John (Sections 169-186)

Section 169

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Be hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." —John 1:29.

Places and times become memorable when linked with our Lord; hence we are told what was done at Bethabara on such a day, and what happened on "the next day."

Let us treasure holy memories with great care—especially memories of Jesus,—times when we saw the Lord. In the case before us the preacher was a notable man, and his theme more notable still. John the Baptist preaches Jesus.

We have here a model for every minister of Christ.

I. The true messenger.

1. He is one who sees Jesus for himself. There was a time when John did not know the Christ, but in due time the Holy Spirit pointed him out. Verse 33. The true herald of Jesus is like John—

He is on the lookout for his Lord's appearing.

He rejoices to preach Jesus as one whom he has himself seen and known, and still hopes to see.

He preaches him as come, and as coming.

2. He calls upon men to see Jesus. "Behold the Lamb of God." This he does plainly and confidently. This he does continually: it is his one message. John preached the same sermon "again the next day after": verse 35. This he does earnestly and emphatically. "Behold!"

3. He leads his own followers to Jesus. John's disciples heard John speak, and followed Jesus: verse 37.

He had enough force to induce men to be his followers.

He had enough humility to induce his followers to leave him for Jesus. This is the glory of John the Baptist.

He had enough grace to make him rejoice that it was so. Our speech should make men go beyond ourselves to Christ. "We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord": 2 Corinthians 4:5.

4. He loses himself in Jesus.

He sees the necessity of this. "He must increase, but I must decrease": John 3:30.

He sees the propriety of this: he knows himself to be only the Bridegroom's friend, and not the Bridegroom. John 3:29.

Blessed is that minister of whom all these points can be asserted.

II. The true message.

John's word was brief, but emphatic.

1. He declared Jesus to be sent and ordained "of God."

2. He declared him to be the one real, divinely-appointed sacrifice for sin,—"the Lamb of God."

3. He declared him to be the only remover of human guilt, —"which taketh away the sin of the world."

4. He declared him to be set forth as the object of faith,—"Behold the Lamb." He exhorted his hearers to look at him with that look which saves. The end of all ministries and ordinances is to bring men to look to Jesus. Both John, who ran before, and we, who run after, must point in the same direction.

III. The true reception of that message. The conduct of John's disciples shows that our true wisdom concerning gospel testimony is—

1. To believe it, and so to acknowledge Jesus as our sin-removing sacrifice.

2. To follow Jesus. See verse 37.

3. To follow Jesus, even if we be alone. These were the vanguard of the vast hosts who have since followed Jesus. They knew not what suffering it might involve, but went first and foremost.

4. To abide with Jesus. See verse 39.

5. To go forth and tell others of Jesus. See verses 40 and 41.

Here, then, is a lesson for those who preach. John's sermon was short, but full of Jesus, and effectual for soul-winning. Imitate him.

Here also is an example for those who have believed.

Here is a gospel for those who hitherto have not known the Saviour.

Specialties In 1857, a day or two before preaching at the Crystal Palace, I went to decide where the platform should be fixed; and, in order to test the acoustic properties of the building, cried in a loud voice, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In one of the galleries, a workman, who knew nothing of what was being done, heard the words, and they came like a message from heaven to his soul. He was smitten with conviction on account of sin, put down his tools, went home, and there after a season of spiritual struggling, found peace and life by beholding the Lamb of God. Years after, he told this story to one who visited him on his death-bed.—C. H. S.

Notice, how simple the means, how grand the result! John simply declared, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Here is no vehement appeal, no angry rebuke, no feverish, would-be impressive urging; it is a simple, earnest declaration of God's truth. What else have Christ's servants to do but to set forth the truth, the gospel, the will of God, as revealed in the person and work of Christ? How much more important to give all our energy and strength to this, than to the attempt of enforcing and applying, threatening and inviting, urging and pressing, in perorations thundering or melting! The truth itself thunders and melts, rouses and whispers, bruises and comforts; entering into the soul, it brings with it light and power. How calm and objective do Christ's sermons, and those of the apostles, appear! How powerful by the consciousness which pervades them: this is the truth of God, light from heaven, power from above! "Behold the Lamb of God."—Adolph Saphir.

It is related of John Wesley that, preaching to an audience of courtiers and noblemen, he used the "generation of vipers" text, and flung denunciation right and left. "That sermon should have been preached at Newgate," said a displeased courtier to Wesley, on passing out. "No," said the fearless apostle, "my text there would have been, 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' "

Roger Clark, one of the English martyrs, when at the stake, cried out to the people, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." How suitable such a cry from a saint about to seal his testimony with his blood! No herald could live long in the wilderness on locusts and wild honey, if he had not to tell of a man or an era nobler than himself, and brighter than his own twilight-hour. John lived more truly on the prophecy he proclaimed than on the honey and locusts.—Dr. Parker. A young telegraph operator was anxious about his soul. After a sleepless night, he went to his duties; while restless and absorbed in the thought of being a sinner, he heard the click of his instrument, and, with great astonishment and emotion, spelled out this message:—

From…………….To:
H_______.............J_____B_____
Windmere..|…………Warkworth

'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world; in whom we have redemption, through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.' " This was sent as an answer to a letter from a young man, who also was seeking peace. It acted as a double blessing, showing to both operator and receiver the way of salvation.

Section 170

"Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him,
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"—John 1:47. This is a chapter of "beholds." We are first to Behold the Lamb of God," and then to behold a man of God.

Nathanael was simple, straightforward, honest, "an Israelite indeed." In this he was not like his great progenitor, Jacob, who was a supplanter, and not a prince with God, till that memorable night when the angel wrestled with him, and withered his carnal strength. Then, in the weakness of that simplicity which laid hold upon the mighty One, Jacob became Israel. Genesis 27:36; Genesis 32:28. A sincere and simple character was not common in our Lord's day.

It is despised by many at this day.

It was greatly appreciated by our Lord, who has the same character in perfection, and is truly called "the holy child Jesus." This characteristic of guilelessness is—

I. A happy sign in a seeker.

We will illustrate this by Nathanael's procedure.

1. He is the sort of man to whom disciples like to speak. "Philip findeth Nathanael": verse 45.

2. He is outspoken with his difficulties, and therefore his friends see how to meet them. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" verse 46.

3. He is ready to apply the proper tests. "Come and see": verse 46.

4. He is honest in his use of those tests. Our Lord saw that Nathanael was no captious critic, nor idly-curious observer: verse 47.

5. He is open to conviction if fair evidence be supplied. As soon as our Lord proved his omniscience Nathanael believed: verse 48.

6. He is ready to make confession: verse 49.

7. He is prepared to proceed far in the school of Christ. The Lord promised him the sight of greater things because he was prepared to see them: verses 50 and 51. An Israelite is a man to know "the King of Israel": verse 49. An Israelite is a man to understand the famous dream of the father of all Israelites: verse 51. Genesis 28:12.

II. A vital point in a believer. The truly upright man, and he only, can be a Christian.

1. A sense of pardon removes the temptation to guile: we cease to excuse ourselves when pardon is received. See Psalms 51.

2. A reception of Christ as "the truth" causes guile to be hated.

3. A truthful assurance of the gospel prevents a hypocritical faith.

4. A complete consecration to the Lord puts an end to a double-minded life, and to all false aims and maxims.

5. A sense of the presence of God makes guile appear absurd.

6. A brave faith in God causes it to appear mean and cowardly.

III. A sure producer of other qualities.

1. It makes a man love his Bible. Nathanael was familiar with the law and the prophets.

2. It makes him pray. He is an Israelite. Genesis 32:28.

3. It leads him to be much alone. "Under the fig tree": verse 48.

4. It makes him wear his heart in his countenance. "Behold an Israelite indeed."

5. It prepares him to behold the pure and true glories of heaven. Who among us is renowned for cleverness, craft, shrewdness, and the critical faculty in general?

Let him be afraid of the much admired quality of cleverness. The absence of simplicity is by no means a healthy sign.

Let us be true in any case, and may the Lord teach us his truth!

Mosaic

'Twas well Christ spake among plain men. Had the Scribes and the Pharisees heard him, had some men of these times heard him, they would have said that Christ purposed to define a fool. Who is not now a fool that is not false? He is rated as having but small wit that is not of great subtility and great wiliness. Plainness is weakness, and solid sincerity stolid simplicity. No man is honest but for want of sense. Conscience comes only from a crazed brain. He hath no reach that doth not overreach. Only to disguise is to be wise; and he is the profoundest that is the grandest counterfeit. Christ will have a serpent and a dove coupled together—wisdom and simplicity; and he bids, what God hath joined, that man should not sever. But the world dares uncouple them. Uncouple them? That's little; dares divorce them. In these days doves may not consort with serpents, nor singleness and sapience harbor in one heart. Certainly plain-dealing is a jewel; but the world dubs him a fool that useth it.

Hence it is that, nowadays, men dare not deal uprightly, lest their wit be called in question; they are afraid of honest plainness lest they be held for idiots. Term one an honest man, you do discredit him. The name of fool is so disgraceful, one will rather be a villain than be called a fool. But here, God's Word, God's Wisdom, defines a true Israelite, by truth and plainness; he is one that hath no guile.—Richard Clerke.

"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."—The expression would appear to be so distinct an allusion to the thirty-second Psalm as to amount to a quotation, and to imply that this guilelessness of spirit was not mere amiability, but was the fruit of forgiven sin. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (or atoned). Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Nathanael, if we may follow this clue, was no stranger to the spiritual meaning of atonement; no stranger, therefore, to the consciousness of sin which made its necessity felt. Pressed on the one hand by the sense of guilt, allured on the other by the provision of atonement in the temple sacrifices, he had been forced to earn his first title by wrestling in prayer with God for pardon; and, having prevailed, there had sprung up within the forgiven man the guileless spirit of childlike trustfulness in God, who had thus stooped to his prayer, and granted the benison he sighed for. He is in the happiest state of preparation for the personal knowledge of Christ, and we shall see with what fulness of faith he honors his Master at the first interview, uttering on the threshold of discipleship a confession more advanced than was made at the same point by any other of the twelve.—C. A. Davis.

Nathanael was one of these true Israelites; he was in reality, as well as by profession, one of the people of God; and the evidence he gave of this was his freedom from guile. But our Saviour does not say he has no guilt. A man may be freckled, or have spots, and not be painted. A Christian is not sinlessly pure—he has many unallowed and bewailed infirmities, but guile he has not: he is no hypocrite. He does not in religion ascend a stage, to assume a character which does not belong to him. He is what he appears to be. There is a correspondence between his professions and actions, his meanings and his words. He is upright in his dealings with himself, in his dealings with his fellow-creatures, and in his dealings with his God. He is all of a piece. He is the same alone as in company; the same in his own house as in the house of God; the same in prosperity as in adversity.—William Jay. The clearer the diamond, the more it sparkles; the plainer the heart is, the more it sparkles in God's eye. What a commendation did Christ give Nathanael—"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"—Thomas Watson.

Section 171

"Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with
his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour."—John 4:6.

Many things may well remind us of our Lord. Chiefly may we think of him when we see a well, or a weary peasant resting at noon.

How truly human was Jesus! To him a long walk brought weariness; his weariness needed rest; to rest he "sat thus on the well."

How worn was his humanity! He was more weary than the disciples.

He had a greater mental strain than they.

He had a weariness that they knew not of. His self-denials were even then remarkable.

He would in all points be made like unto his brethren.

He would not exempt himself from fatigue.

He would not work a miracle for his own refreshment.

He would not refuse to bear heat, thirst, exhaustion.

