of formalities,\nthe Governor asked, \"What accusation bring ye against this man?\"\n\nIt was not a little disappointing to their pride to be obliged to\nadduce and substantiate capital charges against Jesus, so they replied\nin general terms, and with the air of injured innocence, \"If He were\nnot a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him unto thee.\"  It was\nas though they said, \"There is no need for thee to enter into the\ndetails of this case; we have thoroughly investigated it, and are\nsatisfied with the conclusive evidence of our prisoner's guilt; you may\nbe sure that men like ourselves would never come to thee at such an\nhour, on such an errand, unless there were ample grounds for it.\"\n\nBut Pilate was in no mood to be talked with thus.  He saw their\neagerness to ward off inquiry, and this was quite enough to arouse his\nproud spirit to thwart and disappoint them.  He knew well enough that\nthey wanted him to pronounce the death sentence; but he pretended not\nto, and said, in effect, \"If your judgment, and yours only, is to\nsettle the case, take ye Him and judge Him according to your law,\ninflicting such penalty as it directs.\"\n\nThe Jewish notables at once saw that they must adopt a more\nconciliatory tone, or they would lose their case; they therefore\nexplained that they wanted a severer sentence than they had the right\nto inflict.  \"It is not lawful,\" they said, \"for us to put any man to\ndeath.\"\n\nPilate again asked for a statement of the crime of which Jesus was\naccused.\n\nNow mark the baseness of their reply.  The only crime on which they had\ncondemned Jesus to death was His claim to Deity; but it would never\nhave done to tell Pilate that.  He would simply have laughed at them.\nThey must find some charge which would bring Him within the range of\nthe common law, and be of such a nature that Pilate must take\ncognizance of it, and award death.  It was not easy to find ground for\nsuch a charge in the life of one who had so studiously threaded His way\nthrough the snares they had often laid for Him; who had bade them\nrender Caesar's things to Caesar; and protested that He was neither a\nruler nor judge.  Their only hope was to rest their charge on His claim\nto be the Messiah, construing it as the Jews were wont to do, but as\nJesus never did, into a claim to an outward and visible royalty.  They\nsaid, therefore, as Luke informs us, \"We found this man perverting the\nnation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself\nis Christ a King.\"\n\nThis was quite enough to compel Pilate to institute further inquiry.\nThere were thousands of Jews who questioned Caesar's right to tax them,\nand were willing to revolt under the lead of any man who showed himself\ncapable.  It was certainly suspicious that such a charge should be made\nby men who themselves abhorred the yoke of Rome.  However, Pilate saw\nthat he had no alternative but to investigate the case further.  He\ntherefore went within the palace to the inner judgment hall, summoned\nJesus before him, and said, not without a touch of sarcasm in his\ntones, \"Art Thou the King of the Jews?\"  Thou poor, worn, tear-stained\noutcast, forsaken by every friend in this Thy hour of need, so great a\ncontrast to him who built these halls and aspired to the same\ntitle--art thou a king?\n\nHe probably expected that Jesus would at once disclaim any such title.\nBut instead of doing so, instead of answering directly, our Lord\nanswered his question by propounding another--\"Sayest thou this thing\nof thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning Me?\"  The purport of\nthis question seems to have been to probe Pilate's conscience, and make\nhim aware of his own growing consciousness that this prisoner was too\nroyal in mien to be an ordinary Jewish visionary.  It was as though He\nsaid: \"Dost thou use the term in the common sense, or as a soul\nconfronted by a greater than thyself?  Do you speak by hearsay or by\nconviction?  Is it because the Jews have so taught thee, or because\nthou recognizest Me as able to bring order and peace into troubled\nhearts like thine?\"\n\nWhatever thoughts had instinctively made themselves felt were instantly\nbeaten back by his strong Roman pride.  Never before had he been\ncatechised thus.  And he answered haughtily, \"Am I a Jew?  Thine own\nnation and the chief priests have delivered Thee unto me: what hast\nThou done?\"\n\nOur Lord did not answer that question by enumerating deeds which had\nfilled Palestine with wonder; but contented Himself by saying that He\nhad committed no political offence, and had no idea of setting Himself\nup as king, in the sense in which Pilate and the Jews used the word:\n\"My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world,\nthen would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the\nJews: but now is My kingdom not from hence.\"\n\nNever in the history of this world did the lips of man speak or his\nears listen to a more pregnant or remarkable utterance.  But it has\nbeen shamefully misunderstood.  Men have misread the words, and said,\nSee, the religion of Jesus is quite unworldly, has nothing to do with\nthe institutions and arrangements of human life.  It deals with the\nspiritual, and not with the secular.  It treats of our spirits, not our\nhands or pockets.  So long as we recognize Christ's authority in the\nChurch, we may do as we like in the home, the counting-house, the\nfactory, and the shop.\n\nIt was in no such sense that Jesus uttered these words, and the mistake\nhas largely arisen through the misunderstanding of the word _of_ as\nused by our translators.  It has not the force of belonging to, or\nbeing the property of; but is the translation of a Greek preposition,\nmeaning out of, springing from, originating in.  We might freely\ntranslate the Master's words thus: \"My kingdom does not originate from\nthis world; it has come down from another, to bring the principles,\nmethods, and inspirations of heaven to bear on all the provinces of\nhuman thought and activity.\"  The Son of Man claims the whole of man\nand all that he does as a subject of His realm.  He cannot spare one\nrelationship of human life, one art, one industry, one interest, one\njoy, one hope from the domain of His empire.  He has a word about the\nweight in the pedlar's bag, the dealings of the merchant on 'Change,\nthe justice and injustice of wars that desolate continents.\n\nThe one conspicuous proof of the absolutely foreign origin of this\nheavenly kingdom is its refusal to employ force.  Its servants do not\nfight.  In the garden the King had repudiated the use of force, bidding\nHis servant sheathe His sword.  Whenever you encounter a system that\ncannot stand without the use of force, that appeals to the law court or\nbayonet, you are sure that, whatever else it is, it is not the Kingdom\nof Christ.  Christ's kingdom distinctly and forever refuses to allow\nits subjects to fight.  They who would surround Christianity with\nprestige, endow it with wealth, and guard it with the sword, expel its\nDivine Spirit, and leave only its semblance dead upon the field.  But\nif the aid which might be deemed essential is withheld, whether of\nfunds or force, it thrives and spreads until the hills are covered with\nits goodly shadow, and its products fill the earth with harvests of\nbenediction.  All the Gospel asks for is freedom--freedom to do what\nJesus did, in the way He did it; freedom because of its belief that the\npower of truth is greater than all the power of the Adversary.  Oh for\na second Pentecost!  Oh for the holy days of Apostolic trust and\nsimplicity!  Oh for one of the days of the Son of Man, who came to our\nworld armed with no authority save that of truth, clothed with no power\nbut that of love.\n\nIn Pilate's next question there seems a touch of awe and respect: \"Art\nThou a king then?\"  That moral nature which is in all men, however\ndebased, seemed for a moment to assert itself, and a strange spell lay\non his spirit.\n\nWith wondrous dignity our Lord immediately answered, \"Thou sayest that\nI am--a king.\"  But He hastens to show that it was a kingship not based\nupon material force like that of the Caesars, nor confined to one race\nof men: \"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the\nworld, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Every one that is of\nthe truth heareth My voice.\"  There is no soul of man, in any clime or\nage, devoted to the truth, which does not recognize the royalty and\nsupremacy of Jesus Christ.  There is an accent in His words which all\nthe children of the truth instantly recognize.  The idea here given of\nJesus gazing ever into the depths of eternal truth, and bearing witness\nof what He saw, not in His words alone, but in His life and death; and\nof the assent given to His witness by all who have looked upon the\nsublime outlines of truth, is one of those majestic conceptions which\ncannot be accounted for on any hypothesis than that the speaker was\nDivine.\n\nWhen Pilate heard these words, he probably thought of the Epicureans,\nand Stoics, and other philosophers, who were perpetually wrangling\nabout the truth, and demanding men's allegiance.  \"Oh,\" said he to\nhimself, \"here is another enthusiast, touched with the same madness,\nthough He does seem nobler than many of His craft.  One thing is clear,\nthat my lord has nothing to fear from His pretensions.  He may sit as\nlong as He likes on His ideal throne without detriment to the empire of\nthe Caesars.\" With mingled bitterness and cynicism, he answered, \"What\nis truth?\" and, without waiting for an answer, went out to the group of\nJewish rabbis waiting in the opening daylight, and threw them into\nconvulsions of excitement by saying, \"I find in Him no fault at all.\"\n\nThey were the more urgent, saying, \"He stirreth up the people, teaching\nthroughout all Judaea, and beginning from Galilee even unto this place.\"\n\nThe mention of Galilee came as a gleam of light to Pilate.  He was\nsincerely desirous not to be an accomplice in the death of Jesus, by\nfalling into the plot which he had been astute enough to detect.  But\nnot daring to take the only honorable and safe way of declaring His\ninnocence, and summoning a cohort of soldiers to clear the court, he\nendeavored to exculpate himself by throwing the responsibility on\nHerod.  He congratulated himself on the ingenuity of a plan which\nshould relieve him of the necessity of grieving his conscience on the\none hand, or of irritating the Jews on the other, and which would\nconciliate Herod, with whom he was at this time on unfriendly terms.\nWhen he knew therefore that He was of Herod's jurisdiction he sent Him\nunto Herod, who himself was at Jerusalem in those days.\n\nHerod was glad to see the wonderful miracle-worker of whom he had heard\nso much, and hoped that He might do some wonder in his presence; and,\nin the hope of extorting it, set Him at nought, and mocked Him, with\nhis mighty men.  But the Lord remained absolutely silent in his\npresence, as though the love of God could say nothing to the murderer\nof the Baptist, who had not repented of his deed.  Finally, therefore,\ndisappointed and chagrined, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, admitting\nthat he had found in Him no cause of death.\n\n\n\n\nXXX\n\nThe Second Trial before Pilate\n\n\"Ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover:\nwill ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?\"--JOHN\nxviii. 39.\n\n\nPilate must have felt mortified when he heard that Herod had sent Jesus\nback to his tribunal.  He had hoped that the Jewish monarch would so\nsettle the matter that there would be no need for him to choose between\nhis conscience and his fear of the Jewish leaders.  But it was not to\nbe.  It was decreed that he should pronounce the judicial sentence on\nour Lord, and so on himself.\n\nNow was the time for him to act decisively, and to say clearly that he\nwould be no party to the unrighteous deed to which these priests were\nurging him.  To have done so firmly and decisively, and before they\ncould further inflame popular passion, the whole matter would have come\nto an end.  Alas! he let the golden moment slip past him unused, and\nevery succeeding moment made it more impossible for him to retrieve it.\n\nPilate is one of the most notable instances in history of the fatal\nerror of preferring expediency to principle.  He wished to do right,\nbut not to do it avowedly because it was right.  He wished to do right\nwithout seeming to do it, or making a positive stand for it.  And in\nconsequence he was finally entrapped into doing the very deed which he\nhad taken the greatest trouble to avoid.  Therefore, on the plains of\ntime he stands as a beacon and warning; and to all who do not dare to\noppose the stream of public passion and practice with the single\naffirmation of inflexible adherence to righteousness, the voice of\ninspiration cries aloud, \"Remember Pilate!\"  However promising a\ntortuous course may look, it will certainly end in disaster.  However\ndiscouraging a righteous one may appear, it will at last lead out into\nthe open.  And in doing the right thing, be sure to speak out firmly at\nonce.  It may be harder for the moment, but it will be always easier\nafterward.  One brave word will put you into a position of moral\nadvantage, from which no power shall avail to shake or dislodge you.\n\nSuch a word, however, Pilate failed to speak; and when Jesus was again\nbrought before him, he began to think of some way by which he might do\nas conscience prompted, without running counter to the Jewish leaders.\nHe, therefore, summoned around him the chief priests and rulers of the\npeople.  The latter are particularly mentioned, as though Pilate\nthought that his best method of saving Jesus would be by appealing over\nthe heads of the priests to the humanity of the common people.  When\nall were again assembled he made, as Luke tells us, a short speech to\nthem, reiterating his conviction of His innocence, corroborating his\nown opinion by Herod's, and closing by a proposal which he hoped would\nmeet the whole case.  \"I will therefore chastise Him and release Him.\"\nWas there ever such a compromise?  A little before he had solemnly\naffirmed that he could find in Him no fault at all, but if that were\nthe case, why chastise Him?  And if He were guilty of the charges\nbrought against Him, as chastisement might seem to suggest, surely He\nshould not be released.  Pilate meant to do the best.  The chastisement\nwas intended as a sop to the priests, and to win their acquiescence to\ntheir victim's release.  But it was not straightforward, or strong, or\nright.  And, like all compromises, it miserably failed.\n\nThose keen Jewish eyes saw in a moment that Pilate had left the ground\nof simple justice.  He had shifted from the principle on which Roman\nlaw was generally administered, and they saw that it was only a\nquestion of bringing sufficient pressure to bear on him, and they could\nmake him a tool for the accomplishment of the fell purpose on which\ntheir heart was set.  The proposal, therefore, was swept ignominiously\naway, and Pilate could never regain the position he had renounced.\n\nPilate then resorted to another expedient for saving Jesus.  It was the\ncustom to carry out capital sentences at feast times, which were the\noccasions of great popular convocations; but it was also customary for\nthe governor to release any one prisoner, condemned to death, whom the\nmultitude, on the Passover week, might agree to name.  