ye know. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 303 clxxiii. as we are now united in so dear a friendship, SECT. you also after a short separation, may be where 4 And whither I go I am and may dwell for ever with me. And John ye know, and the way surely I may say in the general, after all the XIV. 4. instructions I have given you, that you know whither I am going; and you know the way that leads thither, and by which you may safely follow me; which I exhort you therefore that you would resolutely keep. 5 Thomas saith un to 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. But such was still the expectation that his 5 disciples had of his erecting a temporal kingdom, that Thomas, upon hearing this, says to him, Lord, thou hast never yet informed us of the place, and we know not so much as whither thou art going, and how then can we possibly know the way thither? Jesus says to him, I have al-6 ready intimated to you I am going to the Father; and did you but consider this, you would soon see that I am myself the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; that I am to guide, instruct, and animate my followers in their passage to eternal glory, and that their progress will be sure and vigorous in proportion to the steadiness of their faith in me, and the constancy of their regards to me: and this indeed is the true and only way you can take; for no man cometh to the knowledge or enjoyment of the Father, to whom I am returning, but by means of me, whose proper office it is to introduce sinful creatures to his presence and favour. If, therefore, 7 you had known me aright, you would surely have known my Father also, in whose glory my miforth ye know him, and nistrations so evidently centre; and such indeed are the discoveries that I have made of him, and such the manifestations of the Divine perfections which you have seen in me, that in effect it may be said that from henceforth you know him, and have as it were already seen him. me, If ye had known known my Father also: and from hence. ye should have have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us Then Philip, one of the apostles, hearing these 8 the Father, and it suf- words, says to him, with a pious ardour becoming his character, Lord, do but shew us the Fa ficeth us. h We know not whither thou art going.] It is probable Thomas mi.ht think that Christ intended to remove to some splen. did palace on earth, to set up his court there for a while, before he received his people to the celestial glory. I am the way, &c.] Our Lord had so lately delivered the same sentiment in language much like this (John x. 9, p. ther 83), that it might well have been ex- now. k If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.] This is a most important truth; but it does not determine to what degree he must be explicitly known, in order to receive saving benefits by him. 304 Ixxii. He is in the Father, and the Father in him. SCECT. ther, and bring us to the sight and enjoyment of him', and it is happiness enough for us; we deJohn no more, and resign every other hope in sire and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? long time with you, He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; XIV. 9. comparison of this. Jesus says to him, Have I 9 Jesus saith unto been with you then so long a time, and conversed him, Have I been so among you in so familiar a manner for succes sive years, and hast thou not yet known me, Philip? if thou hadst well considered who I am, thou mightest have better understood what I have now been saying; for he that has seen me, has in effect seen the Father, as I am the bright- ther? ness of his glory, and the express image of his person (Heb. 1. 3): And how [then] dost thou say, after all that has passed between us, Shew us the Father? and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Fa 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me? The words that I me, he doth the works. 10 Dost thou not then believe, though I have before affirmed it so expressly (John x. 38, p. 91), that I [am] in the Father, and the Father is in me, by so intimate an union as to warrant such language as this? The words which I speak to you from time to time, in which I discover and inculcate this important truth, I speak not merely of myself; but it is really the Father who dwells in me that gives me my instructions thus to speak; and it is he that operates together with me, and performs the miraculous works that you have so often seen, which are sufficient to demonstrate the truth of this assertion, mysterious as it is, and incredible as it might other11 wise seem. Believe me therefore in what I have said, that I [am] thus in the Father, and the Fa- I am in the Father, ther is in me; or if what you have so long known and the Father in me: of my general character and veracity will not the very works' sake. engage you to take it merely on my single testimony, at least believe me on account of those works in which you have so frequently beheld the Father acting with me, and which indeed afford so obvious an argument of it, that one might imagine the sight of a few of them might convince one that was before a stranger to me. 12 And yet verily, verily, I say unto you, That 1 Lord, shew us the Father.] The explication given in the paraphrase seems to me a more probable sense than that in which Mr. Fleming understands it; as if Philip bad said, "Let us have a vision of the Father in a corporeal form, to testify the necessity of thy removal from us." (See Fleming's Christology, Vol. II. p. 202.) I cannot apprehend that the apostles thought the Father visible., you 11 Believe me that or else believe me for 12 Verily, verily, I say m I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.] It is remarkable that Philo, speaking of the Logos, has this expression, that he is walf on Ev w dinilala, the Father's house in which he dweils; which is nearly parallel to what the apostle says of Christ, Col. ii. 9, that in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. See Dr. Scott's Christian Life, Vol. III. p. 559, note 2. n He Whatever they ask in his name Christ will do it. works that I do, shall 305 say unto you, he that you shall have, if possible, a yet stronger evi- SECT. believeth on me, the dence than what you have already received: for - clxxiii. he do also: and greater he that believes in me", that is, many of my dis- John works than these shall ciples in these early ages, and each of you in XIV. 12. he do; because I go particular, shall receive such an abundant com 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. munication of the Spirit, that the miraculous And, in a word, you may depend upon it, that 13 whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, under the influence of that Spirit, and subservient to the great end of your life and ministry°, I will cer tainly do it, that so the Father may still be glorified in the Son; who, when he is ascended up to heaven, will from thence be able to hear and answer prayer, and even in his most exalted state will continue to act with that faithful regard to his Father's honour which he hath shewn in his 14 If ye shall ask humiliation on earth. And in this confidence 14 any thing in my name, I repeat it again, for the encouragement of your faith and hope, that I will be as affectionate and constant a friend to you in heaven as I have ever been upon earth; and if you shall ask any thing in my name, I will not fail to do [it]. 