Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

18 — [J will not leave you comfortless.] The word we render " comfortless," means literally " orphans," and is so translated in the marginal reading of the English version. It beautifully de- Bcribes the helpless, solitary, friendless state, by comparison, in which the disciples of Christ were left, when He died and was withdrawn from their bodily eyes. " In that condition," says Jesus, " I will not leave you. You shall not always be orphans." It adds to tlie beauty of the expression to remember that He had already called them " little children: " hence there was a special fitness in the word " orphans."

\^I will come to you.'] The verb here is in the present tense; " I do come." About the meaning of the sentence there is much difEerence of opinion. Even the Fathers, as Burgon says, *' explain the words diversely." There is no more unanimity, we must remember, among the Fathers than among modern divines. The " consent of Catholic antiquity," about which many make so much ado, is more imaginary than real.

Some think, as Chrysostom, that the " coming " means only the reappearing of Christ after His resurrection from the grave on the third day.

Others think, as Hutcheson, that our Lord only means His coming by His Spirit, as a pledge of his presence.

Others think, as Augustine and Bede, that our Lord looks far forward to His second coming at the end of the world, and speaks the words to the whole company of believers in every age: " I am coming again. I come quickly."

I decidedly prefer this last view. The first and second seem to me to cramp, narrow, and confine our Lord's promise. The last is in harmony with all His teaching. The second advent is the great hope of the Church. In the last chapter of the Bible, the Greek for " I come quickly," is precisely the same verb that is used here. (Rev. xxii. 20.)

In saying this I would not be mistaken. I admit fully that Jesus came to His Church after His ascension, invisibly, does come to His Church continually, is with His Church even to the end of the world. But I do not think this is the meaning of the text.

.19. — [Yet a little io?dle...ye see Me!] Again the meaning of our Lord is somewhat obscure. I think He must mean, "Very shortly the wicked unbelieving world will no longer behold and gaze on Me, as I shall be withdrawn from it, and ascend into heaven. But even then ye see Me, and will continue seeing Me with the eyes of faith." I cannot think that the present tense here, " Ye behold Me," can apply to the second advent. It must surely refer to the spiritual vision of Christ wliich believers would enjoy. The world could not prevent them seeing Him. The Greek word for " ye see " implies a fixed, steady, habitual gaze.

[Because 1 live, ye shall live also.'] Tins great deep saying of Christ seems to admit of a very wide aud full signification " Your spiritual life now, and your eternal life hereafter, are both secured by my life. The life of the Head guarantees the life of the members. I live, have life in myself, can never die, can never have my life destroyed by my enemies, and live on to all eternity. Therefore ye shall live also. Your life is secured for you, and can never be destroyed. You have everlasting life now, and shall have everlasting glory hereafter."

That word " I live," is a great full saying, and we cannot fathom it all. It does not merely mean " I shall rise from the dead." It is certainly far more than the future tense. It implies that Christ is " the Living One," the source and fountain of life. It is like " In Him was life," — and " as the Father hath life in Himself, even so hath He given to the'Son to have life in Himself." (John i. 4; v. 26.)

20. — [On that day ye shall know, etc.] Here, again, I believe, with Cyril aud Au3:ustine, that our Lord specially refers to the day of His own second advent. Then, and not till then, His disciples will have perfect knowledge. Now they see and know in part, and through a glass darkly. Then they shall fully understand the mystical union between the Father and Son, and between the Son and all His believing members.

To confine the " day," as Chrysostom does, to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, seems to me to fall short of its full meaning.

21 He that hatli my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: aud he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

23 Jesus answered and said unto him. If a man love me he will keep my words, and my father wiU love him, and we will come

unto him, and make our abode with him.

24 He til at loveth me not keepeth not my sayings; aud the word which ye hear is not m.ine, but the Father's which sent me.

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.

We learn from these verses that keeping Christ^s eointnandments is the best test of love to Christ.

needs continually pressing on the attention of Christians. It is not talking about religion, and talking fluently and well too, but steadily doing Christ's will and walking in Christ's ways, that is the proof of our being true believers. Good feelings and desires are useless if they are not accompanied by action. They may even become mischievous to the soul, induce hardness of conscience, and do positive harm. Passive impressions which do not lead to action, gradually deaden and paralyze the heart. Living and doing are the only real evidence of grace. Where the Holy Spirit is, there will always be a holy life. A jealous watchfulness over tempers, words, and deeds, a constant endeavor to live by the rule of the Sermon on the Mount, this is the best proof that we loA^e Christ.

