Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

25. — {Then said some of... Jerusalem, etc.'} It is likely that these speakers were some of the lower orders who lived at Jerusalem, and knew what the rulers wauted to do to our Lord. They can hardly be the same as " the people " at 20th verse. They, being probably strangers to the plans of the priests and Pharisees, said, "who goeth about to kill Thee?" These, on the other hand, say, " is not this He whom they seek to kill? "

Tittman remarks that the argument of the preceding verses " appears to have had great weight in the miuds of our Lord's hearers."

26.— [But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing, etc.'] There appears to have been a restraining power put on our Lord's enemies at this juncture. (S<-e verse 30.) It certainly seems to have struck the people before us as a remarkable thing, that our Lord should speak out so boldly, openly, and publicly, and yet no effort be made by the rulers to apprehend Him and stop His teaching. No wonder that they asked the question which immediately follows. "Have our rulers changed their mind? Are they convinced at last? Have they really found out that this is truly the Messiah, the Christ of God? "

The Greek words would be more literally rendered, " Have the rulers truly learned that this man is truly the Christ? "

27. — [Howbeit ice know this man whence he is.~] This means that they knew that our Lord was from Nazareth of Galilee. This, we must remember, was the universal belief of all the Jews. When our Lord rode iuto Jerusalem, just before his crucifixion, the multitude said, "This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." (Matt. xxi. 11.) When an inscription was put over His head on the cross, in the letters of the three languages, it was, "Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews." ( John xix. 19. See also Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3; Luke iv. 22.) Yet we know all this time that the Jews were mistaken, and that our Lord was in reality born at Bethlehem, according to prophecy. (Micah v. 2.) We can hardly doubt that the Jews might have found out this, if they had taken the pains to inquire narrowly into the early history of our Lord's life. In a nation so strict about pedigrees and birthplaces, such a thing could not be hid. But it seems as if they would not take the pains to inquire, and satisfied themselves with the common story of His origin, as it gave them an additional excuse for not receiving Him as the Messiah.

The entire ignorance which appears to have prevailed among the Jews, about all the circumstances of our Lord's miraculous conception, and His birth at Bethlehem, is certainly rather remarkable. Yet it should be remembered that thirty years had passed away between our Lord's birth and His public ministry, — that His mother and Joseph were evidently in a very humble position and might easily be overlooked, as well as all that happened to them, — and that living quietly at Nazareth, their journey to Bethlehem at the time of " the taxing" would soon be forgotten by others.

After all we must not forget that it is part of God's dealings with man, not to force conviction and belief on any one. The obscurity purposely left over our Lord's birthplace was a part of the moral probation of the Jewish nation. If, in their pride and indolence and self-righteousness, they would not receive the abundant evidence which our Lord gave of His Messiahship, it could not be expected that God would make unbelief impossible, by placing His birth of a virgin at Bethlehem beyond the reach of doubt. In this, as in everything else, if the Jews had honestly desired to find out the truth, they might have found it.

[WJien Christ cometh, no man knoiceth, etc.~] It is rather difficult to see what the Jews meant by these words. Most writers think that they referred to the mysterious language of Isaiah about Messiah, — "Who shall declare his generation; " (Isa. liii. 8;) or to Micah's words, — " Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting; " (Micah v. 2;) and that they had in view the Divine and heavenly origin of Messiah, which all Jews allowed would be a mystery. Yet it is hard to understand why they did not say, "when Christ cometh, He shall be born in Bethlehem," and why they should be supposed to speak of our Lord's earthly origin in the beginning of the verse, and of Messiah's Divine origin in the end. There seems no explanation except to suppose that these speakers were singularly ignorant Jews, who did not know that Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem, and only knew that His birth was to be a mysterious thing. This is a possible view, if not a very probable one. — The argument of the speakers before us would then be as follows: — " When Messiah comes, He is to come suddenly, as Malachi foretold, saying, ' the Lord shall suddenly come to His temple,' (Mai. iii. 1,) unexpectedly, mysteriously, and taking people by surprise. This man therefore, who is sitting in the temple among us, cannot be the Messiah, because we know that He came from Nazareth in Galilee, and has been living there for more than thirty years." — The prophecy about Messiah being born at Bethlehem, they conveniently dropped out of sight, and in fact never dreamed that it was fulfilled by our Lord. The only prophecy they chose to look at was the one in Malachi, (Mai. iii. 1,) and as the Lord did not appear to fulfil that, they concluded that He could not be the Christ. In religious matters people are easily satisfied with very imperfect and superficial reasoning, when they want to be satisfied and to be spared further trouble. Men never want reasons to confirm their will. This seems to have been the case with the Jews.