1 will do it. IMPROVEMENT. As we see in the beginning of this section that care of Christ Luke over his servants which may engage us cheerfully to trust him for xxii. providential supplies, when employed in his work, so we see in 35, 38 the remainder of this, and in the following discourses, the most affectionate discoveries of the very heart of our blessed Redeemer, over He that believes in me.] It is most evident, in fact, that though this promise be expressed in such indefinite language, it must be limited as in the paraphrase. o Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, under the influence, &c.] As reason in general requires some such limitation as is 306 Reflections on the benefits we have by Christ. SECT. Overflowing in every sentence with the kindest concern, not only clxxiii. for the safety but the comfort of his people. We see a lively image of that tenderness with which he will another day wipe away all tears from their eyes: (Rev. vii. 17.) Surely when he uttered these words he was also solicitous that our hearts might not be troubled and therefore has provided a noble cordial, the xiv. 1. strength of which shall continue to the remotest ages, even faith in his Father, and in him. Oh may that blessed principle be confirmed by what we have now been reading! John John Let us observe with what a holy familiarity our Lord speaks of the regions of glory; not, as his servants do, like one dazzled and overwhelmed with the brightness of the idea; but as accustomed 2 and familiarized to it by his high birth P. In my father's house are many mansions; (delightful and reviving thought!) and many inhabitants in them, whom we hope through grace will be our companions there, and every one of them increase and multiply the joy. It was not for the apostles alone that Christ went to prepare a place: he is entered into heaven as our Forerunner (Heb. vi. 20); and we, if we are believers indeed, may be said, by virtue of our union with him, to sit together in heavenly places in him. (Eph. ii. 6.) Let us continually be tending thither, in more affectionate xiv. 4, 6. desires, and more ardent pursuits. We know the way; we hear the truth; oh may we also feel the life By Christ, as the true and living way, may we come to the Father; that we may have eternal life, in knowing him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent! (John xvii. 3.) In Christ may we see him, and have our eyes and our hearts open to those beams of the Divine glory which are reflected from the face of his only-begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth! (John i. 14.) Has he been thus discovered to us, as our Father, and our God, let it suffice us. Let it diffuse a sacred and lasting pleasure over our souls, though other desirable objects may be veiled or removed; and engage us to maintain a continual fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John i. 3.) 9 8 p With what a holy familiarity our Lord speaks of the regions of glory, &c ] This is the remark of the pious archbishop of Cambray, in his incomparable Dialogues on Eloquence (which may God put it into the hearts of our preachers often and attentively to read); and is much illustrated by observing how the apostles, when describing the heavenly state, employ the most pompous and energetic language, and seem indeed to labour for words, and to be almost dazzled with the lustre and oppressed with Το the weight of the subject: (compare Rom. vii. 18, 19; 1 Cor. ii. 9; xv. 50, & seq. 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18; v. 1-9; xii. 2-4; and 1 John iii. 2.) But Christ speaks of it with a familiar ease and freedom; just as a prince, who had been educated in a splendid court, would speak with ease of many magnificent things, at the sudden view of which a peasant would be swallowed up in astonishment, and would find himself greatly embarrassed in an attempt to explain them to his equals at home! a Thus Christ promises the Spirit as a Comforter. 307 clxxiii. To this we are invited by every declaration of his readiness to SECT. hear and answer our prayers: and though those miraculous powers of the Spirit are ceased, whereby the apostles were enabled to Ver. equal, or even to exceed, the works of their Master, yet as we have 13, 14 so many important errands to the throne of grace, in which the 12 glory of God and the salvation of our souls is concerned, let us come with a holy boldness to it, in dependance on Jesus, that great High priest over the house of God, who is passed into the heavens, and amidst all the grandeur of that exalted state regards his humble followers on earth, and ever appears under the character of their Advocate and their Friend. SECT. CLXXIV. Christ proceeds in his discourse with his disciples, recommending a regard to his commandments as the best proof of their love to him, promising his Spirit, and declaring his readiness to meet his approaching sufferings. John XIV. 15, to the end. JOHN XIV. 15. IF ye love me, keep my commandments. OUR JOHN XIV. 15. UR Lord went on with his discourse to his SECT. apostles on this solemn occasion, and ob- clxxiv. serving the lively flow of their affection to him John in this tender conjuncture of circumstances, he xiv. 15 added, If you do indeed love me, express that love by a constant care to keep my commandments; for that will be a surer test, and more acceptable expression of your regard to me, than all your trouble and concern at parting 16 And I will pray with me. And thus you may depend on the 16 shall give you another correspondent expressions of my friendship to Comforter, that he you: and particularly that I will ask the Famay abide with you ther, and he will give you another Comforter", that he may more than supply the want of my bodily presence, and abide with you, not for a 17 Even the Spirit season only, as I have done, but for ever; [Even] 17 the Father, and he for ever; of Thus you may depend on the correspondent expressions of my friendship to you.] The connection may possibly intimate that they might hope for an abundant degree of the Spirit's communication, in proportion to the prevalency of their love to Christ. b He will give you another Comforter.] It is well known that the word waganini may signify a comforter, an advocate, or a monitor; and it is evident the blessed Spirit sustained each of these characters: but VOL. VII. the this being a consolatory discourse, I chose to |