Of course such maxims as these must not be wrested and misunderstood. We are not to suppose for a moment that " keeping Christ's commandments " can save us. Our best works are full of imperfection. When we have done all we can, we are feeble and unprofitable servants. " By grace are ye saved through faith, — not of works.'* (Ep. ii. 8.) But while we hold one class of truths, we must not forget another. Faith in the blood of Christ must always be attended by loving obedience to the will of Christ. What the Master has joined together, the disciple must not put asunder. Do we profess to love Christ? Then let us show it by our lives. The Apostle who said, " Thou knowest that I love Thee!" received the charge, " Feed my lambs." That meant, " Do something. Be useful: follow my example." (John xxi. 17.)

We learn, secondly, from these verses, that there are special comforts laid up for those loho love Christ, and prove it by keeping His words. This, at any rate, seems the general sense of our Lord's language: " My

Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

The full meaning of this promise, no doubt, is a deep thing. We have no line to fathom it. It is a thing which no man can understand except he that receives and experiences it. But we need not shrink from believing that eminent holiness brings eminent comfort with it, and that no man has such sensible enjoyment of his religion as the man who, like Enoch and Abraham, walks closely with God. There is more of heaven on earth to be obtained than most Christians are aware of. " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." — " If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me." (Ps. xxv. 14; Rev. iii. 20.] Promises like these, we may be sure, mean something, and were not written in vain.

How is it, people often ask, that so many professing believers have so little happiness in their religion? How is it that so many know little of "joy and peace in believing," and go mourning and heavy-hearted towards heaven? The answer to these questions is a sorrowful one, but it must be given. Few believers attend as strictly as they should to Christ's practical sayings and words. There is far too much loose and careless obedience to Christ's commandments. There is far too much forgetfulness, that while good works cannot justify us they are not to be despised. Let these things sink down into our hearts. If we want to be eminently happy, we must strive to be eminently holy.

We learn, lastly, from these verses, that one part of the Holy Ghost^s vjork is to teach, and to bring things to remembrance. It is written, " The Comforter shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remem brance."

To confine this promise to the eleven Apostles, as some do, seems a narrow and unsatisfactory mode of interpreting Scripture. It appears to reach far beyond the day of Pentecost, and the gift of writing inspired books of God's Holy Word. It is safer, wiser, and more consistent with the whole tone of our Lord's last discourse, to regard the promise as the common property of all believers, in every age of the world. Our Lord knows the ignorance and forgetfulness of our nature in spiritual things. He graciously declares that when He leaves the world, His people shall have a teacher and remembrancer.

Are we sensible of spiritual ignorance? Do we feel that at best we know in part and see in part? Do we desire to understand more clearly the doctrines of the Gospel? Let us pray daily for the help of the " teaching " Spirit. It is His office to illuminate the soul, to open the eyes of the understanding, and to guide us into all truth. He can make dark places light, and rough places smooth.

Do we find our memory of spiritual things defective? Do we complain that though we read and hear, we seem to lose as fast as we gain? Let us pray daily for the help of the Holy Ghost. He can bring things to our remembrance. He can make us remember " old things and new." He can keep in our minds the whole system of truth and duty, and make us ready for every good word and work.

21, — [He that hath...commandments...lovet7i Me."] Our Lord Beems to return to the lesson of the fifteenth verse, and to repeat it because of its importance. There, however. He spoke specially to His disciples; here He lays it down as a general principle applicable to all (Christians in all time: — " He that not only possesses and knows my commandments, but also does and practices them, he is the man that really loves Me." Obedience is the true test of real love to Christ, and not knowledge and talk only. Many have, but do not keep Christ's will.

Burgon observes, " This amounts to a declaration that the Bad hearts and weeping eyes of the Apostles would not be accepted by their Lord as any proof of their love. Obedience was the test He chose."