Rupertus mentions a common tradition of the Jews, — that when Christ came, He would come at midnight, as the angel came at midnight, when the first-born were destroyed in Egypt, and he thinks it may have been in their minds here.

Hutcheson observes that " not comparing of Scripture with Scripture, but taking any single sentence that seems to plead for that we would be at, is a very great nursery and cause of error. Such is the Jews' reasoning here. They catch at one thing, speaking of Messiah's Divinity, and take no notice of other places."

Besser quotes a saying of Luther's: "The Jews are poor scholars. They have caught the sound of the prophet's clock, (Micah. v. 2,) but they have not noted the stroke aright. He who does not hear well, imagines well. They heard that Christ was so to come, that none should know whence He came. But they understood not right, that coming from God He was to be born of a virgin, and come secretly into the world."

28. — \_Tlien cried Jesus...temple...taught.] This is a remarkable expression. We find our Lord departing from His usual practice, when we read that He " cried," or raised His voice to a high pitch. Generally speaking, the words in St. Matthew apply strictly, quoted fromlsa. xlvii. 1, — "He shall not strive nor cry. neither shall any man hear His voice in the street." (Matt. xii. 19.) Yet we see there were occasions when-He did see it right to cry aloud and lift up His voice, and this is one. The perverse ignorance of the Jews, their persistence in blindness to all evidence, and the great opportunity afforded by the crowds around Him in the temple courts, were probably reasons why He " cried."

Our Lord is only said to have " cried " or lifted up His voice in four other passages in the Gospels,— viz., Matt, xxvii. 50; Mirk xv. 39; John vii. 37, and xii. 44. The Greek for "cried " in Matt, xxvii. 46 is even a stronger word than that before us.

[Ye both know me and...whence lam.'] This is an undeniably difficult expression; partly because it is hard to reconcile with John viii. 14, and partly because it is not clear how the Jews could be said to "know our Lord" and "whence He was." The explanations suggested are various.

(1) Some, as Grotius, Lampe, Doddridge, Bloorafield, Tittman, and A. Clarke, would have the sentence read as a question: — " Do you both know me, and do ye know whence I am? Are you quite sure that you are correct in saying this? " — In this view it would be rather like the mode of expression used by our Lord in John xvi. 31, — "Do ye now believe?" where the interrogative forms the beginning of the sentence.

(2) Some, as Calvin, Ecolampadius, Beza, Flacius, Gualter, Rolluck, Toletus, Glassius, Olshausen, Tholuck, Stier, and Webster, think that the sentence is spoken ironically: — "Truly you do know me and whence I am, aud poor miserable knowledge it is, worth nothing at all." — Bengel and others object to this view, that our Lord never spoke ironically. Yet it would be hard to show that there is no irony in John x. 32, if not in Matt. xxvi. 45, and Mark vii. 9.

(3) Some think, as Chrysostom, Cocceius, Jansenius, Diodati, Bengel, Henry, Burkitt, Hengstenberg, Alforcl, Wordsworth, and Burgon, that the sentence is is a simple affirmation: — " It is true that you know me and whence I am. I grant that in a certain sense you are right. You know where I have been brought up, and who my relatives according to the flesh are. And yet in reality you know very little of me. Of my Divine nature and my unity with my Father ye know nothing at all." —On the whole I prefer this last view to either of the other twTo.

[And I am not come of myself, etc.'] This sentence and the rest of the verse are evidently elliptical, and must be paraphrased to give a full idea of the sense: — " Aud yet ye do not really and thoroughly know me; for I am not come of myself, independent of God the Father, and without commission, but sent by the Father into the world. And He that seut me has proved Himself true to His promises by sending me, and is indeed a real true Person, the true and faithful God of Israel, whom ye, with all your profession, do not know."

Here, as elsewhere, our Lord's expression, "not come of myself," points directly to that intimate union between Himself and God the Father, which is so constantly referred to in the Gospel of John.

Jews ignorance of the God whom they professed to serve, and for whose honour they professed to be jealous. With all their boasted zeal for true religion and the true God, they did not really know God.

