The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 33

a light over them, the will of cmr Father in heaven? Wo are sent iuto the workl with different gifts and capacities. We find ourselves placed in widely different stations and spheres. llut have wo laid it to heart that God has a purpose in placing us here, and that this mysterious gift of life is not like a freehold-an independent possession-still lcds like a plaything which we may do what we like with, but that it is a trust from above, a stewardship under its Giver? Plainly this was Christ's view of life, and to reveal this to us in light and clearness, by example as well as by precept, was one groat end for which he came into the world. For he came not only to atone for our sins and to reconcile us to God, but also to show us, as it had never been seen before, the meaning and purpose of life, connecting the whole of it with a perfectly holy and righteous will. Multitudes without number have realized this in their own experience, and thus the humblest lives have been ennobled, and the busiest lives consecrated by a motive and an influence not of this world. Oh! if we would work without becoming the slaves of our work, if we would enjoy our freedom without being ensnared by it, we can only do so as the servants of God. Have you learned this great life-lesson from Christ? Let !lo one say that because our Lord's work was necessary for the redemption of the world, therefore ours is of no consequence. On the contrary, it is as important for us to do the will of God in our sphere as it was for Christ to do it in his, and assuredly he will impart his Spirit to all who come to him in faith and takEl his yoke upon them. And how do these words of Christ, "I must work," speak to us of the sacredness of duty I They show that the idea of obligation was distinctly present to his mind. He felt that it was right \o obey his God and Father who had sent him, and instead of this feeling being irksome or burdensome, it was one source of his spiritual strength. "He put on righteousness as a breastplate." On the one hand his love to God did not make his obedience seem superfluous, and on the other hand the idea of duty never chilled nor lessened his love. He showed how love and obedience &rEl like two fair blossoms which spring from the same root. And what is that root? It is the life of God in the soul of man. Here, again, "let the same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Seek to cherish and cultivate the spirit of loving obedience. If Christ, by his infinite sacrifice, has reconcilecl you to God, redeemed you from the curse of the Law, it is that you may serve his Father and yours from the heart. If be has stripped obligation of its terrors, he has strengthened instead of weakening its power. "This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments." II. The text teaches us that CHRIST ~-ELT THE PRECIOUSNESS OF OPPOBTm'ITY AND THE VALUE OF TIME, He calls his earthly life day, and its termination he calls the coming night, when no man can work. This language of his cannot be mistaken. He foresaw, indeed, with perfect clearness the glory which awaited him, and the unending work which he was to accomplish by his Spirit in the ages to come; but his life-worl!: here below was the necessary and divinely appointed preparation for it all. The seed- time was essential to the harvest, and it was a limited seed-time, not to be repeated. It was only in the present that Christ's words of life, fresh from his human lips, could be spoken; that his acts of personal kindness and compassion could be performed; that his example, destined to be so infinitely fruitful, could oo set forth. And therefore he prized that present, the day allotted to him, and not in feverish haste, but in all the calmness of spiritual strength, he took possession of it, and used it for his Father's glory. "The night cometh, when no man can work." Taken by themselves, these words only express a simple fact which no one would think of proving or dream of denying. Life comes but oncEl to each of u.s,ancl however we may spend it or misspend it, no portion of it will return to be spent over again. We cannot prolong it at will, or persuade it to linger. Relentlessly it moves like the hand of a clock or the shadow on the sun-dial. All our earthly activities, our duties, our charities, our services in the cause of God and man, must needs be included in it. When the night cometh they must cease. Every man who bas any earnestness of purpose a.bout him has felt the stimulus of such thoughts as these. Whatever his pursuits may be, whether the objects he takes an ii,terest in are of a lower or higher kind, his heart often whispers to itself, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," etc. Nay, further, many an idler has been rebuked into activity, and many a dreamer wakeaed up out of his useless !Overies, just by thEl thought fastening itself upon him that ho is allowing life, with all its opportunities, to slip away, and that it will never return. Now, if you have entered JOHN-II, D  34 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [cu. ix. 1-41.