this passage. Like Him, let us be humble and loving towards all.
We should notice, lastly, in this passage, the deep spiritual lessons whicJi, lie beneath its surface. They are three in number, and lie at the veryroot of religion, though we can only touch them briefly.
For one thing, we learn that all need to be washed by Christ. " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in Me." No man or woman can be saved unless his sins are washed away in Christ's precious blood. Nothing else can make us clean or acceptable before God. We must be " washed, sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. vi. 11.) Christ must wash us, if we are ever to sit down with saints in glory. Then let us take heed that we apply to Him by faith, wash and become clean. They only are washed who believe.
For another thing, we learn that even those who are cleansed and forgiven need a daily application to the blood of Christ for daily pardon. We cannot pass through this evil world without defilement. There is not a day in our lives but we fail and come short in many things, and need fresh supplies of mercy. Even " he that is washed needs to wash his feet," and to wash them in the same fountain Avhere he found peace of conscience when he first believed. Then let us daily use that fountain without fear. With the blood of Christ we must begin, and with the blood of Christ we must go on.
Finally, we learn that even those who kept company with Christ, and were baptized with water as His dis- ciples, were " not all " washed from their sin. These words are very solemn, — "Ye are clean: but not all." Then let us take heed to ourselves, and beware of false profession. If even Christ's own disciples are not all