3499. The Bliss of the Glorified

A Sermon Published On Thursday, February 17, 1916.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat. {Re 7:16}

For other sermons on this text:

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1800, “Heaven Below” 1801}

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2128, “Heaven Above and Heaven Below” 2129}

   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3499, “Bliss of the Glorified, The” 3501}

   Exposition on Mt 3; 11:20-30 Re 7:9-17 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2704, “Flee From the Wrath to Come” 2705 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Re 7:9-17 1Co 15:1-28,50-58 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2659, “Fallen Asleep” 2660 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Re 7:9-17 Isa 49 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3238, “Vision of the King, A” 3240 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Re 7 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3323, “Believer’s Glad Prospects, The” 3325 @@ "Exposition"}

   Exposition on Re 7 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3403, “Multitude Before the Throne, The” 3405 @@ "Exposition"}

1. We cannot too often turn our thoughts heavenward, for this is one of the great cures for worldliness. The way to liberate our souls from the bonds that tie us to earth is to strengthen the cords that bind us to heaven. You will think less of this poor little globe when you think more of the world to come.

2. This contemplation will also serve to console us for the loss, as we call it, of those who have gone before. It is their gain, and we will rejoice in it. We cannot have a richer source of consolation than this, that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished; they have not lost life, but they have gained its fulness. They are rid of all that molests us here, and they enjoy more than we as yet can imagine. Cheer your hearts, you mourners, by looking up to the gate of pearl, by looking up to those who surround the throne of their Redeemer day without night.

3. It will also tend to quicken our diligence if we think much of heaven. Suppose I should miss it after all! What if I should not run so that I may obtain! If heaven is little, I shall be only a little loser by losing it; but if it is indeed such that the half could never be told us, then may God grant us diligence to make our calling and election sure, so that we may be certain of entering into this rest, and may not be like the many who came out of Egypt, but who perished in the wilderness and never entered into the promised land. All things considered, I know of no meditation that is likely to be more profitable than a frequent consideration of the rest which remains for the people of God. I ask, then, for a very short time that your thoughts may go upward to the golden streets.

4. And, first, we shall think a little of the blessedness of the saints as described in the simple words of our text; then we will say a few words concerning how they came by that felicity; and thirdly, draw some practical lessons from it.

5. I. First, then, we have here: — A DESCRIPTION OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE GLORIFIED.

6. We do not have the full description of it here; but we have here a description of certain evils from which they are free. You notice they are of two or three kinds — first, such as originate within — “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more” — they are free from inward evils; secondly, such as originate without — “Neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat.” They are altogether delivered from the results of outward circumstances.

7. Take the first: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.” We are never so to strain Scripture for a spiritual sense as to take away its natural sense, and hence we will begin by saying this is no doubt to be understood physically of the body they will have in glory. Whether there will be a necessity for eating and drinking in heaven, we will not say, for we are not told, but anyway it is covered by the text, “The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them” — if they need food — “and lead them to living fountains of water” — if they need to drink. Whatever may be the needs of the future, those needs shall never cause a pang. Here, the man who is hungry may have to ask the question, “What shall I eat?”; the man who is thirsty may have to say, “What shall I drink?”; and we all have to ask, “What shall we wear?” But such questions shall never arise there. They are abundantly supplied. Children of God have been hungry here: the great Son of God, the head of the household was hungry before them; and they need not wonder if they have fellowship with him in this suffering. Children of God have had to thirst here: their great Lord and Master said, “I thirst”; they need not wonder, therefore, if in his affliction they have to take some share. Should not those who are to be like their head in heaven be conformed to him on earth? But in heaven there is no poverty, and there shall be no accident that shall place them in circumstances of distress. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.”

8. While we take this physically, there is no doubt that it is to be understood mentally. Our minds are also constantly the victims of hungerings and thirstings. There are on earth various kinds of this hunger and thirst — in a measure evil, in a measure also innocent.

9. There are many men in this world who are hungering after wealth, and the mouth of avarice can never be filled. It is as insatiable as the horse-leech, and for ever cries, “Give, give!” But such hunger was never known in heaven, and never can be, for they are satisfied there; they have all things and abound. All that their enlarged capacities can desire they already possess, in being near the throne of God and beholding his glory; there is no wealth which is denied them.

