Lord says, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. ... If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."
These words are a direct encouragement to the sim- ple, yet great duty of praying. Every one who kneels daily before God, and from his heart " says his prayers," has a right to take comfort in these words. "Weak and imperfect as his supplications may be, so long as they are put in Christ's hands, and offered in Christ's name, they shall not be in vain. We have a Friend at Court, an Advocate with the Father; and if we honor Him by Bending all our petitions through Him, He pledges His word that they shall succeed. Of course it is taken for granted that the things we ask are for our souls' good, and not mere temporal benefits. " Anything " and "whatsoever" do not include wealth, and money, and worldly prosperity. These things are not always good for us, and our Lord loves us too well to let us have them. But whatever is really good for our souls, we need not doubt we shall have, if we ask in Christ's name.
How is it that many true Christians have so little ? How is it that they go halting and mourning on the way to heaven, and enjoy so little peace, and show so little strength in Christ's service ? The answer is simple and plain. " They have not, because they ask not." They have little because they ask little. They are no better than they are, because they do not ask their Lord to make them better. Our languid desires are the reason of our languid performances. We are not straitened in our Lord, but in ourselves. Happy are they who never forget the words, " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." (Ps. Ixxxi. 10.) He that does much for Christ, and leaves his mark in the world, will always prove to be one who prays much.
JOHN, CHAP. XIV. g9
We have, lastly, in this passage, a striking promise about the Holy Ghost. Our Lord says, " I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, .... even the Spirit of truth."
This is the first time that the Holy Ghost is men- tioned as Christ's special gift to his people. Of course we are not to suppose that He did not dwell in the hearts of all the Old Testament saints. But He was given with peculiar influence and power to believers when the New Testament dispensation came in, and this is tiie special promise of the passage before us. We shall find it useful, therefore, to observe closely the things that are here said about Him.
The Holy Ghost is spoken of as " a Person." To apply the language before us to a mere influence or in- ward feeling, is an unreasonable strain of words.
The Holy Ghost is called " the Spirit of truth." It is His special oftice to apply truth to the hearts of Christians, to guide them into all truth, and to sanctify them by the truth.
The Holy Ghost is said to be one whom " the world cannot receive and does not know." His operations are in the strongest sense foolishness to the natural man. The inward feelings of conviction, repentance, faith, hope, fear, and love, which He always produces, are precisely that part of religion which the world cannot understand.
The Holy Ghost is said to " dwell in" believers, and to be known of them. They know the feelings that He creates, and the fruits that He produces, though they may not be able to explain them, or see at first whence they come. But they all are what they are, — new men, new creatures, light and salt in the earth, compared to the worldly, by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost is given to the Church of the elect,