03. The Claim of Christ

that the deepest and profoundest passion of His heart, and the highest joy of His soul was that He came into human history to preach the evangel of repentance and remission of sins. He claimed that His words are the words which proclaim redemption for men and women who are lost.

The last claim is that His teaching is final. Heaven and earth pass, but the words abide. Nor do they abide only; they are complete; as He said to His Father: "I have given them Thy word." That is what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews meant when he said, "God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son." In that speech everything was said that man needs to hear.

These are superlative claims. We start the present series of meditations, accepting them as true. From this point we shall go forward, desiring to hear what He has to say.

It seems as though, out of that overshadowing glory of this mount of worship, I again hear the voice that spoke to Peter, James, and John, on the holy mount long ago; and this is what it says: "This is My Son . . . hear ye Him."

We started with the confession of impartial and indifferent men, "Never man so spake." We close with the declaration of God, "This is My Son . . . hear ye Him."

¹ Heb. i. 1, 2.

² Luke ix. 35.

"Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him."—Matthew vi. 8.

"Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."—vi. 32.

". . . Neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him."—xi. 27.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment."—xxii. 37, 38.

"God is a Spirit."—John iv. 24.

"My Father worketh even until now, and I work."—v. 17.

"Therefore doth the Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again."—x. 17.

"If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also: from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him."—xiv. 7.

"He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."—xiv. 9.

CONCERNING GOD

As we approach the theme of the teaching of Christ concerning God, inevitably we are conscious of its vastness and importance. We recognize also that if there is to be any teaching about God, or any understanding of that teaching, the revelation must be adjusted to human capacity, in order to human comprehension.

In the universe the fact of God is patent and open; but that vision is too large for human sight, and too vast for human comprehension. In order therefore that it may be known by men, it must somehow be brought into such narrowness of expression that they may hear and understand.

Both these facts—that of the vastness of the theme, and that of the necessity for a revelation adjusted to human capacity,—are recognized in the words of our Lord, “This is the age-abiding life, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him Whom Thou didst send”; the vastness of the fact in the words, “the only true God,” and the Medium of manifestation adjusted to the capacity of humanity in the words, “Him Whom Thou didst send.”

The first impression made upon the mind by a study of the words of Jesus about God is that of how little He said of Him. We have in these Gospel narratives no sustained argument for the existence of God. His existence was assumed by Jesus. In the words of Jesus we find no systematic teaching about the nature of God. That seems to be treated, from first to last, as incomprehensible. Jesus never argued for the existence of God; He assumed that existence.

¹ John xvii. 3.

He never taught men anything about God systematically;

He seems to have taken it for granted that God is entirely beyond the ultimate comprehension of the finite mind.

On the other hand, there is no assumption on the part of

Jesus, and nothing in His teaching that would lead us to the conclusion that He considered God to be unknowable.

On the contrary, He declared incidentally, over and over again, and more than once quite emphatically, that God is revealed, and therefore can be known. That is the burden of the thought underlying the words recorded by Matthew,

"No one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son." So far we have only the assumption that the Father is known by the Son; but the declaration did not end there, for He continued, "and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him"; and in that word we discover His recognition of the fact, that

God can be known by men, in measure, and accurately, through revelation.

In seeking for the teaching of Jesus concerning God, we have then, first, to recognize the One Whom He assumed in all His ministry; and secondly, to consider that One so far as He is revealed in the words of Jesus.

We must, however, at once recognize the fact that the words of Jesus do not constitute His complete revelation of the Father; that His teaching about God is not to be found finally in what He said, but in what He was, and in what

He did. We are now dealing with His words, and I repeat, then, that as we listen to the words of Jesus two things seem to be necessary. If we would understand His thought of God, we must first recognize the One Whom

He assumed, the One for Whose existence He never argued, the One Whose nature He never attempted systematically to explain, the One to Whom He perpetually re-

¹ Matt. xi. 27.

Concerning God ferred in the course of all His conversation and of all His teaching; and, in order to this, we must listen to the references He made to that One, and so far as it is possible, attempt to understand them. Then, secondly, we must attempt to consider that One assumed, in so far as He was actually revealed in the teaching of Jesus.

The recognition of the God assumed by Jesus can only proceed so far as He is revealed in the references which prove the assumption. We claim that His references to God do prove His assumption of His existence. We claim further, that in a measure we may understand His thought of the One Whom He assumed, as we listen to His references to that One. The first question we have to ask is, By what references is that assumption proven; then, secondly, What do these references reveal?

When we come to the consideration of things definitely said concerning God, we should remember that such consideration must be conditioned by the method which the Teacher adopted. The method of Jesus in His teaching concerning God was twofold. First, He made certain clear declarations about God, but they were all incidental; one of them was separate and direct, but not one of them was an affirmation made for the sake of telling men something about God. Everything so said was for the sake of flinging light upon some condition of human life.

But the final teaching of Jesus, in His manifestation of God, was not that of the words of reference to God, nor that of the words of declaration concerning God; but that of the manifestation of His whole being and doing. To use the stately and mystic words of John, by the fact that "the Word was made flesh," did Christ bring to the world His full and final teaching concerning God. Therefore the final teaching of Jesus concerning God is not to be found in the words, but in Himself; and as we grow to a more perfect knowledge of Christ, we shall ever be coming to a more perfect understanding of what He taught us concerning God.

In our present study, then, there are three things for us to do: first, to attempt to recognize His assumption by an examination of His references; secondly, to consider the few brief declarations He clearly made about God; and finally, to observe how these things prepare for the final teaching of His own Person.

Now when we attempt to recognize His assumption, as we have already pointed out, we can only do so by paying attention to His references. A careful reading of the actual words of Jesus, as they lie scattered through these four Gospels, reveals the fact that whether the teaching was the more public general teaching, or the more systematic teaching, such as the Manifesto of the Kingdom, or the final paschal discourses delivered to the disciples, or the great prophecies on Olivet; in all such teaching and converse, Jesus constantly referred to God. Those references are of supreme importance, not in the matter of what He said, but in the way in which He referred to God; or quite clearly, in the names of God which He employed. We find that in all the Gospels He is only reported to have referred to God by the use of three names or titles. There is a sense in which it would be correct to say He only referred to God by the use of two names, for in every case where He used the third, He did so in making a quotation from the Old Testament Scriptures. The One Whom He assumed, and to Whom He perpetually referred, He always called "God," or "Father," when speaking His own words. He also called Him "Lord" by quotation from the Old Testament Scriptures. The two outstanding and peculiar names, which Jesus employed in referring to the One Whose existence He assumed, were those of "God" and "Father."

Concerning God

I think that fact illuminates for us certain words in the epistles, to which I only refer in passing. I think that is what Paul meant when he said at the beginning of his Ephesian letter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."¹ I think that is what Peter meant when, in his letter, he wrote the identical words of Paul, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."² While I am perfectly sure that each of these apostles recognized the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Eternal One, I think they were also remembering the way by which He described the One to Whom He was related, perpetually speaking of Him as God or as Father.

Let us then in the very simplest way possible consider these names. The word God stands for an abstract idea. It explains nothing. It suggests no truth concerning substance, attributes, or activities. Just as when we begin to consider the component colours of light, we lose light; so in the moment in which we begin that which for certain reasons is necessary and proper, a study of the nature and attributes and activities of God, we lose that supreme conception which the word suggests when used apart from definition.

When we begin to enquire the meaning of the Greek word Theos we find ourselves involved in a discussion of eight suggested derivations. And finally we shall have to be content to leave the matter where the scholars have left it, that most probably the underlying thought, the root from which the word came, was one meaning to implore, or to sacrifice; and that the word itself in its first use suggested One implored, or One to Whom sacrifice is given. That is all doubtful; but the fact of the darkness round the origin of the word is in itself suggestive.

If our Lord made use of that actual word, Theos, if He spoke a Greek dialect, there can be no question that the

¹ Eph. i. 3.

² 1 Peter i. 3.

thought in His mind was the thought of the Hebrew word, Elohim, that majestic and mysterious plural in which the master conception is that of strength.

There is less doubt about the Latin word Deus than about the Greek word, for we are familiar with the fact that it comes from a root signifying to shine.

The origin of the word God of our own language is also clouded in obscurity. One thing is absolutely certain; it has no root connection with the word good. In all probability its root significance is exactly the same as that of the word Theos: Some one to be implored; Some one to whom sacrifice is offered.

If in this consideration I have succeeded in showing how ignorant we are as to the meaning of these words, that is in itself a preparation and a revelation. In all languages the words which stand for the Supreme Being represent an abstract idea; and yet in their very indefiniteness, in the fact that the light which seems to be upon them, when we commence to examine them, merges into a great darkness, which is the darkness of a light too bright to be examined, we have the first great suggestion about God. Thus Jesus perpetually used a word that attempted no definition, but that brought to the mind the conception of a Being, of an Existence, and of a conscious Existence. By all His uses of the word God, we realize that to Him God was One existing, apart from final definition, and yet forevermore so acting, as to make it possible for men to touch Him, to come into contact with Him, to have definite relationships with Him.

The second of these words, Father, is a word of an entirely different kind, bringing the mind into a new attitude in thinking of God. While the word God is abstract, and suggests separation, the word Father is relative, and suggests a relation.

Now it is of the utmost importance that we should

Concerning God understand the true nature of the relation suggested; and as we give close attention to the word we find ourselves, I think, face to face with somewhat astonishing facts.

The word Father itself does not at all suggest what we mean by father to-day. It does not suggest the origination of life. The Greek word so translated, the Latin word which was derived from the Greek, and our word derived from the Latin, suggest, not the fountain of life, not the origin of life, but a nourisher, a succourer, one who cares for. The Aramaic word Abba, appearing in our New Testament, is used in our literal and immediate sense, but its root idea is figurative and remote.

The Father, then, is One Who nourishes, One Who succours, One Who cares for; One Who makes His sun to shine upon the evil as well as upon the good; One Whose relationship to those of whom He is Father, is the relationship of providence, of love and care, of thought, blessing and guidance. Jesus perpetually spoke of God as Father, essentially as His own Father, peculiarly as the Father of His disciples, inclusively as the Father of all men.

Thus, Father is a word that suggests a relationship between that God Who cannot be defined, and all the creatures of His hand. We are not now discussing the question of the Fatherhood of God, in the special New Testament sense as resulting from the regeneration of the individual. We are simply taking the word in the sense in which our Lord made use of it, as a revelation of God in His attitude towards, and relationship with, men.

The final word to be considered is the word Lord. Here again we have a word suggesting a relationship. A careful examination of the passages containing the records of our Lord's use of this word will show that, when using it, He was invariably quoting from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. It may be that His quotations were from the

Septuagint, in all probability they were; and therefore it must be remembered that the Septuagint was successful in hiding certain uses of the titles of God, which are of the utmost value in the study of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Septuagint uniformly translated the Hebrew word Adonahy, and also the tetragrammaton, YHVH, which we render Yahweh, or Jehovah; by the Greek word Kurios. Now if we examine the passages which our Lord quoted, not in the Septuagint, but in the Hebrew versions, we shall find that the name of God in them was never Adonahy. So that every time we find the word Lord in the words of Jesus about God, we know that the thought of Jesus was that of the Hebrew conception of God, expressed in our word Jehovah.