Pilate\nrecollected this, and also that there was a notorious criminal awaiting\nexecution, who for sedition and murder had been arrested and condemned\nto die.  It occurred to him that, instead of asking the people\ngenerally whom they wished him to release, he should narrow the choice\nand present the alternative between Barabbas and Jesus.  They would\nhardly fail, he thought, to choose the release of this pale Prisoner,\nwho was innocent of crime, and, indeed, had lived a life notable for\nits benevolence.\n\nPilate took care to announce his proposal with the greatest effect.\nThe vast space before his palace was rapidly filling with excited\ncrowds, who guessed that something unusual was astir, and were pouring\nin surging volumes into the piazza, although it was still early.  That\nhe might be the better seen and heard he ascended a movable rostrum, or\njudgment-seat, which was placed on the tessellated pavement that ran\nfrom end to end of the palace.  \"Whom will ye,\" he asked, \"that I\nrelease unto you--Barabbas, or Jesus which is called the Christ?\"  And\nthen he suggested the answer: \"Will ye that I release unto you the King\nof Jews?\"\n\nAt this moment, and perhaps whilst waiting for their answer, a\nmessenger hurried to speak to him from his wife.  It must have been\nmost unusual for her to interfere with his judicial acts; but she had\nbeen so impressed by a dream about her husband's connection with Jesus,\nthe unwonted Prisoner who stood before him, that she was impelled to\nurge him to have nothing to do with Him.  It was a remarkable episode,\nand must have made Pilate more than ever anxious to extricate himself\nfrom his dilemma.\n\nIt was still not absolutely too late to set himself free by the\nresolute expression of his will.  But his temporizing policy was making\nit immensely difficult, and he was becoming every moment more entangled\nin the meshes of the merciless priests.\n\nHe had hoped much from his last proposal, but was destined to be\nbitterly disappointed.  The chief priests and elders had been busy\namongst the crowds, persuading and moving them.  We do not know the\narguments they would employ; but we all know how inflammable a mob is,\nand presently the name of Barabbas began to sound ominously from amid\nthe hubbub and murmur of that sea of human beings.  Presently the\nisolated cries spread into a tumultuous clamor, which rang out in the\nmorning air, \"Not this man, but Barabbas!\"\n\nPilate seems to have been dumbfoundered at this unexpected demand; and\nsaid, almost pitifully, \"What then shall I do with Jesus, which is\ncalled Christ?\"  As though he had said, \"You surely cannot mean that He\nshould suffer the fate prepared for a murderer!\"  Then they cried out\nfor the first time, To the cross, to the cross!  \"Crucify Him! crucify\nHim!\"\n\nPilate had failed twice; he felt that he was being swept away by a\ncurrent which already he could not stem, and which was becoming at\nevery moment deeper and swifter.  But he was very anxious to release\nJesus; and so he tried to reason with them, and said, \"Why, what evil\nhath He done?\"  But he might as hopefully have tried to argue with an\nangry sea, or with a pack of wolves.  He felt this, and, mustering a\nlittle show of authority, said: \"I have found no cause of death in Him;\nI will, therefore, chastise Him, and release Him.\"  But this\nannouncement was met by an infuriated shout of disapproval.  \"They were\ninstant with loud voices, requiring that He might be crucified.\"  \"They\ncried out the more exceedingly, Crucify Him.\"  A little before this\nPilate had been besieged for six days in his palace at Caesarea by\nsimilar crowds, whose persistent fury at last compelled him to give in\nto them.  He dared not provoke similar scenes, lest they should result\nin a revolution.  When he saw that he could prevail nothing, but that\nrather a tumult was made, he called for water.  He said to himself, \"I\nam very sorry, this Man is innocent, and I should like to save Him.\nBut I have done my best, and can do no more.  I will, at least, relieve\nmyself of the responsibility of His blood.  'Slave, bring me water!'\"\n\nAs he washed his hands he said, \"I am innocent of the blood of this\nrighteous Man; see ye to it.\"  \"Yes, yes,\" cried those bloodthirsty\nvoices, \"His blood be on us, and on our children.\"  See how God\nsometimes takes men at their word.  The blood of Jesus was required of\nthat generation at the sack of Jerusalem, forty years after; and it has\nbeen required of their children through all the ages.  Why that\nwandering foot, found in every land, yet homeless in all?  Why the\nhideous tortures, plunderings, and massacres of the Middle Ages?  Why\nthe modern Jew-hate, disguised under the more refined term\n_anti-Semitism_?  Why the banishment from their holy places for\neighteen centuries?  All is attributable to that terrible imprecation\nwhich attracted to the race the blood of an innocent Victim.  It does\nnot exculpate them to say that they did not realize who Jesus was, and\nthat they would not have crucified Him if they had realized His Divine\ndignity.  They are being punished to-day, not because they crucified\nthe Son of God, knowing Him to be such, but because they crucified One\nagainst whom they could allege no crime, and whose life had been full\nof truth and grace.\n\nAfter he had washed his hands \"Pilate gave sentence that it should be\nas they required, and released unto them him that for sedition and\nmurder had been cast into prison, whom they desired; but he delivered\nJesus to their will.\"\n\nThose condemned to die by crucifixion first underwent the hideous\ntorture of the scourge.  This, then, was inflicted on Jesus, and it was\ncarried out in the inner courtyard by the Roman soldiery, under\nPilate's direction.  \"Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged\nHim.\"  Stripped to the waist, and bound in a stooping posture to a low\npillar, He was beaten till the officer in charge gave the signal to\nstop.  The plaited leathern thongs, armed at the ends with lead and\nsharp-pointed bone, cut the back open in all directions, and inflicted\nsuch torture that the sufferers generally fainted, and often died.\n\nBut the scourging in this case did not satisfy the soldiers, whom\nscenes of this nature had brutalized.  They had been told by their\ncomrades of the mockery of Herod's palace, and they would not lag\nbehind.  Had He been robed in mockery as King of the Jews, then He\nshall pose as mock emperor.  They found a purple robe, wove some tough\nthorns into a mimic crown, placed a long reed in His hand as sceptre,\nthen bowed the knee, as in the imperial court, and cried, \"Hail, King\nof the Jews!\"  Finally, tiring of their brutal jests, they tore the\nreed from His hands, smote Him with it on His thorn-girt brow, and\nstruck Him with their fists.  We cannot tell how long it lasted, but\nJesus bore it all--silent, uncomplaining, noble.  There was a majesty\nabout Him which these indignities could not suppress or disturb.\n\nPilate had never seen such elevation of demeanor, and was greatly\nstruck by it.  He was more than ever desirous to save Him, and it\nsuddenly occurred to him that perhaps that spectacle of sorrow and\nmajesty might arrest the fury of the rabble.  He therefore led Jesus\nforth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and, stationing\nHim where all could see, said, \"Behold the Man!  Behold Him and admire!\nBehold Him and pity!  Behold Him and be content!\"  But the priests were\nobdurate.  There is no hate so virulent as religious hate, and they\nraised again the cry, \"Crucify Him, crucify Him!\"  Pilate was not only\nannoyed, but provoked.  \"Take ye Him,\" he said, in surly tones,\n\"crucify Him as best ye can, my soldiers and I will have nothing to do\nwith the foul deed.\"\n\nThen it was that the Jewish leaders, in their eagerness not to lose\ntheir prey, brought forward a weapon which they had been reluctant to\nuse.  \"We have a law,\" they said, \"and by our law He ought to die,\nbecause He made Himself the Son of God.\"  We hardly know how much those\nwords meant to Pilate, but they awakened a strange awe.  \"He was the\nmore afraid.\"  He had some knowledge of the old stories of mythology,\nin which the gods walked the world in the semblance of men.  Could this\nbe the explanation of the strange majesty in the wonderful Sufferer,\nwhose presence raised such extraordinary passion and ferment?  So he\ntook Jesus apart, and said to Him, \"Whence art Thou?\"  \"Art Thou of\nhuman birth, or more?\"  But Jesus gave him no answer.  This is the\nfifth time that He had answered nothing; but we can detect the reason.\nIt would have been useless to explain all to Pilate then.  It would not\nhave arrested his action, for he had lost control, but would have\nincreased His condemnation.  Yet His silence was itself an answer; for\nif He had been only of earth, He could never have allowed Pilate to\nentertain the faintest suspicion that He might be of heaven.\n\nPilate's pride was touched by that silence.  It was at least possible\nto assert a power over this defenceless Prisoner, which had been defied\nby those vindictive Jews.  \"Speakest Thou not unto _me_?  Knowest Thou\nnot that I have power to release or to crucify Thee?\"  And Jesus\nanswered, \"Thou wouldst have no power against Me, except it were given\nthee from above; therefore, he that delivered Me unto thee hath the\ngreater sin.\"  In these words our Lord seems to refer to the mystery of\nevil, and specially the power of the prince of this world, who was now\nventing on Him all his malice.  At this moment the serpent was bruising\nthe heel of the Son of Man, who shortly would bruise His head.  It\nwould appear as though our Lord were addressing kind and compassionate\nwords to Pilate.  \"Great as your sin is, in abusing your prerogative,\ngiven to you from above, it is less than the sin of that Evil Spirit\nwho has cast Me into your power, and is urging you to extreme measures\nagainst Me.  The devil sinneth from the beginning.\"  Even in His sore\ntravail, the Lord was tender and pitiful to this weak and craven soul,\nand spoke to it as though Pilate and not He were arraigned at the bar.\n\nPilate was now more than ever set on His deliverance.  \"He sought to\nrelease Him.\"  And then the Jews brought out their last crushing and\nconclusive argument, \"If thou release this Man, thou art not Caesar's\nfriend; every one that maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar.\"\nPilate knew what that meant, and that if he did not let them have their\nway, they would lodge an accusation against him for complicity with\ntreason before his imperial master.  Already strong representations had\nbeen made in the same quarter against his maladministration of his\nprovince, and he positively dare not risk another.  \"When, therefore,\nhe heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down in the\njudgment-seat at a place called the Pavement, and it was about the\nsixth hour.\"\n\nWith ill-concealed irritation, and adopting the recent phraseology of\nthe priests, he said, \"Behold your King!\"  At which they cried, \"We\nhave no king but Caesar.  Away with Him; away with Him; crucify Him.\"\nIt gave Pilate savage pleasure to put the cup of humiliation to their\nlips, and make them drain it to its dregs.  \"What!\" said he; \"shall I\ncrucify your King?\"  Then they touched the lowest depth of degradation,\nas, abandoning all their Messianic hopes, and trampling under foot\ntheir national pride, they answered, \"We have no king but Caesar.\"\n\nAt last, therefore, he delivered Jesus to them to be crucified, signed\nthe usual documents, gave the customary order, and retired into his\npalace, as one who had heard his own sentence pronounced, and carried\nin his soul the presage of his doom.\n\nLong years after, when, stripped of his Procuratorship, which he had\nsacrificed Christ to save, worn out by his misfortunes, and universally\nexecrated, he was an exile in a foreign land, with his faithful wife,\nhow often must they have spoken together of the events of that morning,\nwhich had so strangely affected their lives!\n\n\n\n\nXXXI\n\nThe Seven Sayings of the Cross\n\n\"Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified.  And they\ntook Jesus and led Him away.\"--JOHN xix. 16.\n\n\nDriven from one position after another by the Jewish notables and\nrabble, Pilate at last, much against his will, gave directions for the\nLord's crucifixion.  The purple robe flung over His shoulders was\nreplaced by His own simple clothes, though the crown of thorns was not\nimprobably left upon His head.\n\nTwo others were led out to suffer with Him--highwaymen lately captured\nin some red-handed deed.  Barabbas, their chief, for whom the central\ncross had been designed, had escaped it by a miracle; but they were to\nsuffer the just reward of their deeds.  A detachment of soldiers was\ntold off under a centurion, to see to the execution of the sentence,\nand the heavy crosses were placed upon the shoulders of the sufferers,\nthat they might bear them to the place of execution.\n\nIt was probably about ten A. M. when the sad procession started on its\nway.  Two incidents took place as it passed through the crowded\nstreets, which surely had never witnessed such a spectacle: no, not\neven in the days when David traversed them in flight from Absalom.\n\nThe beams laid on our Lord proved too heavy in the steeper ascents for\nHis exhausted strength, and His slow advance so delayed the procession\nthat the guard became impatient.  Here comes a foreigner!  A Jew of\nCyrene!  Harmless and inoffensive, gladly would he make way for the\ncrowd.  Why should he not bear this burden under which Jesus of\nNazareth is falling to the ground?  The insolent soldiers, with oath\nand jest, constrain him, and he dares not resist.  Probably Simon had\nno previous knowledge of Him for whom he bore this load, and loathed\nthe service he was compelled to render; but that compulsory\ncompanionship with Jesus carried him to Calvary.  He beheld the\nwondrous tragedy, heard the words which we are to recite; from that day\nbecame, with his family, a humble follower of Jesus.  We at least infer\nthis from Mark's emphatic mention of the fact that he was father of\nAlexander and Rufus; whilst the Apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the\nRomans, tenderly refers to Rufus and his mother.  This is not the only\ninstance in the history of Christianity, when the compulsion of an\napparent accident has led a man to Christ.  Many a time has compulsory\ncross-carrying led men to the Crucified.\n\nOf the vast multitude who followed Jesus, a large contingent consisted\nof women.  From the men, in that moving crowd, He does not appear to\nhave received one word of sympathy.  Timidity, or questioning with\ntheir own hearts, or inveterate hatred closed their lips.  But the\nwomen expressed their sorrow with all the outcry of Oriental grief,\nrending the air with piercing cries.  \"Weep not for Me,\" the Saviour\nsaid, ever more thoughtful for others than Himself; \"but for yourselves\nand your children.\"  And He who had been mocked because of His claim to\nbe a King, and who would shortly from the cross begin to minister as a\nPriest, then as Prophet foretold the approaching fate of that fair\ncity, asking significantly, since the Romans dealt thus with Himself an\ninnocent sufferer, what would they not do when exasperated by the\npertinacious resistance of the Jewish people in the protracted siege.