10. Here, too, some of the sons of men hunger after fame, and oh! what have men not done to satisfy this? It is said that hunger breaks through stone walls; certainly ambition has done it. Death at the cannon’s mouth has been a trifle, if a man might win the bubble reputation. But in heaven there is no such hunger as that. Those who once had it, and are saved, scorn ambition from now on. And what room would there be for ambition in the skies? They take their crowns and cast them at their Saviour’s feet. They have their palm branches, for they have won the victory, but they ascribe the conquest to the Lamb, their triumph to his death. Their souls are satisfied with his fame. The renown of Christ has filled their spirit with everlasting contentment. They hunger no more, nor thirst any more, in that respect.

11. And oh! what hunger and thirst there has been on earth by those of tender and large heart for a fit object to love! I do not mean now the common thing called “love,” but the friendship which is in man’s heart, and sends out its tendrils wanting something to cling to. We must — we are born and created for that very purpose — we must live together; we cannot develop ourselves alone. And often a lonely spirit has yearned for a brother’s ear, into which to pour its sorrows; and doubtless many a man has been brought to destruction and been confined to the lunatic asylum whose reason might have been saved had there been some sympathetic spirit, some kind, gentle heart that would have helped to bear his burden. Oh! the hunger and the thirst of many a soul after a worthy object of confidence. But up there they hunger and they thirst no more. Their love is all centred on their Saviour. Their confidence, which they placed in him on earth, is still in him. He is their bosom’s Lord, their heart’s Emperor, and they are satisfied, and, wrapped up in him, they hunger and thirst no more.

12. And how many young spirits there are on earth that are hungering after knowledge who would gladly get the hammer and break the rock, and find out the history of the globe in the past. They would follow philosophy, if they could, to its source, and find out the root of the matter. Oh! to know, to know, to know! The human mind pants and thirsts for this. But there they know even as they are known. I do not know that in heaven they know all things — that must be for the Omniscient only — but they know all they need or really need to know; they are satisfied there. There will be no longer searching with a spirit that is ill at ease. They may, perhaps, make progress even there, and the scholar may become daily more and more wise; but there shall never be such a hungering and thirsting as to cause their mental faculties the slightest pang. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. Oh! blessed land where the seething ocean of man’s mind is hushed, and sleeps in everlasting calm! Oh! blessed country where the hungry spirit, that cries every hour for bread, and yet for more, and yet for more, and spends its labour for what does not satisfy, shall be fed with the bread of angels, and be satisfied with favour and full of the goodness of the Lord.

13. But, dear friends, surely the text also means our spiritual hungering and thirsting. “Blessed is the man who hungers and thirsts today after righteousness, for he shall be filled.” This a kind of hunger that we ought to desire to have; this is a kind of thirst that the more you have of it will be the indication of the possession of more grace. On earth it is good for saints to hunger and to thirst spiritually, but up there they are finished even with that blessed hunger and that blessed thirst.

14. Today, beloved, some of us are hungering after holiness. Oh! what would I not give to be holy, to be rid of sin, of every evil thing about me! My eyes — ah! adieu sweet light, if I might also say, “Adieu sin!” My mouth — ah! well would I be content to be dumb if I might preach by a perfect life on earth! There is no faculty I know of that might not be cheerfully surrendered if the surrender of it would deprive us of sin. But they never thirst for holiness in heaven, for this excellent reason, that they are without fault before the throne of God. Does it not make your mouth water? Why, this is the luxury of heaven to be perfect. Is this not the heaven of heavens, to be completely rid of the root and branch of sin, and not a rag or bone, or piece of a bone of our old depravity left — all gone — like our Lord, made perfect without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.

15. And here, too, brothers and sisters, we very rightly hunger and thirst after full assurance and confidence. Many are hungering after it; they hope they are saved, and they thirst to be assured that they are. But there is no such thirst as that in heaven, for, having crossed the golden threshold of Paradise, no saint ever asks himself, “Am I saved?” They see his face without a cloud between; they bathe in the sea of his love; they cannot question what they perpetually enjoy.

16. So, too, on earth I hope we know what it is to hunger and thirst for fellowship with Christ. Oh! when he is gone from us — if he only hides his face from us, how we cry, “My soul desires you in the night!” We cannot be satisfied unless we have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. But in heaven they have no such thing. There the shepherd is always with the sheep, the King is always near them, and because of his perpetual presence their hungering and their thirsting will be banished for ever. So much on those evils, then, that would arise from within. Since they are perfect, whatever comes from within is a source of pleasure to them, and never of pain.

