Lord requires as the condition of life. The Old Testament admonition and promise nro npproprinto in this connection: "Hear, and your soul shall live." The frequent invitation, or rather summons, addressed to the people by the Saviour should be borne in mind: "Ho that hnth ears to hear, let him hear." Many listened to bis discourses who never really heard ltim; and it is so now with His gospel. IV. 'I'BE OIFT OF LIFE. 1. This life which i~ conferred by the Son of God is spiritual. In a subsequent part of the discourse, Jesus claims to bo endowed with authority to raise the dead to the life of the future state; but hem the life which is promised is of the spirit. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The spiritual character of this life appears from the references to that with which it is in contrast: "You bath he quickened, who were dead through trespasses and sins." 2. It is dependene life, derived from the source of spiritual vitality. Of himself the Lord Jesus says, in the following verse, that he possessed life, as his own, "in himself," by the appointment of the Father. But Christians derive their new life from him, who came "that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly." 3. It is immortal life, in this being distinguished from that of the body. In the preceding ver.;e Christ describes it as "eternal," by which we may understand that it consists in participatiou in the Divine nature and in the Divine immortality. Thus the new life in Christ is independent of that of the body, whose dissolution indeed is the occasion of its higher development and true perfection.-T. Ver. 39.-The Scriptwres and the Ohrist. Jesus is expostulating with the Jews, who refuse to admit his claims, to accept his salvation. The course of his argument and ceosure is somewhat thus: "You revere and examine the canonical Scriptures. You profess to think of them so highly that you regard them as the source of eternal life for men. Yet you will not yield faith aud allegfauce to me. What inconsistency is here I The true value of the Scriptures lies just in this, that they bear witness to me, that they are intended to lead you and all who read them to me. The fact is, that yotl rese in the Scriptures, instead of being led by the Scriptures to me, who am Life Eternal. 'l'hus the \.Vord fails to fulfil in your case its intended purpose." I. THE SoRIPTURES WITNESS TO JESUS AB THE CHRIST. 1. This is so with the Old Testament, which was in our Lord's mind when he used this language. In the Old Testament there are recorded some explicit and direct predictions which are fulfilled in Jesus; whilst the symbols, sacrifices, and services of the old economy in many instances point to him who should come. No Christian can read cer:ain of the psalms, or certain passages from the writings of Isaiah and of Daniel, without tracing prophetic outlines of the sufferiugs and of the reign of the Messiah. 2. It is obvious that this is still more strikingly the case with the New Testament, to which, of course, our Lord could not be referring here, but which we are bound to search, and in which. we are sure to fiud abundant witness to Jesus as the Christ of God and the Saviour of men. The Gospels and Epistles are full of Christ; they relate facts, they offer doctrinal explanations, they draw practical inferences, all of which have a bearing upon human salvation. Il, 'l.'BE SCRIPTURES ARE THUS THE MEANS OF ETERNAL LIFE TO llia...'fKIND. By "eternal life," the most comprehensive of nil phrases employeu to denote spiritual enrichment and blessing, we are to understand the life of the soul, the life which is Divine-. Now, this is a boon which the knowledge of the mere letter of Scripture can never impart. It must be communicated by the quickening Spirit of God, and is con- veyed through that Mediator, who is in himself the life of God, and who becomes, by his humiliation, obedience, and sacrifice, the life of man. He himself professed and promised to bestow this boon : "Corne unto me, that ye may have life;" "This is lift, eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." If we know Christ in and through the Scriptures, we may be justly said to owe to them the incomparable gift of life eternal. Ill. THE SCRIPTURES SHOULD THEREFORE BE STUDIED AND SEARCHED BY EVERY ONE DESIROUS OF SPIRITUAL BLESSING. 1. In whnt spirit? \Vith a reverent seuse of their Divine origin and authority, and with a high conviction of their priceless value. 2. With what intent and view? Not for curiosity's sake, nor for secular ends, but for spiritual improvement. 3. lu what manner? Systematically, and not in a desultory 23G 'l'HE GOSPEL .ACCORDING TO S1'. JOHN. (011. v. 1-47,
fashion_; with all accessible human aid~, and with prayer for Divine enlightenment and nss1stance.-T.