It is not within the necessity of our present study to enter in any detail into the discussion of the suggestiveness of that title. It is sufficient to say that the suggestion was not that of the self-existence of God contained in the word Elohim with which the Old Testament Scriptures open. Jehovah suggested rather the fact that this Being, incomprehensible, utterly beyond the possibility of finite mind to perfectly understand, accommodates Himself to the necessities of His people; that He becomes whatever they need in the processes of His dealing with them. There are expositors of the New Testament who tell us that our Lord carried over that great thought from the Hebrew economy into the New, by constantly adopting the title of Father for God, as we have exactly the same thought of succour therein. I should personally consider that there is a distinction between them, because Jehovah ultimately suggests that incarnation by which God became flesh.

Having thus considered the words, we may now attempt to state what may be known of the One Whom Jesus assumed.

By the one word He most constantly made use of, which in our language is the word God, He assumed the being and

Concerning God existence of One of Whom final definition is impossible. That One is, according to the suggestion of the Greek word, One Who may be implored, to Whom prayer may be made; according to the suggestion of the Hebrew word, One all-sufficient in strength; according to the suggestion of the Latin word, One shining in glory. It is impossible to define; but the fact is recognized that, behind the lilies, with the sparrows, numbering the hairs of the head, close at hand, far away, annihilating all distance in His Being, counting no time in the fact of His existence, is One. That is the final fact; and it is an amazing fact to us because we are finite; for Elohim is the mightiest name of God, more wonderful than Jehovah, if we were able to comprehend it. Because we are finite, the next, and perhaps in the light of the first fact, the yet more amazing fact is, that Jesus referred to this One as Father; recognizing by that name His relation to men, as the Nourisher of men, as the Succourer of men, as the One Who cares for men. Finally, by His quotation of the ancient Hebrew thought, He recognized that the methods of that One in His redemption of man is that of becoming whatever His people need, in order to the perfecting of those upon whom His love is set.

Our consideration of the definite and explicit declarations He made about this One must be brief, for they were very few.

About God He made one such declaration, and only one; and then, as I have already pointed out, not in order to make the declaration, but in order that by the making of it, He might teach another lesson. To the woman of Samaria He said, "God is Spirit." There is no record in the New Testament of any other essential and final declaration concerning God from the lips of Jesus. In the declaration there are two values: the word God suggested Being, and in some sense of the word—more wonderful than we can

¹ John iv. 24.

comprehend—personality; and the word Spirit suggested the nature of the personality, Spirit being free from the limitation of space and time.

Let the context illuminate the declaration. Our Lord made the statement, not to a Jew, but to a Samaritan; not to a man, but to a woman; not to a fair and beautiful woman, but to a sinning woman; and He uttered the truth in order to teach that woman that ultimately, when men knew and understood, when His own work was completed, worship would be possible anywhere, no one place and no one method being necessary; no longer in Jerusalem, nor in this mountain, but wherever the worshipper is, who worships in spirit and in truth, there worship is possible; for God is Spirit. Therefore whether it be in cathedral or chapel or conventicle; or away from all, on the deep, on the mountain height, in the valley, in the desert, there He is; and if the heart be true, there is the shrine, there is the place of worship. That revelation about worship was the reason of the declaration. Thus in the midst of that teaching came the one great word of Christ concerning God, mystic, and utterly beyond our final analysis, "God is Spirit."

As to our Lord's declaration concerning the Father, I can but take illustrative words, for there were many. I think three will suffice.

In Matthew it is recorded that in the course of the Manifesto, twice over He said one thing about God as Father; practically He said it over and over again, but twice it comes out into definite form: "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."

In John we have a truth, often referred to in many different ways, crystallized into a definite statement. The Lord healed the man in the porches of Bethesda, and His enemies were criticizing Him for breaking Sabbath; when He said, "My Father worketh even until now, and I work."

¹ Matt. vi. 8, 32.

² John v. 17.

Concerning God

A little later on, in the same Gospel of John, it is recorded that in speaking of His work He affirmed definitely a truth which was constantly illustrated in His teaching: "Therefore doth the Father love Me, because I lay down My life."

I say these are but illustrations. If we take the whole of His teaching, we shall find these truths running all through His statements in varying applications; but I select these because of their definiteness.

The value of these statements we may epitomize by saying that He declared that the Father knows all the need of man; that the Father is at work in the midst of all the things that cause humanity suffering, that He knows no Sabbath because man has lost his Sabbath; that the Father loves; and that the supreme reason—a mystic and awe-inspiring declaration—of His love of the Son, is that the Son gives Himself to die for the saving of man.

Concerning the fact that this God and Father is Jehovah, He made only one declaration, and that by quotation. When some one asked Him, Which is the great commandment? His answer was immediately given, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"; and in that illuminative word Jesus taught that the law of Jehovah aims at creating love in the heart of man towards Himself, and towards his fellow man; and therefore that His law must be the outcome of the love of His heart.

Thus the supreme truths about God in the teachings of Jesus may thus be briefly stated; God in Himself is Spirit; towards all He is a Father, knowing, working, loving in His method; and He is Lord, the Author of a law born of love, and intended to produce love.

All this however but prepares for the final teaching. That final teaching is found in nothing Jesus said about God either directly or incidentally. He is in Himself the final teach-

¹ John x. 17.

² Matt. xxii. 37, 39.

ing. This is His claim for Himself: "I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father."¹ This is His claim concerning His relation to His Father in the world: "No one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him."² This is His claim concerning men: "Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."³

Thus, inclusively, He claimed that if men saw Him, they saw God; that His final teaching concerning God was not that of His words, but that of Himself. Therefore, if I would know this God Who is Spirit, this Father Who knows and works and loves, this Lord Who is Lawgiver, Himself forevermore becoming what I need, I must know Him through Jesus. To put the matter in another way; if I know this Jesus—not listen merely to what He says, but know Him—then from Him I may project the lines into the vastness of eternity, and they will include the fact of God. As Charles Wesley dared to put it in one of his most magnificent hymns, in Him we see "God contracted to a span"; and that in order that we may see, that we may know, that we may understand.

Our study of the teaching of Christ concerning God must be imperfect, because in His words His final teaching about God is not contained. Nevertheless, in the words we have found revealed the facts, of the sovereignty of God Who is Spirit; of the nearness of our relationship to God as Father; of the perfection of His method, in that He is the Lord, Author of a law of love, Himself becoming what His people need, in order to help them to become.

The ultimate unveiling of God is to be found in the One Who spoke; Who is infinitely more than all the words that ever passed His lips; because He is Himself the Word of God

¹ John xvi. 28.

² MatL xi. 27.

³ John xiv. 9.

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."—Matthew ix. 13.

"No one knoweth the Son, save the Father."—xi. 27.

"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."—xxvi. 38.

"The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners."—xxvi. 45.

"For verily the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."—Mark x. 45.

"But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."—xiii. 32.

"I must preach the good tidings of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also: for therefore was I sent."—Luke iv. 43.

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."—ix. 58.

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost."—xix. 10.

"And no man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life."—John iii. 13-14.

"My Father worketh even until now, and I work."—v. 17.

"Even so the Son also quickeneth whom He will."—v. 21.

"I came forth and am come from God."—viii. 42.

"Before Abraham was, I am."—viii. 58.

"We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work."—ix. 4.

"I and the Father are One."—x. 30.

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me may not abide in the darkness."—xii. 46.

"He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."—xiv. 9.

"I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father."—xvi. 28.

II

CONCERNING HIMSELF

WE must all recognize the supreme importance of the teaching of Christ concerning Himself. In an address delivered from the Chair of the Congregational Union in 1909, Mr. J. D. Jones of Bournemouth said, "The Question, 'What think ye of Christ?' is critical for the future of Christianity. It is around the question of the Person of Christ that the battle wages. . . . Is He simply the first Christian, or is He the sum and substance of Christianity?"

The enquiry is a pertinent one, and the declaration that we are in the midst of a conflict around the question of the Person of Christ cannot be denied.

In the midst then of such conflict, we turn with keen and reverent interest to the consideration of His teaching concerning Himself.

It is necessary at the outset that we recognize the limitations of our present meditation. We are limited first by the fact that He gave no systematic teaching concerning Himself. He never, upon any occasion, so far as the records reveal—and we have no other means of knowing—addressed the multitudes by way of explanation of His own Person and Being. Neither have we any record of His gathering His disciples about Him, in order that He might tell them all the truth about Himself. On the other hand, it is quite evident that the supreme problem of the men of His age was created by Himself. His enemies and His critics over and over again asked Him for some clear and specific teaching concerning Himself, "Who art Thou?"

"Whence camest Thou?" His disciples were evidently equally perplexed. Both foes and friends were conscious in His presence of more than they could account for; and were eager to hear His own declaration concerning the mystery of His Being; but He never, by direct and systematic teaching, answered the enquiry either of friends or foes. Indeed, I think it would not be too strong a statement to make were I to say that, according to His own declaration recorded by John,¹ He avoided all such teaching. On the other hand, it is impossible to read the words of Jesus, as they are recorded for us in these four narratives, without seeing quite clearly that the implications of His teaching constitute a revelation of His Person.

We are also limited in this study by the fact that from His references to Himself we shall select, for our present use, only those which are essential and inclusive.

I propose therefore, first, to group certain of His statements concerning Himself, in which statements He made use of revealing terms; and secondly, therefrom to make a deduction of values.

First then, let us gather from the mass of material at our disposal in the four Gospels certain outstanding statements of our Lord. These we shall group under three headings: first, passages containing terms of existence; secondly, passages containing terms of relation; and thirdly, passages containing terms of purpose. In the light of these passages we shall see something of what our Lord taught concerning Himself; as to the mystery of His Being, as to His relationship both to God and man, and as to the meaning or purpose of His presence in our world.

We then take first the Scriptures which contain terms dealing with the fact of His existence. Certain things Christ said of Himself, either in formal declaration, or incidentally,

¹ John v. 30-38.

reveal His self-consciousness, as apart from His relationship, either to God or to man. These again may be grouped under two headings. In certain passages He spoke out of an eternal consciousness; or I should prefer to change the word eternal, and adopt that which is its equivalent, but which far better conveys the real meaning of the New Testament word; He spoke out of an age-abiding consciousness. In other passages there are terms which reveal His temporal consciousness; or terms which show that He was speaking, as of the age in which He lived, and as conscious of its limitations.

I have selected, rather by way of illustration than in any attempt to exhaust the theme, three passages in which I find the terms of eternity, the age-abiding terms. Let us first read them. I shall quite deliberately lift these passages out of their context, in order that we may consider them in their loneliness. This is not to do any violence to them, because the context in no way modifies their meaning in this application.

These then are the three passages:

"I came forth, and am come from God." ¹

"Before Abraham was, I am." ²

"I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father." ³

Almost all the great declarations of Christ revealing His eternal consciousness, and concerning His relationship to God, are found in the Gospel according to John. Bishop Westcott said of this Gospel, "The Gospel of St. John from first to last is a record of the conflict between men's thoughts of Christ, and Christ's revelation of Himself."

