yet without the constant thought of him mingling in every element of the pmyer, i~ rcnlly not to pray at all, l. Ons1mvl!l EXAC!TLY WHAT JESUS HERE SPl!:AKB ADOUT. He is dealing with a part of prayor-tho potitionary part, the part where need should he deeply felt and cle~rlv oxpressc<l. An<l yet, after all, in what part of prayer can lhe sense of need be abseut? For instauce, it will not ho pretended that it is an easy thing to give adequate utter- nnce to n<lomtion, As we go on in the spiritual life, we shall more and more feel that all true pmyer, from the vory beginning to the end, has asking lying under it. Though there be not alwnys peLitiouary form, there will be petitionary reality. The spiritual man is not one whit Iese needy than the natural man. The further he advances, the more do his own needs o.nd the needs of the world press upun him. Left to himself, he is very likely to become confused among a. multitude of perplexing thoughts. Nuw, here is a. recommendation and promise of Jesus which most assuredly will simplify and concentrate prayer. II. WHAT IT JS TO PRAY IN THE NAMl!I OB' JESUS. No particular name can be said here to be meant. .All the names are needed, and even then there is not enough to indicate the fulness of the person named. We must get underneath names to things. Asking in the Name of Jesus mean~ fundamentally aaking in connection with him. Think of yourself habitually as the servant of Jesus, bound to attend to his interests, bound to consult his wishes, bound to carry out his purposes, and then you will get wonderful light as to what things you should pray for, and wonderful help in making them really subjects of prayer. .A banker honours immediately all cheques that a servant presents signed by his master. 'l'he self-willed and the self-indulgent cannut truly pray; their cry may be genuine e.nd intense enough ; but it is only the cry of exas- peration and disappointment, No prayer is worth the breath it is uttered with that leaves the Lordship of Jesus out of the question. III. THERE MUST BE A REAL CONNECTION WITll JESUS. It will never do to go by our own notions of what Jesus wants. There is such a thing as unwittingly presenting forged cheques a.t the bank of heaven. Each of us must be like a hand of the Ii vin g Jesus, in immediate and flexible connection with his will. We must be really at bis disposal, ready and ready ever for the doing of his will and his will only. There must come a time in the history of the heart when everything less than the truth wi it is in Jesus will fail to command us.-Y. Ver, 32.-The loneliness of Jesus. I. A PREMATURE BOAST. Faith is necessary, faith is possible; but a deep-rooted faith that shall itself be trustworthy is not easy. Jesus knew that in due time he would have full power over the devotion of his disciples, but their hearts had yet to be won from that fear of the world which bringeth a snare. A faith that shall be superior to all conceivable temptations must be the result of much humble and patient watchfulness. It is for Jesus rather tho.n for us to say when true faith is attained. Faith must show itself by its fruits. Not he that co=enueth him- self is commended, but whom Jesus commends. II. How THl!I LONELINESS OF JEsus coU.Es ADOUT. By the departure of those who professed to be his own. It is pie.in that as yet there had been no real 1<01vwv1«. 'l'here had been outward companionship; service of a certain sort; generous intentions; but the disciples had not yet entered into the aims of Jesus; e.nd directly their lives s~emed to be in peril, they showed how fragile was the bond that united them to him. They showed that they could not believe in Jesus whatever happened. .As long as Jesus bade a calm detinnco to the worst plots of the Jews, as long as he escaped out of their hands, a.a long as he went on adding one wondrous dted to o.nother, they seemed to believe. But when the hour and power of darkness came they lost at once what little preseuc<1 of mind they ever had. Hence we see that the loneliness of Jesus did not begin with that hour when his disciples forsook him and fled. No one ever knew more of what it is to be a.lone in I\ crowd than Jesus did. With regard to many, the solitude is simply that of the stranger; in proportion RS they become acquainted witb others, the solitu,le passes away. But the more Jesus mingled with men, the lonelier in a certain sense he became. 'l'he nearer they drew to him, the plainer it became what an immense ch~nge must take place in them before they could look on a.ll things just as he looked at thern. lie eaid he was like the seed, abiding alone till it is planteu in the !!round. But the 340 THE OOf!PEL AOOORDING TO RT. JOHN. [en. xvn. 1-20,
l!OOd CRnnot feel, and Jesus ~ad to know the lo~_eliness that comes from having higher Ri111s thnn nil ronnd about him. Moses Rnd EhjRh had the same feeling. III. THE LO?-."EI,INERS WAS ONLY RELATIVE. In one sense Jesus did not know noar sn much of loneliness ns John the Baptist. He was a great deal in society•1 he the loneli<'Ht of beingR, was Rlso, Rfter a fashion, the least lonely. Jesus alwRys hnd' Ono with l1i111 whom the world knew not, whom his own disciples knew not, Jesus con- t innally c:nrierl about with him the essentials of heaven. When men showed themselves furt.h<>~t from him, God WM nearest. The wide gulf that separated Jesus from even his close~t companions we.e "'ell made rn11nifest, for so it WAS also made manifest that he biw. resources far beyond any that human intercourse could supply. Jesus meant his disciples'not to reflect too hardly on themselves when they came to look back on their lea Ying him alon~. They were but showing the "·eakness Jesus expected them to show. It is well for us that, so f&ras human support we.s concerned, we should see Je~us alone; for so it becomes c!Mrer and clearer to us that through those hours of seemin,, solitude a preS<'nce gloriously superhuman, and full of all possible strength and comfurt, must have been with him.-Y.