The word "true," here, is of doubtful interpretation. It means " truthful," according to Cyril, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Lampe, Tholuck. But it is not clear that this is so. Alford maintains that it must mean " really existent." Trench takes the same view in his " New Testament Synonyms."

29. — [But I know him, etc.~\ The knowledge of which our Lord here speaks, is that peculiar and intimate knowledge which is necessarily implied in the unity of the three Persons of the Trinity, in the Godhead. There is a high and deep sense in which the Son knows the Father, and the Father knows the Son, which we cannot pretend to explain, because it is far above our capacities. (John x. 15.) The Jews knew nothing rightly of God the Father. Jesus on the contrary could say, "I know him," as no one else could. ''Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." (Matt. xi. 27.)

The expression " I am from Him," must not be confined and cramped down to mean only that our Lord had come like any prophet of old, with a message aucl commission from God. It declares the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. " I am from Him by eternal generations, — always one with Him, — always equal with Him,— but always a distinct person;— always the only begotten Son, — always from Him."

The expression " He hath sent me," is, like the preceding one, something far more than the mere assertion of a prophet's commission. It is a declaration that He was the Sent One, — the Messiah, the Prophet greater than Moses, whom the Father had always promised to send:— " I am the Seed of the woman sent to bruise the serpent's head. I am He whom the Father covenanted and engaged to send for the redemption of a lost world. I am He whom the Father hath sent to be the Saviour of lost man. I proclaim myself the Sent One,— the Christ of God."

Bishop Hall paraphrases the two verses thus: " Ye mutter

secretly that ye know me, and the place of my birth and parentage; but ye are utterly mistaken, for I have a Father in heaven whom ye know not. I came not of myself, but my Father is He that sent me, who is the God of truth; of whom ye, after all your pretences of knowledge, are utterly ignorant. But I do perfectly know Him, as I have good reason; for both I am from Him by eternal generation, and am by Him sent into the' world to do the great work of redemption."

SO. — [ Then they sought to take him.'] This last declaration seems to have raised the anger of the Jerusalem multitude, who were listening to our Lord. With the characteristic keenness of all Jews they at once detected in our Lord's language a claim to be received as the Messiah. Just as on a former occasion, they saw, in His " calling God His Father," that He " made Himself equal with God, " (John v. 18,) so here in His saying "I am from Him: He hath sent me," they saw an assertion of His right to be received as Messiah.

[But no man...hour not ijet come.'] This restraint on our Lord's enemies can only be accounted for by direct Divine interposition. It is like John viii. 20, aud xviii. 6. It is clear that they could do nothing against Him except by God's permission,, and when God, in His wisdom, was pleased to let it be done. Our Lord did not fall into His enemies' hands through inability to escape, but because the "hour had come," when He voluntarily undertook to die as a substitute.

The doctrine before us, let us note, is full of comfort to God's people. Nothing can hurt them except and until God permits. We are all immortal till our work is done. To realize that nothing happens in this world except by the eternal counsels of our Father, and according to His eternal plans, is one grand secret of living a calm, peaceful, and contented life.

Besser quotes a saying of Luther's: "God has appointed a nice, easy hour, for everything; and that hour has the whole world for its enemy: it must attack it. The devil shoots and throws at the poor clock-hand, but in vain: for all depends on the hour. Till the hour comes, and the hand has run its course, the devil and the world shall accomplish nothing."

SI.— [Many of the people.'] This means the common people — the lower orders, in contradistinction to the Pharisees and chief priests.

[Believed on Him.] There seems no reason to think that this was not a true faith, so far as it went. But it would not be safe perhaps to conclude that it was more than a general belief that our Lord must be the Messiah, the Christ, and that He deserved to be received as such.

[Wlien Christ cometh... more miracles... done.] This language must clearly have been used by people who were familiar with many of our Lord's miracles wrought in Galilee, and knew a good deal about His ministry. So few miracles probably had been wrought as yet in and round Jerusalem, that the language would hardly be used by Jerusalem people. The word " more " probably means not only more in number, but " greater " in character.

The question raised by these people was a fair and reasonable one, — " What greater evidence could any one give that He is the Christ, than this man has given? He could not work greater miracles, even if He worked more numerous ones. What then are we waiting for? Why should we not acknowledge this man as the Christ?""