{He.Joveth Me...loved... Father.] Here follows an encouragement to practical obedience: " He that really loves Me, and proves his love by his life, shall be specially loved by my Father. My Father loves those who love Me."

Let us carefully note that there is a special love of God the Father which is peculiarly set on believers, over and above the general love of pity and compassion with which He regards all mankind. In the highest sense God is a " Father " to none but those who love Christ. The modern doctrine of a " Fatherhood " of God which is soul-saving to those who neglect Christ, is a mere delusion of man.

[And LJone... manifest..Mm.'] Here follows another encour agement to the man who strives to keep Christ's commandments. Christ will specially love that man, and will give him special manifestations of His grace and favor, invisibly and spiritually. He shall feel and know in his own heart comforts - and joys that wicked men and inconsistent professors know nothing of. That the " manifesting " of Himself here spoken of is a purely unseen and spiritual thing, is self-evident. It is one of those things which can only be known by experience, and is only known by holy and consistent Christians.

We should carefully observe here, that Christ does more for the comfort of some of His people than He does for others. Those who follow Christ most closely and obediently will always follow Him most comfortably, and feel most of His inward presence. It is one thing, as St. John says, to know Christ, another to know that we know Him. (1 John ii. 3.)

22. — [Judas saith...not Iscariot.] Jude, the writer of the Epistle, and brother of James, was the Apostle who speaks here. He is called elsewhere Lebbeus and Thaddeus. Remembering that James is called in Galatians " the Lord's brother," there must have been some relationship between him and our Lord. Probably he was a cousin. Whether a recollection of this may have been in His mind when asking the question, admits of conjecture. This is the only word recorded to have been spoken by Jude in the Gospels.

We should mark the careful manner in which St. John reminds us that it was not the false Apostle who asked.

Let us note that out of each saying of the three Apostles who spoke to our Lord, interrupting Him in His last discourse, a great truth was elicited for the benefit of the Church

Thomas, Philip, and Jude, ignorant and slow as they were drew out of our Lord's mouth rich and precious sayings.

[^How is U...mauifest...us...not...ioorld.] This question is the simple inquiry of one guessing after the truth, and not able to see clearly what our Lord's words meant, — whether a visible or an invisible manifestation of Himself: — "What is the precise distinction of privilege between ourselves and the world to which you point? "

The Greek for " how is it? " would be literally, " What has happened? " The Greek for " Thou wilt," is literally, " Thou art about."

Whitby thinks that Jude, like most Jews of his time, expected Messiah's kingdom to be a visible temporal kingdom over all the earth. He could not therefore understand a manifestation of Christ confined to the disciples.

83. — [Jesus answered... will love him.] This sentence is simply a repetition of the truth contained in the fifteenth and twentyfirst verses: " 1 tell you again emphatically that the man who really loves Me will keep my words, and obey my commandments. And I repeat that such a man will be specially loved and cared for by my heavenly Father."

Let us note that in this verse our Lord does not say, " Keep my commandments," but my " word " generally, in the singular number, inclading all His whole teaching.

[And we will come...dbide with him.] These words can only admit of one sense, — a spiritual and invisible coming and abiding. The Father and the Son will come spiritually into the heart and soul of a true saint, and will make their continual dwelling with him. This, again, is a purely experimental truth, and one that none can know but he that has felt it.

Let us note the condescension of the Father and the Son, and the high privileges of a believer. No matter how poor and lowly a man may be, if he has faith and grace, he has the best of company and friends. Christ and the Father dwell in his heart, and he is never alone, and cannot be poor. He is the temple of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The use of the plural number " we," is very noteworthy in this place.

24. — [He...lot)eth Me not...my sayings^ Once more the same great principle already taught, is laid down again from the negative side. Where there is no obedience to Christ, there is no love. Nothing can be more plain than our Lord's repeated warnings that practical obedience, keeping His commandments and sayings, doing His will, is the only sure test of love to Him. Without this obedience, profession, talk, knowledge. Churchmanship, yea, even feeling, conviction, weeping and crying, are all worthless things. [And word...not mine...Father...sent Me.] The purpose of this sentence is to remind the disciples of the authority and dignity of our Lord's sayings and commandments. They are not His words only, but His Father's. He that despises them despises the Father, and He that honors them by obedience honors the Father.

