meant that if He did not die, He would be "alone" in heaven with the Father and the elect angels, but without any of the sons of men. Scott says the same.

25.—[He that loveth his life, etc.] There are few of our Lord's sayings more frequently recorded by the Holy Ghost, than this pair of paradoxes. The repetition shows its great importance. It will be found in Matt. x. 39; xvi. 25; Mark viii. 35; Luke ix. 24; xvii. 33; as well as here.

The meaning is plain: "He that loves his life, or thinks more of the life that now is than that which is to come, shall lose that which is the best part of his life, his soul. He that hateth his life, or cares little for it compared to the life to come, shall preserve to eternal glory that which is the best part of his life, to wit, his soul."

One object of our Lord in saying these words, was evidently to prevent His disciples looking for good things in this life, if they followed Him. They must give up their Jewish ideas about temporal rewards and honours in Messiah's service. They must understand that His kingdom was entirely spiritual, and that if they were His disciples they must be content to lose much in this life, in order to gain the glory of the life to come. So far from promising them temporal rewards, He would have them distinctly know that they must give up much and sacrifice much, if they wanted to be saved.

The other object our Lord had in view in saying these words, was to teach all Christians in every age, that, like Him, they must make up their minds to sacrifice much, and to die to the world, in the hope of a harvest of glory in a world to come. Through death we must seek life. Eternal life must be the great end a Christian looks to. To attain it he must be willing to give up everything.

The practical condemnation which this verse passes on the life lived by many, should never be overlooked. How few hate their lives here! How many love them, and care for nothing but how to make them comfortable and happy! The eternal loss or the eternal gain are often entirely forgotten.

Augustine gives a wise caution: "Take heed lest there steal upon thee a will to make away with thyself, while thou takest in the sense that it is a duty to hate thine own life in this world. Hence certain malignant and perverse men give themselves to the flames, choke themselves in the water, dash themselves in pieces, and so perish. Christ taught not this. Not by himself, but by

another, must that man be put to death who would follow in Christ's footsteps."

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The word "hate" here must be taken comparatively. It is a Hebraism, like "Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated."— "Your appointed feasts my soul hateth." (Rom. ix. 13; Isa. i. 14.) Scott thinks this verse was meant to teach the Greeks and all the disciples to arm themselves with a mind like their Master's, if they wanted to follow Him.

26.—[If any man serve me...follow me.] This verse seems spoken for the benefit and information of the Greeks who sought to see Jesus, and of all who desired to become His disciples. If any man desires to serve Christ, and be a Christian, he must be content to follow His Master, walk in His footsteps, share His lot, do as He did, and partake of His Master's inheritance in this world. He must not look for good things here, for crowns, kingdoms, riches, honours, wealth, and dignity. Like His Master, he must be content with a cross. He must, in a word, "take up his cross and follow Me." (Matt. xvi. 24.) As St. Paul says, "We are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." (Rom. viii, 17.)

[And where I am, there...my servant be.] This is the first thing that Christ promises to those who follow Him. They shall be with Christ wherever He is, in paradise, and in His dom. He and His servant shall not be parted. Master has, the servant shall have also.

glorious kingWhatever the

It is a comfortable thought, that however little we know of the life to come and the state after death, we do know that we shall be "with Christ, which is far better." (Phil. i. 23.)

[If any man serve me...my Father honour.] This is the second thing which Jesus promises to His disciples. The Father shall give to those who love Christ, such honour as eye hath not seen nor ear heard. Honour from the men of this world they may not have. Honour from the Father shall make amends for all.

It is impossible not to see throughout this verse that our Lord's intention is to discourage the carnal and earthly expectation of His Jewish followers, and yet to encourage them by showing what they might confidently look for. They must follow in His steps if they were His true servants, and in so following they would find a cross and not a crown, whatever they might be thinking, at that moment, while the Hosannas of an excited crowd were sounding in their ears. But though they had a cross, they should not

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miss a reward finally, which would make amends for all. They would be with Christ in glory. They would be honoured by God the Father.