The first of these statements, "I came forth, and am come from God," ⁴ is a most remarkable word, not describing a fellowship of nearness with God, but one which is essential. The real suggestion of the declaration, "I came forth from

¹ John viii. 42. ² Ibid., viii. 58. ³ Ibid., xvi. 28. ⁴ Ibid., viii. 42.

God," is not that He came from the side of God, from companionship with God, as an angel might; but that He came out of the essential mystery of the Being of God.

The declaration, "Before Abraham was, I am," was introduced by that formula of which He occasionally made use when desiring to fasten attention upon a subject: "Verily, verily." This moreover was a direct and intended contrast on His part between the temporal and the eternal. "Abraham was"; that is a term of the temporal; but before that, "I am," which in that contrast becomes distinctly a term of the eternal.

In the last of these three passages we have a perfect summary of the whole mission of Christ as recorded in the Gospels, ". . . from the Father . . . into the world . . . leave the world . . . unto the Father."

It is impossible, and unnecessary for us to consider fully the value of these words separately. The fact to be observed is that our Lord referred to Himself in such a way that the implication of His references is that of an age-abiding existence. It is important that we notice the persistence of the Ego, of the "I," of the Person, through these passages: "I came forth, and am come from God"; "Before Abraham was, I am"; "I came out . . . am come into . . . I leave . . . and go unto."

Herein is no definite or systematic declaration or claim of preëxistence; and yet herein is the consciousness of a persistent existence; or the vapourings of a diseased mind; or the false claims of an impostor. The Ego is persistent; existing before the coming, or there could have been no coming; present in the world, and evidently set forth before the eyes of men in guise suited to their ability to appreciate; and about to leave the world, but not to cease to be. These are the eternal terms, the age-abiding terms, in which He

¹ John viii. 58.

² Ibid., xvi. 28.

spoke of Himself; and the inevitable implication is that of an eternal, or an age-abiding consciousness.

Turning next to those terms of existence which were purely temporal; those references to Himself which indicated His relation to the conditions of the age in which He spoke; and which mark His sense of the limitations of time and locality, and His sense of the common experiences of humanity, we will group seven such passages, indicating in each case the particular sense suggested.

The first two indicate His sense of the limitations of time and locality: "We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." That was the sense of time.

"I must preach the good tidings of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also: for therefore was I sent." That was the sense of locality.

The next five reveal His sense of the common experience of men: "Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." That was the sense of limited knowledge.

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." That was the sense of poverty.

"No one knoweth the Son, save the Father." That was the sense of loneliness.

"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." That was the sense of sorrow.

"The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." That was the sense of human weakness.

From these illustrations, which can easily be changed or

1 John ix. 4.

5 Matt. xi. 27.

2 Luke iv. 43.

6 Ibid., xxvi. 38.

3 Mark xiii. 32.

7 Ibid., xxvi. 45.

4 Luke ix. 58.

multiplied, we may recognize that His common speech concerning Himself was that of One sharing in every way in the conditions of His age, and the experiences of humanity. Thus we find declarations, formally made, or incidentally falling from His lips, which reveal the consciousness of a Being both superior to His own age, and subsisting in all ages; and therefore ageless, timeless, age-abiding, eternal. And we find that He was conscious also of the limitations of time and space; that He did not know the day or the hour; that He knew poverty, that He knew loneliness, that He knew sorrow, that He knew weakness; all the things of one age, its limitations and its human experiences.

Passing now to the Scriptures which contain the terms revealing the fact of His relationships, these may also be grouped under two heads: those revealing His relation to God, and those showing His relation to men.

Those revealing His relation to God are found in the Gospel according to John. His consciousness of relation to God is revealed as twofold: a consciousness of relation as to nature, and a consciousness of relation as to activity.

There are two great words revealing His consciousness as to nature: "I and the Father are one."¹ "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."²

There are also two words revealing His consciousness as to activity: "My Father worketh even until now, and I work."³ "As the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son also quickeneth whom He will."⁴

Our present interest centres not in the connection of these words, important though it is, but in the actual declarations. Notice the two affirmations concerning His conscious relationship to God as to nature. "I and the Father are one."⁵ That is a solemn and separate claim in which

¹ John x. 30.

² Ibid., v. 17.

³ Ibid., x. 30.

⁴ Ibid., xiv. 9.

⁵ Ibid., v. 21.

every single word, properly considered, is full of value and suggestiveness; and it is well that we should notice the effect produced by these words upon the Jews who first heard them, for as we observe that effect, we shall discover their understanding of His meaning. "The Jews took up stones again to stone Him;" and that, as they said, "because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God." So it is impossible to misunderstand their interpretation of our Lord's meaning. They knew that it was a word in which He claimed essential and absolute unity and identity of nature with God Himself. In other words, it was a claim to absolute Deity; and there can be no escape from it; there is only one way to be rid of it, and that is to blot it out, and to deny that He said it. If we retain it, we must worship Him; or else declare that these were the vapourings of a disordered mind, or the words of the most terrible impostor the world has ever heard. "I and the Father are one." Nothing can be clearer.

Equally clear, and yet slightly different in application, was the word spoken to Philip; but here again it is impossible to mistake the meaning in the light of the context. "Show us the Father," said Philip, "and it sufficeth us." "Have I been so long with you, and dost thou not know Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Some declare that the first words may be used by any man, "I and the Father are one." Is any man prepared to say the same of the second, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father"? Linking the two together we have our Lord's definite claim to a relationship with God, which is that of identity of nature, and absolute though mysterious unity of Being.

Then notice the declarations in which He revealed His relationship to God in activity. "My Father worketh even until now, and I work." Once again, ere we suggest any interpretation of the meaning of these words, it is well to

$^{1}$ John x. 31, 33.

$^{2}$ *Ibid.*, xiv. 8, 9.

$^{3}$ *Ibid.*, v. 17.

observe the effect produced upon the men who listened to them: "For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only brake the Sabbath, but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." Our Lord's declaration in these words was that His relationship to God as to activity was that of coöperation. God was at work in the midst of human suffering and limitation, moving forward towards healing and restoration; and He was coöperating with Him in that very work; and moreover He explained His own claim in the second declaration, "Even so the Son also quickeneth whom He will." This, He said in effect, is the teaching contained in the man's healing by the pool; this is God's act; He gives life to the dead, renewal to the impotent. Thus Christ claimed that in the very works He wrought He was coöperating with God, and that His work was the Divine work, of recreation and regeneration.

But now turn to the terms of His relationship to men. This He expressed through all His ministry by the almost persistent use of one particular title to describe Himself; namely, that of "the Son of Man."

The term, "the Son of Man," occurs in Matthew thirty-two times, in Mark fifteen times, in Luke twenty-six times, and in John twelve times. In the first three Gospels the title is always recorded as having been used by Christ of Himself, and never by angel, by man, or by demon. Of the twelve occasions in John, ten are from the lips of Christ; twice only was the expression used by men, and then in the spirit of criticism and unbelief: "We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth forever: and now sayest Thou, The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Those are the only two occasions in all the Gospels where the term is found upon the lips of

1 John 2. 20. 2 Ibid. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

any but Christ. The term Son of Man was never used by angel or demon or man except upon this occasion. It is Christ's own description of Himself, and it is the term that links Him to humanity, shows His intimate and positive relationship to the human race.

For particular illustration I take the story of the temptation, where the Lord is seen standing entirely upon the level of humanity. He was in the wilderness, being tempted as man, as representative man; and that is not my view merely, it was His own statement. In answer to the first temptation He said. "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone." That is to say, in effect, I am in this wilderness on the human level, as the Son of Man taking the place every other man has to take; and I obey the law of God that conditions the life of humanity. In answer to the second temptation, He said: "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve;" and thus He put Himself within the Divine limitation of every other human life, and declared that He was living according to the law which every other man must obey if he would come to the fulfillment of his life. In answer to the third of these temptations, He said: "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Thus He declared that the law which governed Him was exactly the same as that which governed other men. Therefore the terms that indicate His relationship to men are those that prove His absolute kinship with the human race, His complete identification with human experience.

Finally, let us examine the terms which reveal the meaning and purpose of His presence in manifested form in human history.

These deal with the Mission, and the Method.

In dealing with the Mission we propose to take one cen-

Luke iv. 4.

Ibid., iv. 8.

Ibid., iv. 12.

tral and illuminative statement from each evangelist. It will be understood that these passages are only illustrative. The supreme and almost overwhelming difficulty in this whole study is the mass of material. In examining these statements we must be very careful to interpret the "I" in each case by the matter we have considered; and we must be careful to understand the declaration, "I came," in the light of that revelation of personal consciousness of Being, which we have also considered.

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." ¹

"For verily the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." ²

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." ³

"No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth may in Him have age-abiding life." ⁴

What a grouping of declarations is here! How absolutely they are fitted to the atmosphere in which they are found! In Matthew, which is the Gospel of the Kingdom, we have the dignity of the eternal King in the "I came," and immediately the picture is that of this King seeking to save sinners. In Mark, which is the Gospel of the Servant, and in Luke, the Gospel of the Man, we have the term "the Son of Man," identifying Him with humanity, linked with the verb that marks His eternal consciousness, "came." In the Gospel of John, the Gospel of His essential Deity veiled in flesh, we have the strange merging of the human and the Divine: "No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even the Son of Man,

¹ Matt. ix. 13.

² Luke xix. 10.

³ Mark x. 45.

⁴ John iii. 13, 14.

which is in heaven"; and then the declaration that the Son of Man must be lifted up that "whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life"—that is, age-abiding life, which is the life of the Son of Man, in the essential fact of His being.

There is no systematic teaching here as to His purpose, but the doctrine is quite clear. The first declaration, the one chronicled by Matthew, was made in answer to the criticism of the Pharisees, uttered on account of His familiarity with publicans and sinners. He said in effect, I am in the world to seek these very people, and not to seek you if you are righteous men! I came to give these men repentance. The declaration recorded by Mark was in correction of His own self-seeking disciples, who wanted thrones of power: "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." The declaration found in Luke was made in answer to criticism because He had accepted the hospitality of Zacchaeus, and in order to explain the transformation wrought in the man which made him disgorge his ill-gotten wealth, and return it to the poor. He said the Son of Man came to do that very thing—to seek and to save the lost. The declaration recorded by John was made to an inquirer who sought Him in the silence and hush of the night, and asked how could any man have new life, and be born again. To him Jesus said that the Son of Man, Who is in Heaven, and descended out of it, and is here, must be lifted up, and so His life will be liberated that others may share it.

Thus, in august and marvellous simplicity, He unfolded the purpose of His presence in the world; the presence in the world of the One Whose consciousness was eternal and temporal, Whose relation was with God and with man, in each case in complete, though mysterious, identity.

In other Scriptures we have a revelation of His method the fulfillment of the mission. His method as to God was that of submission and coöperation. The first was suggested by His recorded words, "I must be about My Father's business."¹ The second was declared in the word already used in another application, "My Father worketh even until now, and I work."²

His method in regard to men was that of revelation and redemption. He was in the world for revelation: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me may not abide in the darkness."³ He came for redemption: "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I desire, would that it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished."⁴ Reverently expressing the thought in other words, He said, I am here not merely for revelation of light; I am here for redemption, and that can only be provided by death.

This is a hasty, and, in view of the wonder of the teaching, an unsatisfactory grouping of the recorded statements. In briefest sentences, therefore, let us attempt a deduction of values from this teaching of Christ concerning Himself.

