The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 72

who are afrnid to repent; but only to such. Iu thdr own c:iso they surely po~sess the J!Crms at least of a good and worthy chRracter, and while they nre williniz that these germs ~hould l~ nourished au~ fostered by the teaching of Jesus Christ, they can Mk from him nothing more, notlung at least that can be called salvRtion. Dnt how did our Lord himself speak to men in such B stnte of mind a.s this P Early In his ministry one of them came to him by night, calling him R Teacher sent from Goo, and o.skin" for instruction. To this man, this master in Israel, Jesus replied, 11 Ye must ho ror~ nga.in." You need a change of mind and heart which I c!\me down from heaven to give. Yes, and t.o RU who are like Nicodemus be gives the same counsel still. He says "You need more thn.n some general helps to moral improvement, more than the quioken~ ing of your consciences, or the strengthening of your better motives and impulses. Supernatural help, even Divine forgiveness n.nd Divine strength, are essential to you- 1Jay, they are waiting for you; and in. order to realize them and make them your own there is one direction in all the wide horizon to which you must look, one definit~ step you must take. • I am the Door.'" ll. In the scoond part of the text CHRIST CLAIMS TO DE THE PoBTAL OF PROMISE TO ALL w11O OBEY Hnl. Each one of these, he says, "sh&ll go in and out, and find pasture." l:<'or here, as we have said, the ima~e of a fold widens out into that of n kincrdom-- lnnd of promise bet~ than that ~hicb Moses saw from the top of Pisgah; ~ goodly country where there 1s room for all the flock of God to dwell, and where its wants shall be s.-itisfied. This good land is, in onl! word, the Christian calling. It is the life to which Christ admits his disciples. Realizing that life Rnd making it their own, they shall lie down and rise up in the Divine favour, and "the Lord shall preserve their going 01J,f; and their coming in, from henceforth even for ever." Dut what is the pasturo they shall find there? What is the nourishment provided for them ? In answer to this we have only to think what are the great wants of our being, essential to us as creatures n1ade in the imap:e of God, for assuredly it is these that fall within the scope of Christ's promises. 1. First of all thero is truth. I mean the assured knowledge of God and of bis will-practical certainty with regard to our position here, and the great realities which surround us. Well has this been called the first necessity of man's moral nature. The understanding craves for it. The renewed heart would sicken and faint without it. But this priceless nourishment is Christ's to bestow. At the great crisis of his lifo, when he st.ood before Pilate's judgment-seat, be claimed to be both the Witness and the King of truth. " To this end," be said, "was I born, and for this cause came I into the world." And though his claims were set at nought by the world; they were gloriously vindicated by his rising from the dead, and by the mission of the Holy Ghost, by the outward and the inward seal of the Eternal. Heaven &nd earth sb&l.l pass away, but his words concerning God and man, and the broad way and the narrow way, and the cross of true discipleship and the beatitudes of the kingdom, shall not pass o.way. Evermore tbPy shall feed and strengthen the souls of his faithful followers. And as in a very deep sense it is the Spirit of Christ that breathes through- out the Scriptures from beginning to end both in those of the ancient prophets and of the holy men who came after, so the flock of the good Shepherd shall ever find green pastures and still waters as they meditate upon them. Even now, as in the beginning of the gospel, Christ opens their understanding that they may understand the Scrip- tures. 2. Another great need of our souls is sympathy, and we may surely say that abundant food has been provided for this craving in the new life of Christ's disciples, which is our gospel land of promise. There is such & thing as the communion of saints. Precious is the fellowship which they have with one another as they sing God's praises together, and ss they bow before the same mercy-seat, and as in their assemblies the same thoughts of things which are unseen and eternal fill all their minds. It is well for them when they speak heart to heart of the things which concern their peace, and encourage one another in the good way. But the life and soul of this fellowship is the secret communion which each of them enjoys with God in Christ. To him they can lay open all their hearts. From him they receive help of which they cannot well ~peak t.o others. " He is touck ed with a feeling of their infirrnitie~." Some sorrow may Q6 too deep, some difficulty too delicate, for the ears of their fellow-men; but before him they nee<l have no reserve, o.nd assuredly his Divine sympat.hy is like nothing clso ir. human experience. "Eye ha.th not aeen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the on.~- 1---12.] Tml GOSPmr, ACCOfiDING TO ST. JOHN.