He has thus made himself able to sympathize with— The traveler who rests by the roadside. The laborer who is worn out with toil. The sufferer who feels pain in bone and flesh. The poor man who must rest on a cold stone and look for refreshment to the public fountain. The weary mind, oppressed by life's long way, which has no luxurious comfort prepared for it, but finds a measure of repose in the simple arrangements of nature.

Reading this text, let it set a picture before you, and—

I. Let your conscience draw a spiritual picture of your wearied Saviour.

1. He is wearied with our sins. Isaiah 43:24.

2. He is wearied with our formal worship. Isaiah 1:14.

3. He is wearied with our erring through unbelief. Psalms 95:10.

4. He is wearied with our resistance of his Spirit. Isaiah 63:10.

5. He is wearied with our cavillings and rebellions. Malachi 2:17.

Perhaps we have specially wearied the Lord, as we read in Amos 2:13, where singular provocations are mentioned. That is a grave question asked by the prophet Isaiah, "Will ye weary my God also?" Isaiah 7:13.

II. Let your conscience draw a spiritual picture of your waiting Saviour.

1. He waits for comers to the well: he seizes on all occasions to bless, such as affliction, the hearing of the Word, the recurrence of a birthday, or even the simplest event of life. Men have errands; they come to the well only to draw water, but the Lord meets them with his greater errand.

2. He waits for the most sinful; she that had had five husbands.

3. He waits to enlighten, convince, convert.

4. He waits to accept, and to commission.

5. He waits to begin by one convert the ingathering of a great harvest of souls, as in the case of the Samaritans.

How long he has waited for some of you! At how many points has he been on the outlook for you! Is he not waiting for you at this very hour? Will you not yield to his patient love?

III. Let your penitence draw another picture.

After the position of the character.

1. Be yourself weary of your sinful way.

2. Sit down on the well of your Lord's gracious ordinances.

3. Wait and watch till your Saviour comes.

4. Ask him to give you to drink, and, in so doing, give him to drink, for this is his best refreshment.

5. Drink yourselves of the living water, and then run to tell others. Will you not do this at once? May his Holy Spirit so direct you!

Musings

It was the hour of noon, and weary as he was with the long journey, possibly also with the extreme heat, our Lord sat "thus on the well." The expression in the original is most pathetically picturesque. It implies that the Wayfarer was quite tired out, and in his exhaustion flung his limbs wearily on the seat, anxious, if possible, for complete repose.—Archdeacon Farrar. When hard-working people sit down at mid-day for their few minutes of rest and refreshment, let them recall their Master's noon-day rest at the well. He was tired, like we are, yet his rest was short, and his work scarcely broken. He was tired with seeking for us. Our stubborn hearts brought him all this way from heaven. He has long sought for our love, and hardly finds it. Think on this verse. With whom did Jesus find his portion in this life? Not with the great and luxurious, but with the common people, sharing their toils.—Practical Reflections on the Gospels, by a Clergyman.

While we sympathize with the bodily weariness of our Lord, it will be well to remember the soul weariness which sin must have occasioned him. He hungered to bless men, and they refused the bread of life. He would have gathered them, but they would not be gathered. He must have been specially wearied with the ostentatious hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and the silly legalisms of the Scribes with their tithing of mint and anise. He was often wearied with the dogged unbelief of the Jews, and the provoking want of faith among his own disciples. The sin, the cavilling, the slander, the selfishness, the hardness of heart of those about him, must have worn down his holy soul, and made him every day a Man of sorrows. Yet he never left the well, never refused to give the living water to a thirsting soul, never ceased to entreat men to come to him and drink.—C. H. S.

"Jesus, therefore, being wearied."—And in that he himself had suffered, he was the more able and apt to help this poor Samaritan. So the apostle bids us pity those in adversity, as being ourselves in the body, i.e., the body of flesh and frailty, subject to like misery.—Trapp. When wearied, let us still be on the watch to do good. Wearied, and sitting on the well, our Lord is still in the attitude of observation. "I am never too tired to pray," said a minister, who, after a hard day's toil, found his host ready to excuse him from conducting family prayer. When God is blessing the Word, true ministers forget their fatigue, and hold on long into the night with inquirers. Alas! when the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with a man's heart, the man excuses himself from "making overtime," as I once heard a professor call it, when he quitted the room the instant the service was over. Another, in describing a minister, said, "Oh, he is cold! He is one who thinks it is wrong to be too religious. He cannot endure zeal." Be it ours to show a more excellent way. Holy Brainerd, when he could not preach, because he was on his dying bed, called to him a little Indian boy, and tried to teach him his letters. Let us live soul-saving, and so let us die— C. H. S.

Section 172

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with,
and the well is deep: pom whence then hast thou that living water?"—John 4:11. Our Lord's object was to bring the woman to seek salvation of him. Our desire is the immediate conversion of all now present. The Samaritan woman accepted the Saviour upon the first asking.

Many of you have been invited to Jesus many times—will you not at last comply? Our Lord aimed at her heart by plain teaching and home dealing—we will take the same course with our hearers. When his interesting emblem failed to reach her, he fell to downright literalism, and unveiled her life. Anything is better than allowing a soul to perish.

I. We will expound the preceding teaching. The Lord had said to her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." The figure was that of living water in contrast to the water collected in Jacob's well, which was merely the gatherings of the surrounding hills—land-water, not spring-water.

He meant to say that his grace is like water from a springing well.

It is of the best and most refreshing kind.

It is living, and ministers life.

It is powerful, and finds it own way.

It is abiding, and is never dried up.

It is abounding, and free to all comers.

Furthermore, he intimated to the woman that—

1. He had it. There was no need of a bucket to draw with.

2. He had it to give.

3. He would have given it for the asking.

4. He alone could give it. It would be found in no earthly well.

II. We will answer the question of the text. In ignorance the woman inquired, "Whence then hast thou that living water?"

We can at this time give a fuller reply than could have been given when our Lord sat on the well.

He has now a boundless power to save, and that power arises—

1. From his divine nature, allied with his perfect humanity.

2. From the purpose and appointment of God.

3. From the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

4. From his redeeming work, which operated for good even before its actual accomplishment, and which is in full operation now.

5. From the power of his intercession at the Father's right hand.

6. From his representative life in glory. Now all power is delivered into his hand. Matthew 28:18.

III. We will draw certain inferences from the answer.

1. Then he is still able to bless. Since he has this living water only from his unchanging self, he therefore has it now as fully as ever.

2. Then he needs nothing from us. He is himself the one sole Fountain, full and all-sufficient for ever.

3. Then we need not fear exhausting his fulness.

4. Then at all times we may come to him, and we need never fear that he will deny us.

Drops When we see a great volume of water issuing from a spring, it is natural that we should inquire,—whence does it come? This is one of the mysteries of nature to most people. Job speaks of "the springs of the sea," and hints that none can find them out. But where are the springs of salvation? Whence comes the river, yea, the boundless ocean of divine grace? All fulness is in Jesus; but how came it there? He gives drink to all who come to him; whence has he this inexhaustible supply? Are not these questions worth asking? Must not the reply be instructive to ourselves, and glorifying to our Lord? Come, then, and let us borrow the language of this Samaritan woman, and talk with our Lord.—C. H. S. When I have ridden through London, I have been overwhelmed with the greatness of the supply which must daily be necessary to feed its millions, and have wondered that a famine has not at once set in. But when I have seen the markets and store-houses, and have thought of the whole earth as eager to obtain a sale for its produce in our vast metropolis, I have rested in content. I see whence the almost illimitable supplies are drawn, and my wonder henceforth is, not that the millions are fed, but that they should be able to consume such immeasurable quantities of food.

Thus, when I behold man's spiritual need, I marvel that it should ever be met; but when I behold the person and work of the Lord Jesus, my marvel ceases, and a new wonder begins. I wonder rather at the infinity of grace than at the power of sin.—C. H. S.

Speaking of Cairo, the author of "Ragged Life in Egypt," says, "Perhaps no cry is more striking, after all, than the short and simple cry of the water-carrier. 'The gift or God,' he says, as he goes along with his water-skin on his shoulder. It is impossible to hear this cry without thinking of the Lord's words to the woman of Samaria, 'If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.' It is very likely that water, so invaluable, and so often scarce in hot countries, was in those days spoken of, as now, as 'the gift of God,' to denote its preciousness; if so, the expression would be extremely forcible to the woman, and full of meaning."—The Biblical Treasury.

How ready are men and women to go to this well and that well to drink water for the help and healing of bodily distempers, and to go many miles, and dispense with all other affairs, that they may be recovered of corporeal diseases: but how few inquire after the water of life, or leave all their secular business for the good and health of their immortal souls! —Benjamin Keach.

"The well is deep," the woman said to Jesus; and so it was. It took two-and-a-half seconds from the time that the pebble was dropped, before we heard the splash in the water below. . . . Turning to the illustration before us,—"living water,"— the meaning only dawned upon me when I visited the spot. Jacob's well, deep as it was, and cool as its waters doubtless were, was only an artificial well—a cistern for the collection of rain, and the drainage of the land. . . . In seasons of drought, this well must have been useless—it was a well, or cistern: not a spring.—J. W. Bardsley. The fountain of living waters is God himself (Jeremiah 2:13). "With thee is the fountain of life" (Psalms 36:9). It is not a mere cistern to hold; it is a pouring, running, living stream; nay, rather a fountain that springs up perpetually. We all know that a jet or fountain is produced by a head of water that presses down from a great elevation; and that, the higher the spring, the loftier and more powerful the jet, which, however, never surpasses the height of its source. Our spiritual life, "our well-spring of life," has its source in heaven: and it is heavenward that it rises, and it is content with no lower level. It came from God, and to God it will return.—F. A. Malleson.

Section 173 "On the same day was the Sabbath."—John 5:9.

Christ healed men on all sorts of days. But Sabbaths were high days of grace.

Six special cases of cures wrought on the Sabbath are recorded.

1. The evil spirit cast out. Luke 4:31-35.

2. The withered hand restored. Luke 6:6-10.

3. The crooked woman made straight. Luke 13:10-17.

4. The man with the dropsy cured. Luke 14:1-6.

5. The impotent man made whole. John 5:1-9.

6. The blind man's eyes opened. John 9:1-14. As God rested on the Sabbath, and hallowed it; so as God it was rest to Jesus to heal, and thus he hallowed the day. As man he also rested his heart, exercised a holy ministry, glorified God, and hallowed the day.

I. These cures meet many cases.

1. Those under Satanic influence. Luke 4:31-35. Many are in this case at this hour.

2. Those conscious of spiritual inability. Luke 6:6-10.

3. Those bowed down with great distress, despondency, despair, etc. Luke 13:10-17. This poor woman had been infirm for eighteen years.

4. Those smitten with mortal disease. Luke 14:1-6. This typifies the deadly character of sin, and represents the case of those upon whom is the dread of the second death.

5. Those altogether paralyzed. John 5:1-9. This man had been impotent for thirty-eight years. Some seem specially unable to feel, or do, or be what they should be. They are weak and irresolute, and though lying at the healing pool, others step in before them, and they derive no benefit from the means of grace.

6. Those blind from birth. John 9:1-14. Many are in this condition. They see no spiritual truth, but abide in total darkness as to all the gospel truth.

II. These cures represent usual processes.

1. A word addressed to the devil. "Hold thy peace, and come out of him": Luke 4:35. Satan feels the power of the Word of the Lord; but he cares for nothing else.

2. A word personal to the sufferer. "Stretch forth thy hand": Luke 6:10. He was unable, and yet he was commanded; and he obeyed. This is the gospel method.

3. A word accepted as done. "Thou art loosed from thine infirmity": Luke 13:12. Faith turns promise into fact, gospel-teaching into actual salvation.

4. Power without a word. Luke 14:4.

5. A word arousing and commanding. "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk": John 5:8. Many are saved by being stirred up from long inactivity and lethargy.