17. And now, dear friends, the evils that come from without: let us think of them. We no doubt can appreciate in some measure, though not to the degree which we should if we were in Palestine in the middle of summer — we can appreciate the words, “Neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat.” This means that nothing external shall injure the blessed. Take it literally. There shall be nothing in the surroundings of heavenly saints that shall cause glorified spirits any inconvenience. I think we may take it mainly in relation to the entire man glorified; and so let us say that on earth the sun strikes us and many heats in the form of affliction.

18. What heats of affliction some here have passed through! Why, there are some here who are seldom free from physical pain. There are many of the best of God’s children who, if they get an hour without pain, are joyful indeed. There are others who have had a great fight of affliction. Through poverty they have fought hard. They have been industrious, but somehow or other God has marked them out for the scanty tables and the thread-worn garments. They are the children of poverty, and the furnace heat is very hot for them. With others it has been many deaths of those they have loved. Oh! how sad is the widow’s case! How deep the grief of the fatherless! How great the sorrow of bereaved parents! Sometimes the arrows of God fly one after another; first one falls and then another until we think we shall hardly have one left. These are the heats of the furnace of affliction. And at other times these take the form of ingratitude from children. I think we never ought to repine so much about the death of a child as about the ungodly life of a child. A dead cross is very heavy, but a living cross is heavier by far. Many a mother has had a son of whom she might regret that he did not die even the very hour of his birth, for he has lived to be the grief of his parents, and a dishonour to their name. These are sharp trials — these heats — but you shall be finished with them soon. “Neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat.” No poverty, no sickness, no bereavement, no ingratitude — nothing of the kind. They rest from affliction for ever.

19. Heat sometimes comes in another form — in the matter of temptation. Oh! how some of God’s people have been tried — tried by their flesh! Their constitution, perhaps, has been hot, impulsive, and they have been carried off their feet, or would have been but for the intervening grace of God, many, many times. They have been tempted, too, in their position, and those of their own household have been their enemies. They have been tempted by their particular circumstances; their feet have almost slipped many a time. And they have been tempted by the devil; and it is hard work to stand against Satanic insinuations. It is hot, indeed, when his fiery arrows fly. Oh! when we shall have once crossed the river, how some of us who have been much tempted will look back on that old dog of hell, and laugh him to scorn because he will not be able even to bark at us again! Then we shall be free from him for ever. He worries us now because he would devour us, but there, just as he cannot devour, so he shall not even worry us. “Neither shall the sun” of temptation “strike them, nor any heat.” Happy are the people who are in such a state.

20. The heats of persecution have often, too, inflicted the saints. It is the lot of God’s people to be tried in this way. Through much tribulation of this kind they inherit the kingdom; but there are no Smithfields {a} in heaven, and no Bonners to light up the faggots, no Inquisitions in heaven, no slanderers there to spoil the good man’s name. They shall never have the heat of persecution to suffer again.

21. And, once more, they shall not have the heat of care. I do not know that we need to have it, even here; but there are a great many of God’s people who allow care to get very hot around them. Even while sitting in this place tonight, while the hymn was going up, “What must it be to be there!” the thoughts of some of you have been going away to your business, or your home. While we are trying to preach and draw your attention upwards, perhaps some housewife is thinking of something she has left out which ought to have been locked up before she came away, or wondering where she left the key. We make any excuses for care through the cares we continually invent, forgetting the words, “Cast all your care on him, for he cares for you.” But they have no cares in heaven. “They hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat.” Ah! good man, there shall be no ships at sea eventually — no harvests — to trouble you concerning whether the good weather will last! Ah! good woman, you shall have no more children who are sickly to fret over, for there you will have all you desire, and be in a family circle that is unbroken, for all the brothers and sisters of God’s family shall eventually be there, and so you shall be eternally blest.

22. So we have expounded as well as we could the words of the text on the felicity of the saints.

23. II. Now, very briefly: — HOW DO THEY COME TO BE HAPPY?

24. Well, it is quite clear that they did not come to it because they were very fortunate people on earth, for if you read another passage of the Word of God you will find, “These are those who came out of great tribulation.” Those who have had trial and suffering on earth are among those who have the bliss of heaven. Encourage yourselves, you poor and suffering ones. It is quite certain they did not come there from their own merit, for we read, they have “washed their robes” — they needed washing. They did not always keep them undefiled. There had been spots on them. They came there not because they deserved to be there, but because of the rich grace of God.