He claimed a supernatural existence—that is, an existence indefinable by the terms applicable to man, considered merely as the crown of creation. Supernatural is an awkward word; it will become obsolete when we have more light. If we could climb to the height where God dwells, things we call supernatural would be perfectly natural; but using the word in our ordinary sense, Christ claimed to be other than the men by whom He was surrounded. He claimed prior existence, in that He said He was, before He came. He claimed infinite existence, in that while He was yet present in the limitations of time and space, He spoke of being in the bosom of the Father, and in heaven itself He claimed indestructible existence, in that while He spoke

¹ Luke ii. 49.

² John v. 17.

³ Ibid., xii. 46.

⁴ Luke xii. 49, 50.

of laying down His life, He declared that He would take it again, and that no man could destroy it.

He also claimed a natural existence—that is, an existence definable by the terms applicable to man as the crown of creation. He claimed to live as a man; in subjection to God; limited in knowledge and in power; finding all-sufficient resource in God for the accomplishment of the will of God.

He claimed, moreover, that He was in the world for the express purpose of saving men, and restoring a lost order; and He explicitly declared that this purpose could not be fulfilled save by His death and resurrection; and that in the accomplishment of death and resurrection He was working in the will of God and in coöperation with Him.

It will be recognized that this study is intensive rather than extensive. We might consider the teaching of the Lord concerning Himself as the Revealer of the Father in a series of studies based upon His outstanding declarations in the Gospel of John. Or, on the other hand, we might consider the teaching of the Lord concerning Himself as the Redeemer of men, based upon outstanding declarations of His ministry as recorded by all the evangelists.

These, however, do not come within the scope of our present intention. We have simply attempted to grasp the bare outline of His teaching concerning Himself. We desire to find Christ according to His own estimate; and we most fittingly close our study and express our conviction in the words of the great apostle when he wrote to Timothy:

" And confessedly great is the sacred secret of godliness,

Who was made manifest in flesh,

Who was declared righteous in spirit,

Was made visible unto messengers,

Was proclaimed among nations,

Was believed on in the world,

Was taken up in glory."¹

¹ 1 Tim. iii. 16. (Rotherham's Translation.)

"It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."—Matthew x. 20.

"But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you."—xii. 28.

"Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come."—xii. 31, 32.

"Go ye therefore, and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."—xxviii. 19.

"Whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."—Mark iii. 29.

"David himself said in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet."—xii. 30.

"And when they lead you to judgment, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost."—xiii. 11.

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned."—xvi. 16.

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"—Luke xi. 13.

"And every one who shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, be not anxious how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say."—xii. 10-12.

"I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what will I, if it is already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!"—xii. 49, 50.

"And behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high."

—xxiv. 49.

"For John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."—Acts 1. 5.

"But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."—i. 8.

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."—John iii. 5-8.

"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life."—iv. 14.

"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified."—vii. 37-39.

"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth. Whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you. Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth Me no more; but ye behold Me: because I live, ye shall live also. In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you."—xiv. 16-20.

"These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you. But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you."—xiv. 25, &c.

"But when the Comforter is come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, Which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me: and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning."—xv. 26, 27.

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you. And He, when He is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He taketh of Mine, and shall declare it unto you."—xvi. 7-15.

"Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."—xx. 21-23.

III

THE SPIRIT

ANY ONE thus tabulating the words of Christ concerning the Spirit, as they are recorded by the four evangelists, will be inevitably impressed by certain facts which need to be stated as introductory to our study.

First there is no systematic instruction concerning the existence of the Spirit; but nevertheless there are certain assumptions, revealed in references to the Spirit, which sufficiently indicate our Lord's thought in this matter.

Secondly, in our Lord's public ministry His references to the Holy Spirit, while comparatively few, were nevertheless awe-inspiring and arresting.

Thirdly, on the eve of His departure He gave to the inner circle of His disciples comprehensive teaching, not on the existence or nature of the Spirit, but concerning the work of the Spirit during the Christian era.

The material at our disposal, then, in these Gospel narratives, for discovering the teaching of our Lord, is first, the references during His public ministry; and secondly, the particular teaching given to His own disciples prior to His departure.

Bearing in mind the first of these three facts, namely, the absence of systematic teaching concerning the nature of the Spirit, we will examine, first, the general teaching of His public ministry; and secondly, the particular teaching of the Paschal discourses.

The words in the former class were spoken not at one time, nor systematically; but at different times, and incidentally, in the course of our Lord's public ministry.

An examination of the fourfold Gospel narrative shows that Matthew recorded four references by Christ to the Holy Spirit, Mark four, Luke seven, and John four. Some of these references of the Lord are recorded by more than one of the evangelists.

Having first set these out as separate statements, in chronological order as far as possible with regard to the ministry of our Lord, we will build thereon our estimate of values.

The first reference to the Spirit in the ministry of our Lord was one revealing the relation of the Spirit to the Kingdom of God, and to the Master's ministry in regard to that Kingdom. This is not the first reference to the Spirit in the narratives, but the first in Christ's own words; and, so far as the records preserve the words to us, this was made in His conversation with Nicodemus. During His first Judæan ministry—a ministry of which we have no record in Matthew, Mark, or Luke; a ministry to which John alone refers—while He was still in Jerusalem, Nicodemus came to Him, a seeker after truth, an honest soul to whom it was possible for Him to speak of deeper things. We are, of course, familiar with the intimate connection between the ending of the second chapter and the beginning of the third chapter in John's Gospel. The last statement of the second chapter is this: "Many believed on His name. . . . But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men . . . for He Himself knew what was in man";¹ and the next chapter commences, "Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus,"² to whom He did commit His heart, and to whom He could speak as to a man of absolute honesty and sincerity. To him, therefore, our Lord declared the relation of the work of the Spirit to the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heart of man; and ultimately, of course, in the world. He told this man, to

¹ John ii. 23, 24.

² Ibid., iii. 1.

his utter amazement, that no man could enter into the Kingdom save by a new birth, a new beginning; not by process of personal reformation, but by the process of regeneration from above. In that great declaration He made the first recorded reference to the Spirit of God. Man must be born of water and of the Spirit; that is, a man must not only take the step which John indicated in his preaching of repentance; he must also be introduced to the Kingdom, to see it, to be in it, by the regeneration of the Spirit of God.

It is full of interest that in that first recorded reference to the Spirit our Lord not only recognized, but definitely declared, the mystery of the theme. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit";¹ and the "so" links the man who hears the wind to the man who is born of the Spirit. The new-born soul is related to the Spirit precisely as a man is related to the wind which he hears, and the fact of which he knows, but the source and goal of which are hidden from him. He knows the fact though he cannot explain the mystery. Thus upon the very threshold of His public ministry, so far from giving any systematic teaching as to the nature of the Spirit of God, our Lord told this seeking soul, and men for all time, that there is a mystery not revealed; but that there are facts that demonstrate the profounder fact of the being and the activity of the Spirit of God.

Next comes a group of references showing the relation of the Spirit of God to personal life. Of these the first is that to which, in another application, reference has been already made. In the story of the interview with Nicodemus is the word of Jesus concerning the Spirit, which shows that per-

¹ John iii. 8.

sonal Christianity, which is personal realization of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, is the result of the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

The next in order of time occurred just after He had left Jerusalem, and while He was on His way to Galilee to commence the ministry recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He halted at Samaria; and there, under a figure of speech, He made His next reference to the Spirit, as He said to the woman of Samaria, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life." That this statement referred to the activity of the Spirit is proved by the next reference, where, in interpretation of the figure of the running rivers of water we have the inspired word following, "this spake He of the Spirit."

Thus, under a figure of speech, not by the declaration of a doctrine, but by the suggestion of an illustration, our Lord revealed the fact that when a man is by the Spirit born, the result is that he finds perfect satisfaction; in his life there is no longer the thirst that agonizes for something never found; but the springing, laughing, living water, that brings him perpetual satisfaction.

We find the record of the next reference in the seventh chapter of John, although our Lord said it long after the Galilean ministry, in the second Judæan ministry, and when He was back again in Jerusalem. On the last day of the feast, when the priests were no longer carrying the water in the golden vessels and pouring it forth upon the ground, symbolizing the day of the Spirit, towards the dawning of which the prophets had looked; on the last day of the feast He said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." The thought is identical with that of the fourth

¹ John iv. 14.

² Ibid., vii. 39.

chapter; but He went further now, and said, "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."¹ Thus speaking of the Spirit He declared that the true secret of influence in the world is that of the indwelling and outflowing Spirit through the life of man; that influence in the world is to be created by the effluence of the Spirit of God from the life of the man born of the Spirit, and satisfied with the Spirit.

It was then, after the visit to Jerusalem, but still in the second Judæan ministry, while on tour, that He uttered the word, which Luke alone records, in relation to prayer: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"²

In that group of references we have His teaching concerning the relation of the Spirit to individual and personal life; that man needs to be born of the Spirit in order to enter into the Kingdom of God; that being born of the Spirit, the Spirit of God becomes in such a man a well of water springing up, and he never thirsts; that the Spirit of God then becomes through him the rushing of rivers of water, fertilizing deserts, and satisfying the thirst of other people; and finally that the Spirit of God is given to a man who asks for Him.

In the next place we have a group of references showing the relation of the Spirit to Christ's own work. The first is a word which He spoke in the midst of the Galilean ministry. It is chronicled by Matthew. He was arguing with the Pharisees. They had said that He cast out devils by Beelzebub, and He replied, "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the Kingdom of God come upon you."³

¹ John vii. 37-38.

² Luke xi. 13.

³ Matt. xii. 27, 28

In that word, which was incidental, it is perfectly clear that our Lord intended to declare that all His activity in the interests of the Kingdom of God, in the exorcism of devils, was activity in coöperation with the Spirit.

Then in that great soliloquy of Luke, a soliloquy that broke from His heart in the midst of the second Judæan ministry, He declared His purpose in the words: "I came to cast fire upon the earth." In the light of other Scriptures we know that this was a declaration that the ultimate meaning of His ministry was, in some way, not then to be disclosed to men, not then to be explained, for men could not understand; but in some way to give the Spirit of God, and make Him available to all men, as a fire for purity, as a fire for energy; but He declared that He was unable to fulfill that greater mission until He Himself had passed through the passion-baptism towards which His face was set, and without which His work could never be completed.

In a passing allusion He declared that when David wrote his psalm long ago, he wrote in the Spirit; that in the psalm, which the rulers and interpreters of the age were unable to explain, the psalm in which David spoke of Messiah and said, "The Lord said unto my Lord," he wrote in the Spirit. To whom was he referring? said Jesus; and they replied, To Messiah, to Christ; and His question to them was, "David himself calleth Him Lord; and whence is He his Son?" It was His challenging question to these men as to His own Person. They could give Him no answer. Thus here Christ referred to the action of the Spirit long before as inspiring the prophetic songs that set forth the fact of His own Person, and the meaning of His own ministry.

Going back now to the Galilean ministry, we find that in Galilee He first uttered those words of solemn warning in which He declared that the blasphemy against the Holy

¹ Luke xii. 49.

² Mark xii. 36, 37.

