THE MESSAGE OF ST. JOHN.

BY THE REV. PREB. WEBB-PEPLOE, M.A.

Copyright: Gunas & Crossman 2000

6,265 Words.

WE turn now to the wonderful picture of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, given to
us by the evangelist and apostle St. John; and, as on other occasions, let me direct your thoughts
to the opening words of the gospel. "In the beginning." Thus our thoughts are carried back to the
first words of the Bible," In the beginning;" and how beautiful the conjunction of the great work
of creation, and of the glorious revelation of God in His Son! "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him
was life; and the life was the light of men." So much of reading must suffice for the occasion,
though one would fain take the whole Gospel and simply seek to emphasise its impressive force
and beauty by reading it aloud to an audience like this. When Nebuchadnezzar stood at the
entrance of the fiery furnace, after he had caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be bound
and cast there into, we are told that he suddenly exclaimed to his counsellors: "I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like
the Son of God." We have been permitted to see three different forms of the Son of Man, and our
attention is now to be directed to the fourth who walks in the midst of the fire to give blessing to
those who are placed there as His servants and followers, "and the form of the fourth is like the
Son of God."
Nowhere shall we see the Son of God, while we remain upon earth, as we shall see Him in,
the writings of St. John -- first, in his Gospel, that he may present Him to us personally as one
who meets our soul's need; and then, in his Epistle, where he brings out in the most magnificent
way how the Son of God makes men to be "the sons of God." The purpose of St. John's Gospel,
as we are told in xx. 31, is "that we may believe in the name of the Son of God; and may know
that we have life through Him." And the purpose of the Epistle is, as we are told in 1 John v. 13,
"that we who do believe may know that we have eternal life, and may know ourselves to be the
sons of God." Shall we endavour henceforth never to forget the specific purpose with which the
writings of St. John have been bequeathed to the Church?
As I have already said, we have in this Gospel no less than ninety-two per cent. of matter
which is peculiar to, or given alone by, St. John, as compared with the other three Evangelists. If
this be so, it is of course impossible for any speaker, or for a hearer, to do justice to such a work
as this in one short hour, which is all that we are allowed to spend on our study. When we
consider that the whole of this wonderful Gospel is to present to us a Picture -- not so much an
historical account of facts, as the Picture of a Person, -- as shall at once, I think, rise on the wings
of faith to realize, that here we are called to see what is set before us, by Ezekiel and St. John,
under the figure of the fourth living creature. As we have already seen, St. Matthew presents to
us the Lion of the tribe of Judah; St. Mark the ox, or calf, that works for the benefit of man; St.
Luke the man. And now, we rise to see far away, as it were, from the earth, but looking down
upon the earth, the form of the fourth, which is the flying eagle. I hope that in this connection we
shall not forget such words as Ex. xix. 4, where, having redeemed His people Israel, and brought
them out of bondage, to Mount Sinai, that they might see His glory, the Lord says: "I bare you on
eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." This should be the object of our study of St. John's
writings -- that on the eagle wings of the Saviour Christ in His majesty and power as the Son of
God, we may be borne right up to Jehovah Himself, and may be able to realise what it is to stand
in the very presence of God. We shall not forget also how the prophet Isaiah was commanded to
say in xl. 31, concerning the young men who grow faint, and the strong men who grow weary,
that "they shall run and not be weary, shall walk and not faint." How? They shall be brought
upon eagles' wings, they shall be like the eagle mounting up to heaven. And so, to-day, we are
called to rise on eagles' wings and be drawn right up to the very throne of God. Clement, of
Alexandria, in writing upon this Gospel, has said that St. John, when he found that the other
three Evangelists had been called by the Holy Ghost to present an historical picture of Jesus
Christ, felt he was called to offer to men a spiritual Gospel. I think that that well defines the idea
of this Gospel -- that the Evangelist felt himself called upon to present to men a spiritual Gospel,
and that the purpose of the whole of this writing was not merely supplementary, or
complementary, to the other three, but to give us a view that the other three had not been called
to give at all.