25. — [These things...spoken...present with you.'] Our Lord seems here to begin to wind up the first part of His discourse to a conclusion. Whether " these things " mean only the things He spoke this evening, or all the things He had taught them during His ministry, admits of doubt. I rather incline to the view that the expression must be taken in the widest sense: " These and many other things I have spoken to you, while abiding and dwelling among you. Your hearts are troubled, perhaps, by the thought that you cannot remember them, and do not understand them. Here there are some grounds of comfort."

2G. — [Bat... Comforter... Holy Ghost...my name.] Here comes one more grand consolation: " When I am gone, the Holy Gfliost, the promised x\dvocate, whom the Father will send on my account, through my intercession, and to glorify Me, shall supply all your need, and provide for all your wants."

Let us note how distinctly the Holy Spirit is spoken of here as a Person, and not an inHuence.

Let us note how the Father sends the Spirit, but also sends Him in Christ's name, and with a special reference to Christ's work.

[He shall teach you all tilings.] The first word here rendered " He " is unmistakably applicative to none but a person, being a masculine pronoun. The " teaching " here promised must mean, firstly, that fuller and more complete instruction which the Holy Ghost evidently gave to believers after our Lord's as- 'cension. No one can read the "Acts " without seeing that the eleven ^ere different men after the day of Pentecost; and saw and knew and understood things of which they were very ignorant before. But, secondly, the " teaching " most probably includes all that teaching and enlightening which the Spirit imparts to all true believers in every age. Light is the first thing we need, and He gives it. It is His special office to " open the eyes of our understandings."

The expression " all things " must plainly be limited to all things needful to be known by the soul, and does not include all knowledge of every kind.

[And bring all things...remembrance...told you.] This is a special consolation for the weak memories of the troubled disciples. Our Lord promises that the Spirit would bring back to their memories the many lessons, both doctrinal and practical, which they had heard from Him but forgotten. This was a very needful promise. How often we find it recorded that the disciples did not understand our Lord's sayings and doings a* the time thev heard and saw them, it is almost needless to point out. (Johnii. 22;.xii. 16.)

Some apply these words especially to the gift of inspiration by which the Xew Testament Scriptures were written. I cannot see this. The promise was to the whole eleven, of whom only five were allowed to write! This is strongly dwelt on by Alford.

Some apply these words exclusively to the eleven. I cannot see this either. To my eyes they seem a general promise, primarily no doubt applying specially to the eleven, but after them belonging also to all believers in every age. As a matter of experience I believe tliat the awakening of the memories of true Christians is one of the peculiar works of the Holy Grhost on their souls. Once converted, they understand things and remember things in a way they did not before.

Does any one complain of his own ignorance and bad memory? Let him not forget that there is One whose office it is to " teach and to bring to remembrance." Let him pray for the Holy Spirit's help.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace 1 give unto you; not as tiie world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

23 Ye have heard how I said unto yon, 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.

29 And now I have told you be-

fore it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

80 Hereafter I will not talk mucX with you: for the prince of this world Cometh, and hath nothing in me.

31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; aud as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

We ought not to leave the closing portion of this wonderful chapter without noticing one striking feature in it. That feature is the singular frequency with which our Lord uses the expression, " My Father," and " the Father." In the last five verses we find it four times. In the whole chapter it occurs no less than twenty-two times. In this respect the chapter stands alone in the Bible.

The reason of tliis frequent use of the expression, is a deep subject. Perhaps the less we speculate and dogmatize about it the better. Our Lord was one who never spoke a word without a meaning, and we need not doubt there was a meaning here. Yet may we not reverently suppose that He desired to leave on the minds of His disciples a strong impression of his entire unity with the Father? Seldom does our Lord lay claim to such high dignity, and such power of giving and supplying comfort to His Church, as in this discourse. Was there not, then, a fitness in His continually reminding His disciples that in all His giving He was one with the Father, and did nothing without the Father? This, at any rate, seems a fair conjecture. Let it be taken for what it is worth.

We should observe, for one thing, in this passage, Chrisfs last legacy to His people. We find Him saying, " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you."