6. A word associated with other means. John 9:6-7. The whole miracle is deeply instructive on this point. In these varied forms and fashions, Jesus works on the Sabbath.

III. These cures were both in and out of the synagogue.

1. There, and misbehaving. Luke 4:33.

2. There, and singled out from the crowd. Luke 6:8.

3. There, and called to Jesus. Luke 13:12.

4. After the synagogue service. Luke 14:1.

5. Too feeble to get there. John 5:5.

6. Too poor to be there. John 9:8.

IV. These cures were all unsought. This is one special feature about them all.

1. The possessed man entreated Christ to leave him alone. Luke 4:34.

2. The man with the withered hand did not think of cure. Luke 6:6.

3. The infirm woman did not hope for healing. Luke 13:11.

4. The man with the dropsy did not ask for the blessing. Luke 14:2.

5. The infirm man was too paralyzed to seek Christ. John 5:5.

6. It was an unheard-of thing that the eyes of a man born blind should be opened, and therefore he did not expect it. John 9:32. This also is the Sabbath; let us look to the Lord of the Sabbath. Will he not this day bless those who are seekers? Will he not bless those whom we bring to him? Will he not bless those for whom we pray?

Sermon bells On Sunday heaven's gate stands ope;

Blessings are plentiful and rife, More plentiful than hope.

—George Herbert. On his death-bed, Brainerd said: "I was born on a Sabbath-day; I have reason to hope I was new-born on a Sabbath-day; and I hope I shall die on this Sabbath-day." Was it not meet that the Lord of the Sabbath should specially display his sovereignty upon that day? May we not now expect that, on the Lord's-day, the Lord of the day will magnify his own name, and make the day illustrious by his grace? The first day of the week was signalized by the giving of the light of nature, and it is most delightful that now it should be a chosen day for bestowing the light of grace. It is to us the Sabbath; should not the Lord give rest to wearied hearts upon that day? Men call it Sunday: we are happy when the Sun of righteousness then arises with healing in his wings. Of old the week's work was done, and then the Sabbath dawned; but now rest leads the way: we begin the week's work with the Sabbath rest, because we first find rest in Jesus, and then labor for him. Blessed is the Lord's-day when the Lord himself speaks rest in his own finished work, to those who otherwise would have labored in vain.—C. H. S.

Christ came not into the world merely to cast a mantle over us, and hide all our filthy sores from God's avenging eye with his merits, and righteousness; but he came especially to be a chirurgeon and physician of souls, to free us from the filth and corruption of them, which are more grievous and burthen-some, more noisome to a true Christian, than the guilt of sin itself.—Cudworth.

Metaphor: Physicians come not to the sick until they are sent for; and though they come not far, yet expect to be paid for that, besides their physic. Disparity: Christ came to us, who sent not for him, which made him say, "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not": Isaiah 65:1. The patients seek not first, come not first, to the Physician; but the Physician to the patients. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10); and besides, he dearly paid all the charge of his long journey.—Benjamin Keach.

Section 174 "Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?" —John 7:11.

Jesus went to the feast in secret, and the Jews sought him. From differing motives they inquired for him, but they did inquire. No man, having once heard of Jesus, can any longer remain indifferent to him: he must take some sort of interest in the Lord Jesus. From many quarters comes the question, "Where is he?"

We will at this time—

I. Consider the ways in which the question has been asked.

1. Hate, ferociously desiring to slay him, and overthrow his cause. Herod was the type of this school.

2. Infidelity, sneeringly denying his existence, taunting his followers because his cause does not make progress: 2 Peter 3:4.

3. Timorous fear, sadly doubting his presence, power, and prevalence. "Where is he that trod the sea?" Job 23:8-9.

4. Penitence, humbly seeking him that she may confess her sin, trust her Lord, and show her gratitude to him. Job 23:3.

5. Love, heartily pining for communion with him, and for an opportunity to serve him. Solomon's Song of Solomon 3:3.

6. Fear, bitterly lamenting his absence, and craving his return.

7. Desire, ardently aspiring to meet him in his second advent, and to behold his glory. Revelation 22:20.

II. Give the saints' experimental answer.

1. He is at the mercy-seat when we cry in secret.

2. He is in the Word as we search the sacred page.

3. He is in the assemblies of his people, even with two or three.

4. He is at his table, known in the breaking of bread.

5. He is in the field of service, aiding, sympathizing, guiding, and prospering. In all things glorified before the eyes of faith.

6. He is in the furnace of trial, revealing himself, sanctifying the trial, bearing us through.

7. He is near us, yea, with us, and in us.

III. Return the question to you.

1. Is he at the bottom of your trust?

2. Is he at the root of your joys?

3. Is he on the throne of your heart?

4. Is he near you by constant converse?

5. Is his presence manifested in your spirit, your words, your actions?

6. Is he before you, the end of your journey, the terminus towards which you are daily hastening?

IV. Ask it of the angels.

They with one voice reply that the Lord Jesus Christ is—

1. In the bosom of the Father.

2. In the center of glory.

3. On the throne of government.

4. In the place of representation.

5. In the almonry of mercy.

6. Within reach of you, and of all needy sinners, who will now seek his face.

O come, let us go and find him!

We will hold no feast till he is among us.

Ana

Many years ago, there was a young man in Birmingham whom dissipation and excess had brought into a condition from which he endeavored to extricate himself by crime. The fear of detection, exposure, and ruin goaded him on to such a pitch of desperation, that he left his father's house resolutely bent on self-destruction. God's good providence led him through Bond Street; and, under some inexplicable impulse, he found himself sitting in the Baptist Chapel almost before he was aware. The minister, a Mr. Edmonds, was reading from the book of Job, occasionally throwing in some shrewd parenthetic remark. Coming to the following passage, the young man's attention was irresistibly arrested: "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him; on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him": Job 23:8-9. "Job, Job," the preacher cried entreatingly, "why don't you look upward?" These words were as nails fastened in a sure place, and the young man ever thanked God for the belief that he was unconsciously drawn by the Holy Spirit to enter that place, and that the preacher was impelled to the use of those words, to the end that his life might be redeemed from destruction, and crowned with loving-kindness and tender mercy.

"It befell me," says Henry Ward Beecher, "once to visit a friend, and to spend the night with him in a manufacturing village in New England. I had never been in the place. I supposed that, when I arrived at the station, I should find a hack that could take me directly to the clergyman's residence. But it was an unusual train that I was on, and there were no hacks there; so I had to walk. The distance to the village was three miles; but before I reached it I had walked at least thirteen miles. I got there at a time of night when all sensible people were in bed. I knew nothing about the place, and did not know where to go. I could not see any church, or store, or hotel. I wandered about for nearly half-an-hour, and at the end of that time I knew no better where I was than I did when I began my search. I never felt so helpless as I did then. I realized what it was for a man, in his own country, and speaking his own language, to be utterly lost. I knocked at three or four houses, and received no response. I went to a house where I saw a light, and found the inmates quarreling. A minister seemed to be the last thing they knew anything about. I began to think I should be obliged to sleep out-of-doors. But, as I was shooting down a certain street, almost aimless, I saw a light; and on going to the house from which it proceeded, and ringing the bell, I found that it was the very house which I was seeking. I thought a great many profitable things that night. Among the rest, I thought that I was, for all the world, like men that I had seen trying to go about the streets of Jerusalem at night, with nobody to tell them the way, and with no chart of the city, who would turn first to the right, and then to the left, without seeming to have any object except that of finding a place where their souls could put up and rest. It is pitiful to see a man whose mind is troubled, whose conscience is against him, and who yearns for spiritual rest, going hither and thither, up and down, saying, 'Have ye seen my Lord and Master? Can ye tell me where he tarries, whom my soul delights in?' " Our glorious Master is always at home, but does not always hold his receptions in the same chamber. One while he will see us in his closet, and anon in his great hall. Today he meets us in the porch, and tomorrow in the innermost room. In reading the Bible I meet him in his library, in working for him I commune with him in the garden. When full of hope I walk with him on the housetop, at another time I wait for him in the secret places of the stairs. It is well to be in the parlor where he talks in sermons, or in his drawing-room where he converses in holy-fellowship; but the best room of the house is that wherein he spreads his table, and makes himself to be our bread and wine. In any case, the one desire of our heart is to find him, and live upon him.—C. H. S.

Section 175 "So there was a division among the people because of him."—John 7:43.

Even when Jesus preached so sweetly his meek and loving doctrine, there was a division among the people.

Even about himself there was a schism.

We may not, therefore, hope to please everybody, however true may be our teaching, or however peaceful may be our spirit.

We may even dread the unity of death more than the stir of life. To this day the greatest division in the world is "because of him."

I. There was a division among non-disciples.

We may view the parties formed in his day as symbolical of those in our own.

1. Some admitted none of his claims.

2. Others admitted a portion, but denied the rest.

3. Certain admitted his claims, but neglected to follow out the legitimate consequences of them.

4. A few became his sincere hearers, going as far with him as they had yet learned of him.

Let us view persons who have thoughts about Jesus with considerable hope. Though they blunder now, they may yet come right. Let us not frighten away the birds by imprudent haste.

Let us pray for those who deny his claims, and resist his kingdom.

Let us aid those who come a little way towards the truth, and are willing to go all the way if they can but find it. Let us arouse those who neglect holy subjects altogether.

II. There was a division of believers from non-believers. This is a great and wide difference, and the more clearly the division is seen the better; for God views it as very deep and all-important.

There is a great division at this present hour—

1. In opinion: especially as to the Lord Jesus.

2. In trust: many rely on self; only the godly on Jesus.

3. In love. Differing pleasures and aims prove that hearts go after differing objects.

4. In obedience, character, and language.

5. In development, growth, tendency.

6. In destiny. The directions of the lines of life point at different places as the end of the journey. This cleavage divides the dearest friends and relatives. This is the most real and deep difference in the world.

III. Yet when faith comes, unity is produced.

There is unity among the people because of him.

1. Nationalities are blended. Calvary heals Babel.

Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ. The near and the far-off as to spiritual things are brought nigh in him, who is the one and only center of grace and truth.

Believers of all nationalities become one church.

2. Personal peculiarities cease to divide.

Workers for Christ are sure to be blended in one body by their common difficulties.

Position, rank, and wealth give way before the uniting influence of grace.

3. Mental specialties feel the touch of unity.

Saints of varying creeds have an essential union in Christ.

Saints of all the changing ages are alike in him.

Saints of all styles of education are one in Jesus.

Saints in heaven will be many as the waves, but one as the sea.

Ambitions, which else would disintegrate, are overcome, and laid at Jesus' feet.

Let us divide, if there be a division.

Let us closely unite, if there be real union in Christ.

Confirmations

Christ, who is properly the author of peace, is, on account of the wickedness of men, the occasion of discord.—John Calvin.

There never lived anyone who has so deeply moved the hearts of men as Jesus Christ has done. The greatest monarchs that ever reigned, the greatest warriors that ever fought, the greatest masters in art, or science, or literature, have never affected so many, and that to so great an extent, as Jesus of Nazareth has done. He has changed the course of the world's history, and made its condition almost inconceivably different from what it would have been but for his coming. His teachings are received by the foremost nations of the earth. Millions of men call themselves by his name. He occupies the highest place in the esteem and affection of multitudes. For his sake men have lived as none others were able or willing to live: for his sake they have died as none others could or would have died. But in proportion to the faith, the veneration, the love with which Christ is regarded by a portion of mankind, are the unbelief, the contempt and the hatred, which others display towards him. The poles are not more widely sundered than are the sentiments of men respecting Christ. There is nothing about which they are more completely at variance. Do you sing, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds?" To this day the Jew curses that name, and the infidel brands it as the name of an imposter. Do you regard Christ as worthy of your warmest love? There are those who regard him with a passionate hate. Satan himself cannot be more bitterly hostile to Christ than some men are.—P. The union of saints results from union with Christ, as the loadstone not only attracts the particles of iron to itself by the magnetic virtue, but by this virtue it unites them to one another.—Richard Cecil.

