l<RW the imprisonments, the ecourgings, the stonings. The disciples would understand the reference bett.er aft.erwRrds than at the moment it WRB made. Jesus himself waa ,>n the point of being taken out of the world. The significance of the particnllL!' expres- sion ought to be rarefully noted. It is not merely a periphrasis for death. It Indicates the glorious e.nd liberating experience through which Jesus himself was about to paas. And if there had been nothing to consider but their personal comfort, then the friends e.nd followers of Jesus might have been taken out of the world along with him. But they he.d their work still to do. The followers of Jesus had to stay just because l,,e was taken. The friends of Jesus had to suffer all the more just because his sufferings were at an end. And so the utterance of Jesus seems to say," I should like to take you with me, but it is impossible. I should like to spare you all you will have to go through; but when you are going through it, remember how I thought about you in my prayer." IT. SAFETY IN THE WORLD. Jesus desires that his Fe.ther would keep his followers from the evil He teaches us to pray the same prayer ourselves. Indeed, if we do not pray the prayer ourselves, what can the prayer of Jesus be expected to avail? The carefulness of Jesus will only save us if we are careful too. Of course it is spiritual safety, integrity, lllld purity of heart J esns is mostly thinking of. As to physical pain, Jesus himself had to pass through the severest of it; a.nd the disciple must be as his Master, the serva.nt as his Lord.-Y. Ver.17.-The ilement of true holiness. I. THE MEANS OF SAFETY. Jesus bas been praying that his friends may be safe; and here is the way to safety. The truly holy are the truly safe. When some infectious disease is raging far a.nd wide, it is the drunkard and glutton who are most exposed t.o danger. And thus in seasons of spiri- tual temptation it is those who live fa.r from God, lllld have allowed the world to run riot in their hearta, who are likeliest t.o fall. II. 'l'B:E Jm.U."B OF UllITY. Jesus goes on to pmyfor unity; lllld holiness will lead to unity as well as safety. III. THE ELEKENT OF THIS SAVING AND UNITING BOLINEBB. we are to be in living,' constant contact with God's truth a.sit is in Jesus. That truth is to be continu- ally around us, e'l'en as the air we breathe. It is to be underneath us, even as the solid earth on which we stand. 'l'ruth is ever important, but the truth a.s it is in Jesus is of 1upreme importance, as the truth that concerns us all in our greatest interests. If with all our knowledge we have failed to lay hold of God's truth in Jesus, then we are still miserably ignorant. We must not be dunces in the school of Jesus. The time will come when one truth of his will give us more satisfaction and peace than all we have learned amid this world's greatest opportunities. And since Jesus prays tha.t we may be sanctified. in this trnth, it is plain.that the truth lies near us, only needing our reason- able attention and effort to make it our own. IV. 'l.'HE :t."EAB!s"EBS OF THIS TRUTH AS OONTB.ASTED WITH OUR NEGLIGENCE OF IT. We can talk much about the truth, a.nd yet feel it very little. We can call it of supreme importance, and yet not make it so. The guilt, the danger, and the misery _of sin are often on our lips; but ouly on our lips. We do not speak of the presence of sm in our souls as if we had made the terrible discovery for ourselves, and appreciated all that the discovery implied. The thing of real concern with us is not truth for the heart, but food and raiment. Hence this frightful want of correspondence between what we are a.nd what we profess to be. There is a sanctification as far as the pro- viding of the elements is concerned; and yet no sanctification, because the elements are unused. Our lives are very mean, worldly, and empty, compared with the oppor- tunities we enjoy. God has brought us into a land of the choicest blessings. We are invited to sit down at a table loaded with the bread of eternal life. The fountain opened for sin and uncleanness springs up before our eyes. If we are none the better, and make not the slightest progress, it is because of a neglected Holy Spirit. It is truth that sanctifies; and the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all the truth. '\Yithout him, we have eyes a.nd yet see not, ears and yet hear not. We mUBt not bru~g our own little line to measure him who is the eternal Son of God, Not many wise are called to the inheritance of the sanctified.. We must be humble and submissive; then shall we know things not otherwise to he known. The work of Jesus is to givo UB something to know and make our own, The work of the Spirit is actually to make ott. xvu. 1-26.] 'NIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 377
that something our own, The more hold that Divine truth bas upon us, the plainer it is that we arn growing in holiness, in separaUon from the world, and union with the 1"other through the Bon.-Y.