Spirit is the sin that has no forgiveness. These words we can never read without an almost appalling sense of awe possessing the soul. Both Matthew and Mark record that declaration of Christ in Galilee, and Luke states that He repeated this warning in the course of the second Judæan ministry.¹ Thus the solemn words,—whatever their import may be,—concerning the Spirit of God, belong both to the early Galilean ministry, and to the later Judæan ministry; and in each case were uttered in close connection with that criticism of the Pharisees in which they tried to account for the action of the Lord as being due to the influence of devils. Our Lord did not say that these men had committed the unpardonable sin, but they had approached very near; for when a man says of such a Christ that He works by the power of Satan, he is coming very near to definite and final rejection of that Christ; and such rejection is the sin against the Holy Ghost, because the ministry of the Holy Spirit is that of co-operating with Christ in the casting out of devils, in the revelation of the Father, in the establishment of the Kingdom, by the remaking and the perfecting of men. And if a man shall resist that Christ, and refuse Him, that is the one and only sin that has no forgiveness; for, as Christ said, it is eternal sin, the age-abiding sin, the sin from which there can be no escape; the sin therefore which cannot be forgiven.

Then there is another group of Scriptures, showing the relation of the Spirit to the work of the disciples. Three times over, once in the Galilean ministry, and finally in the last visit to Jerusalem itself, our Lord said practically the same thing to His disciples. He told them that in the day of persecution, when they should be arraigned and imprisoned and beaten and buffeted even to death, they were never to be anxious about their defense; for, said He, the Spirit of your Father within you shall speak, the Spirit of

¹ Matt. xii. 31, 32. Mark iii. 29. Luke xii. 10-12.

God will teach you what to say, the Spirit of God will speak through you.¹

Then we have a group of references after the resurrection. In every phase of His great commission to His disciples there was some reference to the Spirit. Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of the events of the first day of resurrection in the upper room. The commission recorded by Matthew was uttered in Galilee long after, at a private gathering of the risen Lord with the saints. Each teaches us some phase of the commission. Mark recorded His words: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved";² and the baptism is of course the baptism of the Spirit, and not of water. Water baptism is the sign and symbol of the spiritual fact; but the regenerating baptism is that of the Spirit. John wrote of that anticipative breathing when our Lord said, "Receive ye the Spirit,"³ in order to the ministry which shall bring the forgiveness of sins to men. It was a prophetic breathing; they did not receive the Spirit of God then, for Luke tells how, immediately following, our Lord told them to tarry until the Spirit came; and in the final word in Luke we find the promise of the coming of the Spirit.⁴

Then in Matthew's account of the appointed meeting in Galilee we have our Lord's reference to the Spirit in the great commission, when He said, "Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost";⁵ thus by reference to the Spirit indicating the union of the Spirit with the Father and the Son.

Once again, forty days after resurrection, two other references to the Spirit are found in Acts,⁶ showing the relation of the disciples to the Spirit, and the Spirit to the disciples for work. He promised the baptism of the Spirit "not

¹ Matt. x. 20. Mark xiii. 11. Luke xii. 12.

² Mark xvi. 16.

³ John xx. 22.

⁴ Luke xxiv. 49.

⁵ Matt. xxviii. 19.

⁶ Acts i. 5, 8.

many days hence"; and then declared that the coming of the Spirit to them would bring them power for the accomplishment of His work.

Thus we have seen, by the grouping of these references of Christ under different headings, that our Lord revealed the relation of the Spirit to the Kingdom of God, the relation of the Spirit to the personal life of the individual, the relation of the Spirit to His own work, and the relation of the Spirit to the work of His disciples immediately, and to the end of the present dispensation.

Looking back over these passages of Scripture it is again evident that there was no attempt on the part of the Lord at systematic teaching. That in itself is a matter of supreme importance. It is a dangerous thing in doctrinal teaching to argue from silence. Yet there is a value in observing the things about which Christ said practically nothing. When we find Him silent on some great matter we may be content to be silent on that subject too. We are always in danger of losing the supreme value of this whole fact of the ministry of the Holy Spirit when we are eager and anxious to state systematically, or even theologically, all the facts concerning the Spirit of God, and the relation of the Spirit of God to the Trinity; topics on which no final word can be said. And it is infinitely better that we should ever abide in this matter where Christ left the subject, for on the subject of the nature of the Spirit of God He made no advance upon that first mystic, suggestive, and beautiful word spoken to Nicodemus: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth."¹ The fact we know, but all the mystery of it we do not know, nor can we! But knowing the fact, we postpone, at least for the present, the attempt to understand the mys

¹ John iii. 8.

tery, and obeying the fact we find the great force serving our purpose, and accomplishing our end. Is that not the law of the wind? Dr. Jowett, when he wanted to preach upon this very passage, went down to Tynemouth, and sat by an old sailor, a real sailor, a man who had spent many years upon a sailing vessel; and said to him, "Do you know anything about the wind?" "Yes, sir, I know a lot about the wind." "Well, will you explain to me the phenomenon of the wind?" "I don't know what you mean, sir." "Well, how do you explain the wind: what do you know about it?" "No, sir, I don't know anything about the wind; but I know the wind, and I can hoist a sail!" That is the whole philosophy of this teaching. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof"—we know the fact; "but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth"—that is the mystery; but knowing the fact we hoist the sail, and the fact becomes the force that drives our vessel across the lake, though when we get to the other side we know no more about the mystery of it than we did when we started; but our vessel has been carried over; "so is every one that is born of the Spirit." The man born of the Spirit comes to recognition of the blowing of the wind, a voice in the soul, a vision before the eye, a new touch of power upon the life; and, in effect, he says, Whence, I cannot tell; whither, I know not; what, I cannot discover; but I will hoist the sail; I will act upon the impulse suggested; and immediately the force of the Spirit enters into the life, and presently he arrives at the desired haven, because recognizing the mystery, and knowing the fact, he has been obedient to the law of the fact, and the fact has been a force coöperative with his life. To my own mind, that great silence d. Jesus, that recognition of mystery, is in itself one of the most wonderful things in all His teaching concerning the Spirit.

Yet let us gather these three definite values from this collection of passages: the assumption of the Being of the Spirit; the suggestion of the nature of the Spirit; and the revelation of relationship.

What is this assumption of Being? Jesus assumed the Being of the Spirit of God, and the terms of His references preclude our imagining that He thought only of an influence. Listen to His terms: "The Spirit of your Father." That may leave us a little in doubt. Listen again: "The Spirit of God"; and even there we may imagine that there is nothing very definite. But listen again: "The Spirit"; and that word was used in such connection as to leave no possibility of doubt that He was thinking of a Person; He was thinking of intelligence, of emotion, and of volition, and therefore of the sum and substance of these things, which is personality. His references to the Spirit were references always to activities; the regenerative activity, by which a man is born from above; the gift of speech, by which men take no trouble to make a defense, but have words to speak given them at the moment; the activity of exorcism, whereby through the word of Christ the devil is compelled to leave a man, and the man is healed, and that for the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Christ spoke of the Spirit by such terms as recognized His Being as a Person, and as One active in the universe of God.

These references of Christ also suggest the nature of the Spirit. He spoke of "The Spirit," and that suggests the nature. Does it also present a difficulty? Can any one define Spirit? Let us simply say as we did in considering our Lord's declaration that God is Spirit; that Spirit is freedom from the limitations of space and time. That is at least a hint as to nature.

But He also spoke of "The Spirit of God"; and in our

¹ Matt. x. 20.

² Ibid., xii. 28.

³ Ibid., 31

Lord's use of the word "God," is the thought of might, or majesty, of absolute supremacy, and final sovereignty; and when He said "The Spirit of God," it is evident that He thought of the Spirit as related to these attributes. That again is a gleam of light upon the nature of the Spirit.

Put once again He spoke of "the Spirit of your Father." In our study on the teaching of Christ concerning God, we pointed out that He only used two names of God definitely; one God, and the other Father; and hence the meaning and value of the Pauline and Petrine expression, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now notice that in reference to the Spirit He used the same two words in order to give us an idea of the nature of the Spirit: the "Spirit of God," and the "Spirit of the Father." So that everything we think of, when we think of God as God, we may bring over into our thinking concerning the nature of the Spirit: all the ability to sustain, all the tender solicitude for welfare, all thought of love and passion and strength which we conceive as in God, we may think of as in the Spirit of God.

However, our Lord's favourite designation, if we may judge by the number of times He made use of it, was "The Holy Spirit." He clearly thought of the Spirit as holy in nature; the Spirit of purity and of right, the Holy Spirit.

These references do not constitute systematic teaching; they only afford suggestions, but they are suggestions which, when gathered together, and allowed to create an impression upon the mind, bring us very near to an understanding of the nature of the Spirit. "The Spirit of God"; "The Spirit of the Father"; "The Holy Spirit."

And finally, these references are a revelation of relations. They show that the Spirit is one with God, in His Being, and in His activity; for they indicate that Christ regarded the Spirit as working with God and for Him; and that He Himself wrought in the power of the Spirit.

These references by our Lord also show that He thought of the Spirit of God as the One Who gives life to men, new life to men, enabling them to see the vision of His glory, communicating to them the virtue whereby they will be able to win the victory, themselves submitted to the King, becoming workers with the King for the bringing in of His Kingdom.

If tempted to say that all this leaves the matter very much in the realm of mystery, remember that we have only been considering the more public and incidental references of our Lord to the Spirit.

We now turn to the special teaching of the Lord concerning the Holy Spirit, given to His disciples. It is necessary that we should recognize that it was special teaching, and that in at least three ways; as to those to whom it was given, as to the time at which it was given, and as to the scope of the teaching itself.

All the words of the Paschal discourses were spoken to the disciples only; and it is a most significant fact that, according to this record, they contain no word concerning the coming or ministry of the Spirit until Judas was excluded from the company. In the early portion of the Paschal celebration he was present. He was even there when our Lord washed the disciples' feet; but ere a word passed the lips of Christ concerning the mission of the Spirit, he had been excluded.

The teaching was special also as to the time at which it was given; these words are among the very last things He said. The shadow of the Cross was most evidently over the feast. The disciples were strangely perplexed and perturbed, utterly unable to understand their Master. This indeed had been so from that hour when at Cæsarea Philippi He had first spoken to them of the Cross. Restlessness was rife so far as they were concerned. He alone was quiet, calm, and dignified.

Finally, the teaching was special in its scope. It was specific teaching on the work of the Spirit in relation to His own disciples. These special words, spoken to the inner circle, are as devoid of systematic teaching concerning the existence and nature of the Spirit as were the incidental references during the public ministry. Over the whole of these instructions, also, we may write that word "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

Observe also that this teaching was intermixed with other matters, and closely related thereto. These Paschal discourses contain four distinct paragraphs on the coming and work of the Spirit; and it will be helpful to notice at once the setting of these references. During the observance of the Paschal feast our Lord had risen, and had washed the feet of the disciples, instructing them on the duty of love expressed in service. After that Judas was excluded, and the Lord spoke more particularly on the subject of His approaching departure. As He did so He was interrupted; first by the troubled question of Peter, "Whither goest Thou?"; next by the protesting enquiry of Thomas, "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; how know we the way?"; then by the great cry of Philip, "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." In the course of His answer to Philip, for the first time He promised the Paraclete.