I have seen a field here, and another there, stand thick with corn. A hedge or two has parted them. At the proper season the reapers entered. Soon the earth was disburdened, and the grain conveyed to its destined place, where, blended together in the barn or in the stack, it could not be known that a hedge once separated this corn from that. Thus it is with the church. Here it grows, as it were, in different fields; severed, it may be, by various hedges. By-and-by, when the harvest is come, all God's wheat shall be gathered into the garner, without one single mark to distinguish that once they differed in the outward circumstantiality of modes or forms.—From "Parable, or Divine Poesy."

Originating among the Jews, the Christian religion was regarded at first by great Rome as a mere Jewish sect, and shared alike in the impunity and the contempt with which that people were ever treated by their imperial masters. What did a Claudius or a Vespasian know, or care to know, of this new sect of Christians or Nazarenes, any more than of those other party names of Pharisee, Sadducee, Essene, Libertine, and the like? . . . Christ was then only "one Christus," and the controversies between his followers and the Jewish priests only one of those paltry squabbles to which that restless people were chronically subject. By-and-by, as the young church became strong, it began to make its existence and its presence felt in the world, and then it stood in its genuine character and distinctive spirit, face to face with Rome. Once met, they instinctively recognized each the other as its natural and irreconcilable enemy, and straightway a war of deadliest hate began between them, which was from the first one of extermination, and could terminate only by the fall of the one or the other. There was no room in the world for Christ and Cæsar, so one or the other must die—Islay Burns.

Section 176 "My word hath, no place in you."—John 8:37. Where the Word of Jesus ought at once to be received, it is often rejected. These Jews were Abraham's seed, but they had not Abraham's faith.

Jesus knows where his Word is received, and where it has no place.

He declares that all else is unavailing; it was in vain that they were of the favored race if they did not admit the Saviour's Word into their hearts. The practical result appeared in their lives: they sought to kill Jesus.

Let us honestly consider—

I. What place the Word should have in men's hearts. The Word comes from Jesus, the appointed Messenger of God; it is true, weighty, saving; and, therefore, it must have a place among those who hear it. It ought to obtain and retain—

1. An inside place: in the thoughts, the memory, the conscience, the affections. "Thy Word have I had in mine heart": Psalms 119:11. See also Jeremiah 15:16; Colossians 3:16.

2. A place of honor; it should receive attention, reverence, faith, obedience. John 8:47; Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:24-25.

3. A place of trust. We ought in all things to rely upon the sure Word of promise, since God will neither lie, nor err, nor change. Isaiah 7:9; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2.

4. A place of rule. The Word of Jesus is the law of a Christian.

5. A place of love. It should be prized above our daily food, and defended with our lives. Job 23:12; Jude 1:3.

6. A permanent place. It must so transform us as to abide in us.

II. Why it has no place in many men.

If any man be unconverted, let us help him to a reason applicable to his case.

1. You are too busy, and so you cannot admit it.

There is no room for Jesus in the inn of your life.

Think of it,—"You are too much occupied to be saved!"

2. It does not come as a novelty, and therefore you refuse it.

You are weary of the old, old story. Are you wearied of bread? of air? of water? of life?

3. Another occupies the place the Word of Jesus should have.

You prefer the word of man, of superstition, of scepticism. Is this a wise preference?

4. You think Christ's Word too holy, too spiritual. This fact should startle you, for it condemns you.

5. It is cold comfort to you, and so you give it no place. This shows that your nature is depraved.

6. You are too wise, too cultured, too genteel, to yield yourself to the government of Jesus. John 5:44; Romans 1:22.

7. Is the reason of your rejection of the Word one of these? That you are not in earnest? That you are fond of sin? That you are greedy of evil gain? That you need a change of heart?

III. What will come of the Word of Christ having no place in you?

1. Every past rejection of that Word has involved you in sin.

2. The Word may cease to ask for place in you.

3. You may yourself become hardened, so as to decline even to hear that Word with the outward ear.

4. You may become the violent opponent of that Word, like these Jews.

5. The Word will condemn you at the last great day. John 12:48.

Let us therefore reason with you for a while.

Why do you not give place to it?

All that is asked of you is to give it place. It will bring with it all that you need.

Open wide the door, and bid it enter!

It is the Word of the Lord Jesus, the Saviour.

It means your highest good, and will greatly bless you.

Common-places

Readers of this enlightened, gold-nugget generation can form to themselves no conception of the spirit that then possessed the nobler kingly mind. Verbum Dei manet in Æternum was the epigraph and life-motto which John the Steadfast had adopted for himself. The letters, V.D.M.I.Æ., were engraved on all the furniture of his existence, standards, pictures, plate, on the very sleeves of his lackeys, and I can perceive on his own deep heart first of all.—Thomas Carlyle.

O Book! Infinite sweetness! Let my heart Suck every letter, and a honey gain, Precious for any grief in any part; To clear the breast, to mollify all pain.

—George Herbert. The only reason why so many are against the Bible, is because they know the Bible is against them.—G. S. Bowes. At one time the Malagasy did not know of any book except the Bible. There was a Creole trader, in Antananarivo, who had greatly offended some of the natives. They mobbed his house, they seized his property, and men were seen rushing in all directions, carrying away whatever they had been able to lay their hands upon. One man had got possession of the trader's ledger; and, holding it up aloft, he shouted at the top of his voice, "We have got the big Bible! We have got the big Bible!" It is to be feared that the trader's ledger is in too many cases his Bible.—Mr. Cousins, of Madagascar. The Bible has been expelled for centuries, by atheistic or sacerdotal hate, from the dwellings of many of the European nations. As a matter of course, the domestic virtues have declined; the conjugal relation is disparaged; deception and intrigue have supplanted mutual confidences; and society has become diseased to its very core. The very best thing we can do—the only thing which will be efficient—to arrest these evils, is to restore to those nations the Word of God; to replace in their houses that Bible of which they have been robbed. Only do for France and Italy, Belgium and Spain, Portugal and Austria, what has been attempted, and to a great extent accomplished, for our country; put a Bible in every family, and a mightier change will pass over Europe than can be effected by all the diplomacy of her statesmen, or all the revolutions projected by her patriots.—The Leisure Hour. The following anecdote, well told by Mr. Aitken, shows that, in some men, the Word has no place, even in their memories:—"Only a short time ago, a friend of mine was preaching in one of our cathedral churches. As he was going to select for his text a prominent passage in one of the portions for the day, he thought it expedient to inquire of the clerk, 'What did the Canon preach from this morning?' The clerk became very pensive, seemed quite disposed to cudgel his brains for the proper answer; but, somehow or other, he really could not think of it just then. All the men of the choir were robing in the adjacent vestry, so he said that he would go and ask them. Accordingly, the question was passed round the choir, and produced the same perplexity. At length the sagacious clerk returned, with the highly-explicit answer, 'It was upon the Christian religion, sir!' I think those good people must have needed a reminder as to how we should hear; don't you?"

Section 177 "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he hearest."—John 9:31.

It is ill to wrench passages of the Bible out of their con-text, and treat them as infallible Scripture, when they are only the sayings of men. By acting thus foolishly we could prove that there is no God (Psalms 14:1), that God hath forgotten his people (Isaiah 49:14), that Christ was a wine-bibber (Matthew 11:19), and that we ought to worship the devil (Matthew 4:9.) This will never do. We must inquire who uttered the sentence before we begin to preach from it. Our text is the saying of a shrewd blind man, who was far from being well-instructed. It is to be taken for what it is worth; but by no means to be regarded as Christ's teaching. The Pharisees evidently admitted the force of it, and were puzzled by it. It was a good argument as against them. This remark of the blind man is true or false as we may happen to view it.

I. It is not true in some senses.

We could not say absolutely that God heareth not sinners, for—

1. God does hear men who sin, or else he would hear no one; for there is not a man upon earth that sinneth not. 1 Kings 8:46. Not a saint would be heard; for even saints are sinners.

2. God does sometimes hear and answer unregenerate men. To show that he is truly God, and make them own it. Psalms 106:44. To manifest his great compassion, whereby he even hears the ravens' cry. Psalms 147:9. To lead them to repentance. 1 Kings 21:27. To leave them without excuse. Exodus 10:16-17. To punish them, as when he sent quails to the murmurers (Numbers 11:33), and gave Israel a king (1 Samuel 12:17), in his anger.

3. God does graciously hear sinners when they cry for mercy. Not to believe this were to render the gospel no gospel. Not to believe this were to deny facts. David, Manasseh, the dying thief, the publican, the prodigal, confirm this testimony. Not to believe this were to deny promises. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon": Isaiah 55:7.

II. It is true in other senses. The Lord does not hear sinners as he hears his own people.

1. He hears no sinner's prayer apart from the mediation of our Lord Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 2:18.

2. He will not hear a wicked, formal, heartless prayer. Proverbs 15:29.

3. He will not hear the man who wilfully continues in sin, and abides in unbelief. Jeremiah 14:12; Isaiah 1:15.

4. He will not hear the hypocrite's mockery of prayer. Job 27:9.

5. He will not hear the unforgiving. Mark 11:25-26.

6. He will not hear even his people when sin is wilfully indulged, and entertained in their hearts. Psalms 66:18.

7. He will not hear those who refuse to hear his Word, or to regard his ordinances. Proverbs 28:9.

8. He will not hear those who harden their hearts against the monitions of his Spirit, the warnings of his providence, the appeals of his ministers, the strivings of conscience, and so forth.

9. He will not hear those who refuse to be saved by grace, or who trust in their own prayers as the cause of salvation.

10. He will not hear sinners who die impenitent. At the last he will close his ear to them, as to the foolish virgins, who cried, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" Matthew 25:11.

One or two things are very clear and sure.

He cannot hear those who never speak to him.

He has never yet given any one of us a flat refusal.

He permits us at this moment to pray, and it will be well for us to do so, and see if he does not hear us.

Observations

Such is the mercy of our God, that he will wink at many infirmities in our devotions, and will not reject the prayer of an honest heart because of some weakness in the petitioner. It must be a greater cause than all this that makes God angry at our prayers. In general, it is sin. "We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." It is our sins that block up the passage of our prayers. It is not the vast distance between heaven and earth, not the thick clouds, not the threefold regions, not the sevenfold orbs, not the firmament of heaven, but only our sins, that hinder the ascent of our prayers. "When ye make many prayers, I will not hear you." Why? "Because your hands are full of blood." God will have none of those petitions that are presented to him with bloody hands. Our prayers are our bills of exchange, and they are allowed in heaven when they come from pious and humble hearts; but if we be broken in our religion, and bankrupts of grace, God will protest our bills; he will not be won with our prayers. —Thomas Adams. My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:

Words, without thoughts, never to heaven go.

—Shakespeare.

God is "neither hard of hearing, nor hard of giving." The blood of sheep and the blood of swine are both alike; yet the blood of swine was not to be offered, because it was the blood of swine: so the prayer of an unregenerate man may be as well framed, both for the petitions and for everything that is required immediately to a prayer, and yet not be accepted because of the heart and person from whom it comes.—Samuel Clark.