\n\nJust outside the city gates, by the side of the main road, was a little\nconical eminence which, from its likeness to the shape of a skull, was\ncalled in the Aramaic _Golgotha_, in the Greek _Cranion_, in the Latin\n_Calvary_.  As we speak of the _brow_ of a hill, they called the bald\neminence a _skull_.  There the procession stayed, and what transpired\nmay be best followed as we touch on the seven sentences our Lord\nuttered on the Cross, as we collate them and set them in order from the\nfour Gospels.\n\nI. \"_Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do._\"--Arrived\nat the place of execution, Jesus would be stripped once more, a linen\ncloth at most being left about His loins.  He would then be laid upon\nthe cross, as it rested on the ground, His arms stretched along the\ncrossbeams, His body resting on a projecting piece of rough wood,\nmisnamed a seat.  Huge nails would then be driven through the tender\npalm of each hand, and the shrinking centre of each foot.  The cross\nwould then be lifted up and planted in a hole previously dug to receive\nit, with a rude shock causing indescribable anguish.  \"So they\ncrucified Him, and two others with Him, on either side one, and Jesus\nin the midst.\"\n\nPilate had written a title to be nailed to the head-piece of the cross,\naccording to the usual custom, with the name and designation of the\ncrucified, \"This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.\"  It was written in\nGreek, the language of science; Latin, the language of government; and\nHebrew, the language of religion.  It is this fact that accounts for\nthe differences in the Gospels.  One evangelist translates from one\nlanguage, another from another.  The inscription was meant to insult\nthe Jews.  It was equivalent to saying, \"This nation cannot produce a\nbetter monarch than this; and this is the fate which will be meted out\nto all such pretenders.\"  The authorities were indignant, and did their\nutmost to induce Pilate to alter it.  But in vain.  He would be master\nthis time, and dismissed them with the curt reply, \"What I have written\nI have written.\"  Each man is writing his conception of the nature and\nclaims of Christ by the way in which he treats Him, either\nacknowledging His Divine glory as he enthrones Him, or repudiating His\nclaims as he tramples Him under foot, and turns away to his sin.\n\nThe criminal's clothes fell as a perquisite to the soldiers specially\ncharged with the execution of the sentence.  With our Lord's outer\nclothes they had no difficulty; they were too poor to be worth keeping\nentire, so they tore them up into equal pieces.  But the inner tunic\nwas of unusual texture; perhaps it had been woven for Him by His\nmother's hands, or by one of the women who so carefully administered to\nHim.  In any case it was too good to tear.  The dice were ready in the\npocket, one of the helmets would serve as dice-box; and so \"they parted\nHis raiment among them, and for His vesture they did cast lots.  These\nthings therefore the soldiers did.\"\n\nIt was probably during this byplay that our Lord uttered the first cry\nof the cross, and entered on that work of intercession, which He ever\nlives to perpetuate and crown.  He thinks, not of Himself, but of\nothers; is occupied, not with His own pains, but with their sins.  Not\na threat, nor a menace; but the purest, tenderest accents of pleading\nintercession.\n\nWhen was that prayer answered?  Seven weeks after this, on the day of\nPentecost, three thousand of these people, whom Peter described as the\nmurderers of Christ, repented and believed, and in the days that\nfollowed thousands more, and a great company of the priests.  That was\nthe answer to this intercession.  When we see our brethren sinning a\nsin not unto death, without realizing its full significance and\nenormity, if we ask God, as Jesus did, He will give us life for those\nthat sin not unto death.  There is a sin unto death, and concerning\nthat we are not encouraged to pray.  \"I obtained mercy,\" said the great\napostle, \"because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.\"\n\nII. \"_Woman, behold thy Son; son behold thy mother._\"--The second\nsaying was about His mother.  His cross was the centre of bitter\nmockery.  The chief priests, and scribes, and elders challenged Him to\ndescend from the cross, pledging themselves to believe if He did.  The\ncrowd caught their spirit with contemptible servility, and repeated\ntheir words, \"Son of God, come down from the cross, that we may\nbelieve.\"  A passer-by called out derisively, \"Where is now the boast\nthat He could raise the temple in three days?  Let Him do it if He\ncan.\"  The soldiers even caught up the abuse, and vented their coarse\njokes on one whose innocence and gentleness appeared to exasperate\nthem.  And the malefactors who were hanged cast the same in His teeth.\n\nWere there no sympathizers in all that crowd to exchange glances of\nlove and faith?  Yes, there was one little group.  When Peter left the\nHall of Caiaphas John probably lingered there still, followed to the\nbar of Pilate, waited long enough to know how the matter would fall,\nand then hastened to the humble lodgings where Mary and a few other\nwomen, in awful suspense, were awaiting tidings.  As soon as the mother\nknew all, she resolved to see her beloved Son once more.  \"It is no\nplace for women,\" John would say.  But she answered, \"I must see Him\nyet again.\"  Then said John, \"If you will indeed go, I will take you.\"\n\"I too will go,\" sadly said Mary, her sister, the wife of Cleophas;\n\"and I also,\" said Mary of Magdala.  What a sight for those loving\nhearts, when they saw the crosses in the distance, and knew that on one\nof them was hanging the dearest to them of all on earth!  But the love\nthat makes the timid deer turn to fight valiantly for its young made\nthem oblivious to everything except to get near Him.  But how little\nhad the young mother realized that Simeon meant this, when he told her\nthat a sword would one day pierce her soul!\n\nJesus knew how much she was suffering, and how lonely she would be when\nHe was gone.  He had neither silver nor gold to leave, but would at\nleast provide a home and tender care as long as she required them.\nElevated but very little above the ground, He could easily speak to the\nlittle group.  \"Woman,\" He said, not calling her \"mother,\" lest\nidentification with Himself might expose her to insult, \"behold thy\nSon.\"  Then, looking tenderly toward John, He consigned her to his care.\n\nDid He give a further look, which John interpreted to mean that he\nshould lead her away?  It may have been so, for from that hour he took\nher to his home; and so she passes from the page of Scripture, except\nfor the one glimpse we have of her, in the upper room, awaiting the\nbaptism of the Holy Spirit.\n\nIII. \"_To-day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise._\"--We cannot explore\nall the causes which brought about so great a change in this man, and\nproduced so lofty an ideal of his Fellow-sufferer.  We have to deal\nrather with the response of Jesus.  Lost by the first Adam, Paradise\nwas being regained by the last; and it is now not far away.  A dying\nman may see the sun leave the zenith, but ere it set in the western\nwave he may be in the land of Paradise.  Absent from the body, present\nwith the Lord.  There is no State of unconsciousness between the two.\nWe close our eyes on the dimming spectacles of this world at one\nmoment, to behold the King in His beauty the next.\n\nMen may strip Jesus of everything, but they cannot touch His power to\nsave.  In a moment of His greatest weakness He was able to rescue a man\nfrom the very brink of perdition, and take him as a trophy of His power\nto Heaven.  What will He not be able to do now that the mortal weakness\nis passed, and that He is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour!\n\nIV. \"_My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?_\"--It would be between\neleven o'clock and noon that these incidents took place; but from noon\ntill three in the afternoon a pall of darkness hung over the cross and\ncity.  We know not how it came, but it appears to have silenced all the\nuproar which had surged around the cross, and to have filled the minds\nof all with awe.  Men might have gazed rudely on His dying agony;\nNature refused to behold it.  Men had stripped Him, but an unseen hand\ndrew drapery about Him.  For three hours it lasted, and was a befitting\nemblem of the darkness that enveloped His soul, when He who knew no sin\nwas made to be sin for us, \"that we might be made the righteousness of\nGod in Him.\"\n\nDo you wonder that He felt thus, and question how such a forsaking had\nbeen possible at such an hour?  There is but one explanation.  This was\nnot a normal human experience.  Only once in the history of the race\nhas all iniquity been laid on one head; only once has the curse of the\nsin of the world been borne by one heart; only once has it been\npossible, in drinking the cup of death, to taste death for every man.\n\"He who knew no sin was made sin for us.  He was wounded for our\ntransgressions, bruised for our iniquities.\"  On no other hypothesis\nthan that Jesus was the Lamb of God, bearing away the sin of the world,\ncan you account for the darkness of that midday midnight which obscured\nHis soul.  I cannot tell what transpired; I have no philosophy of the\nAtonement to offer; I only believe that the whole nature of God was in\nChrist, reconciling the world unto Himself; and that, in virtue of what\nwas done there, we may apply for forgiveness to the faithfulness and\njustice of God.\n\nV. \"_I thirst._\"--During the hours of spiritual anguish, our Lord was\nlargely oblivious to His physical needs; now, as the long hours passed,\nthese latter began to assert themselves.  Inflammation, spreading from\nhands and feet, had resulted in a fever of thirst.  He had refused the\nmedicated drink offered at the beginning of His sufferings, because He\nhad no desire to avoid one throb of anguish which lay in His path; but\nthere was no reason why He should not drink of the sour wine which\nstood hard by the cross, now that He had drunk the cup which God had\nplaced to His lips.\n\nAs He looked through the long line of predictions that bore on His\npassion.  He could see that they had all been fulfilled save one; and,\nthat this Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, \"I thirst.\"  Some, who\nstood near the cross, and, in the growing light, began to regain their\nconfidence, tried to make ridicule of this plaintive ejaculation; but\none who noticed His pale and parched lips was touched with pity, and\ntook a stalk of hyssop, which was just long enough to reach the mouth\nof the Sufferer, and elevating a sponge dipped in vinegar, fulfilled\nthus unwittingly the ancient prediction, \"They gave Me also gall for My\nmeat, and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.\"\n\nVI. \"_It is finished._\"--As we compare the Gospels, we find that these\nwords were spoken with a loud voice.  It was, in fact, the shout of a\nconqueror.  Finished the long list of prophecies, which closed, like\ngates, behind Him.  Finished the types and shadows of the Jewish\nritual.  Finished the work which the Father had given Him to do.\nFinished the matchless beauty of a perfect life.  Finished the work of\nman's redemption.  Through the eternal Spirit, He had offered Himself\nwithout spot to God; and by that one sacrifice for sin, once for all\nand forever.  He had perfected them that are being sanctified.  He had\ndone all that was required to reconcile the world unto God, and to make\nan end of sin.\n\nFinished!  Let the words roll in volumes of melody through all the\nspheres!  There is nothing now left for man to do but enter on the\nresults of Christ's finished work.  As the Creator finished on the\nevening of the sixth day all the work which He had made, so did the\nRedeemer cease on the sixth day from the work of Atonement, and, lo! it\nwas very good.\n\nVII. \"_Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit._\"--The words were\nquoted from the Book of Psalms, which He so dearly loved.  He only\nprefixed the name of Father; for the cloud which had extorted the cry,\n_My God, My God_, had broken, and under a blue heaven of conscious\nfellowship He exchanged it for _Father_.\n\nIf the words, \"It is finished,\" be taken as our Lord's farewell to the\nworld He was leaving, these words are surely His greeting to that on\nwhose confines He was standing.  It seems as though the spirit of\nChrist were poising itself before it departed to the Father, and it saw\nbefore no dismal abyss, no gulf of darkness, no footless chaos, but\nhands, even the hands of the Father, and to these He committed Himself.\n\nThe first martyr, who died after Christ, passed away with words of the\nsame import upon his lips, with a significant alteration, \"_Lord\nJesus_, receive My spirit.\"  We may use them as they have been used by\ncountless thousands in all ages; and we know Him whom we have believed,\nand are persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed\nunto Him.\n\nAnd when Jesus had said these words, He bowed His head upon His breast,\nand breathed out His spirit.  No one took His life from Him: He laid it\ndown of Himself: He had power to lay it down.\n\nSo ended that marvellous scene.  The expectation of all the ages was\nmore than realized.  If it be true that on that day a tidal wave of\nimmense volume swept around the world, and rose high up in all rivers\nand estuaries, this may be taken as an emblem of the much more\nabounding grace, which on that day rose high above the mighty obstacles\nof human sin, and is destined to lift the entire universe nearer God.\nFor by it God will reconcile all things to Himself, whether in heaven\nor on earth.\n\nThree items remain to be noticed.\n\nAt the moment that Jesus died there was a great earthquake, which made\nthe earth tremble and the rocks rend, so that the ancient graves were\nopened, preparatory to the rising of the bodies of the saints on the\nResurrection morning, following the Lord from the power of Death.  And\nwhen the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus,\ncharged to see the sentence executed, saw the earthquake and the things\nthat were done, they feared exceedingly, saying, \"Truly this was the\nSon of God.\"\n\nThe vail of the Temple, also, was rent in twain from the top to the\nbottom, at the moment that the Great High Priest Jesus was entering the\nTemple not made with hands, with the blood of His propitiation.  Is it\nto be wondered at that afterward many priests, who had been in close\ncontiguity to that marvellous type, became obedient to the faith?\n\nFinally, from the pierced side of Christ came out blood and water, as\nJohn solemnly attests.  \"He knoweth that he saith true.\"  This was a\nsymptom that there had been heart-rupture, and that the Lord had\nliterally died of a broken heart.  But it was also a symbol of \"the\ndouble cure\" which Jesus has effected.  Blood to atone; water to\ncleanse.  \"This is He that came by water and blood, not with the water\nonly.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXXII\n\nChrist's Burial\n\n\"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with\nthe spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.\"--JOHN xix. 40.\n\n\n\"Against the day of My burying hath she kept this!\" so had Jesus spoken\nwhen Mary anointed His feet with the very precious spikenard.  I do not\nsuppose that any in the room save herself and her Lord understood His\nreference; not one of them believed that He would really die, and His\nbody be carried to the tomb; but Mary knew better.  