CHRIST'S PROMISE OF ANSWERS TO THEIR PRAYERS. Read S. John xiv. 13; xvi. 16-24. I. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Ib. xvi. 23. Hitherto they had asked but faintly (Ib. xvi. 24), now they were to ask in faith and confi dence, through the name of Jesus. Have my prayers been hearty, earnest, confiding? or cold, languid, faithless? S. James i. 5, &c. II. If ye shall ask any thing in My name I will do it. Ib. xiv. 14. If they did not fully trust the Father whom they had not seen with their bodily eyes, the sympathy of Jesus was their security; He would hear them, He would look to it, He would do it. Blessed Jesus, undertake for me. In Thy name only do I trust. Heb. iv. 14-16. III. That the Father may be glorified in the Son. Ib. xiv. 13. 1 Not only our weakness, our misery, our necessity; not only the sympathy, the compas sion, the merits of Jesus, but the glory of God, the Holy, the Just, the True, is our security. Do I rest on this hope? Pour out thine heart, then. Pray without ceasing. Ps. lxii. 8. Text. Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. S. John xv. 7. For thoughts on the Gospel of the day, see p. 287. THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. Read S. John xiv. 16-31; xvi. 1-15. I. It is expedient for you that I go away. Ib. xvi. 7. In kindness to them He says not "for Me," but for you. His thought is for His people. Even His withdrawal is for our good, not for His pleasure only. Do I make myself the centre and end of my actions? think of Him, and live for God and His people. Phil. i. 23, 24. II. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. Ib. They loved Christ, but it may have been too much bodily, too little spiritual love, and if so, selfishly. Such affections hinder the Spirit and the grace of God. Am I clear of them? S. John vi. 26. 1 III. If I depart I will send Him unto you. Ib. This great gift was made to depend on the departing of Christ from among men. How many spiritual blessings follow on the loss of earthly comforts. Do I feel this truth? approve it? willingly receive it? 2 Cor. viii. 1. Text. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. iii. 17. LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY. Read S. Matt. xxviii. 20. I. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Ib. They had to go forth, sheep among wolves. Here was their comfort and stay. Jesus with us! should be ours. II. I am with you alway. Ib. Here, too, Do I make Jer. i. 8; Both as God, and as God made flesh for us; unseen, yet seeing (Prov. xv. 3) and knowing us every way. Here is the incitement to serve Him. With us also in the holy Eucharist, our food, our strength. My soul! cleave to Him. III. I am with you alway. Ib. By that daily grace which He affords, and so unites us to God; by the power of that grace enabling us to serve Him; by His special providence guiding us to the end. In so many ways art Thou with me, O Lord! I will in heart and soul be ever Thine. Is. xlvi. 4; li. 11, 12. Text. I am with thee, for I am thy God. Is. xli. 10. HE LEADS THEM OUT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. Read S. Luke xxiv. 45-50. (Acts i.) I. Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. Ib. 49. Learn, then, the disposition in which to look for grace. Tarrying (orig. sitting) quietly—. quiet even among the men of the world-waiting until His time- not resting in our own power, but waiting to be clothed with His ere we venture on His work. Ps. lxxi. 16. II. He led them out as far as to Bethany. Ib. 50. Bethany, where Martha had received Him and served Him, and Mary had sat at His feet. It may be to have given them His blessing, or to let them witness His ascension. The Lord forgets not His people. Alas, how do I forget Him? Heb. vi. 10. III. (To) the mount called Olivet. Acts i. 12. Think of the mingled joy and sorrow of this holy band; their prayers, their praises, their adoration. His last lesson is, as it were, "Through Gethsemane to heaven," "By Mount Olivet to the throne," " By suffering to glory." Teach me this, O Lord. S. Luke xxiv. 26; Acts xiv. 22. Text. We wait for Thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of Thy temple. (COM. PR. BK. VERSION.) Ps. xlviii. 9. THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD. Read S. Luke xxiv. 50-53. (Acts i. 9.) I. He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Ib. 50. With what words He blessed them we know not. His blessing must be full of grace, and now we receive it in His only name. Bless me also, O Lord my God, an unworthy sinner, and fill me with Thy grace. Gen. xxvii. 36, 38; S. John xvii. 20. II. While they beheld He was taken up. Acts i. 9. They were not merely beholders with the bodily eye, but looked on Him with affection, reverence, joy. To such the visions of His glory are vouchsafed; to such it shall be given in due time to follow Thee. May it be so to Cant. i. 4; S. John xiii. 36. me. III. He humbled Himself, &c. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him. Phil. ii. 9. And our ascension to heaven will be more in prospect, as we abase ourselves here. He descended first, then ascended. (Eph. iv. 9.) The more I learn Him and love Him, the more His ways will be my ways. Have they been such hitherto ? Shew me Thy ways, Lord! S. Luke xiv. 11; Ps. xxv. 4. Text. I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God. S. John xx. 17. For thoughts on the Gospel of the day, see p. 187. |