32. — [The Pharisees heard that the people murmured... him.'] This would be more literally translated, " The Pharisees heard the people murmuring; " they actually heard with their own ears the common people, as they walked about the temple courts, and gathered in the streets of Jerusalem, at the crowded time of the feast, keeping up their under conversation about our Lord. Here, as at the 12th verse, the word we render "murmuring" does not necessarily imply any finding fault, but only a dissatisfied and restless state of mind, which found vent in much conversation and whispering among the people.

[And the Pharisees...sent officers to take Him.'] It would seem that the talk and stir of men's minds about our Lord so alarmed and irritated the rulers of the Jews, that they resolved even now in the midst of the feast to arrest Him, aud so stop His preaching. What day of the feast this was, and what interval elapsed between this verse and the 37th, where we are told of " the last day " of the feast, we are not told. It seems probable that the officers sought an opportunity for taking our Lord, but could find none, — partly because of the crowds that surrounded Him, and partly because of a divine restraint laid upon them; and that this was the state of things for three days at least.

Full well did these Pharisees justify our Lord's character of them in another place: "Ye neither go in yourselves into the kingdom: neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." (Matt, xxiii. 13.)

33. — [Then said Jesus unto them. ] The officers of the Pharisees and their supporters seem clearly to be the persons whom our Lord here addresses. Not only were they, through Divine restraint, unable to lay hands on Him, but they were obliged to stand by and listen to Him. They dared not seize Him for fear of the people, and yet dared not go away to report their iuability to carry out their orders.

[ Yet a little while, etc. ] There is probably an uuder-tone of sadness and tenderness about this and the following sentences. It is as though our Lord said, " Ye have come to lay hands on me, and yet ye might well bear with me. I am only a little time longer with you, and then when my time is come for leaving the world, I shall go back to my Father who sent me." Or else it must mean, " Ye are sent to lay hands on me, but it is useless at present: ye cannot do it, because my hour is not yet come. I have yet a little longer time to minister on earth, and then, and not till then, I go to Him that sent me." Alford takes this view.

The Jews of course could not understand whom our Lord meant by "Him that sent me," and this saying must necessarily have seemed dark aud mysterious to them.

34. — [Ye shall seek me...shall, not find me.] These words seem addressed both to the officers and to those who sent them,— to the whole body, in fact, of our Lord's unbelieving enemies: — ■* A day will come too late, when you will anxiously seek me, and bitterly lament your rejection of me, but too late. The day of your visitation will be past and gone, and you will not find me."

There is a great Bible truth taught here, as elsewhere, which is far too much overlooked by many,— I mean the possibility of men seeking salvation when it is too late, and crying for pardon and heaven when the door is shut forever. Men may find out their folly and be filled with remorse for their sins, and yet feel that they cannot repent. No doubt true repentance is never too late; but late repentance is seldom true. Pharaoh, King Saul, and Judas Iscariot, could all say, "I have sinned." Hell itself is truth known too late. God is unspeakably merciful, no doubt. But there is a limit even to God's mercy. He can be angry, and may be provoked to leave men alone. People should often study Prov. i. 24 — 31; Job xxvii. 9; Isai. i. 15; Jer. xi. 11; xiv. 12; Ezek. viii. 18; Hosea v. 6; Micahiii. 4; Zech. vii. 13; Matt. xxv. 11, 12.

These words very possibly received a most awful fulfilment during the siege of Jerusalem, forty years after they were spoken. So think Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius.

But they were probably found true by many of our Lord's hearers long before that time. Their eyes were opened to see their folly and sin, after our Lord had left the world.

Burgon remarks, that to this very day the Jews are in a sense seeking the Messiah, and yet not finding Him.

{Wliere I am, thither ye cannot come.'] The place our Lord speaks of here is evidently heaven. Some have thought, as Bengel, that the words, "where I am," should be translated, "where I go." But it is neither a natural nor usual sense to put on the words. Nor is it necessary. There was a sense in which the Son of God could say with perfect truth — " Where I am, thither ye cannot come." As God, he never ceased to be in heaven, even when He was fulfilling His ministry on earth during his incarnation. As God, He could truly say, "where I am," and not merely where " I was," or where " I shall be." It is like John iii. 13, where our Lord speaking to Nicodemus, calls Himself the Son of man which IS in heaven." The expression is one of the many texts proving our Lord's divinity. No mere man speaking on earth could speak of heaven as a place " where I am." Augustine strongly maintains this view.