She had sat at His\nfeet, and drunk in His very spirit.  In the glow of the evening\ntwilight, when Martha was busy in the house, and Lazarus was away in\nthe field, they two had sat together, and Jesus, in words similar to\nthose He had so often used to His apostles, had told her of what was\ncoming upon Him.  Mary believed it all.  She knew that she would not be\npresent at that scene.  She did not think that any would be able to\nperform the last loving rites for that beloved form.  She feared that\nit might be utterly dishonored; but she did what she could, she came\nbeforehand to anoint the Lord's body for His burying.\n\nIt was a beautiful act of tender foresight.  But in the sense of being\nabsolutely necessary, as the only act of care and love bestowed on the\nLord's dead body, it was not required; for He who at birth had prepared\nthe body for His Son, took care that in death it should receive due\nhonor.  When Jesus expired, Luke tells us that many of His\nacquaintances, and the women that had followed Him from Galilee were\nstanding afar off, beholding all that was done; John too was there, and\nothers who had loved Him and were the grateful monuments of His healing\npower: they must have wondered greatly what would be done with that\nloved form.  Yet what could they do?--they were poor and unimportant;\nthey had no influence with the capricious and terrible Pilate; they\nseemed helpless to do more than wait with choking sobs until some\npossible chance should allow them to intervene.\n\nMeanwhile God was preparing a solution of the difficulty.  Amongst the\ncrowd around the cross there stood a very wealthy man named Joseph.  He\nwas a native of the little town of Arimathea, that lay among the\nfruitful hills of Ephraim; but was resident in Jerusalem, where he had\nconsiderable property.  Some of this lay in the close neighborhood of\nthe highway by which the cross of our Lord had been erected.  He was\nalso a member of the Jewish Sanhedrim, but it is expressly stated that\nhe had not consented to the counsel or deed of them; if indeed he was\nsummoned to that secret midnight meeting in the palace of Caiaphas, he\ncertainly did not go; he was therefore innocent of any complicity in\nour Lord's condemnation and death.  He was a good man and a just; and\nlike Nathanael, and Simeon, and many more, he waited for the kingdom of\nGod.  More than this, he was a disciple of Jesus, though secretly.\n\nWhatever our judgment may be about his action during the lifetime of\nour Lord, we have nothing but admiration for the way in which he acted\nwhen He died.  What he had seen had more than decided him.  Christ's\nmeekness and majestic silence under all reproaches and indignities; the\nveiled sky and trembling earth; the cry of the Forsaken which ended in\nthe trustful committal of the soul to the Father; the loud shriek and\nthe sudden death--all these had convinced him and awed his soul, and\nlifted him far above the fear of man.  He had been waiting for the\nkingdom, he would now identify himself with the King.\n\nBy his side there would seem to have stood an old friend of ours,\nNicodemus.  Our evangelist identifies him as having at the first come\nto Jesus by night.  The very opening of the Lord's ministry in\nJerusalem seems to have made a deep impression on his mind; but he was\nvery timid.  He was an old man, a very rich man, a member of the\nSanhedrim, and he did not like to risk his position or prestige.  It\nwas much therefore for him to come to Jesus at all, and especially to\ncome to Him in the spirit of deep respect and inquiry.  There must have\nbeen something very engaging in him; for our Lord, who did not commit\nHimself to men in general, made very clear unfoldings of His great work\nto this inquiring Rabbi.  From that night, even if not a real disciple,\nNicodemus was strongly prejudiced in favor of Jesus; and on one\noccasion, at least, brought on himself reproach for attempting\nindirectly to shield Him.  He had not dared, however, to go beyond his\nfirst nervous question.  Then, like Joseph, he was decided by what he\nhad seen: come what may, he will now avow the thoughts which have long\nbeen in his heart.\n\nThe two men exchange a few hurried sentences.  \"What will be done with\nHis body?\"\n\n\"At least it must not suffer the fate of common malefactors.  Yet how\nshall it be prevented?\"\n\n\"Look you,\" says Joseph, \"in my garden close at hand there is a new\ntomb, hewn out in the rock, wherein was man never yet laid, I had\nprepared it for myself; but I will gladly use it for Him, if I can but\nget Pilate to yield me His body.  I will go at once and ask for it.\"\n\n\"Well,\" says Nicodemus, \"if you can succeed in getting the body, I will\nsee to it that there are not wanting the garments and spices of death.\"\n\nWithout a moment's delay, for the sun is fast sinking toward the west,\nJoseph hastens to Pilate, and asks that he may take away the body of\nJesus; and not unlikely he quickens Pilate's response by an offer of a\nliberal bribe if he will but accede to his request.  Pilate, who had\njust given orders to the soldiers to hasten the death of the crucified,\nmarvelled that Jesus was really dead; nor was he reassured until he had\nasked the centurion; and when he knew it of him, he gave to Joseph the\nnecessary leave, with which he hastened back to the cross.\n\nThe sun would be very low on the horizon, flinging its last beams upon\nthe scene, as he reached Calvary.  The crowds would for the most part\nhave dispersed.  The soldiers might be engaged in taking down the\nbodies of the thieves.  The body of Jesus was however still on the\ncross; and not far off would be the little band of attached friends of\nwhom we have already spoken, and who would be the sole remnants of the\nvast crowds who had now ebbed away to their homes.  What wonder, what\njoy, as they see Joseph reverently and lovingly begin to take Him down;\nwith evident authority from the Governor, with manifest preparations\nfor His careful burial; they had never before known him to be\ninterested in their Master.  And who is this that waits beneath the\ncross with the clean linen shroud, and the wealth of spices?  Ah! that\nis Nicodemus; but who would have thought that he would help to perform\nthese last offices!\n\nOh to be a painter, and depict that scene!  The discolored corpse\nstained with blood, muscles flaccid, eyes closed, head helpless;\nJoseph, and Nicodemus, and John, and other strong men busy.  The women\nweeping as if their hearts must break, but ready at any moment to give\nthe needed aid.  Between them they carry the body into Joseph's garden,\nand to the mouth of his new sepulchre.  There on some grassy bank they\nrest it for a moment, that it may be tenderly washed and wrapped in the\nwhite linen cloth on which powdered myrrh and aloes had been thickly\nstrewn.  A white cloth would then be wrapped about the head and face,\nafter long farewell looks, and reverent kisses.  Then lifted once\nagain, the precious burden was born into the sepulchre, and laid in a\nrocky niche.  There was no door; but a great stone, probably circular,\nprepared for the purpose, was rolled with united and strenuous efforts\nagainst the aperture, to prevent the entrance of wild beasts and\nunkindly foe.  And then as the chill twilight was flinging its shadows\nover the world, they reverently withdrew.\n\nJoseph and Nicodemus had done their work and had gone to their homes,\nand yet there were some who lingered as if unable to leave the spot.\nThere were Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the\nsepulchre, gazing through their tears at the place where Jesus was\nlaid.  How keen was their mental anguish!  There was bereaved love;\nwith all purity the strongest love had grown up around Christ; and now\nthat He was gone, it seemed as if there was nothing more to live for.\nThe prop had been rudely taken away, and the tendrils of their hearts'\naffection were torn and wrenched.  Then there would come a rush of hot\ntears, indignant passion with those who had pursued Him, with such\nunrelenting torture, to His bitter end.  Then again, broken-hearted\ngrief at the remembrance of His anguish, and gentle patience, and\nshame.  And, mingling sadly with all these, were disappointed hopes.\nWas this the end?  He who died thus could not have been the Messiah!\nHe had taught them to believe He was!  He must have been self-deceived!\nFor this life only they had hope in Christ, and they were of all most\nmiserable!  That gravestone hid not only the body of Christ, but the\nstructure of the brightest, fairest hopes that had ever filled the\nhearts of mortals!\n\nIn spite of all, they love.  This is the love of women: the object of\ntheir fond attachment may be misrepresented and abused, the life may\nseem to be an entire failure; they may themselves be suffering greatly\nfrom the results of the beloved one's mistakes and follies--yet will\nthey love still!  And so through the gathering gloom and evening\nstillness they lingered on, until the increasing darkness told them\nthat the Sabbath had come.  Then they returned and rested the Sabbath\nday, according to the commandment; but neither they, nor Joseph, nor\nNicodemus, nor John, would be able to partake of the Paschal\nfestivities.  To take part in a burial at any time would defile them\nfor seven days, and make everything which they touched unclean; to do\nso at that time involved seclusion through the whole of the Passover\nweek, with all its holy observances and rejoicings.\n\nAs we peruse this narrative, many thoughts are suggested.\n\n_We see the minute fulfillment of prophetic Scriptures._--It had been\nwritten by Isaiah on the page of inspiration, that the Messiah would\nmake His grave with the rich.  When Jesus died that prophecy seemed\nmost unlikely of accomplishment; but it was literally fulfilled.  There\nis not a prophecy, however minute, concerning our Lord's life and\ndeath, which did not have an actual fulfillment; and does not this show\nus how we are to treat the prophecies which foretell His future glory\nand second advent?  They too shall have a literal and exact fulfillment.\n\n_We learn, too, that there are more friends of Christ in the world than\nwe know._--They sit in our legislature, in our councils, in our pews;\nwe meet them day after day: they give little or no sign of their\ndiscipleship: the most large-hearted friend would be surprised to hear\nthat they were Christians.  But they are Christ's.  Christ knows and\nowns them.  But if they are secret disciples now, they will not be\nsecret disciples always.  A time will come when the fire of their love\nwill burn the bushel that hides it, and they will avow themselves on\nthe Lord's side.\n\n_We gather, too, that God can always find instruments to carry out His\npurposes._--The immediate followers of Christ could not see how to\npreserve the beloved corpse from defilement, but God had His place and\nHis servants ready; and at the very crisis of need He brought them to\nthe point.  So has it been again and again: when influence and money\nand men have been really required for the work of God, they have been\nall at once forthcoming.  He says to men like Joseph, Go, and he goeth;\nand to men like Nicodemus, Come, and he cometh; and to His servants, Do\nthis, and it is done.  Even the king's heart is in the hand of the\nLord; as the rivers of water, He turneth it wheresoever He will.\n\n_There is also a very significant meaning contained in verse 41_: \"In\nthe place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden\na new sepulchre.\"  There is something startling in the association--the\ncross, the garden.  The one--the symbol of shame and suffering, the\nmost awful witness to the destructive power of that sin which has laid\nwaste our world; the other--where flowers, Eden's brightest relics,\nwere guarded for man's enjoyment.  Flowers, blooming in all the\nluxuriance of an Oriental spring, shed their fragrance around our\nSaviour when He died; one loves to dwell upon the thought that Golgotha\nwas part of the garden--that earth's fairest, brightest, gentlest\nnurslings were there, mingling their smiles and balm with the trampling\nangry footsteps and the cursings of malignant foes.  They had been very\ndear to Him in His life-course; it was only meet that they should be\nnear Him when He died.  Was it not symbolical?  In a garden man fell;\nin a garden he was redeemed!  And that death of Christ has sown our\nworld with the flowers of peace and joy and blessedness, so that many a\nwilderness has begun to rejoice and to blossom as the rose.\n\nWhilst the burial of Christ was proceeding, the chief priests and their\nparty were holding a meeting in all haste before the Sabbath began.\nThe success of their scheme was no doubt the theme of hearty\ncongratulation.  But they dreaded Him still; they feared that all might\nnot be over; they could not forget that He had spoken of rising the\nthird day; and at the least, might not the disciples steal away the\nbody, and spread abroad the report that He had risen, and so the last\nerror would be worse than the first?  A deputation was therefore\nappointed to wait on Pilate representing their fears.  Tired of them\nand the whole case, he was in no humor to please them.  \"Ye have a\nguard,\" said he, brusquely, \"go, make it as sure as you can!\"  This\nthey did.  They passed a strong cord across the stone, and sealed its\nends, and then placed soldiers to keep due watch and ward that none\nshould lay hands upon the body that lay within.\n\nSo Christ lay entombed; but He was not there.  He was in the world of\nspirits.  The place of disembodied spirits was called, by the Jews,\nSheol.  It had two divisions, Paradise and Gehenna.  Christ, we know\nfrom His own words, went to the former; and from Peter we gather that\nHe also went through the realms of Gehenna, proclaiming His victory.\n\nThe practical conclusion of the whole is, however, contained in Romans\nvi.  Just as the body of Christ after crucifixion was buried in the\ngrave, so our sinful, sensual, selfish selves must be done away in the\ngrave of forgetfulness and oblivion and disuse--buried with Christ,\n\"that like as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the\nFather, so we also should walk in newness of life.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII\n\nThe Day of Resurrection\n\n\"The first day of the week.\"--JOHN xx. 1.\n\n\nIt may be helpful if we tabulate in a brief and concise form the\nvarious appearances of our Lord on the great day, when He was declared\nto be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.\n\nMary of Magdala--a squalid Arab village on the south of the plain of\nGennesaret still bears that name--with another Mary had remained beside\nthe tomb, till the trumpet of the Passover Sabbath and the gathering\ndarkness had warned them to retire.  They rested the Sabbath day,\naccording to the commandment, in the saddest, darkest grief that ever\noppressed the human heart; for they had not only lost the dearest\nobject of their affection, under the most harrowing circumstances, but\ntheir hopes that this was the Messiah seemed to have been rudely\nshattered.  But how tenacious is human love, especially the love of\nwomen!  How it will cling around the ruins of the temple, even when\nsome rude shock of earthquake has shattered it to the ground!  So, when\nthe Sabbath was over (after sundown on Saturday), they stole out to\npurchase additional sweet spices, which they prepared that night in\norder to complete the embalming of the body, which had been left\nincomplete on the day of crucifixion.  