(John 14:1-3; John 17:24.)
Just for a moment or two I would draw your attention, beloved brethren, to these two precious scriptures. The hearts of the disciples were filled with sorrow, for the Master had just been telling them He was going away. And the Lord knew this. He said, "Because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart" (John 16:6). They were so occupied with the thought of losing Him that they never even thought of saying, "Whither goest Thou ? "
And wouldn't we, beloved, have felt the same had we known Christ on earth as they did ? Think of what He was to them !-of what He had done, and was still doing, for them! Think, too, of what they were expecting Him to do (Luke 24:21)! And then suddenly to find He was going away! No wonder sorrow filled their hearts.
Then just think of the beautiful, blessed way the Lord took to comfort them. One can almost fancy one hears Him saying the words; and remember, "never man spake like this Man "! Not merely was it what He said, but the way He said it was worth while hearing-"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me." They were not going to lose Him altogether, but they were to know Him in a new way. Hitherto they had known Him as a Messiah on earth, now they were to know Him as a glorified Saviour in heaven, as One whom they could not see any longer as they had seen Him, but who would be as real to their faith as He had been to their sight. He was going away, and He was seeking to take their hearts up to the new place He was going to; and then by and by He would come and take their bodies where their hearts were.
Now is not that wonderful and blessed, beloved brethren ? Is it not marvelous love on His part ? It was them He was caring for. It was them He was seeking to comfort. His whole heart was going out to them. His own sorrow was deep and great. The cross was looming up dark before Him with all its unutterable woe; yet He had leisure to think of them at such a moment, even as He could do it for a penitent thief by His side when He was suffering on the cross. Blessed, precious, loving Lord!
'' In My Father's house are many mansions (abodes); if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you," He said. Had there been no room for them in the Father's house He would have told them. His heart would not have allowed Him to keep it from them. But there were many abodes. There were abodes for all the different families of heaven (Eph. 3:15)-angelic hosts and families of whatever grade. And now He was going to prepare a place for them. What place was it to be ? Ah, What place could it be ? It could only be the place that was worthy of Himself. "That where I am, there ye may be also." It was to be the best place in heaven. The love that had brought Him down to seek us and fit us could not be satisfied with anything less than having us with Himself, in suitability to Himself, and in His Father's house forever. Wondrous love!
And what, then, is there for their hearts till that intakes place ? Oh, just think! There is the knowledge of the very best place in heaven, and the enjoyment of the very best company on the way to it. Notice ver. 16 ; then ver. 23-the presence of the Holy Ghost, and the presence of the Father and the Son. Could better company than that be found ?
Not only so, there is His own promise to cheer them while they wait. " I will come again,:and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." Was not that something for their hearts for yours and mine to-day ? "I will come again," He says. . O beloved brethren, do our hearts miss Him ? Do we feel His absence ? Do we look up and on to the time when He will fulfil His promise ? Is it a reality in our souls ? Do we really feel He is a long time in coming ? and say, as it were, " Why is His chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of His chariots ?"
Let us keep before our souls it is Himself who is coming. It is His own promise, " I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." It is not "the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof;" it is "this same Jesus "-the One our hearts know and love, who died for us, who lives for us, who is coming Himself for us. Oh, it is true affection of heart for Himself alone that can make us sing,
Come, Lord, come !"We wait for Thee;
We listen still for Thy returning ;
Thy loveliness we long to see,
For Thee the lamp of hope is burning.
Come, Lord, come!
But I must not dwell on this any longer, precious as it is. One can only hope and pray that the Lord will make it more real in all our hearts, and give us more and more to enjoy the company while we wait to be taken into the place.
Then there is that other beautiful passage, "Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world."
What can there be more wonderful than this, dear brethren ? We need to have our shoes off; it is holy ground. What grace, to allow us to hear the prayer of the Lord for His own. He had just been pouring out His heart to His Father for His own which are in the world; for their preservation and blessing while left in it:but He did not intend that they should always remain in it; His promise to them is not forgotten, and becomes a prayer to His Father that it may be accomplished; and accomplished it will be-yea, it must be. The prayer of the Beloved Son must be answered.
Then there is another reason why it should be answered.
'' The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). And, beloved brethren, is not the Lord Jesus the righteous Man, as well as the dependent Man, as set before us so beautifully in psalms 16:and 17:? Is not His prayer the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man? Surely! surely! And the Holy Spirit says "it availeth much." A man of like passions with ourselves could pray earnestly and stay the bottles of heaven from emptying themselves on the earth. But Jesus, God's beloved Son, has prayed as the righteous Man, and that prayer will be fulfilled-it must be fulfilled.
He has asked that we should be with Him where He is But why ? Is it merely that we should be in the Father's house instead of here on earth ? Oh no It is "that we might behold His glory-a. given glory and a glory given to Him who was the object of the Father's love before the foundation of the world, but who came into this world and by His obedience unto death furnished the Father with a fresh motive to love Him (Jno. 10:17), and to glorify Him with Himself. And we are going to see that! To behold His glory! A glory we can never share; but a glory we can behold, and find our joy in beholding it, while our hearts delight themselves in the thought that it is His and that He is worthy of it.
He has promised and. prayed. His promise cheers much, and His prayer avails much. Do our hearts say, " Lord, what wait I for ?" Himself! Himself! Nothing more, and nothing less. "Jesus, Thou art enough." We draw our comfort from His promise, and bow and worship as we listen to His prayer. There is the double reason why it should be fulfilled. It is the prayer of the beloved Son; and it is "the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man, and avails much." Blessed be His holy name forever and for evermore!
The Lord, beloved brethren, make it all real in our souls and create a deeper affection in our hearts, and give us a deep and profound enjoyment of it here and now, for His name's sake. Wm. Easton.
New Zealand