I leave the world." The latter seems the more probable mean- ing.
The expression, " Thy love may be in them," is another grave difficulty. It must either be " That Thy love, the same love wherewith Thou lovest Me, may be directed on and to- ward them ; " or else, " That they may feel in their own hearts a sense of that same love toward them wherewith Thou lovest Me." I prefer the latter sense.
George Newton remarks on this verse, " If Christ is in you, let me give you this caution : let Him live quiet in your hearts. Do not molest Him and disturb Him ; do not make Him vex and fret. Let it not be a penance to Him to continue in you. But labor every way to please Him, and give Him satisfaction and content, that so the house He hath chosen may not be dark and doleful, but delightful to Him."
Manton remarks, " If an earthly King lie but one night in a house, what care there is taken that nothing be offensive to him, and that all be neat and sweet and clean. How much more careful ought you to be to keep your hearts clean, to per- form service acceptable to Him, to be in the exercise of faith, love, and other graces, that so you may entertain, as you ought, your heavenly King, who comes to take up His continual abode in your hearts."
We may well feel humbled, as we leave this chapter, when we think of our ignorance of the true meaning of many of its phrases. How much of our exposition is nothing better than feeble conjecture ! We seem only to scratch the surface of the field. Let us only remember that the four things prayed for by our Lord are things that every Christian should daily desire, — preservation, sanctification, unity, and final glory in Christ's company.
George Newton closes his Exposition of the whole chapter with these touching words : — " How earnest and importunate is Christ with God the Father, that we may be one here, and that we may be in one place hereafter ! Oh, let us search into the heart of Jesus Christ, laid open to us in this abridgment of His intercession for us, that we may know it and the workings of it more and more, until at length the precious prayer comes to its full elfect, and we be taken up to be for ever with the Lord, and where He is there we may be also 1 "