They would probably sleep\noutside the city gates, which only opened at daybreak, because they\nwere resolved to reach the sepulchre while it was yet dark.\n\nBut before they could arrive the sublime event had occurred, which has\nfilled the world with light and joy in all succeeding years.  For\nbehold, whilst the Roman sentries were pacing to and fro before the\nsepulchre, there had been a great earthquake, and the angel of the Lord\nhad descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the door, and sat\nupon it.  Then from that opened door the Lord had come forth\nunperceived by the eye of man (for the watchers were dazed and dazzled\nby the appearance of the angel and the terror of the earthquake), and\nin sublime majesty had become the Firstborn from among the dead, and\nthe First-fruits of them that sleep.\n\nThe women, meanwhile, were hurrying to the grave, debating as they did\nso, how they would be able to roll away the stone from its mouth.\nProbably they had heard nothing of the seals and sentries with which\nthe Sanhedrim had endeavored to guard against all eventualities; for,\nhad they known, they would hardly have ventured to come at all.  They\nwere greatly startled, however, when, on approaching the grave, they\nsaw that the stone was rolled away.  Mary of Magdala apparently\ndetected this first; and without staying to see further, and with the\nconviction that it must have been rifled of its precious contents,\nstarted off to apprise Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved.\nWhat a shock, as she broke in on their grief, with the tidings, \"They\nhave taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where\nthey have laid Him.\"\n\nWhat a series of mistakes was hers!  She had gone to anoint the dead\nwhile the morning light still lingered over the hills of Moab; she did\nnot realize that He could not be holden by the bands of death, and had\npassed out into the richer, fuller life, of which death is the portal.\n\nShe came with aromatic spices that her means had bought, and her hands\nprepared; she did not know that all His garments were already smelling\nof aloes and cassia, of the perfume of heaven with which His Father had\nmade Him glad.\n\nShe came to a Victim, so she thought, who had fallen beneath the knife\nof His foes as a Lamb led to slaughter, she was not aware that He was a\nPriest on the point of entering the most Holy Place on her behalf.\n\nShe came for the Vanquished; but failed to understand that He was a\nVictor over the principalities and powers of hell; and that the keys of\nHades and the grave were hanging at His girdle, whilst the serpent was\nbruised beneath His feet.\n\nShe thought that she had come to put a final touch, such as only a\nwoman can, to a life of sad and irremediable failure; but had no\nconception that on that morning a career had been inaugurated which was\nnot only endless and indissoluble in itself, but was destined to\nvitalize uncounted myriads.\n\nShe thought that the empty tomb could only be accounted for by the\nrifling hands that had taken away the precious body, but could not\nguess that the Rifler of the perquisites of death was none other than\nthe Lord Himself.\n\nWe all make mistakes like this.  Our treasures, whether of things or\npeople, which had been our pride and joy, pass from us; and we stand\nbeside the grave, gazing in on vacancy and emptiness; we think that we\ncan never be happy again: we suppose that God's mercies are clean gone\nforever, and that His mercies have failed forevermore.  But, all the\nwhile, near at hand, the radiant vision of a transfigured blessing\nwaits to greet us, and to fill us with an ecstasy that shall never pall\nupon us, but make our after-life one long summer day.\n\nIn the meanwhile, the other women had pursued their way to the grave.\nThe guard had already fled in terror, so there was none to intercept or\nfrighten them; and entering the sepulchre they saw a young man, emblem\nof the immortal youth of God's angels, sitting on the right side,\nclothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted.  Presently,\nas they were much perplexed, behold, two men stood by them in shining\ngarments; and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the\nearth, they said unto them, \"Be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus, which\nwas crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Remember\nhow He said into you when He was yet in Galilee, that He would rise\nagain.  Come, see the place where they laid Him.  And go quickly, tell\nHis disciples, and Peter, that He goeth before you into Galilee; there\nshall ye see Him, as He said unto you.\"  And they departed quickly from\nthe sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring His\ndisciples word.\n\nIn the meanwhile, Peter and John were hurrying to the sepulchre by\nanother route, and probably reached it just after the women had left.\nJohn, younger than Peter, had outrun him, but was withheld by\nreverential awe from doing more than peering into the empty grave.  The\nlinen clothes, lying orderly disposed, seem to have specially arrested\nhis notice, yet went he not in.  Peter, however, went at once into the\nsepulchre; he also saw the linen clothes, and especially that the cloth\nwhich had covered the face of the dead was wrapped together in a place\nby itself.  Then John also went in; he saw and believed.  It was\nevident to them both that the tomb had not been rifled, nor the body\nstolen by violent hands; for these garments and the spices would have\nbeen of more value to thieves than a naked corpse.  In any case,\nthieves would not have been at the pains to fold the garments up so\ncarefully.  Whilst the same indications proved that the body had not\nbeen removed by friends; for they would not have left the grave-clothes\nbehind.\n\nWhen the disciples had gone back to their own home, Mary stood without\nat the door of the sepulchre weeping; and as she wept she stooped down,\nand looked into the sepulchre.  What earnest heart is there, that has\nnot at some time stood there with her, looking down into the grave of\nordinances, of spent emotions, of old and sacred memories, seeking\neverywhere for the Redeemer, who had been once the dearest reality, the\none object of love and life?  The two sentry-angels, who sat, the one\nat the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had\nlain, sought in vain to comfort her.  \"Woman,\" they said, in effect,\n\"there is no need for tears; didst thou but know, couldst thou but\nunderstand, thy heart would overflow with supreme joy, and thy tears\nbecome smiles.\"  \"They have taken away my Lord,\" she said, \"and I know\nnot where they have laid Him.\"  What could angel voices do for her, who\nlonged to hear one voice only?  What were the griefs of others in\ncomparison with hers?  In an especial sense Jesus was hers! _my_ Lord!\nHad He not cast out from her seven devils?\n\nSome slight movement behind, or perhaps, as Chrysostom finely supposes,\nbecause of an expression of love and awe which passed over the angel\nfaces, led her to turn herself back, and she saw Jesus standing, but\nshe knew not that it was Jesus.  Supposing him, in her grief and\nconfusion, to be the gardener, she said that if he knew the whereabouts\nof the body she sought, she would gladly have it removed at her\nexpense: nay, she even volunteered to bear it off herself.  Then He\nspoke the old familiar name with the old intonation and emphasis, and\nshe answered in the country tongue they both knew and loved so well,\n\"Rabboni!\"  In her rapture she sought to embrace Him, but this must not\nbe; and there was need for Christ to work in her love, with His high\nart, as the artificer may carve the stone, or engrave some legend on\nthe intaglio.  He therefore withdrew Himself, saying, \"Touch Me not.\"\nTo Thomas afterward He said, \"Behold My hands and My side; reach hither\nthy finger\": because there was no danger of his abusing the permission,\nor leaning unduly on the sensuous and physical.  But Mary must learn to\nexchange the outward for the inward, the transient for the eternal, and\nto pass from the old fellowship with Jesus as friend and companion into\na spiritual relationship which would subsist to all eternity.\nTherefore Jesus spoke of His ascension, and bade her look upward, and\nsee, gleaming on high, diviner things.  So she was prepared for the\ntime, when, in the upper room, she should continue steadfastly in\nprayer, and come nearer to Him whom she loved than ever previously.\n\nDid you ever realize that the intonations of the voice of Jesus, which\nhad passed unimpaired through death, suggest that in that new life,\nwhich lies on the other side of death, we shall hear the voices speak\nagain which have been familiar to us from childhood?  As is the\nheavenly, so are they who are heavenly; and as we have borne the image\nof the earthy, we shall bear that of the heavenly, and shall speak\nagain with those whom we have lost awhile, and they with us.\n\nMary Magdalene went and told them that had been with Him, as they\nmourned and wept, that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken\nthese things unto her.  But they, when they had heard that He was\nalive, and had been seen of her, believed not.\n\nIn close succession, the Lord appeared to others of the little group.\nTo the women, as they did run to bring His disciples word.  To Peter,\nwhom He encountered on His way back, in lonely astonishment and awe,\nand restored with gracious words of forgiveness.  To the two that\nwalked to Emmaus, in the afternoon, and talked of all that had\nhappened.  Finally He appeared to the whole company of the apostles, as\nthey sat at meat.  They had carefully shut their doors, since there was\nevery reason to fear that the rumors of the events of the morning would\narouse against them the strong hate and fear of the Pharisees.  It may\nbe that they were startled by every passing footfall, and every\nmovement on the stair, as when the two returned from Emmaus to tell how\nJesus had been made known unto them in the breaking of bread.  Then,\nsuddenly, without announcement or preparation, the figure of their\nbeloved Master stood in the midst of them, with the familiar greeting\nof peace!  And, as the sacred historian naively puts it, they were\nterrified and affrighted, and supposed that they were gazing on a\nspirit.  But the Lord allayed their fears, first by showing them His\nhands and His feet; and next, by partaking of a piece of broiled fish\nand of an honeycomb.\n\nEvidently He was clothed in the resurrection or spiritual body of which\nthe Apostle Paul speaks.  He was not subject to all the laws that\ngovern our physical life.  He could pass freely through unopened doors,\nand at will He could manifest Himself, speak, stand, and walk, or\nsubject Himself to physical sense.\n\nHis words were very significant.  He began by upbraiding them for their\nreluctance to believe that He had risen.  Again He said, \"Peace be unto\nyou\"; and accompanied His words with the indication of His wounds--\"He\nshowed them His hands and side.\"  This was the peace of forgiveness,\nwhich falls on our conscience-stricken hearts, as the dew distils on\nthe parched heritage.  \"Look at the wounds of Jesus,\" cried Staupitz to\nLuther; and there is no other sign that will give rest to the penitent.\n\nAfter this He opened their understandings, that they might understand\nthe Scriptures, and showed them that a suffering Messiah was the\nthought which pervaded the entire Hebrew Scriptures.  \"Thus it is\nwritten, and thus it behoved the Messiah to suffer, and to rise from\nthe dead the third day.\"  What would we not give to have some\ntranscript of that wonderful conversation!  With what new eyes should\nwe read the Bible, if only we could know what Jesus said on that\noccasion!\n\nNext He repeated the \"Peace be unto you,\" and told them that He was\nsending them forth as the Father had sent Him--\"Go ye unto all the\nworld, and preach the Gospel to every creature.\"  But He added,\n\"Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the\ncity of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.\"  \"And\nthese signs shall follow them that believe.  In My name shall they cast\nout demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up\nserpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;\nthey shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.\"\n\nThen, to fit them for this time of waiting, and that the Holy Spirit\nmight prepare them to receive His fuller inflow, the Lord breathed on\nthem and said, \"Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit,\nthey are remitted unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are\nretained.\"  By which He surely meant that there was no other way by\nwhich sins would be forgiven and put away than by the preaching of the\nGospel, which He now committed to their trust.  They are therefore\nparallel with Peter's statement in after days, \"Neither is there\nsalvation in any other, for there is none other name given under\nheaven, among men, by which we must be saved.\"  The Church of God alone\ncan proclaim to men the conditions of evangelical repentance,--and\nthose who refuse her testimony, and disbelieve her Gospel, expose\nthemselves to unspeakable condemnation and loss.  \"There remaineth no\nother sacrifice for sin; but a certain looking for of judgment, and\nfiery indignation.\"  Refuse Christ, and there is no alternative way of\nsalvation.  Whatever else is contained in these words, it is quite\nclear that there was nothing exclusively reserved to the apostles and\ntheir successors, which is not equally the possession of all who\nbelieve; for we know that the Lord's words were spoken not to the\napostles only, but to the two that had come from Emmaus with burning\nhearts, and to those who were in the habit of commingling with the\nimmediate followers of Christ.  \"Them that were with them\" (Luke xxiv.\n33, 35, 36).  All had been witnesses of these things, and all were now\nto proclaim in His name repentance and remission of sins among all\nnations, beginning at Jerusalem.\n\nThomas was not there on that memorable occasion.  He was always\naccustomed to look on the dark side of things.  When Jesus proposed to\ngo into Judaea to raise Lazarus, he made sure that there was no\nalternative but to die with Him; and when the Master spoke of His\nimpending absence, he said gloomily, \"Lord, we know not whither Thou\ngoest, and how can we know the way?\"  He was doubtless at this time\nwandering alone over the scenes of that awful tragedy, which had so\ndeeply imprinted itself on his imagination that he could not forget the\nprint of the nails, and the wound in His side, and the unlikelihood of\nany surviving such treatment as He had received.\n\nWhen he heard the story of the others, he seemed inclined to treat them\nas too credulous; and with the air of superior caution said, that he\nmust not only see the wounds which death had made, but touch them with\nhis fingers and hand.  Yet we may be grateful for this story.  First,\nbecause it wears the aspect of truth.  What weaver of an imaginary\nhistory would ever have dared to suggest that the resurrection was\nimpugned by some of Christ's close followers?  And, next, because it\nshows us that the resurrection was subjected to the severest tests,\njust those which we would ourselves apply.\n\nThomas was left for a whole week.  Day after day he heard the repeated\nstory of Christ's appearances; and waited for Him to come again; and\nbecame more and more confirmed in his sad presentment that the whole\nstory was a myth.  