25. How did they come there then? Well, first, they came there through the Lamb who was slain. He bore the sun and the heat, and, therefore, the sun does not strike them, nor any heat. The hot sun of Jehovah’s justice shone fully on the Saviour — scorched, and burned, and consumed him with grief and anguish; and because the Saviour suffered, therefore we suffer it no more. All our hopes of heaven are found at the cross.

26. But they came there next because the Saviour shed his blood. They washed their robes in it. Faith linked them to the Saviour. The fountain would not have cleansed their robes if they had not washed in it. Oh! no one comes to heaven except such as have embraced by faith what God provides. Dear hearer, judge yourself whether you are right, therefore. Have you washed your robe and made it white in the Lamb’s blood? Is Christ all in all for you? If not, can you hope to be there? And they are there in perfect bliss, we are told. No sun strikes them, nor any heat, because the Lamb in the midst of the throne is with them. How could they be unhappy who see Christ? Is this not the secret of their bliss, that Jesus fully reveals himself to them?

27. And besides, they have the love of God to enjoy, for the last word of the chapter is, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” The blood of Jesus applied, the presence of Jesus enjoyed, and the love of God fully revealed — these are the reasons for the bliss of the saved in heaven.

28. III. But we must close our meditation with the last point, which is: — WHAT THIS TEACHES US.

29. First, the bliss of the saved in glory teaches us to long for it. It is legitimate to long for heaven — but not to long to escape from doing our duty here. It is idleness to be always wanting to be finished with this world — it is clear sloth — but to be longing to be where Jesus is, is only natural and gracious. Should not the child long to go home from the school? Should not the captive pine for liberty? Should not the traveller in foreign lands long to see his native country? Should not the bride, the married wife, when she has been long away from her husband, long to see his face? If you did not long for heaven, surely you might question whether heaven belonged to you. If you have ever tasted the joys of the saints, as believers do on earth, you will sing with full soul: — 

   My thirsty spirit faints

      To reach the land I love,

   The bright inheritance of saints,

      Jerusalem above.

You may long for this.

30. And the next lesson is, be patient until you get there. Since it will be such a blessed place when you arrive, do not trouble about the difficulties of the way. You know our hymn: — 

   “The way may be rough, but it cannot be long.”

So

   “Let us fill it with hope, and cheer it with song.”

You know how well your horse goes when you turn his head homewards. Perhaps you had to flog him a bit before, but when he begins to know he is going down the long lane which leads home he will soon lift up his ears, and away, away he will go. We ought to have as much sense as horses. Our heads are turned towards heaven. We are steering towards that port — homeward bound. It may be rough weather but we shall soon be in the fair haven where not a wave of trouble shall ever disturb us again. Be patient, be patient. The farmer has waited for the precious fruits of the earth; you can well wait for the precious things of heaven. You sow in tears, but you shall reap in joy. He has promised you a harvest. He who cannot lie has said the seed-time and harvest shall never cease They do not cease below; depend on it, they will not cease above. There is a harvest for you who have been sowing here below.

31. Our first lesson, then, is, long for this, and then be patient in waiting. But our next lesson is to be, wait for your appointed time. And now the next instruction is, make much of faith. They entered heaven because they had washed their robes in blood. Make much of the blood and much of the faith by which you have washed. Dear hearers, do you all have faith? It is, as it were, the key of blessedness. “But all men do not have faith,” says the apostle. Do you have faith? Do you believe in Christ Jesus? In other words, do you trust yourself only with him? Can you sing with our poet: — 

   Nothing in my hand I bring,

   Simply to thy cross I cling;

   Naked, come to thee for dress,

   Helpless, look to thee for grace.

   Foul, I to the fountain fly,

   Wash me, Saviour, or I die?

Make much of the faith that will admit you to heaven.

32. Once more, our text teaches us this lesson — Do any of us want to know what heaven is on earth? Most of us will say, “Yes” to that. Well then, the text tells you how to find heaven on earth. You find it in the same way as they find it in heaven. First, be washed in the blood of Christ, and that will be a great help towards happiness on earth. It will give you peace now, “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.” Some people think that heaven on earth is to be found in the theatre, and in the ballroom, and in the giddy haunts of fashion. Well, it may be heaven for some, but if God has any love for you, it will not be heaven for you. Wash your robe, therefore, in the Saviour’s blood, and there will be the beginning of heaven on earth.

