SERMON VII.

JOHN xiv. 1, 2.

Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

WITH these words did our blessed Lord and Saviour comfort the hearts of His faithful disciples, before He was taken from them. Having loved His own, which were in the world, He loved them unto the end; and knowing how greatly they would stand in need of comfort, when they should have lost their master, to support them in the sufferings which they would have to bear for His sake, He addressed to them these words: words which must indeed have well served to answer the kind and gracious purpose for which He spoke them.

It would, perhaps, be impossible for any men to be in a condition more desolate, or more to be pitied, than were the disciples of our blessed Lord at the thoughts of parting with their master. They had, at first, been greatly disappointed, in the expectations which they had formed concerning Him. They had hoped, when Jesus came, who had been so long promised and foretold as a prince and as a king, that He should have been a ruler of great riches and earthly power, and doubtless they expected, that, as they had forsaken all to follow Him, they were in the way which would lead them at once to honour, wealth, and power. They soon found, however, that in the meek and lowly Jesus, there were no such pretensions; that in the riches, glories, and vanities of this world, He had not the smallest share. They found, that, instead of wearing a crown, He had not so much as a place where He might lay His head; they found, that, as His disciples and followers, instead of gaining riches and honour, they must be content to submit to poverty and hardship, to be

looked upon as the meanest of mankind, and with their blessed master to be cast out and despised. Great must have been their disappointment; but how amply was it made up for! how far more valuable than any thing that this world could have given them, were the good things which Jesus had to bestow! more to be desired were they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. The noble, the glorious example which He set them of all that was pure, holy, spotless, perfect; the blessed words of comfort, peace, mercy, and goodness, which flowed from His lips, who spake as never man spake; His patience under affliction; His gentleness and humbleness under insult; His pity and compassion for the distressed; the wonders which He worked, and which He enabled them to work also: how must these things have charmed the hearts of his disciples, and filled them with love and thankfulness, too great to be uttered! The assurance which He gave them that His kingdom was not of this world, might, certainly, at first have caused them disappointment; but how must that have vanished away, when they

saw the proofs which He shewed of His being indeed the Son of God, and when they began to feel, by faith, a hope within them, that they should attain to everlasting life and happiness, through Him.

Happier indeed, far happier than all the princes of the world, were these poor fishermen, these lowly companions of the Son of God made man! They saw and heard the things which kings had desired, but had not been able, to see and hear; and every hour that they spent in the company of Jesus Christ, was mending their hearts, one only excepted, and fitting them for a better world. So will it ever be with the followers of Christ: however poor they may be by birth and circumstances, let them be guided by Him, believe His promises, obey His commandments, and strive to copy His example, they shall find that it gives them comfort and contentment here, as surely as it will lead them to happiness hereafter.

But now again, when the life of Jesus was drawing to an end, when He had plainly told them that the hour was come,

in which He was to be betrayed into the hands of His enemies, to be crucified and slain, the disciples must have been more than men, could they have heard this mournful news, unmoved. They knew not as yet, that there could be no forgiveness for sinners, no salvation for mankind, unless His precious blood were shed; and little did they think, that it was from the cross of their heavenly master that a guilty world should find its only comfort, and its only hope. Had He been a mere man like themselves, His kindness and goodness must have made them love Him: and to be torn at once from the master who had protected them, the friend who had relieved them, the guide who had instructed themfor these things sorrow must have filled their hearts. Besides, most naturally, their faith in Christ would be weakened by the thoughts of His death: they might begin to be afraid that they had believed in vain, and a distressing doubt would come over their souls, that if He were once dead, He would be unable to perform the promises which He had made to them. Troubled