It is difficult to illustrate this truth, because, in human life, nothing ever takes place corresponding to what occurs when an impenitent sinner presumes to pray to God. To every government many petitions are presented, but never one by any who are in rebellion against its authority. It is universally recognized, that rebellion against any government of itself cuts off all right of petition to it. So that for an impenitent sinner to pray to God is one of the most unnatural and monstrous things that can be conceived of. The fact that God is kind, good, bountiful, does not excuse the presumption of any impenitent sinner in praying to him. That only shows how inexcusable is his impenitence. For if God is good, kind, bountiful, why does he continue impenitent and rebellious? The fact that he is in great need does not excuse the presumption or lessen the folly of an impenitent sinner in praying to God. It may be that his distress is the punishment of his sin; and for him in that case to pray to God for deliverance is as if a convicted thief were to petition Her Majesty's Government to release him, on the ground that he found it inconvenient and painful to work the treadmill. Or, it may be that his distresses are the means which God is employing for the purpose of breaking down his obstinacy and impenitence: by them God is laying siege to his soul. But what rebellious city, besieged by the forces of the lawful government, would venture to ask aid from the government, on the ground that great distress prevailed in it, while all the time its inhabitants had not the slightest intention of surrendering to the government?—The Preachers' Monthly.

Section 178

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,
and shall go in and out, and find pasture—John 10:9. Our Lord sets himself forth very condescendingly. The most sublime and poetical figures are none too glorious to describe him; but he chooses homely ones, which the most prosaic minds can apprehend. A door is a common object. Jesus would have us often think of him. A door makes a very simple emblem. Jesus would have the lowliest know him, and use him. A door to a sheepfold is the poorest form of door. Jesus condescends to be anything, so that he may serve and save his people.

I. The door. In this homely illustration we see—

1. Necessity. Suppose there had been none, we could never have entered in to God, peace, truth, salvation, purity, or heaven.

2. Singularity. There is only one door; let us not weary ourselves to find another. Salvation is by entrance at that door, and at none other. Acts 4:12.

3. Personality. The Lord Jesus is himself the door. "I am the door," saith he; not ceremonies, doctrines, professions, achievements, but the Lord himself, our Sacrifice.

4. Suitability. He is suited to be the communication between man and God, seeing he unites both in his own person, and thus lies open both earthward and heavenward. 1 Timothy 2:5.

5. Perpetuity. His "I am" is for all times and ages. Matthew 28:20. We can still come to the Father by him. John 14:6; Hebrews 7:25.

II. The users of it.

1. They are not mere observers, or knockers at the door, or sitters down before it, or guards marching to and fro in front of it. But they enter in by faith, love, experience, communion.

2. They are not certain persons who have special qualifications, such as those of race, rank, education, office, or wealth. Not lords and ladies are spoken of; but "any man."

3. They are persons who have the one qualification: they do "enter in." The person is "any man," but the essential distinction is entrance. This is intended to exclude—

Character previously acquired as a fitness for entrance.

Feeling, either of grief or joy, as a preparation for admission.

Action, otherwise than that of entering in, as a term of reception. A door may be marked private, and then few will enter. A door which is conspicuously marked as the door is evidently meant to be used. The remarkable advertisement of "I am the door," and the special promises appended to it, are the most liberal invitation imaginable.

Come then, ye who long to enter into life!

III. The privileges of these users.

They belong to all who enter: no exception is made.

1. Salvation. "He shall be saved." At once, for ever, altogether.

2. Liberty. He "shall go in and out." This is no prison-door, but a door for a flock whose Shepherd gives freedom.

3. Access. "Shall go in": for pleading, hiding, fellowship, instruction, enjoyment.

4. Egress. "He shall go out": for service, progress, etc.

5. Nourishment. "And find pasture." Our spiritual food is found through Christ, in Christ, and around Christ.

Let us enter: a door is easy of access; we shall not have to climb over some lofty wall.

Let us enter: it is a door for sheep, who have no wisdom.

Let us enter: the door is Jesus; we need not fear to draw nigh to him, for he is meek and lowly in heart.

Knockers The work of the Reformation was thus described by Stern, a German statesman: "Thank heaven, Dr. Luther has made the entrance into heaven somewhat shorter, by dismissing a crowd of door-keepers, chamberlains, and masters of ceremony." In olden times, cathedrals were regarded as places of sanctuary, where criminals and others might take refuge. Over the north porch of Durham Cathedral was a room, where two doorkeepers kept watch alternately, to admit any who at any time, either by day or by night, knocked at the gate, and claimed the protection of St. Cuthbert. Whoever comes to the door of our house of refuge, and at whatever time, finds ready admittance.

It is said that the ancient city of Troy had but one way of entrance. In whatever direction the traveler went, he would find no way to go into the city but the one which was legally appointed, and the only one which was used by those who went in and out. There is only one right way to the favor of God, to the family of God, to the presence of God in prayer, and, finally, to the city of God in eternity, and that one way is Christ. "I am the way," he declares, "and no man cometh unto the Father but by me."—John Bate.

We cannot go abroad or return home without passing through an emblem of our Lord. So near as he is in the type, so near let him be in reality. The sheep enters the fold at first by the door, and it remains in the fold because the door shuts it in. When the flock go forward, they proceed by way of the door; and when they return to their united rest, it is by the same passage. Take away the door from the fold, and the enemy would enter, or the flock would stray. A sheep-fold without a door would in effect be no fold at all.—C. H. S.

There are not half-a-dozen ways out of our sin and misery— not a choice of ways over the steep hills and desolate waste-places of this mortal life, so that by any of them we may reach heaven at last, but only one way.

But, if this is the only way, it is likewise a perfectly secure way. Via unica, via certa, is a Latin proverb in which this truth is stated very forcibly.—Dean Howson.

Since Jesus glories that he is the door, let us not hesitate to use him in that capacity. Let us hasten to enter in by him into peace, life, rest, holiness. When we see it written up in large characters, THIS IS THE WAY, we do not fear that we shall trespass if we follow it. What is a way for, but to be followed? What is a door for, but to be passed through? Say that a doorway is never passed, and you have said that it is useless. Why not brick it up? It would be no honor to the Lord Jesus for sinners to be so in awe of him as never to come to God by him; but he delights in being evermore our way of access. —C. H. S.

Section 179 "And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter."

"And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch." -John 10:22-23. The presence of Jesus brings into prominence— The place: "at Jerusalem, in the temple." The exact part of it: "Solomon's porch." The time—the season—the exact date: "it was winter." The proceedings: "it was the feast of the dedication." The main feature in all history, and in all the events of a private life, is the presence or absence of Jesus. At the time mentioned, the Lord Jesus walked manifestly among the people.

We greatly desire his spiritual presence now.

I. Will he be here? Will he be in our assembly? The place may be a very Jerusalem; but will he be there? Our meeting-place may be a temple; but will he be there?

It may be a high day; but will the Lord be with us?

It may be cold and wintry; but what of that, if he be there? Our one eager inquiry is about his presence, and we feel sure that he will come, for—

1. We have invited him, and he will not refuse his friends.

2. We are prepared for him. We are waiting to welcome him.

3. We have great need of him, and he is full of compassion.

4. We have some of his brethren here among us, and these bring him with them: indeed, he is in them.

5. We have those here whom he is seeking. He seeks lost sheep, and such are here.

6. He has promised to come. Matthew 18:20.

7. Some declare that they have already seen him. Why should not others of us enjoy the same privilege?

II. Will he stay?

He will—

1. If we prize his company, and feel that we cannot live without it. We must by earnest prayer constrain him to abide with us. Luke 24:29.

2. If we love his truth, and delight to make it known.

3. If we obey his will, and walk in sincerity and holiness.

4. If we are diligent in his service and worship.

5. If we are united in love to him, to one another, and to poor sinners.

6. If we are humbly reverent, and sit at his feet in lowly confession. The proud he will never favor.

7. If we are jealously watchful.

III. What will he do if he comes?

1. He will walk among us, and observe what we are doing, even as he noticed those who went to the temple at Jerusalem.

2. He will grieve over the spiritual condition of many, even as he mourned over the ruin of Jerusalem.

3. He will wait to give audience to any who desire to speak with him.

4. He will teach by his servant; and his Word, whether received or rejected, will be with great authority and power.

5. He will this day explain to us the temple itself, by being himself the Key to it.

Think of Jesus, who is the temple of God (Revelation 21:22), in the temple, and then understand, by the light of his presence,— The temple. Hebrews 9:11; Revelation 15:5 The altar. Hebrews 13:10; Revelation 8:3. The Sacrifice. Hebrews 9:28; 1 Corinthians 5:7. The shewbread. Hebrews 9:2. The veil. Hebrews 10:20. The ark and mercy-seat. Hebrews 9:4-5; Revelation 11:19. The Priest. Hebrews 10:12.

6. He will to his own people reveal his love, as once the Lord's light shone above the mercy-seat.

He will take us where he always walks, but where there is no winter: to the New Jerusalem, to the temple, to a more beautiful building than Solomon's Porch. Revelation 21:10-11.

Expository

What is here called "Solomon's Porch," was, strictly speaking, not a porch at all in the English sense of the word, but one of the large open colonnades that surrounded the courts. . . . The whole length of the four sides of the outer court was three-quarters of a mile. The eastern side was "Solomon's Porch." It was a vast gallery of columns in double rows. Each column, thirty-five feet high, consisted of one piece of white marble. The roof above was in panels of cedar-wood. The view, through the columns, eastward and outward, ranged across the valley over the Mount of Olives. The inward view was into the court itself, which was planted with trees, and where, at festival times, there were crowds of people.

There is much solemnity in contemplating Jesus as he "walked" among the pillars of this famous colonnade; and it is interesting to compare this passage of the life of Jesus with a much earlier one recorded by the same Evangelist. We read, in the first chapter of John's Gospel, that Jesus was "walking" —in solitude—by the banks of the Jordan, while John the Baptist and two of his disciples looked on. Then, perhaps, the Lord was meditating on his great mission, on the beginning of his work, and on the calling of the first disciples which speedily followed in that place. Now, perhaps, he was meditating on the accomplishment of his work, on the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, and on the doom of the Jewish people. The impression upon the mind is very serious when we think of Jesus, on either of these occasions, as walking in silence, either by the banks of the famous historical river, or in this colonnade of the temple, which, in another way, is equally famous in the sacred annals.—Dean Howson's "Thoughts for Saints' Days." The Mohammedans have a saying, that, whenever two persons meet, there is always a third. The proverb refers to the presence of God.—Professor Hoge. As the sun is as ready to pour its radiance upon the daisy on a village common as upon the oaks in Windsor Park, so is Christ as willing to visit the heart of the poorest and feeblest as well as the richest and noblest of earth.—Handbook of Illustration. When Christ saith, "I will be with you," you may add what you will—to protect you, to direct you, to comfort you, to carry on the work of grace in you, and in the end to crown you with immortality and glory. All this and more is included in this precious promise.—John Trapp.

Section 180

"Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come
again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I
said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I."—John 14:28.

Jesus' love makes him use the disciples' love to himself as a comfort for themselves when they are distressed about his going away.

He appeals to the warmest feeling in their hearts in order to raise their spirits.

It is well when grace has put within us principles which are springs of consolation.

O blessed Master, thou speakest ever with a view to our joy! From our text let us learn—

I. That we should try to see things in Christ's light.

1. He sees the whole of things. He says not only, "I go away," but also, "I come again unto you."

2. He sees through things. He does not say, "I die," but he looks beyond, and says, "I go unto the Father."

3. He sees the true bearing of things. The events which were about to happen were in themselves sad, but they would lead to happy results. "If ye loved me, ye would rejoice." To see facts in his light we must dwell with him, live in him, grow like him, and especially love him more and more.

II. That our love should go forth towards his person.

"If ye loved me." All about him is amiable; but he himself is altogether lovely. Solomon's Song of Solomon 5:16.

