Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-10-23

27-Commit Verses, 1-3-Golden Text,
John xiv i6-Commentary by the Rev.
ID. NJ. stearns.
compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly 10y
permission of II. s. Hoffman. publisher. Phil
adelphia.
l. Let not your heart be troubled, We
believe in God, believe also in Me"
The passover lamb had been eaten, the
supper to commemorate THE Lords
death till He come had been instituted
and very soon now He would go forth to
his agony in Gethsemane, but He thinks
not of Himself. He feels for these sheep
whom He is so soon to leave. and He com
forts them
2. "In My Fathers house are many man
sions, if it were not so would have told
you. 20 to prepare place for you"
After the resurrection He said, MY
Father and your Father" Xxx, 10 Being
in Him, His Father is our Father, and all
the glory given to Him, He shares with us
xvii, 22) What the mansions are we may
not know, but every believer may thank
fully say there is one prepared for me.
3. And if 20 and prepare a place for
you, will come again and receive you unto
Myself, that where am there we may be
also"
ments.'
The questions of Thomas and Philip and
the Saviour's replies to them are passed
over in the intervening verses, but trust
the teachers will not pass them over.
Every word of Christ has IA breadth and
length and depth and height that eternity
alone can unfold Observe particularly
the great promises of verses b. IA and the
key words, In My name," "That the
Father may be glorifed' The verse we
are now upon will be more fully before us
in verse 81, but notice XIV 10, IF we keep
my commandments we shall abide in my
love, and John V, 3, This is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments"
Then | John iii, 80 opens to us the mean
ing, This is His commandment that we
should believe on the name of His Son
Jesus Christ and love one another as He
gave us commandment"
Is. And will pray the Father, and He
Shall give you another comforter, that He
may abide with you forever"
The Spirit is not Christ, but different
personality, even another comforter, who
would be to them all that Jesus was, and
who would never leave them
II. THE Spirit of Truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth Him
not, neither knoweth Him, but We know
Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall
be in you"
Because He is Spirit of Truth we can
not know Him unless we are truthful
IS. 81 will not leave you comfortless,
will come to you"
10. yet a little while, and the world
seeth Me no more; but we see Me; because
live ye shall live also"
Observe His other references to this
Little while" that He was to be with
them in chapters vii, 33; xii, 80; xiii, 80, and
then see His reference to another Little
while" in xvi, 1919 That the present age,
during which He is personally absent, as
to His visible presence, is but a Little
while" See Heb. X 81, the revised reading
of which is, yet very little while, He
that shall come will come and will not
larry" He is alive forevermore (Rev. l.
lS), and being reconciled by His death,
much more shall we be saved by His life
(Rom. v, lO) But we long for the time
when we shall he with Him and like Him
Il John ILL 2 Phil. iii, 90 2l)
20. AT that day we shall know that | am
in My Father, and We in Me and in you"
81. He that hath My commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me,
and he that lOveth Me shall be loved of NY
Father, and | will love him and will mani.
fest Myself to him."
This includes verse Is and indicates how
we may know that we love Him. If we
love to do His Will and take delight in His
commandments; if they are more to us
than gold or silver, or than even our daily
food (Ps. cxix, ~; Job XIII l2) then we
may know, indeed, that we love Him and
may expect special manifestations of the
Fathers love.
% Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that Thou will manifest
Thyself unto us and not unto the worldf"
This was Judas the brother of James,
the son of Alphaeus, who also wrote the
Epistle of Jude duke vi, l6; JudeD
% Jesus answered and said unto him,
If man love Me he will keep Ny word +,
and My Father will love him, and we viii
come unto him and make our abode with
him."
Here He again enforces the test of our
love to Him, as our love to His word. How
can one be said to love another even in this
world if they love not to hear from each
other when absent?
"a "He that loveth Me not keepeth not
My sayings; and the word which We hear
IS not Mine, but the Fathers which sent
Me"
25 These things have | spoken unto
you, being yet present with you"
The X V. says while yet abiding with
n.
and they would no longer talk with Him
face to face. How little they knew or ap.
preciated the privilege they were now en-
Joyng and so soon TO lose.
26 But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
My Name, He shah teach you all things"
Here is some light upon the meaning of
the words In My Name" The Holy Spirit
was to be another Comforter VERSE 49,
taking the place of Jesus as guide, in
structor helper, friend, full of power, wis
dom, might, and all because He came "In
Jesus Name" We can be said to pray in
Jesus Name verses H. l4, and 90 forth
in His Name (Math. xix, 29) only when
filled with the Spirit, our aims are His
and we are wholly one with Him. Then
we can count upon the Spirit to teach us
all things that we need to know as we
reverently study His word.
And bring all things to your remem
brance, whatsoever have said unto you"
AS 1t dawned upon them that He was to
leave them, or as it became fact that He
had actually gone away how they would
wish to remember His words, and what
comfort they would then find in this prom
Use of remem Drancer If we first lay IN
the word of God in our hearts, we NAV
then RELY uDOn the Shirt IN hiring il N