February 3

John xiv. -1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God; believe also in me. 2. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3. And, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. 7. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8. Philip saith unto him. Lord show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou, then, Show us the Father? 10. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake. 12. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it.

Was ever such 'ove as this? A man, upon the eve of the most dreadful and ignominious suffering, setting aside his own sorrows, and giving comfort and hope to his friends; thinking only of their griefs, and providing for their consolation; yea, making his very sorrow the medium of their joy, his suffering the pathway to their glory! Ah! this is not the love of a mere suffering, dying man. By the works, that, through the whole course of his ministry, Jesus had done in the presence of his disciples, he was entitled to their recognition of his divinity. He is now about to resume the manifestation of that higher nature which had been veiled from human view. The Father dwelleth in him; and so all truth, all life, all salvation, centre in himself. He does not say, "I will show you the way, I will teach you the truth, I will lead you

unto life;" but I am the way, and the truth, and the life,—the only way, and yet the way for all: so that whoever will truly believe in Christ, and, by prayer, will take hold upon his promise, shall know his presence and his power. He will honor his own name, fulfil his own desire, in answering our petitions, and succeeding our efforts for his cause. But in announcing his divine glory, and his return to the Father, our Lord did not divorce himself from his human friends. Not heaven itself would suffice him, could he not have his redeemed there to share his joys. As for us he came, for us he died, so he has gone to the Father to prepare a place for us. What can trouble us with such love about us, such grace within us, such hope before us? Shall we not trust all to Him who is ready to give us all?

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer

[Nos. 76, 166.

O Thou who art the Way! we beseech thee to lead us; O Thou who art the Truth! we beseech thee to teach us; O Thou who art the Life! we beseech thee to preserve us unto the life everlasting. We thank thee, O God! that in Christ we may know thee as our Father, reconciling us unto thyself.

Transform us from day to day, and from week to week, more into the image of thy Son, that we may at last be presented faultless before the presence of thy glory with exceeding joy. We praise thee for this sabbath and all its blessings, at home and in thy house.

We pray for all who have worshipped with us this day. May grace, mercy, and peace be upon them, and upon the whole Israel of God! Extend thy cause and kingdom everywhere. May the glorious gospel of the grace of God speedily triumph over all the pride and wisdom and will-worship and delusion of man! Arise, O God! and plead thine own cause.

Bless this family. O Thou who didst bring

from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant! do thou make us all perfect to do thy will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in thy sight.

May our friends who are at a distance from us be protected and guarded by thy gracious providence! The Lord watch between them and us when we are absent one from another! May their names also be written in the Lamb's book of life! Teach us how to walk as pilgrims and strangers on the earth,—sojourners, as all our fathers were,—looking for that blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God our Saviour. Oh! bring us at last to our Father's house in everlasting peace.

As the curtains of the night are now drawing around us, be pleased to grant us thy guardian care. Lying down in thy fear, may we awake in thy favor, fitted for all the calls and duties of a new day! And all this we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Saviour. Amen.