1. He is the source of all the benefits he bestows.

2. Loving him, we have him, and so his benefits.

3. Loving him, we prize his benefits the more.

4. Loving him, we sympathize in all that he does.

5. Loving him, we love his people for his sake.

6. Loving him, our love endures all sorts of rebuffs for his sake.

7. Loving him, the Father loves us. John 14:23.

8. Loving him, we are married to him. Love is the sure and true marriage-bond whereby the soul is united to Christ.

Love to a person is the most real of emotions.

Love to a person is the most influential of motives.

Love to a person is, in this case, the most natural and satisfying of affections.

III. That our sorrow ought not to put our love in question.

Yet, in the case of the disciples, our Lord justly said, "If ye loved me."

He might sorrowfully say the same to us—

1. When we lament inordinately the loss of creatures.

2. When we repine at his will, because of our severe afflictions.

3. When we mistrust his wisdom, because we are sore hampered and see no way of escape.

4. When we fear to die, and thus display an unwillingness to be with our Lord. Surely, if we loved him, we should rejoice to be with him.

5. When we complain concerning those who have been taken from us to be with him. Ought we not to rejoice that Jesus in them sees of the travail of his soul, and has his prayer answered, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am?" John 17:24.

IV. That our love should make us rejoice at our Lord's exaltation, though it be our personal loss.

1. It was apparently the disciples' loss for their Lord to go to the Father; and we may think certain dispensations to be our loss— When we are tried by soul-desertion, while Christ is magnified in our esteem. When we are afflicted, and he is glorified, by our sorrows. When we are eclipsed, and in the result the gospel is spread. When we are deprived of privileges for the good of others. When we sink lower and lower in our own esteem, but the kingdom of God comes with power.

2. It was greatly to our Lord's gain to go to his Father.

Thus he left the field of suffering for ever.

Thus he reassumed the glory which he had laid aside.

Thus he received the glory awarded by the Father.

Thus he became enthroned for his church and cause.

It will be well for us to look more to our love than to our joy, and to expect our joy through our love.

It will be well for us to know that smallness of love may dim the understanding, and that growth in it may make us both wiser and happier. In all things our Lord must be first. Yes, even in those most spiritual delights, about which it may seem allowable to have strong personal desires.

Striking Paragraphs

Observe that Christ does not say, "My Father was greater than I," in reference to his pre-existent glory; nor, "My father will be greater than I," in reference to the glory which he was to resume after his exaltation; but he uses a style of expression which shows that he refers to the present time—to the time of his humiliation in the flesh. The apostles had been expressing regret at the announcement of his immediate departure, and this passage contains a soft rebuke of the selfishness of their feelings. We may paraphrase it thus: "If ye really loved me on my own account—if the regard and affection you profess to entertain were purely disinterested in its nature—so far from evincing sorrow at the prospect of my departure, you would rejoice that I shall leave this state of temporary degradation; that I shall cease to be the Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief; that I shall resume that original and essential glory which I enjoyed with the Father from eternity. As long as I continue in my present state of humiliation, my Father is greater in glory than I; but when the days of my flesh shall terminate, I shall then be glorified with the Father's own self, with that glory which I had with him before the world was created." This is obviously the correct paraphrase of the passage; no other interpretation of the words, "For my Father is greater than I," could justify, or attach any force to, the interesting appeal which the Saviour makes to the love and affection of his disciples.—Dean Bagot.

Dr. John Duncan, having heard a sermon on the kingdom of heaven, in which the blessings of the new covenant were compared to a market, in which a man could buy everything needed for eternal life, met his friend Dr. Moody Stuart, at the close of the service, and said to him, "Dear friend, when I heard of the good things that were offered in the market, I said to myself, I will marry the merchant, and they will all be mine."—The Christian. The author of a biographical sketch of the late Rev. W. Robinson, of Cambridge, says, "In one of my last conversations with him, I was referring to the sadness of seeing our good men die; and he turned to me with the well-known blaze in his eye, and emphasis of his voice, saying, 'I think it glorious.' " A saint cares not how ill it goes with him so it goes well with Jesus Christ; he saith, as Mephibosheth to David, "Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house": 2 Samuel 19:30. So it may go well with God's name, Moses cares not though his be blotted out of the book of life; and, said John the Baptist, "He must increase, but I must decrease; this my joy, therefore, is fulfilled." —Ralph Venning.

Section 181 "Arise, let us go hence."—John 14:31.

We cannot be long in one stay. A voice ever sounds in our ear, "Arise, let us go hence."

Even when we have conversed on the sweetest themes, or have enjoyed the holiest ordinances, we have not yet come to our eternal abode; still are we on the march, and the trumpet soundeth. "Arise, let us go hence." Our Lord was under marching-orders, and he knew it: for him there was no stay upon this earth.

Hear how he calls himself, and all his own, to move on, though bloody sweat, and bloody death be in the way.

I. Our Master's watchword.

"Arise, let us go hence." By this stirring word—

1. He expressed his desire to obey the Father, "As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."

He was not hindered by expected suffering.

He did not start back, though in that suffering there would be the special element of his Father's forsaking him.

He did not hesitate, though death was in near prospect.

He was eager to do the will of the Father, and make all heaven and earth know how entirely he yielded himself to the Father.

2. He indicated his readiness to meet the arch-enemy. "The prince of this world cometh. Arise, let us go hence."

He was prepared for the test. He "hath nothing in me."

He was eager to overthrow his dominion.

3. He revealed his practical activity. All through the chapter observe our Lord's energy. He is ever on the move. "I go. I will come again. I will do it. I will pray. Arise, let us go hence."

He prefers action to the most sacred rites, and so leaves the Supper-table with this word on his lips.

He prefers action to the sweetest converse. "I will not talk much with you. Arise, let us go hence."

4. He manifested his all-consuming love to us.

He was straitened till he had accomplished our redemption.

He could not rest in the company of his best-beloved till their ransom was paid.

He would not sit at God's right hand till he had felt the shame of the cross, and the bitterness of death. Hebrews 12:2.

II. Our own motto.

"Arise, let us go hence."

Ever onward, ever forward, we must go. Exodus 14:15.

1. Out of the world when first called by grace. 2 Corinthians 6:17.

How clear the call! How prompt should be our obedience!

Jesus is without the camp, we go forth unto him. Hebrews 13:13.

We must arouse ourselves to make the separation. "Arise, let us go hence."

2. Out of forbidden associations, if, as believers, we find ourselves like Lot in Sodom. "Escape for thy life": Genesis 19:17.

3. Out of present attainments when growing in grace. Php 3:13-14.

4. Out of all rejoicing in self. There we must never stop for a single instant. Self-satisfaction should startle us.

5. To work, anywhere for Jesus. We should go away from Christian company, and home comforts, to win souls. Mark 16:15.

6. To defend the faith where it is most assailed. We should be prepared to quit our quiet, to contend with the foe. Jude 1:3.

7. To suffer when the Lord lays affliction upon us. 2 Corinthians 12:9.

8. To die when the voice from above calls us home. 2 Timothy 4:6.

O sinner, where would you go if suddenly summoned?

O saint, what better could happen to you than to arise and go hence?

Trumpet calls

It was well said once by a remarkable man, and the words are worth remembering,—"Bear in mind that you are just then beginning to go wrong when you are a little pleased with yourself because you are going right." Let us watch against this as a snare of Satan, and endeavor ever to maintain the apostolic attitude: "In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than himself." And let me caution you not to make the mistake of supposing that this self-complacency can be effectually guarded against by a mere use of the recognized theological expressions duly ascribing all the merit and all the praise to God. These are too often merely the garments of spiritual pride, and by no means must they be mistaken for true humility.—W. H. M. H. Aitken.

I heard a friend of mine, not long ago, relate an incident, which I will venture to repeat, as well as I remember it. He was having an earnest conversation, upon the necessity of full consecration, with a lady who professed to know Christ as her Saviour, but shrank from yielding herself fully to him. At last she said, with more outspoken honesty, I am afraid, than many who mean exactly the same thing display, "I don't want to give myself right over to Christ; for, if I were to do so, who knows what he might do with me? For aught I know, he might send me to China." Years had passed away when my friend received a most deeply interesting letter from this very lady, telling of how her long conflict with God had come to an end, and what happiness and peace she now felt in the complete surrender of herself to her Lord; and referring to her former conversation she said, "And now I am my own no longer, I have made myself over to God, without reserve, and he is sending me to China."—W. H. M. H. Aitken.

Pressed on all sides by the enemy, the Austrian General Melas sent a messenger to Suwarrow, asking whither he should "retire." Suwarrow wrote with a pencil, "Forward." That pencil wrote a word immortal—a word which, in the memory and admiration of mankind, shall outlive a thousand boastful records on stoned marble—a word which no lapse of ages can erase. The zealous are impatient of any hindrances. As Edmund Burke said to the electors of Bristol, "Applaud us when we run; console us when we fall; cheer us when we recover; but let us pass on—for God's sake, let us pass on!"

History tells us that, when the great Roman Catholic missionary—the apostle of the east—was lying on his dying bed, among the barbarous people whom he loved so well, his passing spirit was busy about his work, and even in the article of death, while the glazing eye saw no more clearly, and the ashen lips had begun to stiffen into eternal silence, visions of further conquests flashed before him, and his last word was "Amplius:" onward. Brethren, let this be our motto, and our cry: "Onward." Until the last wandering sheep, far out upon the bleak mountain-side hears Christ's voice, and is gathered into his fold.—A. H. Baynes.

We must be careful not to get out of the sound of the Master's voice. It is for us to watch and wait for his orders. When adjutant of my regiment there were always orderlies on duty at the orderly-room. In a garrison town, such as Dublin, I always had two. Their place was just outside the orderly-room door, within sound of my voice. They were watching and waiting for orders; they took letters, messages, etc. They were not always carrying messages, but they could not go away without my leave, and it was their duty to be always ready. They were doing their duty while watching and waiting, as much as when actually carrying a letter or message. So with the servant of Christ—"Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily . . . waiting at the posts of my doors." A lady, who had been maid of honor to the Queen, said that it used to be her great delight to try and place herself near the Queen, that she might have the opportunity of doing any little service for her sovereign.—From "Communion and Conflict" by Captain Dawson.

Section 182 "He saith unto the Jews, Behold your king."—John 19:14.

Pilate spake far more than he understood, and therefore we shall not confine ourselves to his meaning.

Everything concerning our Lord was more than ever full of meaning just then; the saying of Caiaphas, the fleeing of the disciples, the dividing of his garments, the soldier piercing his side, etc.

It was to the Jews that Jesus was brought forth, and by them he was rejected; yet was he distinctly declared to be their King. The same is repeated at this day among those favored with special privileges; but whether they accept him or not, he is assuredly in some sense or other their King. To the summons of the text the answer was mockery.

We would with deepest reverence draw near, and behold our King.

I. Behold him preparing his throne.

1. He lays the foundation of it in his suffering nature.

2. He makes it a throne of grace by his atoning griefs.

3. He prepares access to it through his ability to have compassion on those who come to him, by partaking in all their sorrows.

4. He canopies and glorifies it by the shame to which he willingly and unreservedly yields himself.

Believe in the perpetuity of a throne thus founded.

II. Behold him claiming our homage.

He claims and wins our adoration—

1. By the right of supreme love.

2. By the right of complete purchase.

3. By the right of grateful consecration, which we heartily accord to him under a sense of loving gratitude.

Glory in rendering homage thus made due.

III. Behold him subduing his dominions.

1. Jews and Gentiles are won to obedience by beholding his sufferings for them.

2. This brings in his own elect everywhere.

3. This restores backsliders. They look to him whom they have wounded, and return to their allegiance.

4. This holds all his true servants captive: they glory in yielding their all to him who was thus put to shame for them.

5. This subdues all things unto him. By his cross and passion he reigns in heaven, earth, and hell.

Bow low before the sceptre of his Cross.