33. Then next, it appears, if you read the context of our text, that those who enjoy heaven serve God day and night in his temple. If you want heaven on earth, serve God continually day and night. Having washed your robe first, then put it on, and go out to serve God. Idle Christians are often unhappy Christians. I have met many a spiritual dyspeptic {morbidly despondent} always full of doubts and fears. Is there a young man here full of doubts and fears who has lost the light he once possessed, and the joy he once had? Dear brother, get to work. In cold weather the best way to be warm is not to get before a fire, but to work. Exercise gives a healthy glow, even amid the frost. “I am doing something,” one says. Yes, with one hand; use the other hand. “Perhaps I would have too many irons in the fire,” one says. You cannot have too many. Put them all in, and blow the fire with all the bellows you can get. I do not believe any Christian man works too hard, and, as a rule, if those who kill themselves in Christ’s service were buried in a cemetery by themselves, it would be a long while before it would get filled. Work hard for Christ. It makes happy those who are in heaven to serve God day and night, and it will make you happy on earth. Do all you can.

34. Another way is to have fellowship with Christ here. Read this chapter again. “He who sits on the throne shall dwell among them — he shall feed them.” Oh! if you want to be happy, live near to Jesus. Poor men are not poor when Christ lives in their house. Truly, sick men have their beds made easy when Christ is there. Has he not said, “I will make his bed in all his sickness”? Only get fellowship with Jesus, and outward circumstances will not distress you. The sun will not strike you, nor any heat. You will be like the shepherd on Salisbury Plain, who said it was good weather, though it rained hard. “It is weather,” he said, “that pleases me.” “How so?” said a traveller to him. “Well, sir,” he said, “it pleases God, and what pleases God pleases me.” “Good day!” said one to a Christian man. “I never had a bad day since I was converted,” he said. “They are all good now since Christ is my Saviour.” Do you not see, then, that if your wishes are subdued, if you do not hunger any more, or thirst any more as you used to do, and if you always live near to Christ, you will begin to enjoy heaven on earth. Begin, then, the heavenly life here below. The Bible says, “For he has raised us up, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The way to live on earth, according to many, is to live on earth, but to look upward to heaven. That is a good way of living, but I will tell you a better, and that is to live in heaven, and look down on earth. The apostle had learned that when he said, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” It is good to be on earth, and look up to heaven; it is better for the mind to be in heaven, and to look down on earth. May we learn that secret. May the Lord lead us into it. Then when faith is strong, and love is ardent, and hope is bright, we shall sing, with Watts: — 

   The men of grace have found,

      Glory begun below;

   Celestial fruits on earthly ground

      From faith and hope may grow.

35. May the Lord grant you a participation in this bliss, beloved, and an abundant entrance into that bliss for ever, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

{a} The fires that Queen Mary (1553-1558) ordered to be lit at Smithfield put to death such Protestant leaders and men of influence as Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and Hooper, but also hundreds of lesser men who refused to adopt the Catholic faith.

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {Joh 17}

1. Jesus spoke these words, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, so that your Son also may glorify you:

The hour has come. The most important, the darkest, the most dreadful hour of Christ’s life was come. But he had only one thought in his mind. “Glorify your Son, so that your Son also may glorify you.” Beloved, when our hour comes — and we shall have hours of darkness — may we have nothing on our mind but this — that God would help us to glorify his name. We shall not dread suffering if that is our one desire, because we shall see that suffering often gives opportunities to God for revealing his own glory in the patience of his people.

2. Since you have given him power over all flesh, so that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given to him.

I think this verse is a solution of the problem about general redemption and particular redemption. Christ, by his death, has obtained power over all flesh. There is a universality about his redemption, but the object of it still was that he should give eternal life to “as many as you have given to me.” There is a specialty and peculiarity about the grand ultimate result and design of the death of our Lord. Let us believe both truths.

3. And this is eternal life, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Is the knowledge of God life? Is the knowledge of Jesus Christ life? It is even so. But what a blessed form of knowledge this is! It is taught to us by the Spirit of God in a special and remarkable way. This is eternal life.

4-6. I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And now, oh Father, glorify me with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world:

The best, the clearest display of the name or character of God is to be found in the person, the life, the work, the love of Jesus Christ. Well did he say in another place, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” “I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world.”