Continuing His discourse, He spoke of the relation of obedience to love, told them how the expression of love to Him was that of loyalty; and in conclusion He again spoke of the ministry of the Paraclete, and immediately gave them His word of peace.

Then leaving the upper room in the midst of the discourses, it is not certain where they went. Some believe that the words concerning the vine were spoken as they

1 John iii. 8.

2 Ibid., xiv. 5.

3 Ibid., 16-17.

4 Ibid., xiii. 36.

5 Ibid., 8.

6 Ibid., 26-27.

walked over the brook Kidron towards Gethsemane. Others believe that they went specially to the Temple, and that in the silence of the night these words were uttered in the presence of that golden vine which was one of the glories of the Temple. Of these things we are not sure; but it is perfectly certain that under the figure of the vine He spoke to them of the new relationship which presently would exist between them and Himself; and emphasized the possibility of service under the figure of fruit-bearing; and in this connection He again spoke of the Paraclete.¹

He then told them of trials and persecutions awaiting them, and in that connection uttered His final word about the Paraclete;² and then completed His discourse, and uttered the great intercessory prayer. Thus He dealt with their need in the days so rapidly approaching, when He, as to bodily presence, should no longer be with them. He recognized their loneliness; their duty to Him; their coming responsibilities in service; the suffering and persecution that such service and such life would bring; and He linked each of these things with the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Their loneliness was to be cancelled by the coming of the Paraclete. Their duty to Him was to be made possible of fulfillment by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Their fruitfulness in service was to be ensured by the ministry of the Spirit. Their suffering was to be endured in the strength of their fellowship with that Spirit.

There are three things to note in a survey of this teaching: first, to observe the meaning of our Lord's references to the Spirit; secondly, to attend to His special teaching concerning the relation of the Spirit to His own disciples; and finally, to make a deduction of values for our help.

In these discourses our Lord referred to the Spirit in three ways. He spoke of Him as the "Comforter," as "the Spirit of truth," and as "the Holy Spirit."

¹ John xv. 26-27.

² Ibid., xvi. 7-14.

Instead of "Comforter" let us employ the anglicized form of the Greek word, Paraclete. He used that term in each one of these declarations, and it is remarkable that these are the only occasions where the word is used in the New Testament, except once when, in the first letter of John, it is used of Christ Himself.

The word in itself is an inclusive and final revelation of all the truth He desired to teach them as to the relation of the Spirit to their lives and ministry, when as to bodily presence He would be unseen.

The word Paraclete simply means, One called to the side of. That opens the way for an understanding of the suggestiveness of the word. It is a word quite common in all Greek literature, but to be found in the Greek version of the Old Testament. In Greek literature its sense is always that of an advocate, that is, one who takes up the cause of another, and defends it.

Whence then came our word "Comforter"? It has been suggested that the word "Comforter" is used in its true, old sense of One Who strengthens. That is rather an apology for, than an explanation of, the employment of the word. Undoubtedly to use it in that sense would be absolutely accurate. But we owe the presence of the word "Comforter" to the Greek Church, which insisted upon it that the great sense of value in our Lord's use of the word was not so much that the Holy Spirit was to come as an Advocate, as that He was to come to console, and in that sense to comfort the souls of the disciples.

Now it is of great importance that we should admit the element of truth in that statement, and yet let us see what this really means. The first time our Lord used the word He coupled with it a very simple word, one of those words we are very apt to hurry over when we are reading, but which gives a key to the situation. He said, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you"—not a Comforter, but "another Comforter." And if, as is so often the case in exposition of this kind, it seems as though we were laying undue stress upon an unimportant word, yet ponder it carefully. The word "another" here is of a particular nature and character. It is allos, not heteros; and consequently the word another does not indicate a different quality, but a similarity of quality, and a distinction of Person. The value of the use of the word "another" is that it presupposes a previous Comforter; and thus in His use of the word Paraclete, our Lord suggested that His own work in the case of these men might be designated by that term. He had been the Paraclete. He had been the One summoned to their side. He had been with them; they had been with Him; in fellowship with Him they had seen more deeply into the things of God, they had heard the voices with which they had been unfamiliar until He came and spoke to them; in His presence they had known courage and strength; with Him they had felt that they could dare everything; but their trouble was that He was going. Under these circumstances He said, I will send you another Paraclete; Another to stand by your side, Another to take exactly the same place that I have filled in your lives during these past three years, Another to be the Advocate of God with you. I think if we compare the way in which Jesus used the word Paraclete with John's use of it in his letter, we may be helped to an understanding of its value. Said John, "We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." The risen Christ stands as our Advocate with God in the high places of the heavens; and the Spirit dwells with us as His Advocate, in the life and service of the earth. As Christ pleads the cause of man in heaven, so the Spirit pleads the cause of God on earth. He is the Advocate.

¹ John xiv. 16.

² 1 John ii. 1.

It has been objected that our word "Comforter" has absolutely no place in the thought of the word Paraclete. I differ from that view entirely. If the thought be that of an advocate, as one who pleads a cause, there is involved in that idea the very essence of comfort. My advocate, in that sense, is the man who has knowledge superior to mine; all of which he places at my disposal, so that I can repose in the things he knows, and remit to him all the questions that would be of difficulty to me. There is in this fact all comfort to me, that the Spirit of God has this as His office; all His knowledge of God is at my disposal, all the will of God He will reveal to me, all the way of God He will manifest to me. That is comfort indeed.

Another descriptive phrase of which the Lord made use was, "the Spirit of truth." Truth is the source from which the Spirit comes to fulfill His ministry; truth is the characteristic of the Spirit Himself; truth is the effort of the Spirit in the life of the believer; truth is the result produced, wherever the soul yields to the ministry of the Spirit. The phrase, of truth, suggests truth in its simplicity and its finality. Bengel wrote most impressively about it when he declared that truth is the only fact that cannot be falsified. There may be false knowledge, false hope, false faith, false love, but never false truth. Thus the description, "the Spirit of truth," is the simple and final word, revealing the deepest fact of the character of the Spirit.

He made use of another phrase, "the Holy Spirit," revealing the character of the Spirit, revealing therefore the nature of the inspiration of the Spirit in the life of the soul, revealing also the character of the energy which the Spirit will communicate. The word holy in itself suggests awfulness or distance; and in its use, an awe-inspiring purity.

By these terms, without any attempt at doctrinal statement or systematic teaching concerning the nature of the

Spirit, the Lord revealed at once the new relation of the Spirit to believing souls; and the character of the Spirit Who was coming into such new relationship.

We turn to the special teaching of our Lord; and notice two things, first, that He made a definite promise that the Spirit was to come; and secondly, that He revealed the purpose of the coming.

He promised an advent of the Spirit. Every paragraph refers to this. The Spirit was to be given, the Spirit was to be sent, the Spirit was to come. This use of terms is very difficult to explain. Although we believe in the immanence of the Spirit of God in all life, and that there is a sense in which those terms that indicate space, and time, cannot be used of essential Deity, we are at once confronted by them through all this teaching of Jesus, in which He spoke of the Spirit as being given, as being sent, and as coming. They are figures of speech, and our Lord was referring to the fact that after His departure there would be a new method adopted in the economy of God on the part of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit had not been unknown in human history prior to the coming of Christ. Men had been taught that the Spirit had been specially associated with the cosmos from that hour of restoration which the first page of Genesis records. The restoration of a lost order was accomplished by the brooding of the Spirit over the abyss. In the Old Testament men spoke of the Spirit, and a ministry of the Spirit was constantly referred to. Yet Christ now definitely said to His disciples that there was to be a coming, a sending, a giving. All of which indicated the fact that there was to be a new method of spiritual ministry, resulting from His presence and His work, and contributory to the carrying on of the consciousness of that presence, and the continuity of that work.

He first declared that the Spirit should be given by the

Father, and the word given there does not mean sent, but assigned; given by the Father to His disciples in answer to His own prayer. "I will pray the Father, and He shall assign the Spirit to you, that He may be with you forever." Here is the suggestion of a difference from anything that had been revealed in the economy of the Old Testament. There we read of the Spirit clothing Himself with a man, clothing a man with Himself; coming to inspire men for special work, the singing of a song, the weaving of a fabric, the working in gold for the perfecting of the Tabernacle. The suggestion throughout is of special wisdom and illumination and power for special occasions. But now, said Christ, My Father, in answer to My asking, will give you the Spirit to abide with you forever; that is a new method of the Spirit, the perpetual superseding the occasional; the Spirit no longer to be, in the case of His disciples, One Who came with a flash and a light, a vision and a glory, but One Who remained in close, personal, perpetual relationship.

Then our Lord said that He should be sent by the Father in the name of the Son; a little later He said He should be sent by the Son from the Father; and later still He declared that He should be sent by the Son; and the last reference to the new advent of the Spirit is one that speaks of the Spirit as neither given nor sent, but coming of Himself. These statements seem to be almost mutually destructive. As a matter of fact these very terms about an advent of the Spirit, or a new method of the Spirit in the history of men, involve a sense of sacred and mystic relationships, which we can never finally explain or understand; given by the Father; sent by the Father; sent by the Son from the Father; sent by the Son without reference to the Father; coming of Himself. But whatever the mystery of the method, the fact is patent that our Lord declared to this group of men in these

¹ John xiv. 16.

Paschal discourses that they were approaching a new era of spiritual power, and spiritual relationship, in which the Spirit of God should no longer make Himself known as a Visitor, upon occasion, for a purpose; but that He should be a perpetual Presence, a perpetual Power in the life of believers.

He was perfectly clear, all through these discourses, as to the special purpose of this new method and manifestation. The purpose of the Spirit's advent as regards the Son would be first to make His Presence known. This is taught in the first paragraph. I am going away, your hearts are filled with sorrow, I will not leave you desolate, I will not leave you orphans, I will not leave you lonely. In the first paragraph there is a strange merging of two ideas, I will send another Paraclete. . . . I will come to you; so that the Another would not be Another in the consciousness of the disciples; but Another Who would make them conscious of the fact of the presence of Christ.

The teaching of the second paragraph in this application is that the Spirit would bring to their remembrance His past teaching.

The third paragraph teaches that He would bear witness of Him, that is, explain Him. That declaration is put into close connection with the fact that the world had hated Him, but the Spirit would bear witness of Him, and reveal the truth concerning Him, in the presence of the world's hatred.

The teaching of the fourth paragraph is that the Spirit would make Him the centre of the world's religious consciousness, convicting men of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, all in relation to Himself: "Of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father . . .; of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged." Finally the Lord declared that the Spirit would come to glorify Him in His own disciples.

The purposes of the coming of the Spirit as to the disciples we have already seen incidentally. Let us now state them definitely. He came first to disannul orphanhood, to take away the sense of loneliness, to make desolateness impossible; and all this entirely and only by creating the consciousness of Christ. A great many people are making the supreme mistake of expecting a consciousness of the Spirit; yet that which the Spirit creates is not a consciousness of Himself, but a consciousness of Christ. Upon this the Lord was most explicit from beginning to end; the Spirit shall not speak of Himself, or concerning Himself; so that the test of the measure of our fellowship with the Spirit is not our knowledge of the Spirit, but our knowledge of the Christ Whom the Spirit reveals. He came secondly to recall to the disciples the words of past commandments; thirdly to coöperate with them in their witness to Christ, and finally to guide them into all the truth.