Peace is Christ's peculiar gift: not money, not worldly ease, not temporal prosperity. These are at •best very questionable possessions. They often do more harm than good to the soul. They act as clogs and weights to our spiritual life. Inward peace of conscience, arising from a sense of pardoned sin and reconciliation with God, is a far greater blessing. This peace is the property of all believers, whether high or low, rich or poor.

The peace which Christ gives He calls "my peace." It is specially His own to give, because He bought it by His own blood, purchased it by His own substitution, and is appointed by the Father to dispense it to a perishing world. Just as Joseph was sealed and commissioned to give corn to the starving Egyptians, so is Christ specially commissioned, in the counsels of the Eternal Tiinity, to give peace to mankind.

The peace that Christ gives is not given as the world gives. What He gives the world cannot give at all, and what He gives is given neither unwillingly, nor sparingly, nor for a little time. Christ is far more willing to give than the world is to receive. AVhat He gives He gives to all eternity, and never takes away. He is ready to give abundantly above all that we can ask or think. " Open thy mouth wide," He says, " and I will fill it." (Psalm Ixxxi. 10.)

Who can wonder that a legacy like this should be backed by the renewed emphatic charge, " Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid? " There is nothing lacking on Christ's part for our comfort, if we will only come to Him, believe, and receive. The chief of sinners has no cause to be afraid. If we will only look to the one true Saviour, there is medicine for every trouble of heart. Half our doubts and fears arise from dim perceptions of the real nature of Christ's Gospel.

We should observe, for another thing, in this passage, Chrisfs perfect holiness. We find Him saying, " The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me."

The meaning of these remarkable words admits of only one interpretation. Our Lord would have his di& ciples know that Satan, " the prince of this world," was about to make his last and most violent attack on Him. He was mustering all his strength for one more tremendous onset. He was coming up with his utmost malice to try the second Adam in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross of Calvary. But our blessed Master declares, " He hath nothing in Me." — " There is nothing he can lay hold on. There is no weak and defective point in Me. I have kept my Father's commandment, and finished the work He gave me to do. Satan, therefore, cannot overthrow Me. He can lay nothing to my charge. He cannot condemn Me. I shall come forth from the trial more than conqueror."

Let us mark the difference between Christ and all others who have been born of woman. He is the only one in whom Satan has found " nothing." He came to Adam and Eve, and found weakness. He came to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and all the saints, and found imperfection. He came to Christ, and found " nothing " at all. He was a Lamb " without blemish and without spot," a suitable Sacrifice for a world of sinners, a suitable Head for a redeemel race.

Let us thank God that we have such a perfect, sinless Saviour; that His righteousness is a perfect righteousness, and His life a blameless life. In ourselves and our doings we shall find everything imperfect; and if we had no other hope than our own goodness, we might well despair. But in Christ we have a perfect, sinless. Representative and Substitute. Well may we say, with the triumphant Apostle, " Who shall lay anything to our charge?" (Rom. viii. 33.) Christ hath died for us, and suffered in our stead. In Him Satan can find nothing. We are hidden in Him. The Father sees us in Him, unworthy as we are, and for His sake is well pleased.

27. — [Peace 1 leave with you.] In this verse our Lord gives His disciples one more consolation. He bequeatlis them as a legacy, " peace: " not riches or worldly honor, but peace, — peace of heart, conscience, and inward man, — peace from a sense of pardoned sin, a living Saviour, and a home in heaven.

Matthew Henry remarks here, " When Christ left the world,

He made His will. His soul He bequeathed to His Father, and His body to Joseph. His clothes fell to the soldiers. His mother He left to the care of John. But what should He leave to His poor disciples, who had left all for Him? Silver and gold He had none; but He left them what was far better, His peace."

I My peace give 1 unto you.] The expression " my peace," Beems to indicate something peculiar in the gift here promisee Does it not mean " a sense of that peace with God which I am^ purchasing with my blood, — that inward calm and rest of soul which faith in Me procures for believers, — that peace which it is my special prerogative to give to my people " f

[Not as...world giveth...I...you.'\ The first and fullest meaning of this sentence seems to lie in the kind of things which Christ gives: " I give you possessions which the world cannot give, because it has not got them to give." The world can give temporary carnal satisfaction and excitement, and can gratify the passions and affections and pride of the natural man. But th© world cannot give inward peace and rest of conscience.

