^ The path of the intellect is not the path that brings the soul into that Sacred Presence which it seeks. He is reached by another means altogether. What is it? Let the soul take to itself the " wings of love," and the distance between it and Him will be covered in a moment. The mountain will become a plain,
J. Jorgensen, St. Francis of Assist, 110.
ST. JOHN xvii. 3 271
and He who seemed to be afar off will be found to be nigh at hand. Or, to use the figure which Browning employs, love is the single " leap " that gains Him, which leap the mere intellectual faculty is powerless to take.^
(3) Knowledge of Christ is likeness. — Knowledge necessitates likeness. Have we not abundant proof of its truth ? Two unlikes cannot know each other. Two men who are morally unlike each other may live together, and neither can possibly know the contents of the other's life. How would you describe pain to a man who has never experienced it ? He cannot know it. He cannot even imagine it. Pain is known only by the pain-ridden. Knowledge implies likeness. The principle has a wide application. To know we must he. To know music, we must be musical. To know art, we must be artistic. To know Christ, we must be Christlike. " This is life, ... to know Jesus." To know Jesus is to share His life ! His life is eternal. Life eternal is just Christ-life. This is life eternal, to have life like Christ, to know Him in spirit and in truth.
All grows, says Doubt, all falls, decays and dies;
There is no second life for flower or tree: O suffering soul, be humble and be wise,
Nor dream new worlds have any need of thee!
And yet, cries Hope, the world is deep and wide;
And the full circle of our life expands, Broadening and brightening, on an endless tide
That ebbs and flows between these mystic lands.
Not endless life, but endless love I crave, The gladness and the calm of holier springs,
The hope that makes men resolute and brave, The joyful life in the great life of things.
The soul that loves and works will need no praise;
But, fed with sunlight and with morning breath, Will make our common days eternal days.
And fearless greet the mild and gracious death.*
^ J. Flew, Studies in Browning, ] 45. » W. M. W. Call.
Environment and Chaeacter.
ST. JOHN (2) — 18
Literature.
Alexander (S. A.), The Mind of Christ, 418. Benson (R. M.), The Final' Passover, ii. (pt. ii.) 457. Binnie (W.), Sermom, 171. Bramston (J. F.), Fratribus, 164. Brooke (S. A.), The Ship of the Soul, 31.
Carter (T. T.), Meditations on the PvMie Life of our Lord, ii. 298. Cooper (T.), Plain Pulpit Talk, 19G. Dods (M.), Footsteps in the Path of Life, 70. Gibson (J. M.), Glory of Life on Earth, 1. Gray (W. H.), The Children's Friend, 202. Gregg (D.), Individual Prayer as a Worhing Force, 125. Hiley (R. W.), A Year's Sermons, iii. 234. Jerdan (C), For the Lambs of the Flock, 121. Jowett (J. H.), Apostolic Optimism, 47. Lidgett (J. S.), Apostolic Ministry, 215. Rainsford (M.), The Lord's Prayer for Believers, 286, 301. Spurgeon (C. H.), Christ's Relation to His People, 351. Britii-h Weekly I'ulpit, iii. 473. Cambridge Review, i. No. 21. Christian Age, xlvi. 13 ; liii. 325.
Christian World Pulpit, Ii. 316 (Gibson ) ; Iv. 136 (Jowett); Ixsi. 268 (Rushbrooke).
«74
Environment and Character.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one. — John xvii. 15.
1. The last words of Christ to His disciples, clustered round Him in that solemn hour when He took leave of them before He died, were words of prayer. It was a prayer, as reported to us, which threw into pregnant words the meaning of His whole work, but it was also steeped in the tender thought which fills the heart of one who parts from those he has long loved. As He prayed for those around Him, who were to spread among men the good news of God, commending them to His Father's care, every word was touched with the human tenderness of separation. " Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one" — one in love, one in that will of God which is the bond of love. Keep them from the world, not from the outward world, but from the evil of the world. "With that prayer, Christ defines the position of His followers in their life among men, and the meaning of it is our subject.
2. This does not mean that Christ wished His followers never
to die — always to be in the world. It is appointed for us all to
die. But our Lord did not wish His followers to die before their
time. " The days of our years are threescore years and ten ; and
if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their
strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly
away." All, indeed, do not reach this fulness of years; and
Christians as well as others are cut off by illness and accidents.