Name of Jesus. Aelted with confidence 11nd undorstanding, even aR a servant docs in tho name of his master. If II known servant goes to tho bank with a cheque signed by his master, be gots the money at once; for his master has a claim there, and the claim is recognized, ne II maUer of course. Jesus was One who had great stores of wealth treasured up in the bank of heaven, 11nd for a while be made application himself, whereby to do his wonderful works. He himself, dwelling on earth, had asked in his own Person, and for his own direct ministrations from his heavenly Father. And now that be was going away to the far country, the works had still to be done-yea, even greater works-and the heavenly treasury had to be in constant requisition. The grcn.ter works were impossible unless as answers to truly Christian prayer. III. GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ALL WHO BEEK THE GOOD OF OTJIERB. A large amount of good, of a certnin sort, ma.y be done without prayer. There are physical wants of men and there a.re physical supplies. But he who would do the highest good must ever be asking himself what Jesus would do, if he himself could be thought of just as one of bis own servants. We are to live lives of ministry to men as the servants of the Lord Jesus. Our ministry is to be measnred, not by what men ask for, but by what Jesus seeks to give, We have greater boons at our command for a needy world than anything nature can supply. IV. 'l'HE IMPLIED MEDIATION OF JESUS, He and his Father are one. Whatever is asked in the Name of Jesus will be done as by Jesus himself. Notice how soon opportunity wa.s given to try the reality of all this. Look at the lame man laid at the Beautiful gate of the teruple. He is asking, but his desires do not go beyond an alms. He has long learned to be contented, if only he can drag on existence. But to Peter the opportunity is given of something far beyond an alms, and he speaks to the la.me man, not in his own name-that would have been all in vain-but in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. Here is a revelation many of us have yet to discover, that we may become blessed channels of the highest power flowing from the mediation of the Lord Jesus.-Y. Vera. 16-18.-" Another Comforter." I. AN ANSWER TO A REQUEST OF JESus. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is a conditional thing. Jesus must ask the Father for it; and he can only ask the Father when he perceives the disciples to be going in the wa.y of his directions. If only the disciples will do what Jesus wants them to do, he will secure for them the indispensable help. '!'hey must not be under the delusion that the might of the Holy Spirit will be given to aid them in their own plans and schemes. They must be servants to the plans and schemes of Jesus. The Father waits for the Son to ask, and the Son waits till he sees his people ready to receive. H. 'l'HE GIFT BESTOWED. Here it is plain we must try to look at things rather than words-at the whole actual work. of the Holy Spirit rather than at special words by which he is described. And inasmuch as he is called "another Paraclete," we must consider the incarnate Jesus himself as the first and introductory Paraclete. Well did the disciples know how utterly helpless they would have been without the assistance of Jesus. •.rruly he was an earthly Providence to them. 'fhey ne'l'er needed to be at a loss. And all the time they were made to feel more and more their natural insufficiency. And doubtless Jesus saw in their hearts the question rising as to what they should. do when he was gone. If Jesus had not come into their lives, they would not have known what life can be. But having had a Paraclete, it would be like sinking from light into darkness to go on without one. Better never to have known Jesus at all, than to know him and then lose him, and have to go on with no more than. they had at the beginning. More than that, the gift of the second Comforter includes all that was essential in. the first one. Nay, we may say even more. The first Comforter was only truly operative when he blossomed out, so to speak, into the second one. Jesus was the Truth, and the second Comforter was the Spirit of the 'l'ruth. Jesus gave the seed, and then the Spirit came like the brel\lh of spring to stir up the seed into life. '!'here is much about all this process that we cannot understand ; but that is all the more reason why we should ma.lk whn.t we can mark-even the sequence of processes a.nd results. If the second Comforter bad never come, the mission of the first oue would have been the greatest enigma in the history of humanity. 264 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOlIN. [on. xtv. 1-81,
Ill. 'J'm: REC'll'IBNTS OF THl!: GrFT. It b1ts been well s1tid tht Josua IA spoken of 11.!1 hnviui: comeinto the world. The world could receive him arter A fashion, because it could gaze upon him and tooognil'le him by the senses, RB it could any lnc&rnntcd human bemg. But the Holy Spirit comes to the Church, to prepared nnd humbled hearts. He comee to complete J'('pcntimc0. Men 888 tbl\t the pnet h&s been wrong 1tnd foolish, foll of wast.ed days and powers. 'l'hen they begin to atudy the com- munications of Jeaus, and so they 1tre led on into B reception of the Holy Spirit. There must surely be much listening to Jesus, much pondering over all the clement& of !:is incarnate career, before it oa.n be comprehended what the Holy Spirit really is and does.-Y.