6. They were yours, and you gave them to me; and they have kept your word.

It has been their treasure. They have preserved it as a priceless blessing. They would never let it go.

7, 8. Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you. For I have given to them the words which you gave me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

Now that description of the people of God in Christ’s day is true of us today. We have received the words which the Father has given the Son, and we believe for certain that the Father has sent Jesus Christ into the world.

9. I pray for them:

Oh! how emphatically true this is! Christ always prays for them — for them, one by one — with most effective prevalence. It is because he prays that any of us are preserved. “I pray for them.”

9. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given to me:

There is a specialty in intercession, as well as in redemption. “I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given to me.”

9-11. For they are yours. And all mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you.

And now they are left. Their great guardian and protector has gone. They have no visible Head left. “I am no more in the world, but these are in the world.” You and I know that we are in the world. The world makes us know that. We are in an enemy’s country. We are in a land which is not our rest; and however happy our portion may be in Christ the world takes care that we should understand that we are aliens and foreigners in it; hurrying through it towards our permanent home.

11. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given to me so that they may be one as we are.

Do all that you can, beloved, to promote the unity of the people of God, not only on the larger scale, in which all churches shall be brought together in loving accord, but also on the smaller scale among your own friends, and those Christian brethren who are in your own church. Let none of us break the concord. Oh! may we always be of a gentle, generous, Christ-like spirit, so that we may be one, as the Father is one with the Son.

12. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name; those whom you gave to me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

It is, perhaps, more amazing that there were not more like Judas than that there should have been one like him. I wonder whether we can hope that in our churches there would be found as few as one in twelve who are not in heart with Christ. It is very amazing that the rest should have been kept, and that this son of perdition should have been left to perish.

13-15. And now I come to you: and I speak these things in the world, so that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil.

Either by death, or by shutting them up in monasteries, or causing them to dwell in caverns alone. “I do not pray for that.”

Do not take them out of the battle, but save them from the deadly arrow. Help them to play the man, and win the victory, and not desert the colours.

16-18. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth. Just as you have sent me into the world, even so I have also sent them into the world.

Do you recognise your mission, dear friends? Do we all understand it? — that, just as truly as Christ was the messenger of the Father, so every believer is the messenger of Christ. You are sent into this world to do an errand, not for yourselves, but for your Master. Are you doing it?

19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Christ sets himself apart for us, so that they may set us apart for him. Have you realized this, my brother — that you are dedicated to Christ — that every breath you breathe, and thought you think, and word you speak, and act you do, should all be done as to him? He lived only for you. Live only for him.

20. Neither do I pray only for these.

These saved ones.

20-22. But for those also who shall believe in me through their word; that they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them; so that they may be one, even as we are one;

Christ prays for us before we believe, and we believe in answer to his prayer. Oh! what glorious words. The very glory which the Father gave to the Only Begotten has that Only Begotten handed over to his people, “so that they may be one, even as we are one.”

23. I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me.

Now drink that in — all the sweetness of it — that the Father has loved his people even as he loved his Only Begotten.

24. Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am: so that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

He will not be in glory, and leave me behind. He is a bridegroom who cannot be satisfied unless his bride is a partaker of all his joy. He is so one with us, that just as the head can never be content to be crowned, and the rest of the body be disgraced, so neither could Christ. We must be, if he wills it, where he is. We must behold his glory; we must share it.

25. Oh righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

It is delightful to hear Jesus praying in this way for us, side by side with him, though we are unworthy of so unspeakable an honour; praying for us as if his own self, his own glory, depended on our safety. If Christ prayed like this for us, how ought we to pray for each other!

26. And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it:

As long as the Christ lived, he revealed his Father’s glory, and so should we. If we have declared it, we should say, “And will declare it.” “That the love by which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” So the glorious union stands. May we always rejoice in it.

26. That the love by which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John Ploughman’s Sheet Almanac for 1916

With a Proverb or Quaint Saying for every Day in the Year. Suitable for Cottage Homes, Workshops, Mission Halls, etc. Originated by C. H. Spurgeon. One of the most popular Sheet Almanacs published. Price 1d.

Spurgeon’s Illustrated Book Almanac for 1916

Containing Daily Texts and choice Quotations from the Writings of C. H. Spurgeon, with numerous illustrations. A useful little Almanac for every home. Sixtieth year of publication. Price 1d.

Marshall Brothers, Ltd., 47 Paternoster Row, London, E. C.