The words, "Him will my Father honour," of course admit of being applied to this life in a certain sense: "Them that honour Me I will honour." (1 Sam. ii. 30.) But it is much more agreeable to the context, I think, to apply them to the honour which shall be given in another world.

The clearest conception we can form of heaven, is that which is here stated. It is being with Christ, and receiving honour from God. Heaven is generally described by negatives. This is, however, an exceptional positive. It is being "with Christ." (Compare John xiv. 3; xvii. 24; 1 Thess. iv. 17.)

Let us note how wisely and mercifully our Lord always damped and checked the unscriptural expectations of His disciples. Never on any occasion do we find Him keeping back the cross, or bribing men to follow Him, as Mahomet did, by promising temporal comfort and happiness.

JOHN XII. 27-33.

27 Now is my soul troubled: and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

St. Peter meant, when he

THESE verses show us what said, There are some things hard to be understood” in Scripture. (2 Pet. iii. 16.) There are depths here which we have no line to fathom thoroughly. This need not surprise us, or shake our faith. The Bible would not be a book "given by inspiration of God," if it did not contain many things which pass man's finite understanding. With all its difficulties it contains

thousands of passages which the most unlearned may easily comprehend. Even here, if we look steadily at these verses, we may gather from them lessons of no mean importance.

We have, first, in these verses, a great doctrine indirectly proved. That doctrine is the imputation of man's sin to Christ.

We see the Saviour of the world, the eternal Son of God troubled and disturbed in mind:-"Now is my soul troubled." We see Him who could heal diseases with a touch, cast out devils with a word, and command. the waves and winds to obey Him, in great agony and conflict of spirit. Now how can this be explained?

To say, as some do, that the only cause of our Lord's trouble was the prospect of His own painful death on the cross, is a very unsatisfactory explanation. At this rate it might justly be said that many a martyr has shown more calmness and courage than the Son of God. Such a conclusion is, to say the least, most revolting. Yet this is the conclusion to which men are driven if they adopt the modern notion, that Christ's death was only a great example of self-sacrifice.

Nothing can ever explain our Lord's trouble of soul, both here and in Gethsemane, except the old doctrine, that He felt the burden of man's sin pressing Him down. It was the mighty weight of a world's guilt imputed to Him and meeting on his head, which made Him groan and agonise, and cry, "Now is my soul troubled." For ever let us cling to that doctrine, not only as untying the knot of the passage before us, but as the only ground of

solid comfort for the heart of a Christian. That our sins have been really laid on our divine Substitute, and borne by Him, and that His righteousness is really imputed to us and accounted ours,-this is the real warrant for Christian peace. And if any man asks how we know that our sins were laid on Christ, we bid him read such passages as that which is before us, and explain them on any other principle if he can. Christ has borne our sins, carried our sins, groaned under the burden of our sins, been "troubled" in soul by the weight of our sins, and really taken away our sins. This, we may rest assured, is sound doctrine: this is Scriptural theology.

We have, secondly, in these verses, a great mystery unfolded. That mystery is the possibility of much inward conflict of soul without sin.

We cannot fail to see in the passage before us, a mighty mental struggle in our blessed Saviour. Of its depth and intensity we can probably form very little conception. But the agonizing cry, "My soul is troubled,”—the solemn question, "What shall I say?"-the prayer of suffering flesh and blood, "Father, save Me from this hour," the meek confession, "For this cause came I unto this hour," the petition of a perfectly submissive will, "Father, glorify Thy name," what does all this mean? Surely there can be only one answer. These sentences

tell of a struggle within our Saviour's breast, a struggle arising from the natural feelings of one who was perfect man, and as man could suffer all that man is capable of suffering. Yet He in whom this struggle took place was the Holy Son of God. "In Him is no sin." (1 John iii. 5.)