\Ye cannot come.'] This is one of those expressions which show the impossibility of unconverted and unbelieving men going to heaven. It is a place where they " cannot come." Their own nature unfits them for it. They would not be happy if they were there. Without new hearts, without the Holy Ghost, without the blood of Christ they could not enjoy heaven. The favourite notion of some modern theologians, that all mankind are finally to go to heaven, cannot possibly be reconciled with this expression. Men may please themselves with thinking it is kind and loving and liberal and large-hearted to teach and believe that all men and women of all sorts will finally be found in heaven. One word of our Lord Jesus Christ's overturns the whole theory. — Heaven is a place, He says to the wicked, where " ye cannot come."

The word "ye" is emphatical, and in the Greek stands out in strong contrast to the " I " of the sentence.

35.— [Then said the Jews...themselves.'] The expression "Jews" here can hardly be confined to the Pharisees and rulers. It must mean at any rate those among them who heard our Lord say the words in the preceding verse. Whoever they were, they were probably not friendly to Him.

[Wliither will He go... not find Him.'] This would be more literally rendered, "Whither is this man about to go." They could put no meaning of a spiritual kind on our Lord's words.

[Will He go...dispersed...Gentiles, etc.] This would be more literally rendered, "Is He about to go to the dispersion among the Greeks, and to teach the Greeks." The Greek language, and Greek literature, and Greek philosophy, had so thoroughly leavened Asia Minor and Syria and Palestine, that the expression " Greeks " in the New Testament is often equivalent to Gentiles, and stands for any people who are not Jews. Thus Rom. ii. 9; x. 3—9; 1 Cor. x. 32; xii. 13. Yet it is a singular fact that this is the only passage in the New Testament where the word " Greek," standing alone and not in contradistinction to Jews, is rendered " Gentile."

The verse teaches two interesting things. One is the fact that the existence of a large number of Jews scattered all over the Gentile world was acknowledged as notorious in our Lord's time. The other is the impression that it proves to have prevailed among the Jews that a new teacher of religion might be expected to go to the Jews scattered among the Gentiles, and, beginning with them, proceed to teach the Gentiles. This is in fact precisely what the Apostle Paul and his companions afterwards did. They did "go to the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiics." The idea started here of " teaching the Gentiles " was probably the suggestion of those who hated our Lord. How much the Jews detested the opening of the door of salvation to the Gentiles, we know from the Acts of the Apostles.

Some, as Chrysostom, Theophylact, Hengstenberg, and many others, think that the words "dispersed among tiie Gentiles" mean the Gentiles themselves dispersed and scattered all over the world, and not the Jews. But our own version seems far more likely. There is an awkwardness in calling the Gentiles "the dispersion," and it is an expression nowhere else used. James calls the Jews "the twelve tribes scattered abroad." (James i. 1.)

86.— [WJiat manner of saying, etc.~\ This question of the Jews is the language of people who saw that there was probably some deep meaning in our Lord's words, and yet were unable to make out which He meant. Hating our Lord bitterly, as many of them did, — determined to kill Him the first opportunity, — vexed and annoyed at their own inability to answer Him, or to stop His influence with the people, — they suspected everything that fell from His lips. " Do not these words of his imply some mischief? Is there not some evil at the bottom of them? Do they not indicate that he is going to dishonour the law of Moses by pulling down the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile?"

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, Baying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly ehall flow rivers of living water.

39 (But this spake he of tho Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for tho Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

It has been said that there are some passages in Scripture which deserve to be printed in letters of gold. Of such passages the verses before us form one. They contain one of those wide, full, free invitations to mankind, which make the Gospel of Christ so eminently the " good news of God." Let us see of what it consists.

We have, first, in these verses, a case supposed. The Lord Jesus says, " If any man thirst." These words no doubt were meant to have a spiritual meaning. The thirst before us is of a purely spiritual kind. It means anxiety of soul, — conviction of sin, — desire of pardon, — longing after peace of conscience. When a man feels his sins, and wants forgiveness — is deeply sensible of his soul's need, and earnestly desires help and relief — then he is in that state of mind which our Lord had in view, when he said, " If any man thirst." The Jews who heard Peter preach on the day of Pentecost, and were " pricked in their hearts," — the Philippian jailer who cried to Paul and Silas, " What must I do to be saved?" are both examples of what the expression means. In both cases there was " thirst."