Some, however, think that the point of the sentence lies ia the manner of the world's giving, — temporarily, defectively, imperfectly, grudgingly, and the like. But, however true thia may be, I prefer the view that the chief point is in the nature of the world's gifts compared to Christ's.

[Let not your heart he troubled.] This is a repetition of the words which began the long list of consolations in this chapter "Once more I say to you, in view of the many grounds of comfort which I have just named, do not give way to trouble of heart."

[Neither let it he afraid.] These words are added to the opening charge, not to be " troubled." They point to a frame of mind which our Lord saw creeping over the disciples: " Let not your heart give way to cowardice. Let it not be fearful." It is the only j^lace in the New Testament where this word ia used.

We need not doubt that the whole of this consoling verse is meant to be the property of all believers in every age.

28. — [ Te have heard...said...go away.] This sentence must refer to ch. xiii. 33 — 36, and xiv. 2, 3, 13. The disciples seem to have understood clearly that our Lord was leaving them, and that seems to have been one chief reason of their trouble and distress.

[And come...to you.] I must retain the opinion that this coming refers to the second advent, and not to the resurrection of Christ. " My leaving the world until my second advent, you have heard me plainly teach and declare."

[If ye loved...rejoice...go...Father.] These words mean, — " if you really loved Me with an intelligent love, and thoroughly understood my person, nature, and work, you would rejoice to hear of my leaving the world and going to the Father, because you would see in it the finishing and completion of the work which the Father sent Me to do," Our Lord cannot of course mean that the disciples did not " love " Him at all, but that they did not rightly and intelligently love Him; otlierwise tliey would have rejoiced at His completion of His work.

[For my Father is greater than i.] This famous sentence haa always been an occasion of controversy and dispute. It presents two difficulties.

{a) What did our Lord mean by saying, " My Father is greater than I "? I answer that the words of the Athanasian Creed contain the best reply. Christ is no doubt "equal to the Father as touching His Godhead', and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood." This we may freely and fully admit, and yet not give up a hair's breadth to Arians and Socinians, who always throw this text in our teeth. The enemies of the doctrine of Christ's divinity forget that Trinitarians maintain the humanity of Christ as strongly as His divinity; and never shrink from admitting that while Christ as God is equal to the Father, as man He is inferior to the Father. And it is in this sense that He here says truly, " My Father is greater than 1." It was specially spoken of the time of His incarnation and humiliation. When the Word was " made flesh " He took on Him " the form of a servant." This was temporary inferiority. (Phil. ii. 7.)

(6) But what did our Lord mean by saying that the disciples ought to rejoice at His going to the Father, because " the Father is greater than I"? This is a hard knot to untie, and has received diflferent solutions. My own impression is that the meaning must be something of this kind: — "Ye ought to rejoice at my going to the Father, because in so going I shall resume that glory which I had with Him before the world was, and which I laid aside on becoming incarnate. Here on earth, during the thirty-three years of my incarnation, I have been in the form of a servant, and dwelling in a body as one inferior to my Father. In leaving this world I go to take up again the equal glory and honor which I had with the Father before my incarnation; and to lay aside the position of inferiority in which I have tabernacled here below. I go to be once more Almighty with the Almighty, and to share once more my Father's throne, as a Person in that Trinity in which ' none is afore or after other, none is greater or less than another.' I go to receive the kingdom and honor which in eternal counsels the Father has prepared for the Son; and on this account, if you really knew and understood all, you would rejoice at my going. If I had not voluntarily placed myself in a position of inferiority to the Father by becoming man for man's sake, you would have no hope for your souls. But now the work is finished. I return to the Father, and leave my position of inferiority and humiliation, and you ought to rejoice and be glad."

29. — [And now...told...hefore...to pass, etc.] This seems to refer to our Lord's going away. " I have told you plainly that I am leaving you and about to die on the cross, in order that when I do die and go, you may continue believing, and not have your

30. — [Hereafter...not talk much with you.] This must mean that our Lord would not talk much more before His crucifixion. The time was short, and the betrayal and suffering drew nigh. It does not refer to the time after our Lord's resurrection, and the forty days before His ascension.