The purpose of the coming of the Spirit as to the world was that of conviction, that is, interpretation, discerning judgment, illumination on the great cardinal matters of religious experience. Wherever there is a true religious experience in the history of a man, these are the cardinal matters: sin, righteousness, judgment; sin as a fact, however it may be explained; righteousness as a great ideal, however unattainable it may be; judgment as a terrific necessity, however much it may be denied. The ministry of the Spirit in the world is to put Christ at the centre of all these cardinal matters of which the world becomes conscious when it comes to religious awakening of any kind. Sin in the presence of the presented Christ becomes refusal to believe in Him: righteousness is demonstrated as possible to men because of the triumph of the Christ; and judgment is revealed as already accomplished by the Christ in His conflict with evil. The Spirit was to come to make these things real in the consciousness of the world.

The Spirit can only fulfill this ministry as the Church is in true fellowship with Him. That also is another value of this whole teaching; but taking for granted that the Church is at the disposal of her Lord to carry the message, and to deliver it, then it is in the power of the Spirit that Christ is demonstrated, and conviction comes to the mind of the world.

Our deduction of values may be briefly stated. The first is that of a new sense of the mystery of the whole subject. And after a careful study of these passages, that which arrests our attention is the strange and mystic sense of trinity in unity. Does the mathematician affirm that this is a contradiction of terms? He is quite right; and yet here it is; a merging of activities, the Son asking, the Father sending; the Son sending, the Spirit coming; and yet a unity of activity, the unseen God revealed in the Son, the Son not known by men, for "no one knoweth the Son, save the Father"; the unknown Son revealed by the ministry of the Spirit. The unseen Spirit exercises a ministry of revelation from the Father through the Son to the disciples; yet never makes Himself the consciousness of the disciples; but centralizing their consciousness in the Christ, through Him they have consciousness of the Father, and know the presence and power of the Spirit.

Secondly, the office of the Spirit is here revealed as that of the Medium of union between the Christ and His people; the Medium of vision whereby they see the Christ as they had never seen Him before; the Medium of energy, enabling them to obey the light as it comes; the Medium of consolation, for by the very strength and purity of His advocacy, constraining to obedience, the heart is filled with a sense of comfort.

The final value is to be found in an understanding of the present fact. Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may be with you forever."¹ In this connection let us recognize the fact that this word for "pray" is never used save in John's Gospel, and is never used of any prayer other than the prayer of Christ. It is one that suggests familiarity, equality, and perfect right. "I will make request of," reads the margin of the Revised Version; but that does not bring us much nearer the truth. It has been suggested that it might be translated, "I will enquire of the Father"; but even that might convey the idea of some measure of ignorance. The word really conveys the thought of the turning to the Father of One Who asks no gift from Him, but who indicates to Him, in perfect fellowship of purpose and power, the gift that He would bestow upon His people.

When did He pray that prayer? The great intercessory prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John immediately follows these discourses; but there is not a single reference to the Holy Spirit therein from beginning to end. The prayer for the Spirit was not a prayer offered definitely, in our sense of praying; it was the prayer of His own triumphant presence in Heaven. So Peter surely understood the word of Christ, when on the day of Pentecost he delivered his first message, and declared when men asked "What meaneth this?" that this outpouring of the Spirit, and the manifestations following thereupon, had resulted from the presence of the Man of Nazareth at the right hand of God, "He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear."² The thought of Jesus was that the Spirit would be given in new fashion to men, not in answer to their praying, not because of their worthiness, but as the great gift which He Himself would bestow as the result of the completion of His own mission, and by the way of His passion.

And so the Spirit was given in that new sense, and He

¹ John xiv. 16.

² Acts ii. 12, 33 has never been withdrawn. The upper room on the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire were seen, was not more the shrine of the Spirit than are the places of Christian assembly to-day; and there came to these men a gift no more real and definite than is ours, if we are indeed the Lord's own disciples.

Then let us ever remember that the Spirit is with us; to disannul all orphanhood, to give a clear consciousness of the living Christ, to strengthen for witness bearing, to make strong in the midst of suffering, and to realize within men all the purposes of their Lord.

"The reapers are angels . . . The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth."—Matthew xiii. 39, 41, 42.

"The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth."—xiii. 49, 50.

"For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then shall He render unto every man according to his deeds."—xvi. 27.

"See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven."—xviii. 10.

"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven."—xxii. 30.

"And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

"But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only."—xxiv. 31, 36.

"But when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory."—xxv. 31.

"Or thinkest thou that I cannot beseech My Father, and He shall even now send Me more than twelve legions of angels?"—xxvi. 53.

"For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."—Mark viii. 38.

"For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven."—xii. 25.

"And then shall He send forth the angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven."

"But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."—xiii. 27, 32.

"For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He cometh in His own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels."—Luke ix. 20.

"Every one who shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth Me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God."—xii. 8, 9.

"Even so, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."—xv. 10.

"It came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom."—xvi. 22.

"For neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels."—xx. 36.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."—John i 51.

IV

ANGELS

EACH of the evangelists has some story or stories to tell of angel ministry in connection with the incarnate Lord.

Matthew records the appearing of an angel to Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus, three times; then of how angels ministered to Jesus after the period of temptation in the wilderness; and finally, of the coming of the angel to roll away the stone, not to liberate Christ, but to show that He was already risen; and of his declaration to the two Marys that the Lord was risen, and His charge to them to go and tell His disciples.

Mark significantly only speaks of the ministry of angels after the temptation.

Luke records the visits of Gabriel to Zacharias and to Mary; the appearance of an angel to the shepherds, and of the making of the night full of music with the chorus of the heavenly visitors. He also tells of the coming of an angel into Gethsemane, and of how he ministered to the Man of Sorrows in the hour of His darkness; and finally of how two disciples, walking to Emmaus, reported that certain women claimed to have seen a vision of angels.

John circumstantially describes how Mary, looking into the sepulchre, from which the stone had been rolled away, saw two angels in white, sitting one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

All these references are simple, natural, straightforward, without apology, and without argument. It is impossible to read these stories, and believe in the truthfulness of the men who wrote them, without at least discovering that they evidently themselves believed in angels; and moreover, that they wrote for those who shared that belief. Their own belief in angels is evidenced by the very naturalness and simplicity with which they told their stories. Their certainty that those for whom they wrote believed in angels is evidenced by the fact that they never argued for the truth of their stories.

When we turn to the words of our Lord for enlightenment on the subject of angels we again find no systematic teaching; but we have such references as set the seal of His authority upon the belief in the existence of angels; and we have such incidental statements as reveal something of their nature, character, and ministry.

In grouping these references chronologically, it is interesting to note that the great majority of them occur in the records of the later part of His ministry. While I am not prepared to set any particular value upon the fact; in all the earlier ministry, He hardly made any reference to angels, as He made hardly any reference to the Spirit. The earlier ministry would seem to have been almost exclusively confined to the enunciation of an ethic, and the revelation of a power equal to the realization of the ethical ideal presented. That however must not be taken as final interpretation of the fact.

One great word concerning angels was however spoken in the very earliest ministry. It is the only reference to angels from the lips of Jesus recorded by John; and yet John was the mystic, the dreamer, the man who in all probability would have seen visions most easily.

This first word was spoken to Nathanael, whom Jesus described as being "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." The very humour and playfulness of that word of Christ will be discovered if we realize that in effect He said, "An Israelite indeed, in whom is no Jacob." "An

Angels

Israelite indeed," that is, one realizing all that which was the Divine intention for Jacob; and therefore thou shalt see Jacob's dream fulfilled; "the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." ¹

That is the reference to angels upon the portal of John's Gospel; a statement made at the beginning of the ministry of Christ; and in itself figurative, symbolic, suggestive, inclusive and final, on the subject of angelic ministry in the new covenant and dispensation which He had come to create.

Then moving chronologically through the ministry of Jesus, the next references are found in the Kingdom parables,² wherein He referred to angels as taking part with Him in His final administration of the government of this world, for the establishment of the Kingdom of God. He described their work as that of separating between the tares and the wheat; severing between that which is good and bad when the great drag-net is brought to shore, having all kinds of fishes therein. The angels are to be His ministers, discriminating, dividing, administering, at the end of the age.

Chronologically every other reference to angels was made after Cæsarea Philippi, after the hour in which Peter had made his great confession, and in which the Lord had begun to speak of His coming passion and His coming sorrow. Then the references to angels became more numerous. Let us attempt to gather up the teaching of our Lord under the three heads already mentioned—the nature of the angels; the character of the angels; and principally—for under this head we have more references than under any other—the ministry of the angels.

As to the nature of angels, let it be at once recognized that the references are very few, and that they can only afford some gleams of light. Yet they afford light sufficient for our present need, and for an understanding of

¹ I John i. 47, 51.

² Matt. xiii. 39, 41, 49, 50.

their nature. No reference is of the nature of a definite and systematic declaration; each is but incidental.

The first is that recorded by Matthew, by Mark, and by Luke, when in answer to a Sadducean question as to the resurrection and marriage, our Lord made this statement:

"In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven."

In that incidental statement we have perhaps more light than appears at first. We have our Lord's declaration that angel life is entirely different from human life; in that it is not terrestrial, nor can be; but that it is celestial, and must abide celestial. In other words He thus declared that in angel nature there is neither male nor female, and by that word He denied forever that fantastic and foolish idea that "the sons of God" in Genesis were angels; and made it perfectly clear that in angel-life that inter-relationship, which we know in earthly life as marriage, is non-existent and impossible.

The angels are direct creations of God; each individual one is immediately created by God; and in that sense they are the "sons of God." That sweeps out all the ideas that bring angels at all into kinship with humanity. They are of a different order of being, of an entirely different nature, not to be thought of as we think of men and women to-day. Of course the main point of His teaching in this connection was that, in the life beyond, men and women will have come into the angel realm of life, and share in some sense their nature, but He separated the angels from the earth as to kinship. He showed that the angels are the ministers of God, touching the earth, visiting the earth, interested in the earth; but never of the earth. They are an entirely different order and race of beings; and they are never procreated, but are always the direct creation of God Himself. There is no light upon their nature beyond that.

¹ Matt. xxii. 30.

Angels

The mystery is not explained, because it cannot be explained to men in this life. There are things of which we in this present limited life can never come to full comprehension, or know the meaning. This gleam of light does however clearly reveal that they are not terrestrial as man is; but celestial, wholly of the spirit world. This does not mean to say that there is no material side to the being of an angel, for there may be a material which is not of the earth; but it divides between the angels and humanity, and shows that the gulf separating is the gulf of an absolute difference in nature.

Then in one gleam of light in the record of Luke we learn a second thing concerning the angels. As by the three references we have referred to, we have discovered they are not terrestrial; in this statement we learn they are not mortal, but immortal; "neither can they die."

In the letter to the Hebrews this teaching of Jesus is carried out by the writer in relation to the Lord Himself, when he declares that:

"Verily not of angels doth He take hold, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham." The reason for this was that by taking human nature He could die. Thus the second fact revealed in the teaching of our Lord about angels is that they cannot die.