Is it not strange that men called learned have been totally unable to appreciate this fact, and
that consequently St. John's Gospel has been subjected to more ruthless criticism and attack than
almost any other part of God"s Holy Word? The best that such man can say of this Gospel is that
it is a development of agnostic heresy, or that it manifests the spirit of gnosticism throughout.
Surely this is one case in which God has made "the foolishness of God to be wiser than the
wisdom of men." Every pure-hearted man who studies God's Word with humility must realise
that if we only had the three other Gospels, perfect as their picture is in their particular line, we
should have but half, as it were, for our soul's benefit of the revelation of Jesus Christ. We could
never do, could we, without this heavenly vision? The earthly is beautiful. We see in St.
Matthew, the Lion of the tribe of Judah bringing forth the righteousness of God, and fulfilling it
for our sakes. We see in St. Mark, the splendid power of service that can consecrate itself
entirely to the benefit of others and to the will of God, and thus bring power into the world for
the salvation of the whole of the human race. We see in the Gospel of St. Luke, "the Son of
Adam, which is the son of God," coming among men as a Man, with all their infirmities borne in
upon His soul, with a great love and sympathy for them, until He dies to save them by the perfect
sacrifice of himself. And in all these three Gospels we cannot forget that we have brought before
us the doctrine or the fact, of the Lord Jesus Christ's complete Divinity. In St. Matthew, it is,
"Emmanuel, God with us." In St. Mark it is, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God." In St. Luke we are told that He was immaculately conceived by the Holy Ghost
Himself, so that "that Holy thing which was born of Mary was to be the very Son of God and
God's Holy one. "And yet there would be lacking very much to meet men's best and most
spiritual aspirations and I do not know that, if we were left with only the three synoptic Gospels,
we could rise, as now we Christians ought to rise, to the very throne of God Himself and claim to
be "sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty," not only in fact, and judicially, but in
spiritual experience and enjoyment, as we can when we humbly study the picture presented to us
by St. John the Evangelist. And so when we come to this picture we ask ourselves, not so much
wherein it differs from those given by St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, but, what is the
characters in which the Lord Jesus Christ is presented to us, and what should be the result of
studying this picture, with regard to the life that we henceforth are to live?
The first thing that strikes the careful reader is concerning the messenger of the Lord, who
came to prepare the way of Jesus Christ. How completely different from that of the other
evangelists is the presentation here made by John Baptist of the Lord Jesus Christ and his mighty
power for blessing! In St. Matthew we hear from the mouth of John Baptist of the coming
kingdom. In St. Mark it was that Jesus Christ should baptise with the Holy Ghost. In St. Luke it
was a solemn call to repentance by sinners, and to acceptance of the salvation that Christ Jesus
was coming to give. But here, when John Baptist is asked for his evidence concerning Jesus, he
startles us, in the 29th verse of the 1st chapter, by saying: "Behold the Lamb of God." And in the
34th verse: "I saw, and bear record that this is lite Son of God." Our Lord's Divinity is most
strikingly exhibited, by John Baptist acting as the messenger of the Holy Ghost, to prepare the
way of the Lord our Saviour. We cannot tarry over his announce. meat of the kingdom of
righteousness, or of the baptism with the Holy Ghost. We may not even tarry over that cry for
repentance, because of the work which Christ is going to perform with the guilty, which was the
Baptist's cry -- as recorded by St. Luke. All that is supposed to have taken place already. But we
are called to rise in faith and gratitude, and see the Lamb of God, who is the Son of God, and
under both these titles to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Such is the ushering in of the Lord
Jesus in this wonderful Gospel, by the messenger who came to prepare Christ's way.
If, secondly, we turn to consider the wondrous figure which is presented to us, it is totally
different -- though, of course, there is latent in each Gospel the thought that occurs prominently
in another -- it is totally different in many points to that in which we have seen Him in the three
synoptic Gospels. For here we have, as nowhere else, the Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ to
God the Father depicted in a most magnificent way. I find, after a humble degree of study, no
less than one hundred and fourteen times the word Father presented to us in the Gospel of St.