[For...prince...cometh...not7dng in me.] This means that Satan was drawing nigh for his last final assault on our Lord; and that he would find nothing to lay hold on, and no weak point.

It is very striking to observe that our Lord does not say "Judas, the Romans, the Pharisees are coming." It is only the devil. He, as at the fall, is at the bottom of all. Others are only his tools. |

We should note how the devil is called " the prince of this world," He rules and reigns in the hearts of the vast majority of mankind. The whole world " lieth in the wicked one." Of the extent and intensity of Satan's infiuence on earth, even now we have probably very little idea.

Wlien it says that he " cometh," we must not suppose that it means "cometh for the first time." All through our Lord's earthly ministry He was tempted and assailed and opposed by Satan. It must mean, " He is coming with special violence and bitter wrath to make his last attack on Me both in Gethsemane and on Calvary." There are evidently degrees at different seasons in the intensity and virulence of Satan's attacks.

When it says " hath nothing in Me," it must mean that our Lord's heart and life were equally without spot of sin. He knew and felt that He the second Adam, had nothing about Him that Satan could lay hold on. No one but Christ our Head could say that. The holiest saint could never say it I

Sanderson observes, " a cunning searcher had pried narrowly into every corner of His life; and if there had been anything amiss, would have been sure to have spied it, and proclaimed it. But he could find nothing."

31. — [But that the world...so I do.] This is a somewhat dark and obscure passage. The meaning is probably something of this kind: " 1 do all I am doing now, and go to the cross voluntarily, though innocent, that the world may have full proof that I love the Father who sent Me to die, and am willing to go through everything which He has commanded Me to go through. Innocent as I am, and without one spot of sin that Satan can lay to my charge, 1 willingly go forward to the cross, to show how I love the Father's will, and am determined to do it by dying for sinners."

[Arise, let us go hence.'] These words seem to indicate a change of position, and probably mean tliat oui Lord at tliis point rose from tlie table where He had been speaking, and walked out towards the garden of Getbsemane. The rest of His discourse He seems to have delivered in the act of walking, without a single interruption from any of the disciples, until the end of the sixteenth chapter.; and then, at some point unknown to us, He probably paused and offered up the prayer of the seventeenth chapter.

This is the view of Cyril and Augustine, and most commentators. Yet Jansenius, Maldonatus, Alford, and some others, think that our Lord never left the house, and only rose from table at this point, and went on with His discourse standing!

Lightfoot, almost alone, maintains the strange and improbable notion that the place where this discourse was delivered was Bethany, that the interval of a week comes into the narrative here, that at the end of this week the paschal supper and the institution of the Lord's Supper took place, and then came the discourse of the fifteenth chapter.

No commentator perhaps can leave this chapter without deeply feeling how little he knows and understands of the full meaning of much of its contents. May we not however fairly reflect that one great cause of the chapter's difficulty is man's entire inability to grasp the great mystery of the union of the Father, the Son and the Spirit in the Trinity? We are continually handling matters which we cannot fully comprehend, and cannot therefore fully explain, and must be content humbly to believe.

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me tliat beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which 1 have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;

no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abidetli in me, and I in him, the same briugeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

These verses, we must carefully remember, contaia a parable. In interpreting it we must not forget the great rule which aj^plies to all Christ's parables. The general lesson of each parable is the main thing to be noticed. The minor details must not be tortured and pressed to an excess, in order to extract a meaning from them. The mistakes into which Christians have fallen by neglecting this rule, are neither few nor small.

We are meant to learn first, from these verses, that the union between Christ and believers is very close. He is " the Vine," and they are " the branches."

The union between the branch of a vine and the main stem, is the closest that can be conceived. It is the whole secret of the branch's life, strength, vigor, beauty, and fertility. Separate from the parent stem, it has no life of its own. The sap and juice that flow from the stem are the origin and maintaining power of all its leaves, buds, blossoms, and fruit. Cut off from the stem, it must soon wither and die.

The union between Christ and believers is just as close, and just as real. In themselves believers have no life, or strength, or spiritual power. All that they have of vital religion comes from Christ. They are what they are, and feel what they feel, and do what they do, because they draw out of Jesus a continual supply of grace, help, and ability. Joined to the Lord by faith, and united in mysterious union with Him by the Spirit, they stand, and walk, and continue, and run the Christian race. But every jot of good about them is drawn from their spiritual Head, Jesus Christ.