IV. Behold him setting forth the pattern of his kingdom.

He stands there the Prophet and the Type of his own dominion.

1. It is no earthly kingdom: the difference is palpable to all.

2. It is associated with shame and suffering, both on the part of the King and of his loyal subjects.

3. It is based on his love and self-sacrifice: this is his right of sovereignty, this his force of arms, this the source of his revenue.

4. It is made resplendent by his woes: these are the insignia and ornaments of his court; his glory even in heaven.

Glory only in the cross.

V. Behold him proving the certainty of his kingdom.

1. Is he King there in his shame? Then, assuredly, he is King now that he has risen from the dead, and gone into the glory.

2. Is he King amid shame and pain? Then he is able to help us if we are in like case.

3. Is he King while paying the price of our redemption? Then, certainly, he is King now that it is paid, and he has become the author of eternal salvation.

4. Is he King at Pilate's bar? Then, truly, he will be so when Pilate stands at his bar to be judged.

Come hither, saints, and pay your accustomed worship!

Come hither, sinners, and adore for the first time!

Glimpses

It is far worse to despise a Saviour in his robes than to crucify him in his rags. An affront is more criminal to a prince upon his throne than when he is disguised as a subject, and masked in the clothes of his servant. Christ is entered into glory after his sufferings; all who are his enemies must enter into misery after their prosperity: and whosoever will not be ruled by his golden sceptre shall be crushed by his rod.— Stephen Charnock. Did Pilate hope to melt the Jewish heart to a sort of scornful pity? Did he think that they would turn away from so wretched an object, and be ashamed of having accused him of treason? Perhaps so. But he failed. The sorrows of Jesus do not of themselves overcome the hate of man; but this fact proves how desperately hardened his heart has become.

Given the holy Spirit, there is nothing more likely to win men to Jesus than beholding him in his sorrows. Behold, O man, and see what thy sin has done, what thy Redeemer has borne, and what he claims of thee! Behold him not as another's, but as thine! Behold him not only as thy Friend, thy Saviour, but thy King! Behold him, and at once fall at his feet, and own thyself his loving subject!—C. H. S.

"Behold your King."—This is neither an impossible nor a delusive command. The eye that looks away up to Jesus will behold him now: and what shall we behold? The vision is all of beauty, and glory, and coronation now. The sorrow and the marred visage are past; and even when we behold him as the Lamb of God, it is the Lamb "in the midst of the throne" now.

O daughters of Zion, who gaze by faith upon Jesus our King, what do you see? Oh the music of the answers!—"We see Jesus crowned with glory and honor!" "Fairer than the children of men." "Beautiful and glorious!" "How great is his beauty!" "His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars," and "as the sun shineth in his strength!" "Yea, he is altogether lovely!"—Frances Ridley Havergal.

Section 183 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?"—John 20:15.

Woman has had many reasons for weeping since the fall.

Jesus went to his death amid weeping women, and on his rising he met a little company of them. The first words of a risen Saviour are to a weeping woman.

He who was born of woman has come to dry up woman's tears.

Observe the wise method followed by the divine Consoler.

Magdalene is to state the reason of her weeping. "Why weepest thou?" Often sorrow vanishes when it is defined. It is wise to chase away mystery and understand the real cause of grief.

He helps her also by coming nearer to her grief in the second question: "Whom seekest thou?" She was seeking him.

He was himself the answer to his own inquiries. In all cases Jesus is the most suitable Comforter and comfort.

Let us put this question. "Why weepest thou?" in two ways.

I. Is it natural sorrow?

1. Art thou bereaved? The risen Saviour comforts thee; for—

He assures thee of the resurrection of the departed.

He is with thee, thy living Helper.

He sympathizes with thee, for he once lost his friend Lazarus; yea, he himself has died.

2. Are thy beloved ones sick? Sorrow not impatiently; for—

He lives to hear prayer for healing.

He waits to bless them if they are dying.

3. Art thou thyself sick? Be not impatient; for—

Jesus lives to moderate thy pains.

Jesus lives to sustain thy heart under suffering.

Jesus lives to give to thy body, as he has done to thy soul.

4. Art thou poor? Do not murmur, for—

He lives, and is rich.

He would have thee find thine all in himself.

He will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

5. Art thou of a sorrowful spirit? Do not despond, but—

See where his sorrows have brought him.

See how he came to the sorrowful, and how he cometh still.

See what he does in his consoling ministry, and imitate him by cheering others. Thus thou shalt thyself be comforted.

II. Is it spiritual sorrow?

1. Distinguish. See whether it be good or ill "Why weepest thou?" Is it selfish sorrow? Be ashamed of it. Is it rebellious? Repent of it. Is it ignorant? Learn of Jesus, and so escape it. Is it hopeless? Believe in God and hope ever. Is it gracious? Then thank him for it.

2. Declare. Tell Jesus all about it. "Why weepest thou?" Is it sorrow for others? He weeps with thee. Are loved ones abiding in sin? Is the church cold and dead? Is it the sorrow of a seeking saint? He meets thee.

Dost thou miss his presence?

Hast thou grieved his Holy Spirit?

Canst thou not attain to holiness?

Canst thou not serve him as much as thou desirest? Do thy prayers appear to fail? Does thine old nature rebel? Is it the sorrow of one in doubt? He will strengthen thee. Come to Jesus as a sinner. Is it the sorrow of a seeking sinner? He will receive thee.

Dost thou weep because of past sin?

Dost thou fear because of thine evil nature?

Art thou unable to understand the gospel?

Dost thou weep lest thou grow hardened again?

Dost thou mourn because thou canst not mourn?

He is before thee: believe in him, and weeping will end.

He accepts thee: in him thou hast all thou art seeking for.

Consolatory Thoughts A Hindu woman said to a missionary, "Surely your Bible was written by a woman." "Why?" "Because it says so many kind things for women. Our pundits never refer to us but in reproach."

"Woman, why weepest thou?" God and his angels take notice of every tear of our devotion. The sudden wonder hath not dried her eyes, nor charmed her tongue: she freely confesseth the cause of her grief to be the missing of her Saviour: "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." Alas! good Mary, how dost thou lose thy tears? Of whom dost thou complain but of thy best Friend? Who hath removed thy Lord but himself? Who but his own Deity hath taken away his human body out of the region of death? Neither is he now laid any more; he stands by thee, whose removal thou complainest of. Thus many a tender and humble soul afflicts itself with the want of that Saviour whom it hath, and feeleth not.—Bishop Hall.

She turns away from the angels, like a Rachel who will not be comforted. But there is comfort in store for her, sorrow as she may. We have an example given us here of how only the Lord himself can suffice to comfort spirits like that of Mary Magdalene. The Lord sees the heart, and none shall weep for him in vain; but even the angels, gracious though their sympathy be, must leave the task of comforting the deepest sorrow to the Lord.—Rudolf Stier. The first words that ever Christ spake after his resurrection to them he appeared to, were, "Woman, why weepest thou?" It is a good question after Christ's resurrection. What cause of weeping remains now that Christ is risen? Our sins are forgiven, because he, our Head and Surety, hath suffered death for us; and if Christ be risen again, why weep we? If we be broken-hearted, humbled sinners, that have interest in his death and resurrection, we have no cause to grieve.—Richard Sibbes.

"Good men weep easily," says the Greek poet; and the better any are, the more inclined to weeping, especially under affliction. As you may see in David, whose tears, instead of gems, were the ornaments of his bed; in Jonathan, Job, Ezra, Daniel, etc. "How," says one, "shall God wipe away my tears in heaven if I shed none on earth? And how shall I reap in joy if I sow not in tears? I was born with tears, and I shall die with tears; and why then should I live without them in this valley of tears?"—Thomas Brooks. Be not troubled, my soul. God has for thee something better than thy imaginings. It is with thee as with the women of Galilee. They sought only a dead form, and they found a living Lord. Thou also hast been too eager for the earthly form of thy hope's fulfillment. Has he promised that all things shall work together for thy good, and yet denied thee the comforts of the world? What then? Is his promise void? May it not be that thou hast found thy promise in the very region where it seems to have failed thee, in the privations and sorrows of life? What matter though thou hast lost the form, if thou hast found the sepulchre vacant? The loss is a gain, and the vacancy is fulness of joy. There are losses which mean nothing less than resurrection. I rise more by the discovery of my wants than by the discovery of my possessions. . . . O fragrance of the broken ointment box! O light of resurrection! reached from human emptiness, I am enriched by the gain of thee.— Dr. George Matheson.

Section 184

"Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to
my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend
unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God."—John 20:17 The lesson is to a soul brought into the conscious presence of the Lord.

Oh, to be in that condition!

Mary Magdalene had wept because of her Lord's absence, and longed to find him; and now she has her desire: he stands before her.

Oh, that we knew where we might find him! Job 23:3. Her conduct in holding him by the feet was natural, and it yet was forbidden by a higher wisdom than that of mortal men.

I. The caution.

"Touch me not."

1. We may blunder even in our closest fellowship, and may need a prohibition. We have never greater need of caution than in our nearest approaches to God. Courtiers must be most careful in the throne-room.

2. We may carnalize the spiritual. This has ever been a tendency with even the best of the saints; and it has misled many in whom affection has been stronger than intellect.

3. We may seek most passionately what is by no means essential. The assurance of sense, by touch or otherwise: when the assurance of faith is far better, and quite sufficient. The detaining of one who has no intention of going.

4. We may crave what were better further on. When we are raised to eternal glory we shall be able to enjoy what now we must not ask.

5. We may be selfish in our enjoyments.

Staying to contemplate alone by ourselves, when we ought rather to bless others by publishing the blessed news. 2 Kings 7:9.

II. The mission.

"Go to my brethren."

She would have preferred to stay, but Jesus bids her go.

1. This was better for her. Contemplation alone may degenerate into the sentimental, the sensuous, the impracticable.

2. This was better for them. They heard the best of news from the most trustworthy of informants.

3. This was unquestioningly done by this holy woman. What she had seen she declared.

What she heard she told.

Women are said to be communicative; and so there was wisdom in the choice.

Women are affectionate, and so persuasive; and therefore fit to bear such a tender message as we have now to consider.

III. The title.

"My brethren." Our Lord, of design, chose this title to comfort his sorrowing ones. They had so acted as almost to cease to be his followers, disciples, or friends: but brotherhood is an abiding relationship. They were—

1. His brethren, though he was about to ascend to his throne.

He was still a man, though no more to suffer and die.

He still represented them as their risen Head.

He was still one with them in all his objects and prospects.

2. His brethren, though they had forsaken him in his shame. Relationship abiding, for brotherhood cannot be broken.

Relationship owned more than ever; since their sense of guilt made them afraid. He was a true Joseph to them. Genesis 45:4.

Relationship dwelt upon, that they might be reassured.

Never let us omit the tender sweetness of the gospel, its courtesies, benedictions, and love-words, such as the "My brethren" of the text before us. If we leave out these precious words we shall mar the Master's message of grace.

IV. The tidings.

"I ascend unto my Father, and your Father." This message was meant to arouse and comfort them.

1. By the news of his departure they are to be aroused.

2. By the news of his ascension they are to be confirmed.

3. By his ascension to the common Father they are to be comforted with the prospect of coming there themselves. He is not going into an unknown country, but to his home and theirs. John 14:2.

4. By his ascent to God they are to be struck with solemn awe, and brought the more reverently to look for his presence among them.

See how practical our Lord is, and how much he values the usefulness of his servants. Have we not somewhat to tell?

Whether man or woman, tell the Lord's brethren what the Lord hath told to thee.