Such thirst as this, unhappily, is known by few. All ought to feel it, and all would feel it if they were wise. Sinful, mortal, dying creatures as we all are, with souls that will one day be judged and spend eternity in heaven or hell, there lives not the man or woman on earth who ought not to "thirst" after salvation. And yet the many thirst after everything almost except salvation. Money, pleasure, honour, rank, self-indulgence, — these are the things which they desire. There is no clearer proof of the fall of man, and the utter corruption of human nature, than the careless indifference of most people about their souls. No wonder the Bible calls the natural man " blind," and " asleep," and " dead," when so few can be found who are awake, alive, and athirst about salvation.

Happy are those who know something by experience of spiritual " thirst." The beginning of all true Christianity is to discover that we are guilty, empty, needy sinners. Till we know that we are lost, we are not in the way to be saved. The very first step toward heaven is to be thoroughly convinced that we deserve hell. That sense of sin which sometimes alarms a man and makes him think his own case desperate, is a good sign. It is in fact a symptom of spiritual life: " Blessed indeed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for the}' shall be filled." (Matt. v. 6.)

We have, secondly, in these verses, a remedy proposed. The Lord Jesus says, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." He declares that He is the true fountain of life, the supplier of all spiritual necessities, the reliever of all spiritual wants. He invites all who feel the burden of sin heavy, to apply to Him, and proclaims Himself their helper.

Those words " let him come unto me," are few and very simple. But they settle a mighty question which all the ■wisdom of Greek and Roman philosophers could never settle; they show how man can have peace with God. They show that peace is to be had in Christ. by trusting in Him as our mediator and substitute, — in one word, by believing. To " come" to Christ is to believe on Him, and to " believe " on Him is to come. The remedy may seem a ver}' simple one, too simple to be true. But there is no other remedy than this; and all the wisdoin of the world can never find a flaw in it, or devise a better.

To use this grand prescription of Christ is the secret of all saving Christianit}'. The saints of God in every age have been men and women who drank of this fountain by faith, and were relieved. They felt their guilt and emptiness, and thirsted for deliverance. They heard of a full suppl}7 of pardon, mercy, and grace in Christ crucified for all penitent believers. They believed the good news and acted upon it. They cast aside all confidence in their own goodness and worthiness, and came to Christ by faith as sinners. So coming they found relief. So coming daily the}7 lived. So coming they died. Really to feel the sinfulness of sin and to thirst, and really to come to Christ and believe, are the twro steps which lead to heaven. But they are mighty steps. Thousands are too proud and careless to take them. Few, alas! think, and still fewer believe.

We have, lastty, in these verses, a promise held out. The Lord Jesus says, " He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." These words of course were meant to have a figurative sense. They have a double application. They teach, for one thing, that all who come to Christ by faith shall find in Him abundant satisfaction. They teach, for another thing, that believers shall not only have enough for the wants of their own souls, but shall also become fountains of blessings to others.

The fulfilment of the first part of the promise could be testified lry thousands of living Christians in the present day. They would say, if their evidence could be collected, that when they came to Christ by faith, they found in Ilim more than they expected. They have tasted peace, and hope, and comfort, since they first believed, which, with all their doubts and fears, they would not exchange for anything in this world. They have found grace according to their need, and strength according to their days. In themselves and their own hearts they have often been disappointed; but they have never been disappointed in Christ.

The fulfilment of the other half of the promise will never be fully known until the judgment-day. That day alone shall reveal the amount of good that every believer is made the instrument of doing to others, from the very day of his conversion. Some do good while they live, by their tongues; like the Apostles and first preachers of the Gospel. Some do good when they are dying; like Stephen and the penitent thief, and our own mai tyred Reformers at the stake. Some do good long after they are dead, by their writings; like Baxter and Bunyan and M'Cheyne. But in one way or another, probably, almost all believers will be found to have been fountains of blessings. By word or by deed, by precept or by example, directly or indirectly, they are always leaving their marks on others. They know it not now; but they will find at last that it is true. Christ's saying shall be fulfilled.

Do we ourselves know anything of " coming to Christ? " This is the question that should arise in our hearts as we leave this passage. The worst of all states of soul is to be without feeling or concern about eternity, — to be without " thirst." The greatest of all mistakes is to try to find relief in any other way than the one before us, — the way of Rimply " coming to Christ." It is one thing to come to

Christ's Church, Christ's ministers, and Christ's ordinances. It is quite another thing to come to Christ Himself. Happy is he who not only knows these things, but acts upon them!