The thought before us is both comfortable and instructive. Believers have no cause to despair of their own salvation, and to think they will never reach heaven. Let them consider that they are not left to themselves and their own strength. Their root is Christ, and all that there is in the root is for the benefit of the branches. Because He lives, they shall live also. Worldly people have no cause to wonder at the coutin- nance and perseverance of believers. Weak as they are in themselves, their Root is in heaven, and never dies. " When I am weak," said Paul, " then am I strong." (2 Cor. xii. 10.)

We are meant to learn, secondly, from these verses, that there are false Christians as well as true ones. There are " branches in the vine " which appear to be joined to the parent stem, and yet bear no fruit. There are men and women who appear to be members of Christ, and yet will prove finally to have had no vital union with Him.

There are myriads of professing Christians in every Church whose union with Christ is only outward and formal. Some of them are joined to Christ by baptism and Church-membership. Some of them go even further than this, and are regular communicants and loud talkers about religion. But they all lack the one thing needful. Notwithstanding services, and sermons, and sacrament, they have no grace in their hearts, no faith, no inward work of the Holy Spirit. They are not one with Christ, and Christ in them. Their union with Him is only nominal, and not real. They have " a name to live," but in the sight of God they are dead.

Christians of this stamp are aptly represented by branches in a vine which bear no fruit. Useless and unsightly, such branches are only fit to be cut off and burned. They draw nothing out of the parent stem, and make no return for the place they occupy. Just so will it be at the last day with false professors and nominal Christians. Their end, except they repent, will be destruction. They will be separated from the company of true believers, and cast out, as withered, useless branches, into everlasting fire. They will find at last, whatever they thought in this world, that there is a worm that never dies, and a fire that is not quenched.

We are meant to learn, thirdly, from these verses, that the fruits of the Spirit are the only satisfactory evide?ice of a man being a true Ghristiaii. The disciple that " abides in Christ," like a branch abiding in the vine, will always bear fruit.

He that would know wliat the word " fruit " means, need not wait long for an answer. Repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, holiness of life and conduct, these are what the New Testament calls " fruit." These are the distinguishing marks of the man who is a living branch of the true \^ine. Where these things are wanting, it is vain to talk of possessing dormant grace and spiritual life. Where there is no fruit there is no life. He that lacketh these things is " dead while he liveth."

True grace, we must not forget, is never idle. It never slumbers and never sleeps. It is a vain notion to suppose that we are living members of Christ, if the example of Christ is the only satisfactory evidence of saving union between Christ and our souls. Where there is no fruit of the Spirit to be seen, there is no vital religion in the heart. The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus will always make Himself known in the daily conduct of those in whom He dwells. The Master Himself declares, "Every tree is known by his own fruit." (Luke vi. 44.)

We are meant, lastly, to learn from these verses, that God will often increase the holi?iess of true Ghristia7is by His providential dealings with them. " Every branch," it is written, " that beareth fruit. He purgeth it, that it may bear more fruit."

The meaning of this language is clear and plain. Just as the vine-dresser prunes and cuts back the branches of a fruitful vine, in order to make them more fruitful, so does God purify and sanctify believers by the circumstances of life in which He places them.

Trial, to speak plainly, is the instrument by which our Father in heaven makes Christians more holy. By trial He calls out their passive graces, and proves whether they can suffer His will as well as do it. By trial He weans them from the world, draws them to Christ, drives them to the Bible and prayer, shows them tiieir own hearts, and makes them humble. This is the process by which He " purges " them, and makes them more fruitful. The lives of the saints in every age, are the best and truest comment on the text. Never, hardly, do we find an eminent saint, either in the Old Testament or the New, who was not purified by suffering, and, like His Master, a " man of sorrows."

Let us learn to be patient in the days of darkness, if we know anything of vital union with Christ. Let us remember the doctrine of the passage before us, and not murmur and complain because of trials. Our trials are not meant to do us harm, but good. God chastens us " for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness." (Heb. xii. 10.) Fruit is the thing that our Master desires to see in us, and He will not spare the pruningknife if He sees we need it. In the last day we shall see that all was well done.