In an incidental reference, in the midst of one of the most remarkable things our Lord ever said concerning Himself, we have this final thought concerning their nature; they are not omniscient, they do not know all things, they only know the things revealed to them:

"Of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only."

Here is a distinct declaration that the angels are limited in their knowledge, never to be thought of as infinite, but always finite; created beings, of some heavenly order and

Luke xx. 36.

Heb. ii. 16.

Matt. xxiv. 36.

type, without dying, and limited in their knowledge, knowing only the things revealed.

The teaching of Jesus as to the character of the angels is revealed in the fact that He only used one adjective concerning them, and that only on two occasions.

He spoke of them as the "holy angels." It may be that His use of the word "holy" on both these occasions was intended to distinguish between the angels to whom He was referring, and other angels that are unholy; the fallen angels. But even if that be so, it does not detract from the positive value of the adjective that He used. He called them holy, using that word which means quite simply, awful; and yet which always stands for the awfulness of sanctity, or separation; and which is always connected with the sanctity or separation of an absolute purity. It is interesting to go through the words of Jesus and see how often He used that word holy, and in what relationship. He used it of His own high ideals, when in the Sermon on the Mount He said: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine." He used it of the Temple by quotation from Daniel, when He described it as "the holy place." He used it perpetually, as we have seen, of the Spirit of God. He used it of God Himself, "Holy Father." He used it of the angels.

These are only gleams of light, but through them I see an order of being; every individual member of the great order created by God; belonging to the things celestial and having no natural contact with the things terrestrial; not mortal but immortal; not knowing all things, but learning, and receiving, and knowing the things revealed; sinless, absolutely pure, awful in their holiness, with the very holiness of God.

We turn now to our Lord's teaching concerning the ministry of angels.

¹ Mark viii. 38. Luke ix. 26.

Angels

The first word, as I have already said, is inclusive and comprehensive. We remember that the language is figurative, and yet let us ponder it. He said to Nathanael: "Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

By that word He revealed the fact that He thought of angels as engaged in a perpetual ministry of communion between this earth and the heaven that lies beyond. Every word is figurative; "ascending and descending" is a figurative term, employed to convey great meanings to the mind of men who are necessarily limited by such thoughts as those of ascent and descent. Notice the suggestiveness of this. Angels ascending and descending! The thought of our Lord was in harmony with the thought of the dream of the olden time, and was not that of angels as abiding in their own habitation in the celestial places; but of them as committed to a ministry of service among the sons of men; and then ascending, and bearing up messages to the higher places; not to tell God the things they see, for men live and move and have their being in God; but to convey the story to other intelligences, and to make known to other worlds the facts happening here; and then descending with answers to petitions they have borne away, to bring the ministry of another and a distant world, and the things of a larger and a more infinite life, to touch and help and renew man in the processes of his probationary career.

This word was the ratification of Jacob's dream, and in the august statement our Lord declared that His mission in the world was that of fulfilling the dream of Jacob, and making this ministry of angels no longer occasional, but perpetual.

Is not that what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews meant when he wrote, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall in-

¹ John i. 51.

herit salvation?"¹ Thus we learn from that first reference that angels are now occupied, under the government of God, in the service of humanity.

The next fact we learn is from the next word in order, which declared that the angels are specially committed to the guardianship of children. If you are inclined to speak of it as poetry, I pray you read the words again. It was, on the part of Jesus, not a figure of speech merely. It was a solemn asseveration. He said distinctly, when speaking of the children, of the little ones, that their angels in heaven do always behold the face of the Father. He was suggesting to those who listened to Him the honour conferred upon the angels, in that they have right of access to the immediate presence of God, that their vision of God is clear and unclouded, that they do always behold the face of God. And these angels guard the children. If such honoured beings are set apart by God to watch the children, then how sacred their wards must be:

"See that ye despise not one of these little ones";² for their angels have perpetual access to the presence of God, they "do always behold the face of your Father which is in heaven."

I know the age in which we live; I know the spirit outside the sanctuary, the scepticism, the criticism; and that people will say, Do you really believe angels guard the children? I certainly do; for I do not believe we have seen all the facts of life when we have looked into each other's faces. I believe in the ministry of angels, and that for every bairn there is a guardian angel who always beholds the face of God. That is one of my profoundest convictions, because He said so; and I believe it in spite of all that scepticism may say to attempt to shake my conviction.

The next word as to the present ministry of angels we find in that wonderful chapter in which Luke alone has

¹ Heb. i. 14.

² Matt. xviii. 10

Angels given us the threefold parable of the lost things: the lost piece of silver, the lost sheep, and the lost son. In the midst of that unveiling of God's heart, our Lord declared that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God; a profounder and deeper thing than telling us that the angels are filled with joy. "In the presence of the angels," in the observation of the angels, in the place where the angels are, there is joy. In all the highest courts of heaven, in the true centre of everything, in God Himself. The angels are mentioned because they become the voices of the heavenly joy; and as o'er the plains of Bethlehem they sang the song of the coming Redeemer, so forevermore they thunder forth in sweetest music the joy of God over bruised and broken men and women, weeping their way back to His heart and to His love. Their ministry, their present ministry is that of the perpetual chorus, the offering of praise in the high places of the universe, whenever men turn home to God. Ah, what fools and blind we are! We did not think much of it that some man recently found his way back out of slum or suburb, out of his desolation and misery and sin to God; but when he came, with the sigh and the tear of agony and repentance, heaven was filled with joy, and the angels voiced the joy of heaven. That is their perpetual ministry.

We learn next from a word of Jesus recorded by Luke that angels become the guides home of the dying. When a man dies, he finds entrance upon another order of life. Dying; what is it? Leaving behind the chance of ever dying. It is a dropping of the robe of flesh, which alone can die, and going out into the new order of life. I can imagine the spirit of a man finding himself just across the border, in the presence of the new reality, full of mystery; filled with the consciousness of loneliness, and of perplexity, knowing nothing of how to proceed. Jesus said that such a man was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.

"Abraham's bosom" was a Jewish phrase, used to describe the very heart of Heaven, the chief place of joy in the life that lay beyond. And thither, He said, angels bore Lazarus; they met him, conducted him, carried him. I think they still do it. I believe that when our loved ones have just passed where our voices can no longer reach, our eyes cheer, our hands minister; angels welcome them and bear them to some one of the habitations of the blessed, and lead them out in the first pilgrimages of that great and wondrous life that lies beyond.

The final thing He said about their present ministry is full of fire and force and flaming glory. He was in the garden. Peter had blundered by the use of his sword at the wrong place, and at the wrong time. Men were arresting Him, and He said to Peter:

"Thinkest thou that I cannot beseech My Father, and He shall even now send Me more than twelve legions of angels?"

It is a flame of glory, as full of mystery as it is possible to imagine. Twelve legions; twelve, a peculiar Hebrew word, that all His disciples would understand; twelve tribes, twelve apostles, twelve, always twelve; legions, a peculiarly Roman word, six thousand footmen, in addition to cavalry.

Angels, flaming presences of unspotted purity, might have delivered Him, for He

"maketh His angels winds,

And His ministers a flame of fire";

and for the purposes of God they can touch and deal with things terrestrial. The marvel of all marvels is that He simply drew the veil, and gave us to see something of the gleaming myriads of angels ready to do the behests of the King, and then chose to remain alone. And if you ask me,

¹ Matt. xxvi. 53.

² Heb. i. 7.

Angels

Why? there is but one answer, "He loved me, and gave Himself up for me."

Then our Lord also described the future ministry of angels; and here perhaps we are in graver difficulty; and yet the words of Jesus are perhaps more circumstantial than in any other application. He declared that He will come again, that He will once again be focused for earthly observation. He Who came will come, and His next coming will be in glory; and the angels will be in attendance in the hour of His vindication. They who have been unseen ministers will be visible attendants upon His glory.¹

He declared, moreover, that in that hour of judgment, of discriminating justice which the world so sorely needs, He will bring angels to aid Him; from the Kingdom they shall gather out the things that offend, that they may be destroyed, in order that all the things of brightness and glory and beauty may have their full realization.

Thus the teaching of Christ directly affirmed the existence of angels, and gave some understanding of their nature, their character, and their ministry. That teaching was in direct opposition to the Sadducean influence which was powerful in His time. The high priest was a Sadducee. The dominant power was Sadducean; and in Paul's great address, chronicled in the Acts of the Apostles, we find the definition of the Sadducee; he was one who denied resurrection, and angel, and spirit.² In the midst of that Sadducean influence and atmosphere our Lord proclaimed, by all these references, His belief in the existence of the angels.

A fuller study of the theme would show the relation of this teaching to the Hebrew past and the apostolic future. That of course does not come within the scope of these meditations. His first word about the angels spoken to Nathanael was linked to the teaching of Jacob's dream; and His last word about the angels, spoken in the garden con-

¹ Matt. xvi. 27.

² Acts xxiii. 8.

cerning the twelve legions, was linked to the teaching of that wonderful vision in Kings, when Elisha prayed that the eyes of his servant might be opened; and when they were opened,

" Lo, to faith's enlightened sight,

All the mountains flamed with light."

Thus our Lord accepted the Hebrew view of the angels; and in doing so, He sealed it as true. When we turn from these Gospels to the apostolic writings, the same truths are maintained. Angels are still referred to as the armies of heaven. It is still declared that they minister to the saints. We see them divided into ranks and orders, and yet united in service; and the worship of angels is emphatically condemned, forbidden.

According to the teaching of Jesus, when we take our way from the sanctuary and into the life of every day, we receive ministries other than material, ministries other than the essentially spiritual; not only fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Spirit; but, to aid us in a thousand ways of which we do not dream, the touch of other creations upon our lives, whispers in language we cannot catch so as to repeat it, which has its influence upon us in the hour of danger. I believe in the ministry of angels because our Lord has taught me so to do.

" They come, God's messengers of love,

They come from realms of peace above,

From homes of never-fading light,

From heavenly mansions ever bright.

" They come to watch around us here,

To soothe our sorrow, calm our fear:

They come to speed us on our way;

God willeth them with us to stay.

" But chiefly at its journey's end

'Tis theirs the spirit to befriend,

And whisper to the faithful heart,

' O Christian soul, in peace depart.' "

"Get thee hence, Satan."—Matthew iv. 10.

"Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."—vi. 13

"If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household!"—x. 25.

"If Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?"—xii. 26, 27.

"But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first."—xii. 43-45.

"When any one heareth the word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart."

"He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil."—xiii. 19, 37-39.

"Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto Me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men."—xvi. 23.

"Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels."—xxv. 41.

"These are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; and when they have heard, straightway cometh Satan, and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them."—Mark iv. 15.

"Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man."—v. 8.

"Jesus . . . rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him."—ix. 25.

"And those by the wayside are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved."—Luke viii. 12.

"I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in anywise hurt you. Howbeit in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."—x. 18-20.

"The unclean spirit when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will turn back unto my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more evil than himself; and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first."—xi. 24-26.

"Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?"—xiii. 16.

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat."—xxii. 31.

"Did not I choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"—John vi. 70.

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof."—viii. 44.

"Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out."—xii. 31.

"I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in Me."—xiv. 30.

"Of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged."—xvi. 11.

V