How great must have been his anguish during those\ndays, as he tossed between hope and fear, saw on other faces the light\nwhich he might not share, and thought that the Master, if really\nliving, was neglectful of His friend!\n\nAt last Jesus came, not to anathematize or exclude him, not to break\nthe bruised reed or quench the smoking flax, but to restore him, and to\nlift on him the light of His countenance.\n\nHe suited himself to his needs.  He stooped to comply with the\nconditions that his poor faith had laid down.  He was willing to give\nproofs, over and above those which were absolutely necessary, to win\nfaith.  So eager was He to win one poor soul to Himself and\nblessedness, that He said unto Thomas, \"Reach hither thy finger, and\nbehold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side;\nand be not faithless but believing.\"\n\nI do not suppose that Thomas availed himself of the invitation.  It was\nsufficient to see.  Such an act of cold scrutiny would hardly have been\ncompatible with his joyous shout, \"My Lord and my God.\"  Christ's voice\nand form, omniscience and humility, in taking such trouble to win one\nto Himself--these were sufficient to convince him, and dispel all doubt.\n\nAh, Thomas, in that glad outburst of thine, thou reachedst a higher\nlevel than all the rest; and thou art not the last man, who has seemed\na hopeless and helpless wreck, unable to exercise the faith that seemed\nso natural to others; but who, after a time, under the teaching of\nJesus, has been enabled to assume a position to which none of his\nassociates could aspire!\n\nBecause he saw, he believed.  Too many wait for signs and\nmanifestations, for sensible emotion and conviction: but there is a\nmore excellent way--when we do not see, and yet believe.  When there is\nno star on the bosom of night, no chart on the unknown sea, no lover or\nfriend or interpreter of the ways of God; and when, in spite of all,\nthe soul knows Him whom it has believed, and clings to Him though\nunseen, and reckons that neither life, nor death, nor principalities,\nnor powers, can shut out the love of God in Christ.  \"Blessed are they\nwho have not seen, and yet have believed.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXXIV\n\nThe Lake of Galilee\n\n\"Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of\nTiberias.\"--JOHN xxi. 1.\n\n\n\"All ye shall be offended because of Me this night; for it is written,\nI will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.  But after\nthat I am risen, I will go before you into _Galilee_.\"  So had the\nChief Shepherd spoken to His sad and anxious followers on the night of\nHis betrayal.  They little understood His meaning, and would perhaps\nhave even forgotten the appointment of the rendezvous, unless it had\nbeen recalled again and yet again to their minds.  But they were not\nallowed to forget.  On the resurrection morn, the angel said to the\nfirst visitants at the empty grave: \"Go your way, tell His disciples,\nand Peter, that He goeth before you into _Galilee_; there shall ye see\nHim as He said unto you.\"  And as they went to execute this bidding,\nJesus Himself met them and said: \"Be not afraid; go tell My brethren,\nthat they go into _Galilee_; there shall they see Me.\"  The customs of\nthe Passover Feast forbade their instant compliance with this command,\nand the Master sanctioned their delay by appearing to them twice whilst\nthey yet lingered in the metropolis.  But as soon as it was possible\nthey hastened back to the familiar scenes of their early life and of\nthe Master's ministry.\n\nWe cannot fathom all the reasons that led our Lord to make such special\narrangements for meeting with them in Galilee; but it was natural that\nHe should wish to associate His risen life with scenes in which He had\nspent so large a part of His earthly ministry; and there the greatest\nproportion of His followers was gathered, and He would have the\nquietest and securest opportunity of meeting with the five hundred\nbrethren at once.  The disciples little thought that this was a\nfarewell visit to their homes, and that within a few weeks they must\nreturn to Jerusalem, to stay there for a time, and then to wander forth\nto all lands, from the ancient Indus on the east to the far-famed\nshores of Tarshish on the west.\n\n\nI. It was in the early part of May when they returned to Galilee.  They\nwere in evident bewilderment as to their next step.  What should they\ndo?  Should they continue to lead the artificial life which they had\ntaken up during the Master's ministry?  That seemed impossible and\nneedless.  Should they do nothing but wait?  That appeared unwise when\nlife was yet strong in them, and their means of livelihood were scant.\nIt was of course possible to go back to fishing-smacks and\nfishing-tackle; but should they?  And they hesitated.\n\nBut one evening came; the fragrance of thyme and rosemary and of a\nhundred flowers filled the air; the lake lay dimpled in the light of\nthe setting sun; the purple hills that stood sentinel around seemed by\ntheir very peacefulness to promise that no storm should imperil the\nlives of those that ventured on the blue depths.  There stood the\nboats, yonder lay the nets, in those waters were the finny tribes; the\nold instinct of the fisherman arose in their hearts, and found\nexpression on the lips of the one from whom we should have expected it.\n\"_Peter_ said unto them, I go a-fishing.\"  I see no harm in it.  The\nMaster never forbade it.  He cannot mean us to loiter our time away.\nWe cannot be preachers without Him.  I shall go back to the life from\nwhich He called me three years ago, and if it pleases Him to come\nagain, He can find us now, as He found us once, among the\nfishing-tackle.\n\nThe proposal met with an instant assent: \"We also go with thee.\"  And\nin a few moments Peter with six others had leaped into a boat, and they\nwere preparing for the night's work with all the enthusiasm with which\nmen throw themselves into a craft which for some time they have\ndisused.  But their ardor was soon checked.  Hour after hour passed.\nThe lights went out in the hamlets and towns.  The chill night damps\nenwrapped them.  The grey morning at last began to break, whilst again\nand again the nets were hauled up and let down, but in vain; not a\nsingle fish had entered them.  \"That night they caught nothing.\"  Why\nthis non-success?  The night was the most favorable time!  These men\nknew the lake well, and were experienced in their craft.  They did\ntheir best, but they caught nothing!  Why was this?  Was it a chance?\nNo, it was a providence; it was carefully arranged, disappointing and\nvexing though it was, by One who was too wise to err, too good to be\nunkind, and who was preparing to teach them a lesson which should\nenrich them and the whole Church forever.\n\nThe failure put an arrest on their temporal pursuits.  Had they been\nsuccessful that night, it would have been very much harder for them to\nrenounce the craft forever; but their non-success made them more\nwilling to give it up, and to turn their thoughts to the evangelization\nof the world.  Then, too, our Lord surely meant to teach them that\nwhilst they were doing His work, whether that work was waiting or\nactive service, it was not necessary for them to be anxious about their\nmaintenance; He Himself would see to that, though He had, for each\nmeal, to light a fire and prepare it Himself.  And, deeper than all\nthis, there were surely great spiritual lessons to be gained respecting\nthe conditions of success in catching men in the net of His Gospel.\n\nIt is difficult to understand how a man can call himself a Christian,\nand how he can face the awful possibilities of life, except he believes\nthat all is ruled by One who loves us with a love that is infinite, and\nwho wields all power on earth and in heaven.  If, however, that be your\nfixed belief, you may find it often severely tested.  \"I have waited\nthis livelong night; can this be Christ's will?\"  \"I have done my best\nin vain; can this be Christ's will?\"  \"I have labored without a single\ngleam of success; can this be Christ's will?\"  Yes, most certainly it\nis.  It is His love which is arranging all, in order to teach you some\nof the sweetest, deepest lessons that ever entered your heart.  There\nis not a cross, a loss, a disappointment, a case of failure in your\nlife, which is not arranged and controlled by the loving Saviour, and\nintended to teach some lesson which else could never be acquired.\nFitfully, curiously, without apparent art or fixed design, is the web\nof our lives woven; thread seems thrown with thread at random, no\norderly pattern immediately appears, but yet of all that web there is\nnot a single thread whose place and color are not arranged with\nconsummate skill and love.\n\nBut what good can failure do?  It may shut up a path which you were\npursuing too eagerly.  It may put you out of heart with things seen and\ntemporal, and give you an appetite for things unseen and eternal.  It\nmay teach you your own helplessness, and turn you to trust more\nimplicitly in the provision of Christ.  It is clear that Christians\nhave often to toil all night in vain, that Christ may have a background\nblack and sombre enough to set forth all the glories of His\ninterposition.\n\n\nII. In the morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not\nthat it was Jesus.  It was customary for fish-dealers to go down to\ngreet fishers on their return from the night's toil, in order to buy up\nfish.  Such a one now seemed waiting on the sand in the grey light, and\nHis question was such as a fish-dealer might put: \"Children, have you\nany food?\"  It therefore never occurred to the disciples to think that\nit was Jesus.  And indeed, after the miracle was wrought, it was only\nthe keen eye of love that knew Him to be the Lord.  How often is the\nLord near us, and we know Him not!  He is standing there in the midst\nof scenes of natural beauty though His foot leaves no impression on the\nuntrodden sand, and His form casts no shadow on the flowers or\ngreensward.  He is standing there in that dingy counting-house, or amid\nthe whirr of the deafening machinery, though He fills no space, and\nutters no word audible to human ears.  He is standing there in that\nhome, watching the sick, noting unkindness and rudeness, smiling on the\nlittle deeds done for His sake, though none ever heard the floors creak\nbeneath His weight, or saw the doors open to admit His person.  How\nmuch we miss because we fail to discern Him!\n\nBy acting thus He not only taught His disciples the reality of His\npresence, but He prepared them also for that new kind of life which\nthey were henceforth to lead--a life of faith rather than of sense; a\nlife of spiritual communion rather than of physical fellowship.  He\nkept showing them that, though out of sight, He was still in their\nmidst.  By easy stepping-stones He joined Calvary and Olivet.  By\ngentle progressive lessons those who had believed because they had seen\nwere taught to walk by faith, not by sight, and to love One whom they\ndid not see.  And thus it came about that they trod no shore however\ndesolate, went to no land however distant, dealt with no people however\nboorish, without carrying ever with them the thought, The Master is\nhere!\n\nBut let me say here that if you would see Christ everywhere, you must\nbe like John, the disciple of love.  Love will trace Him everywhere, as\ndear friends detect each other by little touches that are meaningless\nto others.  Love's quick eye penetrates disguises impenetrable to\ncolder scrutiny.  Not for the wise, nor for the few, but for the least\nthat love, is the vision possible that can make a desert isle like\nPatmos gleam with the light of Paradise itself.\n\n\nIII. How great a difference Christ's directions made!  Before He spoke\nthey were disconsolately dragging an empty net to shore.  The moment\nafter He had spoken, and they had done His bidding, that net was filled\nwith a shoal of fish so heavy that it was no easy matter to drag it\nbehind the ship.\n\nGreat lessons await us here!  We, like these, have embarked in a great\nfishing enterprise--we are fishers of men!  Our aim is to catch men\nalive for Christ our Lord.  For this we are ready to toil, to pray, to\nwait.  But our success depends wholly upon our Lord.  He will not give\nit us until we can bear it, and have learned the lesson of the night of\nfruitless toil.  And if we are to succeed it must be in His realized\ncompanionship, and in obedience to His word.\n\nThere is a right side of the ship, and a wrong one; there is a time to\nplant, and a time to be still; to everything there is a season, and a\ntime to every purpose under heaven.  We do not know these.  If we are\nleft to ourselves, we may cast the net on the left side of the ship at\nthe time when we should be casting it on the right, and on the right\nside of the ship when we should be casting it on the left.  Christ\nalone knows, and He will teach us exactly how and when to act with the\nvery best results.\n\n\nIV. Christ's provision for the needs of His servants.  I should imagine\nthat the disciples were somewhat anxious about their bodily needs and\ntheir supply.  They did not realize that if they were doing Christ's\nwork, Christ would look after their real needs.  Christ let them meet\nwith non-success to show how fruitless their toil was.  And in the\nmorning, when He stood on the shore, He filled their nets with fish,\nand called them to fire and bread and fish, to show how easily He could\nsupply all their need.  Of course this does not apply to all\npromiscuously, but it does apply to those who give up time, and labor,\nand earthly toil, for the cause of Christ.  If they are really called\nto the work, Christ seems to say to them:  \"Do the best you can for Me,\nand do not try in addition to make up for your time and labor by night\nwork--you had better use the night for necessary rest; the longest\nnight spent in unbelieving labor will not profit; but I in a single\nmoment in the morning can more than make up to you for all you have\nspent.\"  Christ never lets us be in His debt.  If we lend Him a boat\nfor pulpit, He weighs it down to the gunwale.  If we give Him time, He\nmakes up what we have lost.  If we seek first the kingdom of God and\nHis righteousness, He sees that all things else are added.  It is vain\nfor you to rise up early and to sit up late, to eat the bread of\ncarefulness.  He giveth His beloved when they sleep.\n\nWhat delicate attentions to these men!  Christ knew that they were\ndrenched with spray, chilled with the keen air, and so He prepared a\nfire--so thoughtful is He of the tiniest matters that will alleviate\ndiscomfort and increase our pleasure.  At the same time He is frugal of\nthe miraculous.  He will deal lavishly in miracles so long as needed,\nbut not an inch beyond.  He might have created fish enough on that fire\nto supply them all, but that was needless so long as a hundred fifty\nand three great fishes lay within easy reach; so Jesus said, \"Bring of\nthe fish which ye have now caught.\"\n\nWhen Peter heard John say, \"It is the Lord,\" true to his character he\nsprang into the sea and swam to shore, leaving the rest to drag the\nheavy net as best they could.  Now he seems to remember his failure to\nbear his share in the toil; so he goes to the margin of the lake, lands\nthe net, counts its contents, and examines the meshes, to find them\nunbroken, and then returns with fish enough to make a breakfast for\nthem all.  