Touches

It is this that men will labor after, and have labored for, even from the beginning of the world,—to be too much addicted to the things of sight and sense. They will worship Christ, but they must have a picture before them. They will adore Christ, but they must bring his body down to a piece of bread. They must have a presence, and so, instead of raising their hearts to God and Christ in a heavenly manner, they pull down God and Christ to them. This the pride and base earthliness of man will do. And therefore saith Christ, "Touch me not" in that manner; it is not with me now as it was before. We must take heed of mean and base conceits of Christ. What saith Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:16? "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." Christ after the flesh was of such a tribe and of such a stature, and had such gifts and qualities. What is that to me? Christ is now Lord of lords and Kings of kings. He is glorious in heaven, and so I conceive of him.—Richard Sibbes.

"Touch me not."—By which we are to understand not that the Lord would have objected to this token of her affection, for we find that soon after the Lord made Thomas put his hand into his side (verse 25); but this was not the moment for Mary to be so employed. The Lord had a message to send by her to his disciples. It was time that they, as well as herself, should receive the joyful tidings of his resurrection; therefore he would first send her to them.—Dr. Hawker. To whom then dost thou send her? "Go to my brethren." Blessed Jesus! who are these? Were they not thy followers? Yea, were they not thy forsakers? Yet still thou stylest them thy brethren. O admirable humanity! O infinite mercy! How dost thou raise their titles with thyself? At first they were thy servants, and then thy disciples; a little before thy death they were thy friends; now, after thy resurrection, they were thy brethren. Thou that wert exalted infinitely higher from mortal to immortal, descendest so much lower to call them brethren who were before friends, disciples, servants.—Bishop Hall.

While the going up of Elias may be compared to the flight of a bird which none can follow, the ascension of Christ is, as it were, a bridge between heaven and earth, laid down for all who are drawn to him by his earthly existence.—Baumgarten.

Section 185

"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold
my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into
my side: and be not faithless, but believing."—John 20:27

How struck must Thomas have been when his Lord addressed to him the very words which he had himself used! (See verse 25.) Jesus knows how to send the word home to us. In the church of today we have many a Thomas,—slow, suspicious, critical, full of doubts, yet true-hearted.

Thomas set his Lord a test, and thus tried his patience. The Lord accepted the test, and so proved his condescension. The proof sufficed for Thomas, and thus showed the Lord's wisdom.

Peradventure, certain among us would desire tests of some such sort. To those we would earnestly say,—

I. Crave no sign.

After the full proofs which Christ gave to his apostles, we need no more, and to look for further signs and evidences would be wrong. Yet some are demanding miracles, faith-healings, visions, voices, impressions, transports, depressions, etc.

1. It is dishonoring to your Lord.

2. It is unreasonable, when the truth bears its own evidence.

3. It is presumptuous. How dare we stipulate for proof more than sufficient, or demand evidence of a sort which pleases our prejudices!

4. It is damaging to ourselves. Faith must be weak while we demand for it such proofs; and in this weakness lies incalculable mischief.

5. It is dangerous. We may readily be driven either into infidelity or superstition, if we give way to this craving for signs.

Picture what Thomas could and would have become under the influence of his unbelief, had not his Lord interposed.

II. Yet turn to Christ's wounds.

Let these stand to you instead of signs and wonders. Behold in these wounds—

1. The seals of his death. He did actually and truly die. How could he outlive that wound in his side?

2. The identification of his person as actually risen.

3. The tokens of his love. He has graven us upon the palms of his hands.

4. The ensigns of his conflict, of which he is not ashamed, for he displays them.

5. The memorials of his passion, by which he is manifested in glory as the Lamb that was slain. Revelation 5:6. This should more than suffice you; but should doubt still linger—

III. Use such evidences as you possess.

1. The sacred narrative of our Lord's life and death, if carefully studied exhibits a singular self-evidencing power.

2. The regenerating and purifying result of faith in the great Lord is a further piece of evidence. "By their fruits ye shall know them": Matthew 7:20.

3. The solace which faith yields in sorrow is good proof.

4. The strength it gives in the hour of temptation is further help.

5. The ardor of mind and elevation of aim, which faith in Jesus creates, are other experimental arguments.

6. The visitations of the Holy Spirit, in quickening the heart, reviving the spirit, and guiding the mind, are additional proofs. Thus the Holy Ghost bears witness to our Lord.

7. The actual enjoyment of fellowship with the Lord Jesus himself is the master-key of the whole controversy. "We have known and believed": 1 John 4:16. Does this seem an idle tale to you? Should you not see cause for fear if it be so?

Seek now to view those wounds believingly, that you may live.

Notes For all thy rankling doubts so sore, Love thou thy Saviour still;

Him for thy Lord and God adore, And ever do his will.

Though vexing thoughts may seem to last, Let not thy soul be quite o'ercast;

Soon will he show thee all his wounds, and say, "Long have I known thy name—know thou my face alway."

—Keble

We learn here how prone we are to establish improper criteria of truth. How often do we judge of things exclusively by our experience, our reason, our senses! But what can be more foolish than this? To how small a distance do these powers extend? How many things are certainly true, the truth of which falls not within the compass of either! How many things can a man relate, which appear impossible to a child! Tell the inhabitant of the sultry climes, that, at a certain season of the year, water, which he has only seen in a fluid state, becomes solid and hard enough to walk upon—and it will seem to him an idle tale: he has witnessed no such thing, and reasoning from what he knows, deems it incredible. If Thomas had constantly judged according to the rule he professed, how little could he have believed at all! . . . To believe no more than we can comprehend, or reduce to some of our modes of knowledge, is not to honor the authority of God at all; yea, it is a reflection upon his wisdom, and upon his veracity: upon his wisdom—as if he could tell us no more than we know; and upon his veracity—as if he were not to be trusted if he could.—William Jay.

Skillful swimmers are not afraid to go above their depth, whereas young learners feel for the ground, and are loath to go far from the bank-side. Strong faith fears not when God carries the creature beyond the depths of his reason. "We know not what to do," said good Jehoshaphat, "but our eyes are upon thee": 2 Chronicles 20. As if he had said, "We are in a sea of trouble beyond our own help, or any thought how we can wind out of these straits, but our eyes are upon thee. We dare not give up our case for desperate so long as there is strength in thine arm, tenderness in thy bowels, and truth in thy promise." Whereas weak faith, that is groping for some footing for reason to stand on, is taken up with how to reconcile the promise to the creature's understanding.—William Gurnall.

Section 186

"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that
have not seen, and yet have be lieved."—John 20:29 Those who saw and believed not, were far from being blessed.

Those who saw him and believed, were undoubtedly blessed.

Those who have not seen, and yet have believed, are emphatically blessed.

There remains the superlative degree of blessedness in seeing Jesus face to face without need of believing in the same sense as now. But for the present this is our blessedness, this is our place in the gospel history,—we have not seen, and yet have believed. What a comfort that so high a degree of blessedness is open to us!

I. Do not let us diminish this blessedness.

1. Let us not diminish it by wishing to see. By pining for some imaginary voice, or vision, or revelation. By craving marvelous providences, and singular dispensations. By hungering for despairs or transports. By perpetually demanding arguments, and logical demonstrations. By clamoring for conspicuous success in connection with the preaching of the Word, and the missionary operations of the church. By being anxious to believe with the majority. Truth has usually been with the minority.

2. Let us not diminish it by failing to believe.

Believe practically, so as to act upon our faith.

Believe intensely, so as to laugh at contradictions.

Believe livingly, so as to be simple as a child.

Believe continually, so as to be evenly confident.

Believe personally, so as to be assured alone, even if all others give the lie to the doctrines of the Lord.

Believe thoroughly, so as to find the rest of faith.

II. Do not let us think this blessedness unattainable.

1. This blessedness is linked forever with the faith which our Lord accepts: in fact, it is the appointed reward of it.

2. God deserves such faith of us. He is so true that his unsupported word is quite enough for faith to build upon. Can we only believe him as far as we can see him?

3. Thousands of saints have rendered, and are rendering, such faith, and are enjoying such blessedness at this moment. We are bound to have fellowship with them in like precious faith.

4. Hitherto our own experience has warranted such faith. Has it not?

5. Those of us who are now enjoying the blessed peace of faith can speak with great confidence upon the matter.

Why, then, are so many cast down? Why will they not believe?

III. Do not let any of us miss it. The faith which our Lord described is exceedingly precious, and we ought to seek after it, for—

1. It is the only true saving faith. Faith which demands sight is not faith at all, and cannot save the soul.

2. It is in itself most acceptable with God. Nothing is acceptable without it (Hebrews 11:6). It is the evidence of the acceptance of the man and his works.

3. It is a proof of grace within: of a spiritual mind, a renewed nature, a reconciled heart, a newborn spirit.

4. It is the root-principle of a glorious character.

5. It is exceedingly useful to others: in comforting the despondent, in impressing unbelievers, in cheering seekers, etc.

6. It enriches its possessor to the utmost, giving power in prayer, strength of mind, decision of character, firmness under temptation, boldness in enterprise, joy of soul, realization of heaven, etc.

Know you this faith?

Blessedness lies that way. Seek it!

Contributions But why specially blessed? Because the Holy Spirit hath wrought this faith in their hearts. They are blessed in having a believing heart; they are blessed in the instrument of their belief; blessed in having an evidence that they are passed from death unto life: "whom, having not seen, ye love." It is more blessed to believe than to see, because it puts more honor upon God's word. It is more blessed, because it presents us with a more invariable object. He that can trust an unseen Saviour may trust him in all circumstances: shut him up in a dungeon, separate from all sight and light, it matters not; for he has always a heart to believe unto righteousness, and his soul rests upon a rock that shall never be moved. The same faith that takes hold of an unseen, risen Saviour, takes hold of every other truth in the gospel.—Richard Cecil.

"With men," says Bishop Hall, "it is a good rule to try first, and then to trust; with God it is contrary. I will first trust him, as most wise, omnipotent, merciful, and try him afterwards." By constant sight, the effect of objects seen grows less; by constant faith, the effect of objects believed in grows greater. The probable reason of this is that personal observation does not admit of the influence of the imagination in impressing the fact; while unseen objects, realized by faith, have the auxiliary aid of the imagination, not to exaggerate them, but to clothe them with living colors, and impress them upon the heart. Whether this be the reason or not, the fact is true that, the more frequently we see, the less we feel the power of an object; while the more frequently we dwell upon an object by faith, the more we feel its power.—J. B. Walker.

Faith makes invisible things visible, absent things present, things that are very far off to be very near unto the soul.— Thomas Brooks. The region of unbelief is black with God's frown, and filled with plagues and wrath; but the region of faith is as the floor of heaven for brightness. Christ's righteousness shelters it, the graces of the Spirit beautify it, and the eternal smile of God comforts and glorifies it.—Dr. Hoge.

It would grieve an indulgent father to see his own child come into court, and there bear witness against him and charge him of some untruth in his words, more than if a stranger should do it; because the testimony of a child, though, when it is for the vindication of a parent, it may lose some credit in the opinion of those that hear it, upon the suspicion of partiality, yet, when against a parent, it seems to carry some more probability of truth than what another that is a stranger says against him; because the band of natural affection with which the child is bound to his parent is so sacred that it will not be easily suspected. He cannot be supposed to offer violence to it, except upon the more inviolable necessity of bearing witness to the truth.

O think of this, Christian, again and again—by thy unbelief thou bearest false witness against God! And if thou, a child of God, speakest no better of thy heavenly Father, and presentest him with no fairer character to the world, it will be no wonder if it be confirmed in its hard thoughts of God, even to final impenitency and unbelief, when it shall see how little credit he finds with thee, for all thy great profession of love towards him and near relationship to him.—William Gurnall.