48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil ?
49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil ; but I honour my father, and ye do dishonour me.
50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead ? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
54 Jesus answered, If I honour my-
self, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you : but I know him, and keep his saying.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ?
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abra- ham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
We should observe, first, in this passage, what blasphemous and slanderous language was addressed to our Lord by His enemies. We read that the Jews " said unto Him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil ? " Silenced in argument, these wicked men resorted to per- sonal abuse. To lose temper, and call names, is a common sign of a defeated cause.
Nicknames, insulting epithets, and violent language, are favourite weapons with the devil. When other means of carrying on his warfare fail, he stirs up his servants to smite with the tongue. Grievous indeed are the sufferings which the saints of God have had to endure from the tongue in every age. Their characters have been slan- dered. Evil reports have been circulated about them. Lying stories have been diligently invented, and greedily swallowed, about their conduct. No wonder that David said, "Deliver nry soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue." (Psalm cxx. 2.)
JOHN, CHAP. Tin. 123
The true Christian in the present day must never be surprised to find that he has constant trials to endure from this quarter. Human nature never changes. So long as he serves the world, and walks in the broad way, little perhaps will be said against him. Once let him take up the cross and follow Christ, and there is no lie too mon- strous, and no story too absurd, for some to tell against him, and for others to believe. But let him take comfort in the thought that he is only drinking the cup which his blessed Master drank before him. The lies of his enemies do him no injury in heaven, whatever they may on earth. Let him bear them patiently, and not fret, or lose his temper. When Christ was reviled, " He reviled not again." (1 Peter ii. 23.) Let the Christian do likewise.
We should observe, secondly, what glorious encourage" ment our Lord holds out to His believing people. We read that He said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep My saying, he shall never see death."
Of course these words do not mean that true Christians shall never die. On the contrary, we all know that they must go down to the grave, and cross the river just like others. But the words do mean, that they shall not be hurt by the second death, — that final ruin of the whole man in hell, of which the first death is only a faint type or figure. (Rev. xxi. 8.) And they do mean that the sting of the first death shall be removed from the true Christian. His flesh may fail, and his bones maybe racked with strong pain ; but the bitter sense of unpardoned sins shall not crush him down. This is the worst part of death, — and in this he shall have the " victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. xv. 57.)
This blessed promise, we must not forget to notice, is the peculiar property of the man who " keeps Christ's sa}Tings." That expression, it is clear, can never be appli- cable to the mere outward professing Christian, who neither
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