It was only when all this was done that Jesus said to them,\n\"Come and dine.\"  Then He came forward and took the bread and fish, and\ngave to them.  All were convinced that it was Jesus, but they were dumb\nwith amazement and awe; they would have liked to ask questions, but\nthey felt that they need not; their senses were convinced almost in\nspite of themselves.  \"None of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art\nThou? knowing that it was the Lord.\"\n\nThis, says John, was the third time that Jesus had showed Himself; not\nliterally the third time that He had shown Himself to any one; but the\nthird time that He had shown Himself to the disciples assembled in any\nconsiderable number.  The first time was in the evening of the\nresurrection day; the second, when Thomas was there; the third, in the\nincident here recorded.\n\nWe all need our rest times, our times of learning, our times of\nfellowship with Jesus.  Happy are we when Jesus says, \"Come and dine,\"\nand leads us off to sup with Him in desert places!  It may be in the\nloneliness of nature, or of the sick-bed, or of thwarted love; but,\nwherever it is, it is well if only He is there to feed us with His own\ndear hand.\n\nThe time will come when the night of this sunless world shall be over,\nand the morning of eternity shall break upon us; it may be that in the\nhour of death we shall find that our work has not been so fruitless as\nwe feared: on the quiet beach we shall see Jesus standing and know that\nit is He.  Then one last plunge through the chill flood, and we shall\npartake of the preparations which His love has made, and He will say,\n\"Come and dine.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXXV\n\nPeter's Love and Work\n\n\"Thou knowest that I love Thee. . . .  Feed my lambs.\"--JOHN xxi. 15.\n\n\nThat miraculous catch of fish on which we have dwelt was a parable to\nthe disciples of the kind of work in which they were thenceforward to\nbe engaged.  They were to catch men.  But there was one amongst them\nwho must have wondered much how he would fare, and what part he would\ntake when that work was recommenced.  Might he have a share in it?  He\nwould seem to have forfeited all right.  With oaths and curses he had\nthrice denied that he belonged to Jesus.  He had given grievous\noccasion to the enemy to blaspheme.  He had failed in a most important\npart of an apostle's character.\n\nTrue, he had repented with bitter tears, and had received a message\nfrom the empty tomb; on that Easter morn he had heard his forgiveness\nspoken by the lips of his Lord, and he would not have exchanged that\nforgiveness for an imperial crown; but he was not quite at ease.  His\nuneasiness betrayed itself in his plunge into the water to swim to\nChrist's feet, and in his rush to drag the net to the shore.  He wished\nto be restored to the position in the Apostolate which his sin had\nforfeited; not because of the honor which it would bring, but because\nnothing less would assure him of the undiminished confidence and the\nentire affection of Jesus.\n\nThe Lord read his heart; and when the morning meal was done, He singled\nhim out from the rest of His disciples, and asked him three times if he\nloved Him, and then thrice gave him the injunction to feed His flock.\nIn addressing him our Lord calls him by his old name, Simon Bar Jonas,\nnot by his new name, Peter; as if to remind him that he had been living\nthe life of nature rather than of grace.\n\nIn considering this subject, it will be convenient to speak of the\nquestion, the answer; the command.\n\n\nI. OUR LORD'S SEARCHING QUESTION--\"Lovest thou Me?\"\n\n_It is a very remarkable question._--We should have expected the\ninquiry, Dost thou believe Me?  Wilt thou obey Me?  Art thou prepared\nto carry out My plans?  But lo! the risen Lord seems not anxious about\naught of these, and only asks for love, and this from the rugged,\nmanly, headstrong Peter.  Yet as we hear the question asked, we realize\nit is the true one.  He who has asked it has struck the right method of\ndealing with men; and if He only get the love, He will get easily\nenough the faith and the obedience as well.\n\nIn this startling question you have unbared to you the distinctive\nfeature which makes Christianity what it is, and which makes it\ndifferent from all other religions which have flung their clouds or\ntheir rainbows over human spirits.  It is the religion of love: and a\nman may speak with a seraph's burning tongue to defend Christianity; he\nmay give his goods to feed the poor in obedience to the precepts of\nChristianity; he may even burn at the stake rather than renounce\nChristianity as his intellectual creed; but if he does not love, he is\nno Christian.  If a man love not the Lord Jesus, he is anathema.\n\nBut if only there be love--love to God, love to man--then though there\nmay be many deficiencies in head and heart, there is the one prime\nevidence of Christianship.  It was on such grounds that the Rev. Adam\nGibb of Edinburgh once acted.  He had once or twice dissuaded a young\nwoman from joining the church, deeming her ill-informed, and unable to\nanswer elementary questions; and on his third refusal she answered,\n\"Weel, weel, sir, I may na', an' I dinna, ken sae muckle as mony; but\nwhen ye preach a sermon aboot my Lord and Saviour, I fin' my heart\ngoing out to Him, like lintseed out of a bag.\"  Any one who has\nobserved the process will know how lifelike the illustration was, and\nwill not wonder that Mr. Gibb admitted her, and that she lived to be\none of the fairest members of his church.\n\n_It is a universal question._--Its universality suggests that in Christ\nthere is something universally lovable, and that every one has the\npower of loving Him, if only the rubbish is removed which chokes the\nsprings of affection.  There are different shades in love--the love of\ngratitude, where the rescued spirit sings the praise of Him who took it\nfrom the terrible pit and miry clay; the love of complacency, with\nwhich the holy soul admires Him who is fairer than the sons of men, and\ndwells with rapture on His majestic beauty and endearing goodness; the\nlove of friendship, in which by constant intercourse a deep attachment\narises between the confiding soul and the all-sufficient Saviour.  And\nthere are as many methods of manifestation of love as there are\ndifferent temperaments.  With some, it is silent; with others, it\nspeaks.  With some, it sits listening at Christ's feet; with others, it\nhurries too and fro to serve.  With some, it is exuberant and\nenthusiastic; with others, it is still and deep.  But whatever be the\nshade or the evidence, in each Christian heart there must be love to\nChrist, and the heart must be willing to give up its throne to the\nreign of Jesus as its Lord.\n\n_Often it carries a special emphasis._--Peter had grievously sinned.\nJesus could not pass it by in utter silence.  For His disciples' sake\nand His own, it was necessary to allude to, and to probe it.  But each\nwas performed as gently as possible.  Thrice he had been warned, thrice\nhe had denied, and now thrice shall he be asked if he really loves.\nAnd in asking him if he loved Him more than the rest, our Lord surely\nreminded him of his boast that if all the rest forsook Him, he never\nwould.  Christ delicately reminded him that his actions had not been\nconsistent with his professions, at the same time giving him an\nopportunity of wiping out the record of failure by a new avowal of\nattachment.  Thus He deals with us still.  He does not drag our secret\nsins to light before our brethren and friends, and parade them before\nthe sun; but He asks with deep meaning if we love Him, leaving\nconscience to apply the question.  And is there not good reason for Him\nto ask it?  How you have forgotten Him!  You have been occupied with\nthe world, pleasure, or even sin.\n\nAnd there is nothing that breaks us down so quickly as this.  Peter was\ngrieved.  An old man, eighty years of age, reared in connection with a\nchurch, once found his way to the penitent form, crying, \"I've come\nhere to be broke.\"  Ah, there is nothing that so breaks us down as this!\n\n_The question must be asked as a preliminary to service._--Thrice He\nasked Peter, as if to be perfectly sure ere He sent him forth on a\nshepherd's work.  All the self-denial, patience, tenderness, and\ndelicacy of love are needed, as the Lord knew well, in dealing with\nmen, who are naturally uninteresting, or perhaps repulsive, and hence\nour Lord saw the necessity that there should be love.  But how could\nthere be love to _them_?  It was impossible to expect it; and so Christ\nintroduced Himself, saying, in effect, \"Dost thou love Me?  Henceforth\nthere will be little opportunity of doing anything for Me, thou canst\nnot now shelter Me in thy home, or let Me use thy fishing boats, or\nshare My toils; but as thou lovest Me, and desirest to show it, expend\nit on those whom I love, for whom I died, and whom I long to see\nbrought into My fold.  If only thou lovest, thou art fit for this.\"\n\nYou may not be naturally fitted to teach children, or shepherd adults;\nbut if you love Christ you will do better than those more cultured.  It\nis not science, nor intellect, nor eloquence, that wins souls; but love\nto Christ pouring over in love to man.  Love will give you a delicacy\nof perception, an ingenuity, a persuasiveness, which no heart shall be\nable to resist.  Love will reconcile the accomplished scholar to a life\namong savages, and will carry the refined and cultured lady up to the\nsultry attic, or down to the damp and airless cellar.  Love will bear\nall, believe all, hope all, endure all, if only it may win wild\nwandering sheep for Christ.\n\n\nII. THE CONTRITE REPLY.--_It was very humble_.  Peter did not now boast\nthat he excelled the rest, he did not even dare to stand sponsor for\nhis own affection; he threw the matter back on his Lord's omniscience,\nand without mentioning the degree more or less, he said simply, \"Thou\nknowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.\"  There is a\ndelicate shade of meaning in the Greek.  The words translated _love_\nare not the same.  Jesus asks Peter if he cherishes toward Him\nlove--spiritual, holy, heavenly.  Peter declines to use that term, and\ncontents himself with speaking of a simpler, more personal, more human\naffection.  If I do not give Thee that love which is Thy due as Son of\nGod, I at least give Thee that which befits Thee as Son of Man.\n\nThere are many who could not go even as far as this.  Yet here are\ntests of love!  Would you be able to enjoy Heaven if Christ were not\nthere?  Would you be willing to go to hell itself if you might have\nHim?  Do you feel drawn out to Him in service?  Do you do things which\nyou certainly would not do except for His sake?  Are you glad to hear\nof Him in sermon or talk, so that there is a warm feeling rising to Him\nat the mention of His name?  Does it cost you pain to hear Him evil\nspoken of?  Do you sorrow that you do not love Him more?  Then you can\nchallenge Him, saying, \"Despite my worldliness, my faithlessness, my\nsins, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.\"\n\n_It was very confident._--\"Thou knowest all things.\"  Jesus is\nomniscient.  He can see with microscopic eye the lichen on the grey\nstone, the enamel on the shell, the modest flower; and He can see the\nlove that is in the disciple's heart, though it be but a tiny seed.\n\nWhen we sin, we are tempted to believe that we have no love to Christ.\nBut let this incident encourage us.  It is impossible for any true\nlover of Christ to go on in a course of sin, but quite possible for him\nto be betrayed into a single sin.  And if that has been your case, do\nnot shun the Master; He still believes that it is possible for you to\nlove, and He is willing even to reinstate you in His blessed service.\nWho is there, that does not long to speak more confidently of his love\nto Christ?  Cease then to think of your love to Christ, dwell much on\nHis love to you--\"He loved me, He gave Himself for me.\"  Think of its\nunwearied patience, its delicacy, its tenderness.  Consider the\ncharacter of Christ as unfolded in the New Testament.  Commune with\nChrist as friend with friend.  Above all, put away from your heart all\nthat might grieve Him, and throw it open to the Holy Ghost, with prayer\nthat He would shed Christ's love abroad.  Then, almost unconsciously,\nit will arise, though it may not become palpable till some great crisis\ncalls you to the front, and demands some heroic sacrifice, which you\nwill give, not feeling it great.\n\n\nIII. THE DIVINE COMMAND.--In the miracle Peter had been commissioned to\ndo the work of a fisherman, that is, of an evangelist; here he is\ncommissioned to do the work of a shepherd, that is, of a pastor.\nFeeding and tending lambs and sheep.  It is not every one that is able\nto care for the sheep; but there is hardly any one who loves, that\ncannot feed or tend the lambs.  And even if you shrink from the former,\nwhat good reason have you to refuse to comply with the latter?\n\nThere are in this land hundreds of young lives whom the morning light\nawakes to hunger, filth, and wretchedness, and whom the evening shadows\nlimit to rooms in which you would not care to keep your dogs.  They are\ngrowing up without the least sense of decency, or the slightest\nreverence for God.  Their existence is one long struggle against the\nconstituted guardians of society; or if they do not resist, they are\nalways eluding.  In addition to these are the children of our homes and\nfamilies and schools.  \"_Feed My lambs!_\"\n\nIt is worthy of note that two Greek words are used in these\ninjunctions.  In the first and last, the Master says simply, Feed.  In\nthe middle He adds, Do the work of a shepherd.  So that the lover of\nChrist has not fulfilled all his duty, when he has given his sacred\nlesson or instruction: he must go further, and be prepared to act as\nshepherd.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVI\n\nThe Life-Plan of Peter and John\n\n\"What is that to thee? follow thou Me.\"--JOHN xxi. 22.\n\n\nWe are standing on the eastern shore of the Lake of Galilee.  The\nmorning breeze blows fresh in our faces; the tiny wavelets run up with\na silvery ripple, and die on the white sand; across the expanse of\nwater the white buildings of Tiberias and Capernaum gleam forth.  With\ngunwale all wet and slippery a fishing smack is drawn up on the\ndeserted shore; near it the nets unbroken, although they had been heavy\nwith finny spoils; yonder the remnants of a fisherman's breakfast and\nthe dying embers of a fire.\n\nThe Master has just reinstated His erring apostle and friend, and\nproceeded to describe the death by which he was ultimately to glorify\nGod: \"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou\ngirdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou\nshalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall\ngird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.\"\n\nHow different this forecast to what Peter would have chosen for\nhimself!  What a contrast between that yielding to the will of another,\nand that impetuous nature which so constantly betrayed itself!  Take,\nfor instance, the occasions that are offered in this chapter.  As soon\nas he hears John's suggestion that the Lord is standing on the beach,\nhe lets go the fish that he had spent all night to catch, the nets\nwhich it cost hours to make, the boat which was probably his own\nproperty, binds his fisher's coat about him, plunges into the water,\nand never rests till he has cast himself at his Master's feet.  