The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 172

offspring must needs bear hie ima~ &'nd likencBB. This 'WM the harvest that filled our Lord's field of vision-a great mu1'tltude, which no mau can number, each ono of them wnslicJ by his blood and sanctified by his Spirit. This WAS the joy that he set before him when he endured the croBB and despised the shame. Dying, he should rise acrrun and bffr,· rn,uhfruit. ' " ' II. Our Lord's second saying is this, that BIB DEATH AND RESURRECTION BAVl!I A PERPETUAL LESSON IN THE KINGDOM OF GRAOE. (Ver. 25.) "He that loveth hie life ~hall lose it; but h<' ihnt hatcth his life," etc. Now, no doubt when we rnad theso v.•0rds, we natur11lly think first of all of the noble army of martyrs, each of whom added bis dying "Amen!" to them. We cannot forget that in many acres aud iu mauy lands certain of Christ's disciples have been called literally to drink his cup and to be baptizcd wit-h his baptism, scaling with their own blood their testimony to his cause. 'l'hi~ they did on the faitll of his promise, believing that where Christ is there shall also Lis ~errnnts be. And we may well remember, too, how fruitful their example has been. 'l'hc blood of the martyrs has been called, from early times, the seed of the Church. Kut in Yain did tbey lay down their liYes. "Fear not, brother Ridley," said Latimer, on the way to the stake; "we shall this day light a candle in England which will never be pt,t out." But tbis sharp paradox is not merely a watchword for the forlorn hope of the army of the faith. In one form or another it was repeatedly on Jesus' lips, addressed too, as it is here, to all his disciples. Its meaning is this-" The life that is hoarded up for selfish ends must needs be a Jost and barren one; and it is only hating such a life that we can bring forth fruit for God and eternity." But even thus explained this is a hard saying. For what is the kind of life which Christ's disciples are forbidden to love ? Surely our Lord does more than condemn a lire of vicious indulgence and wild extravagance, or of gro.sping greed and oppression. It needs no paradox to impress on us ihat such a career is self-ru.i.ued and thrown away. No! he is speaking more widely and sweepingly of a life of self-seeking and 11elf-pleasing-such e. life, in fact, as is natural to us alL We need no one to teach us bow to lead it. The spirit of the present world fosters it and feeds it, and even natural conscience offers all too feeble a protest against it. The self-centred enjoyment of an earthly portion seems to the multitude the one thing needful, and their posterity approve their sayings. You all know the par.able wLich describes this favourite type of happiness and success-the busy prosperous worldling who heaped up treasure for himself, and was no.t ric:h towards God; and many of you may remember 'l'ennyson's poem founded on the, parable- " I built my soul a lmdly pleasure-house, • Wheroein &t eese for aye to dwell; I said. • 0 soul. mab merry a.nd ea.rouse, Dear BOW. for ell is well' n Ah ! such a lire may be stained by no crimes; it may be enriched by intellectual culture and adorned with the spoils of art, but yet, weighed in the balances of Heaven, it is found wanting. He that loveth such a life as this is 'losing it; and when it is all spent and gone an awful voice will say to him who made it his portion and idol, "'l'bou fooi ! " But this i.s not the life of Christ's disciple.a. In coming to him they renounce it at the first ; in following him they learn to mortify it day by day. They must bate it .as a soldier would hate the life purchased by cowardice before the. eI)emy, or as a patriot would hate the life bought by treason to his country; and lest they should forget this, our Lord puts it more sternly before theip in those words_of_ his. And where shall we ·find the ruotive-th.e deep secret of this "great renun~t1on "? I reply-In the death and resurrection of our Lord Jes\lS Christ. For while that accepted sacrifice of his stands sublimely alone as an atonement for the sins of the world, it bas at the same time a wundrous tr~forming influence on all who come to him by faith. The "mind pf . Christ n is given to them by God's Holy Spirit. 'l'be love of Christ constrains them. In view of him who died for their sins, t)leir old self-seeking life loses its 'attraction; in view of him who rose again and lives for evermore, they see before them what i_s far better-a life which has God for its Centre, and love for its ruling principle, .11,nd eterpity ' for iu boundlel!B horizon. A.h I this is the true life of Ilijl.n, th!! chief end of his creation; and while it was Jl&rll>,'. revealed tµ1,d.er th.e. old ~ve;nant, wh~n ~here ~as a r;loud on the mercy-seat and a veil on the holy of holies, we may say with the h1gheut cu. xn. 1-50.J '!'HE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN. 179