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sacrifice! Thus were the apostles treated by those that knew not the God for whom they professed all this burning zeal. Let us bless God that we are providentially sheltered from those effects of it which might otherwise bear so hard upon us: and let us diligently watch over our hearts, that no irregular affections may work there, and no uncharitable sentiments be harboured. When, like the apostles, our hearts are filled with sorrow, let us be cautious that they may not be stupified by it, so that any call of duty should pass unheard or any opportunity of religious advancement unimproved; and let us not be indolent in our inquiries into the meaning of those dispensations which we do not understand; but seriously consider whether we are not sorrowful for that which is indeed designed for our advantage, and in the issue will be matter of rejoicing to us.

We hear to what purposes the Comforter was sent. His coming was designed in a peculiar manner for the advantage of the apostles; and was of greater service to them than the continuance of Christ's presence with them in the body would have been, not only to support and comfort them under all their trials, but to acquaint them with all necessary truth, and fully to instruct them in the mysteries of godliness. And he came also for the conviction of an apostate world; for the important errand he was sent upon was to awaken men's minds, and to convince them of their own guilt, and of Christ's righteousness, and of that awful judgment which should be executed on the most inveterate of his enemies. Let us often think of the force of the Spirit's testimony to the truth of Christianity, and endeavour to understand it in all its extent. Let us bless God that the gospel, and the character of his Son, were thus vindicated; and rejoice in the views of that complete conquest, to which Satan is already adjudged. In the mean time let us earnestly pray that the influences of the Holy Spirit may be communicated to us in such a manner that Christ may be glorified in us, and we in him; and that the things of Christ may be taken, and shewn to us by that Spirit; for it can only be done by means of his influence and operations.

SECTION XCVIII.

JOHN XVI. 16-33.

A LITTLE While, and ye shall not see me and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A

and again, a

little while, and ye shall not see me little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now thou speakest plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold,

the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

We are, perhaps, often regretting the absence of Christ, and looking back with emulation on the happier lot of those who conversed with him on earth in the days of his flesh : but if we are true believers in an unseen Jesus, it is but a little while and we shall also see him; for he is gone to the Father, and will so successfully negociate our affairs there, that whatever our present difficulties and sorrows are, they shall end more happily than those of a woman, who after all the pangs and throes of her labour, through the merciful interposition of Divine Providence, is made the joyful mother of a living child.

In the mean time, we have surely no reason to envy the world its joys and triumphs; alas, its season of weeping will quickly come! But our lamentations are soon to be turned into songs of praise and our hearts to be filled with that solid, sacred and peculiar joy, which, being the gift of Christ, can never be taken away.

While we are in this state of distance and darkness, let us rejoice that we have access to the throne of grace through the prevailing name of Christ. Let us come thither with holy courage and confidence, and ask that we may receive; and so our joy may be full. With what pleasure may we daily renew our visits to that throne, before which Jesus stands as an Intercessor; to that throne, which is possessed by the Father, who himself loveth us, and answers with readiness and delight those petitions which are thus recommended! May our faith in Christ, and our love to him, be still on the increasing hand; and our supplications will be more and more acceptable to him, whose loving-kindness is better than life! (Psalm lxiii. 3.)

Surely we shall be frequently reviewing these gracious discourses which Christ has bequeathed us as an invaluable legacy. May they dwell with us in all our solitude, and comfort us in every distress! We shall have no reason to wonder if human friendship be sometimes false, and always precarious: the disciples of Christ were scattered in the day of his extremity, and left him alone, when they were under the highest obligations to have adhered to him with the most inviolable

fidelity. May we but be able like him to say, that our Father is with us; and that delightful converse with God, which we may enjoy in our most solitary moments, will be a thousand times more than an equivalent for whatsoever we lose in the creatures. In the world we must indeed have tribulation; and he that has appointed it for us, knows that it is fit we should: but since Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, who was made perfect through sufferings, has overcome the world, and disarmed it; let us seek that peace which he has established, and press on with a cheerful assurance, that the least of his followers shall share in the honours and benefits of his victory.

SECTION XCIX.

JOHN XVII. 1—12.

THESE words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come: glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the

world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as

we are.

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

With pleasure let us behold our gracious Redeemer in this posture of humble adoration; lifting up his eyes to God with solemn devotion, and pouring out his pious and benevolent Spirit in those Divine breathings which are here recorded. From his example, let us learn to pray; and from his intercession, to hope. We know that the Father heareth him always (John xi. 42); and singularly did he manifest that he heard him now, by all that bright assemblage of glories which shone around him in the concluding scenes of his abode on earth, and in those that attended his removal from it: and in all this too did the blessed Jesus manifest his zeal for the glory of the Father. May we emulate that holy temper! and when we pray even for our own consummate happiness in the heavenly world, may we consider it as ultimately centering in the honour and service of God!

Well may we be encouraged to hope for that happiness, since Christ has an universal power over all flesh, and over spirits superior to those that dwell in flesh; with which he is invested on purpose that he may accomplish the salvation of those whom the Father has given him, even of every true believer. We see the certain way to this life, even the knowledge of God in Christ: let us bless God, that we enjoy so many opportunities of obtaining it; and earnestly pray that he who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, would by his Divine rays shine forth on our benighted souls; and so animate us in his service, from the noblest principles of gratitude and love, that we may be able to say, even in our dying moments, with somewhat of the same Spirit which our Lord expressed, Father, we have glorified thee on earth, and finished the work which thou gavest us to do; and therefore, being no more in the world, we come unto thee. Then may we hope, in our humble degree, to partake of that glory to which he is returned, and to sit down with him on his victorious throne.

In the mean time, may our faith see, and our zeal confess, Christ! May we acknowledge his Divine authority, as having come out from the Father; May we be united in love to him, and to each other; and be kept by that Divine word which is

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