58 - John 16:23

’Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.’ -John 16:23. The night of sorrow should be succeeded by the upspringing of the Sun of Righteousness, the return of the Lord of Glory from his tomb, bringing with him, wonderfully enhanced in meaning, all those precious words of promise which had gone down with him into the region of the shadow of death. Their joy no man should take from them any more; man had been permitted to empty all the treasures of his malice upon the head of their Christ, and had nothing more that he could do against the Saviour; he might indeed rage against the people of Christ and make havoc of their earthly portion; but the risen Jesus had all power in heaven and in earth, and would be with his people always even unto the end of the world, unto the very limits of their pilgrimage across the empire of the god of this world. Why then should their joy ever be taken from them? Brought again from the dead he would be more gloriously and effectually with them than he had been in the days of his personal ministry. Let the sheep but know that their shepherd has power over the wolf, and they are content. The disciples obtained this confidence in perfection only after the wolf had been permitted to do his utmost, and seemingly to triumph.

"In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Ask and receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken in proverbs." The fulness of their joy was on the day of Pentecost. Till then there were scales on the eyes of their understanding. When Christ rose they rejoiced with exceeding joy. But the risen Jesus came and went; his visits were rare and brief; after a whole week they would see him for a quarter of an hour; and then there would be a longer absence. The mists of the future were very imperfectly dispelled. How were they to get the full benefits of Christ’s resurrection? Formerly he went with them here and there among the people, and men saw his glory, and stood in awe. Now he visits them in a retired chamber, or in some secluded spot, and, so far as the world is concerned, it is as though Christ were yet in the tomb. If even at that time it was difficult for them to understand the nature of the new dispensation, and the idea even suggested itself that they should go back to their former occupations, treating the whole ministry of Christ as a parenthesis, an unsolved enigma, how much more now, before his resurrection, would it be hard for them to understand the intimations of that future day? From the necessity of the case the words of Christ were proverbs to them, hard sayings, enigmatic utterances. "We cannot tell what he saith."

’In that day ye shall ask me nothing; ye shall ask the Father in my name, and obtain everything.’ He had said before, ’My Father is greater than I’ Christ in his visible presence could only be with one company; let them be separated, and some would have him not. His disciples were scattered all over the land, in towns, villages, hamlets, on the sea, on land, on mountains, in plains, in the field, in the house. But every believer needed that Christ should be with him always; how else could he have fulness of joy? Here was a grand difficulty, and how it should be surmounted the disciples could not at that time see. On the day of Pentecost all became plain. Christ was no longer visible; he was at the right hand of the Father; but his friendship, his faithfulness, his grace, his power all were theirs, just as they had been, and far more fully. The divine power and wisdom and love of the Father, these were all theirs, and all were available at all times, in all places, through the mere name of their Christ. ’All that you have found in my personal presence, all and much more you shall find in my name. If twelve legions of angels are necessary for your protection and for the success of your mission, hesitate not to ask; the Father will give them when you mention my name. As you believe in God, seeing him not, so are you henceforth to believe in me. I say not that I will pray the Father for you; do not suppose that there is a repugnance in the Father’s heart towards you on account of your unworthiness which I am to overcome each time by urgent entreaty; the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me and believed that I came out from God. I came forth to you from God, and all the love which you have apprehended in me is the Father’s love; believe in the love thus manifest in me, and appropriate it, and it shall never fail you.’ The promises of Christ are part and parcel of the institutions of Christ, and may not be separated from them. ’Ye are not of the world,’ says Christ to his; ’I have chosen you out of the world, separated you from it, sanctified you, put my Spirit upon you, and given you my own very mission, that the mantle of office falling from me may be upon you.’ Now what was Christ’s mission? Salvation; the communication to men of all that would tend to their highest welfare. And this is the mission of his people. They are in the world to communicate to men the blessings of the true life, the riches of grace. The promises are an essential part of the equipment of Christ’s Legion. The aim of his soldiers is not to make themselves comfortable, to get as much of earth’s good and be shielded from as much earthly harm and loss as possible. It is more blessed for them to give than to receive. Having this sincere desire to be useful to their fellow-men, sincere, and not degraded by the leaven of a secret desire for applause, let them ask, and God will give them abundantly. Will he not give them peace, joy, and power? Yes, but in His own way, by giving them the mind that was in Christ, so that they find their happiness in promoting that of others. But, alas! many of us come short of this Christ-like devotedness; we have not got rid of all forms of selfishness; we are but little constrained by this love Divine. Have we nothing to do with these promises? O yes, they are yours, that you may obtain by them that which you really need; separation from the world, deliverance from self, and, in one word, a truer knowledge of Christ, that you may be changed into his image. Ask and receive, that your joy may be full.