As soon\nas the Lord expresses His desire to mingle some of the recent haul with\nHis own preparations for breakfast, he springs up, hastens to the\nmargin of the sea, drags the net to land, counts its contents, and\nbrings specimens to the little group gathered about the Master.  Every\nmovement so quick and energetic!  To wish, is to act!  To desire a\nthing, to do it!  He makes us think of young manhood in all its\nvigorous, nervous life.\n\nThe Lord did not damp or repress His fervid disciple.  He looked on\nhim, to borrow the thought of another, with tender pity; as a parent,\nwho has passed through many of the world's darkest places, beholds the\nchild who is speaking of what he expects life to bring.  Fresh from His\nown agony, the Lord knew how different a temper that would be which had\nbeen induced by prolonged suffering and patience: and He knew how\nnecessary it was that that temper should be induced in His beloved\ndisciple, so that he might become a pillar in His Church, and the\ntender sympathetic writer of that First Epistle, which is so saturated\nwith a spirit of tender patience and sympathy for all who suffer.\n\nHaving uttered these cautionary words our Lord seems to have moved\naway, bidding Peter follow--a mandate which was intended to carry a\ndeeper meaning.  John followed them some few steps in the rear.\nHearing footsteps, Peter turned and saw him, and with a touch of\nunworthy curiosity, hardly compatible with the seriousness of the\nstatement Jesus had just made, said, \"Lord, and what shall this man do?\"\n\nThe question was objectionable.  It savored too much of Peter's old,\nhasty, forward self.  The Lord would not become a mere fortune-teller\nto gratify his inquisitiveness.  He put a check, therefore, on the\nunbefitting inquiry, and yet, in rebuking, answered it:  \"If I will\nthat he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou Me.\"\n\nIt is not easy to explain certainly the import of Christ's reply.  Some\nhave interpreted it as meaning Christ's coming in death.  But this can\nhardly be, for He would as certainly come to Peter dying amid the agony\nof martyrdom, as to John dying in a peaceful old age.  Surely the\nperiod referred to must have been the fall of Jerusalem, only forty\nyears distant, and to which our Lord so often referred as one phase at\nleast of His coming.  Then the old economy would fall and pass away;\nChristianity assume a world-wide importance, and the cross become one\nof the mightiest factors of human history.\n\nWhen those words were repeated to them, some of the disciples\ninterpreted them as meaning that John should not die, but they did not\nconvey that meaning to John himself; he only saw in them a general\nintimation that his lot was in his Master's hands, and in any case\nwould be a very different one from Peter's.\n\n\nI. OUR LIFE-PLAN IS FASHIONED BY THE WILL OF CHRIST.--What royalty\nthere is in those words, _If I will_!  If Jesus were less than Divine,\nhow blasphemous they would appear!  What arrogance to suppose that He\ncould regulate the time and manner of life or death!  Yet how natural\nit is to hear Him speak thus.  No one starts or is surprised, and in\nthat calm acquiescence there is a testimony to the homogeneousness of\nChrist's character.  It is of one piece throughout.  There is a perfect\nconsistency between His acts and words.\n\nThe ancients thought of their _lives_ as woven on the loom of spiteful\nfates, whom they endeavored to humor by calling euphonious names.  The\nmaterialist supposes that his life is the creature of circumstances, a\nrudderless ship in a current, mere flotsam and jetsam on the wave.  The\nChristian knows that the path of his life has been _prepared_ for him\nto walk in; and that its sphere, circumstances, and character are due\nto the thought and care of Him who has adapted it to our temperament\nand capabilities, to repress the worst, and educate the best within us.\n\nWe are ignorant of the place and mode of our _death_.  Our grave may be\nin ocean depths with storm-blasts as our dirge, or the desert-waste\nwith the sands as our winding-sheets.  Like that of Moses in a foreign\nland, unknown and untended; or within the reach of friendly hands,\nwhich will keep it freshly decked with evergreens.  But wherever it may\nbe, it must befall as Christ has willed.  We may die by some lingering\nagony, or the gentle slackening of life's silver cord.  The temple may\nbe shattered by an earthquake, or taken down stone by stone.  But\nwhether the one or the other, it will be determined by His will.  He\nwho makes the hue of each fading leaf different from that of any other\nin the forest has some new trait of godliness, some fresh feature of\ngrace to illustrate and enforce in the dying hour; it is therefore\nwritten, \"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.\"\n\nThere is no lasting happiness, no comfort, no peace, to be had in this\nlife, apart from the belief that the so-called trifles, as well as the\napparently greater incidents of existence, are included in the\ncircumference of Christ's will, either executive or permissive.  But in\nspeaking thus, I discriminate between ourselves and our surroundings.\nI am speaking more particularly of the latter, and urge that even where\nthey are apparently moulded by the carelessness or malignity of others,\nyet these are, unconsciously indeed, but really, effecting what He\npredetermined should be done.  \"If I will.\"\n\nBind this to your heart.  It may be appointed for you to die in early\nprime, when the purpose of your life seems unfulfilled; or to live a\nsequestered life, banished to the Patmos of exile and suffering, dying\nafter long years.  But in any case, your Saviour has contrived and\nadjusted all.  And He will send the Angel of His Presence with you, to\nhelp you, and to bring you to the place that He has prepared.\n\n\nII. THE LIFE-COURSE OF ANY IS DETERMINED BY THE PECULIARITIES OF\nCHARACTER AND SERVICE.--Christ tells us that we are destined to a long\nfuture; and in doing so gives us the only satisfactory clue to the\nmystery of existence.  If there be no life beyond death, life is a maze\nof endless wandering, to which there is no clue.  But if there be--and\nafter all there is no _if_ in it--we can easily understand that the\npresent needs to be carefully adjusted to our nature and our future\nniche in the great universe of God, that we may be able, to the\nfarthest limit, to realize our Master's anticipations.\n\nThere is a conspicuous illustration of this before us.  Peter was to be\nthe apostle of sufferers, and write a letter, which should help, as\nperhaps no other writing has helped, all sufferers to the end of time;\nbut he could never have penned it apart from the fiery trials through\nwhich his character was softened and sanctified.  How could he have\nspoken of the humility, meekness, and patience of the suffering\nbeliever, had he not drunk deeply of the cup of suffering for himself\nand lived in constant anticipation of the martyr-death of which the\nLord spoke?\n\nJohn's work, on the other hand, was to declare, as he does in the Book\nof Revelation, that Jesus is the Living One, unchanged and unchanging,\nthe King of earth and heaven.  And how could he have produced that\nmarvellous work, and received and reported those sublime visions, if he\nhad not lingered on, in loneliness and exile, till Jerusalem had fallen\nbefore Titus and his legions, the Temple been destroyed, and the Jews\nscattered to every nation under heaven?\n\nNeither of these men understood at the time what he was being prepared\nfor.  But as each now from heaven reviews the work he did, and the way\nin which he was prepared for doing it; as each compares the discipline\nthrough which he passed with the peculiarities of the people he was to\naddress, and the testimony he was to deliver, he must be full of glad\nacknowledgments of the perfect adaptation of means to ends, of\ninstrumentalities to results.\n\nAnd what is manifestly true of them is equally so of each of us.  Not\nalways in this world, but in the next, we shall discern the admirable\nfitness of the discipline through which we passed, to prepare us for\nour position and ministry both here and hereafter.\n\n  \"Great and marvellous are Thy works,\n  O Lord God the Almighty;\n  Righteous and true are Thy ways,\n  Thou King of the ages.\"\n\n\nIII.  WHILST GOD IS WORKING OUT OUR LIFE-PLAN, WE MUST GIVE OURSELVES\nTO PRACTICAL OBEDIENCE.--\"Follow thou Me.\"  The Master reiterated this\ncommand, both when He told Peter his destiny, and when His apostle was\nprying into secrets with which he had no immediate concern.  Whatever\nthreatens us, looming in the future, we must not be deterred from\nfollowing our Master; and we are not to waste our time in speculation\nas to matters which lie beyond our ken, but apply ourselves to the\npractical duties, which lie ready to our hand.\n\nBut what is it to follow Christ?  It is not to live an Oriental life\nbeneath these Northern skies, nor wear an Eastern garb, nor speak in\nthe Hebrew tongue.  A man might do all these, and in addition wander\nlike Him, homeless and outcast, through the land, and yet not follow in\nHis steps.  No!  Following Jesus means our identification in the\nprinciples that underlay His life, in His devotion and prayer, in His\nabsolute compliance with God's will, in His constant service of\nmankind, in the sweetness and gentleness and strength of His personal\ncharacter.  There is no path of legitimate duty into which we are\ncalled to go, in which He does not precede; for when He putteth forth\nHis own sheep, He goeth before them, and His sheep follow.  As of old,\nHis disciples saw Him going before them ascending up to Jerusalem, and\nthey followed Him; there is no path of arduous duty and suffering in\nwhich He does not still precede.\n\nFollowing Christ involves almost certain suffering at first.  When\nPeter asked what they would have, who had left all to follow Jesus, the\nMaster did not hesitate to say that the bitter herb of suffering would\nmingle with all the dishes with which their table might be spread: and\nwhen James and John tried to bespeak the right and left seats of the\nthrone, He spoke of the cup and baptism of pain.  But afterward, when\nthe cross and grave are passed, then the fullness of joy and the\npleasures, which are at God's right hand forever-more!\n\nWe may follow Christ, and yet our paths diverge.  Peter and John had\nbeen close friends.  In them, the binary stars of love and zeal, labor\nand rest, action and contemplation, revolved in a common orbit.\nTogether at the grave, in the boat, in the temple, in prison; but their\noutward fellowship was not permitted to continue; perhaps if it had, it\nwould have been too absorbing.  It is in silence and solitude that\nspirits attain their complete beauty, and so the Master is sometimes\nobliged to say to us, \"What is that to thee? follow thou Me.\"\n\nIn following Jesus, with the shadow of the cross always on his spirit,\nPeter learned to sympathize with his Master's anticipation of death,\nwhich in earlier years had been incomprehensible to him, and had led\nhim to say, \"That be far from Thee, Lord\"; and it gave him finally the\nopportunity of fulfilling his first resolve to go with Him to prison\nand to death.  We often think ourselves strong to do and suffer long\nbefore patience had done her perfect work.  We rush impetuously\nforward, and are overwhelmed.  Then our Master has to lead us about, to\ntake us round by another and longer route, to train us by toils and\ntears and teachings, till, hopeless of our own strength and confident\nin His, in our old age we cry, \"I must put off this my tabernacle, even\nas our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me.\"\n\nIf the old legend is true, Peter was crucified with his head downward,\nbecause he felt unworthy to be so like his Lord--following Him with\nhumility and reverence.  But whatever befalls us, whatever be the\nnature of our experience in life or death, let it be our one aim to\nglorify God.  \"And the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His\neternal glory in Christ, after that we have suffered a little while,\nshall Himself perfect, stablish, strengthen us.  To Him be the dominion\nforever and ever.  Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXXVII\n\nBack to the Father\n\n\"And there are also many other things which Jesus did.\"--JOHN xxi. 25.\n\n\nOnce more, as we learn both from the Gospel according to Matthew and\nthe First Epistle to Corinthians, our Lord met the eleven Apostles,\ntogether with some five hundred brethren beside, on a mountain in\nGalilee, chosen partly for retirement and seclusion, and partly that\nall might see Him.  The majority of these were alive when Paul wrote.\n\"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me\nin heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,\nbaptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the\nHoly Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have\ncommanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the\nage.\"\n\nOnly once or twice beside did the Lord appear.  He was seen of James,\nand this interview seems to have determined this saintly man, who was\nhis own brother either through a previous marriage of Joseph, or as\nborn after his own birth, of Mary, to become a humble follower of Him,\nwith whose existence His own was so mysteriously blended.  Then He\nappeared once more to all the Apostles, and being assembled with them\ncommanded them to wait in Jerusalem till the promise of the Father was\nfulfilled, that He would send them another Comforter, the Holy Ghost.\n\"For John,\" He said, \"truly baptized with water; but ye shall be\nbaptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.\"\n\nThere seems to have been an interval at that point, during which the\ndisciples had time to think over what the Lord had said.  It had\nsuggested to them the idea of the setting up of the Messianic kingdom,\nwhich had always been viewed as coincident with the bestowal of the\nHoly Ghost.  \"Lord,\" they said when they came together again, \"wilt\nThou restore at this time the kingdom to Israel!\"  The Lord would not\ngratify their curiosity, and at that moment it would have been useless\nto combat and explain their erroneous views.  This must be left to the\neducation of time, and circumstance, and that same Spirit.  These\nthings were kept in the Father's secret councils.  It was not for them\nto know, but they should receive power.\n\nThen, with the tenacity of affection for the scenes of His former life,\nHe led them out as far as Bethany.  And when they had reached the\nbeloved spot, associated with so many sacred and tender memories, He\nlifted up His hands and blessed them; and while He blessed them, He was\nparted from them, and a cloud became both vail and chariot, parting\nthem and receiving Him out of their sight.\n\nThence He ascended far above all principality, power, might, and\ndominion, through all heavens to the right hand of the Father, there to\npursue His life of ministry and prayer for men, and specially for those\nHe loved.  And angels stood beside the little group of lovers, assuring\nthem of His return in the same manner as they had seen Him go.  And\nthey worshipped Him, and went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord\nworking with them, and confirming their word with signs following.","title":"Love to the Uttermost: Expositions of John XIII.-XXI.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":88351}