piness ; and what God has joined together we must not think to put asunder.
In the third place, our Lord declares, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love." The mean- ing of this promise is near akin to that of the preceding one. The man who makes conscience of diligently/ ob- serving Chrisfs precepts, is the man who shall continual' ly enjoy a sense of Christ'' s love in his soul.
Of course we must not misunderstand our Lord's words when He speaks of "keeping His command- ments." There is a sense in which no one can keep them. Our best works are imperfect and defective, and when we have done our best we may well cry, " God be merciful to me a sinner." Yet we must not run into the other extreme, and give way to the lazy idea that we can do nothing at all. By the grace of God we may make Christ's laws our rule of life, and show daily that we desire to please Him. So doing, our gracious Master will give us a constant sense of His favor, and make us feel His face smiling on us, like the sun shining on a fine day. " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." (Ps. XXV. 14.)
Lessons like these may be legal to some, and bring down much blame on those who advocate them. Such is the narrow-mindedness of human nature, that few can look on more than one side of truth ! Let the servant of Christ call no man his master. Let him hold on his way, and never be ashamed of diligence, fruitfulness, and jealous watchfulness, in his obedience to Christ's commands. These things are perfectly consistent with salvation by grace and justification by faith, whatever any one may say to the contrary.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. The Christian who is careful over his words and tem-
JOHN, CHAP. XV. iQ^j
pers and works, will generally be the most happy Chris- tian. *' Joy and peace in believing " will never accom- pany an inconsistent life. It is not for nothing that our Lord concludes the passage : "These things have I spoken unto you, that your joy might be full."
Notes. John v. 7-11.
7. — [If ye abide in Me...done unto you.] In this verse our Lord continues to encourage the disciples to "abide in Him," by- holding up to them a gracious promise. Abiding in Christ, their prayers will obtain signal and special replies. They shall ask what they will, and it sball be done for them.
The doctrine here laid down and implied is a very remarka- ble one. There are some Christians whose prayers are more powerful and effectual than those of others. The nearer a man lives to Christ, and the closer his communion with Him, the more effectual will his prayers be. The truth of the doctrine is so self-evident and reasonable, that no one on reflection can deny it. He that lives nearest to Christ will always be the man that feels most, and prays most earnestly, and fervently, and heartily. Common sense shows that such prayers are most likely to get answers. Many believers get little from God, because they ask little, or ask amiss. The holiest saints are the most earnest in prayer, and they consequently get the most.
We should note that our Lord says not only " if ye abide in Me," but adds, "and my words abide in you." This means, " If my doctrine and teaching abide fresh in your memories, and is continually influencing your lives." Our Lord guards us against supposing that a mere indolent abiding in Him, with a dreamy, mystical kind of religion, is what He means. His words must be burning like fire within us, and constantly actu- ating our characters and lives.
When He says " ye shall ask what ye will," we must of course understand that His promise only includes things accord- ing to God's mind and for God's glory. Paul asked for the " thorn in the flesh " to depart ; but his prayer was not granted. We need not, however, hesitate to believe that there is a special and peculiar power in the prayers of eminent saints. " The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James v. 16.) The prayers of Luther, Latimer, Knox, Welsh, Baxter, Herbert, Romaine, and other great saints, are specially noted by their contemporaries as possessing power.
The Greek word rendered " it shall be done," means literally " it shall come to pass."