tlnctly 11n advantage to hie people. He wante us to feel how much better the spirit11al is thnn the natural; how much better it is to have the invisible ,Jeana doing good to 011r inner life thnn the visible Jesus doing good to our outward life. If ever the visible is t0 be m11de better, it will be through the invisible. He who made the outside made the i11side also, o.nd to get the insi,le thoroughly pure and strong is the only way to make the outside the some. We are but extending the great principle which ,Jesus laid before NicodemuA, when we s11y that flesh c11n only minister to flesh, spirit only to spirit, Even as the old dispensation was preparatory to the new, so the manifestatiun of JeAus in the flesh was preparatory to the manifestation of Jesus in the spirit. Ill. AN ILLUSTRATION OF HOW THE PLANS OF liEA VEN ARE BETTER THAN THE WISHES OF EARTH, Well wa.e it that Jesus did not leave his disciples to decide, They would 1111 h11ve so.id," Stop with us longer;" but who of them could have said how much longer? That would have eent their thoughts in a direction by no means pleasant to follow out. If Jesus must be more to humanity than any one else who ever trod the earth in human form, it can only be by having a different end to his life and II different result of it. Fancy Moses or Elijah (those two names which are so eminently coupled with Jesus) saying that it was expedient for the people they bad to do with that they should go away. When we consider what we owe to the Paraclete, when we consider all his deep and abiding ministries, here is a fresh cause of profound thankfulness to Jesus that he 11CC8pted the sufferings of death that the Paraclete might come. The Day of Pentecost was not easily achieved; other ~ays ha<l to go before- the day when he swe11t as it were great drops of blood, the day when he stood among the soldiers with the thorny crown, and was afterwards nailed to the cross.-Y. Vere. 8-11.-The convicting work of the Spirit. Here surely is the true 11nd abiding blessing for those who labour to look under the surface, and see Jesus dealing wHh the deep, ancient, and malignant causes of all human trouble. Jesus came teaching, pro- claiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness. The blessing of his incarnate ministry was just as deep, just as shallow, as the recipient chose to make it. But when the incarnate Jesus departs to make room for the Paraclete, the work must be deep, or practically it is nothing. You sho.11 know the Spirit's blessing only as you accept the two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Spirit can only bless as it works into the very depths of the conscience and affections. L NoTE WITH WHOM THE SPIRIT HAS TO DEAL. His work is with all who are com- prised under th11t wondrous 11nd frequent word in this Gospel, "the world." Elsewhere Jesus speaks of the world hating the disciples. But that very world which hates is not merely to have its malignities warded off; its hatred must, if possible, be changed to friendship, its opposition must give way to support. 'l'he spirit of the world in all of us is to be beaten down and starved out by the persuasions of II nobler Spirit ever striving to make friends with the conscience within. This word" reprove," or "convict," is a grand word. It shows us what noble thoughts God has of us. There is no true submiss~on to God in Jesus unless through persuasion. 'rhe door of the heart must ever be opened from inside. II. THE ODJEOTS OF HIB CONVINCING WORK. (1) Sin; (2) righteousness; (3) judg- ment. The connection of these three words is obvious. The presence of siu is the absence of righteousness, o.nd vice versa. And the possibility of sin and the possibility of righteousness mean the coming of a. jud,,."lllent which shall settle with authority whether sin has overcome righteousness or righteousness overcome sin. The Spirit comes, making it clear to men what is the deep, underlying cause of all human unrest and weariness. The work of conviction as to sin, righteousness, and judgment all goes on tocrcther. It is, of coarse, not so much nn appeal to the intellect, though the intellect cann~t be left out of the operntion. 'l'he process is one in which there goes on contem- poraneously II revelation of self and II revelation of Jesus. Old words have to be emptied of old insufficient meanings. When the Holy Spirit brings the word " sin," he brings no new ~ord. The old covenant was full of it, the thoughts of men were full of it, but as of somethin"'0 which could be easily put away by the blood of some shin animal. 'l'he lloly Spirit makes us o.sk thll question why ·we are so different from J~sw. The image JOHN-II, :.I 338 THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO sr. JOHN. [oR. XVI, 1--33.
of Jesus to !lur undel'lltandings should nlw11ys be II rebu~ing image, fllllng us with 11 deep ~ease, m no way to be removed by mere lapse of t1m,e, of our shortcomings aud pollutions. The greatest miracle about Jesus is hie pure an,l perfect character and the more intense becomes our desire after likeness to him in t.hie respect the ~ore it is evident that the convicting work of the Spirit is going on in us, Ever the humbler we become at the eight of ourselves, the more hopeful shall we become at the sight of Jesus, For, as Jesus goes on to say in a sentence or two later, the Spirit's work is not only a revelation, but a guidance.-Y.