pressly the Lord Jesus shuts out all ways of salvation hut Himself. " No man," He declares, " No man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
It avails nothing that a man is clever, learned, highly- gifted, amiable, charitable, kind-hearted, and zealous about some sort of religion. All this will not save his soul if he does not draw near to God by Christ's atone- ment, and make use of God's own Son as his Mediator and Saviour. God is so holy that all men are guilty and debtors in His sight. Sin is so sinful that no mortal man can make satisfaction for it. There must be a mediator, a ransom-payer, a redeemer, between ourselves and God, or else we can never be saved. There is only one door, one bridge, one ladder, between earth and heaven, — the crucified Son of God. Whosoever will enter in by that door may be saved ; but to him who refuses to use that door the Bible holds out no hope at all. Without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Let us beware, if we love life, of supposing that mere earnestness will take a man to heaven, though he know nothing of Christ. The idea is a deadly and ruinous error. Sincerity will never wipe away our sins. It is not true that every man will be saved by his own re- ligion, no matter what he believes, so long as he is dili- gent and sincere. We must not pretend to be wiser than God. Christ has said, and Christ will stand to it, " No man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
We should mark, lastly, in these verses, how close and mysterious is the union of God the Father and God the Son. Four times over this mighty truth is put before us in words that cannot be mistaken. " If ye had known Me, ye would have known my Father." — " He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." — " I am in the Father, and the Father in Me." — "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works."
JOHN, CHAP. XIV. Qi
Sayings like these are full of deep mystery. We have no eyes to see their meaning fully, — no line to fathom it, — no language to express it, — no mind to take it in. We must be content to believe when we cannot explain, and to admire and revere when we cannot interpret. Let it suffice us to know and hold that the Father is God and the Son is God, and yet that they are one in essence though two distinct Persons, — ineflably one, and yet ineffiibly distinct. These are high things, and we cannot attain to a full comprehension of them.
Let us however take comfort in the simple truth, that Christ is very God of very God ; equal with the Father in all things, and One with Him. He who loved us, and shed His blood for us on the cross, and bids us trust Him for pardon, is no mere man like ourselves. He is " God over all, blessed for ever," and able to save to the uttermost the chief of sinners. Though our sins be as scarlet, He can make them white as snow. He that casts his soul on Christ has an Almighty Friend, — a Friend who is One with the Father, and very God.
Notes. John xiv. 4 — 11.
4. — [And wJdther 1 go ye know. .May ye know.'] This remarkable sentence was evidently meant to stir and cheer tlie disciples, by reminding them of what their Master had repeatedly told them. It is as though our Lord said, " Do not be cast down by my go- ing away, as if you had never heard Me say anything about heaven and the way to heaven. Awake from your despondency, stir up your memories. Surely you know, if you retlect a little, that I have often told you all about it." Is it not, again, like a tender parent saying to a frightened child, who says he know? not what to do, and is ready to sit down in despair, " Como you know well enough, if you will only consider " ?
Poole observes on this verse, " It is pleasant to notice how Christ continueth His discourse to the disciples, like a mother speaking to a little child crying after her when she prepares to go abroad. The child cries ; the mother bids it be still, for she is only going to a friend's house. It still cries ; she tells it she is only going to prepare a place for it there, where it will be much happier than at home. It is not yet satislied ; she tells it