John, and used in almost every ease by Jesus Christ Himself. Never forget such a thought as that.
It is a key -- in humility -- try it -- to the whole Gospel. The doctrine of the Fatherhood of God,
in its majesty, as well as its love, is to be realised here as nowhere else. Then, side by side with
that, there is this striking fact: I find that no less than forty times Jesus speaks of Himself as sent
by "The Father, or by God." The humility of the sent one, while His majesty stands pre-
eminently before us, is exceedingly wonderful throughout the whole of this picture.
But if we ask, in what particular method, or by what means, this marvellous Son of God is
presented to us, we have here a wondrous distinction as compared with the other three
Evangelists' accounts; namely, that He is presented to us almost entirely as "The Word," and by
means of the word which He himself makes use of. If we think of the Gospel of St. Mark, as a
narration or record of facts, and compare it with this Gospel, we may be almost astounded to find
that when we open this Gospel, it is not only ushered in by the words, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," but that throughout the whole
Gospel that is the key-idea. "Christ Jesus, the Word; the Son of the Father, who comes to make
you and me the sons of God, is always before us as the Word, and by the Word. So that
unceasingly it is before our minds that Christ Jesus is speaking, and as He speaks, the Word
comes with power to those who hear (ch. v. 25 -- vi. 63) and in the word, we are told, is life, and
in the life, we are told, is light. And so the majesty of Christ is before us from the very
commencement to the close.
 How different is the opening of this Gospel of St. John to the others. In St. Matthew and St.
Luke, at least, we have the ushering in of Christ Jesus by an account of His birth and His
Childhood, and of the way in which He lived before He was presented to the public. But here we
not only have, as in St. Mark, "the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God," but
we are carried far away back behind that time, and our thoughts are, at the very opening of this
Gospel of St. John, led to think of the eternal majesty and co-equal glory of the Saviour, as the
Word, with the Father in heaven, and our thoughts get prepared, as it were, for something
majestic and splendid, when we think of this perfect equality of Christ Jesus our Saviour with
God Himself; and that He is very God of God. We are asked repeatedly now -- I have had several
letters lately from different parts of England, owing to something I said in London, asking me:
"How dare we say that Jesus Christ is God?" And I have been challenged literally, this week,
three times, to find a single sentence in the whole of the Bible in which Jesus Christ is declared
to be God. Is Jesus Christ "the Word made flesh," as in the 14th verse? Then who on earth that
reads reasonably can dare to say that this Word, Jesus Christ, is not God, when it says: "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God?" Remember we
are liable, all of us, to be attacked, and let us see to it that we are ready, by the teachings of the
Holy Ghost, to meet those who would oppose us, but to meet them in love. I wonder what would
be said of this word in Romans ix. 5, where the Apostle says; "Christ who is over all, God
blessed for ever," besides a multitude of other texts, which will recur to the minds of many. And
yet we are challenged to prove that our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is very God of
very God, One absolutely with the Father from all eternity, when we are told here that "In the be
ginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But that is not all.
We ask ourselves in what way this Word is presented to us; and we are told by St. John in
abstract terms that are altogether beyond our comprehension, and can only be apprehended by
faith, that there is a majesty in Him which is inconceivable. The Word is God: Then is life in
Him, and light through life, and then suddenly, in the 14th verse we read: "The Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father), full of" -- what? "Full of grace and truth." The stoop from the eternal majesty to the
wondrous needs of humanity -- as we are alike here in our needs to-day -- is inconceivable to the
mind, and can only be apprehended by faith. I do not wonder that Gnosticism and Rationalism
are staggered at the revelation given to us in St. John. But our humble answer might always be:
"Is it not impossible for man to have conceived such a creed, or doctrine, and to present to us
such a Person, as here described by St. John? It lies out of the realm of human reason, but it
becomes perfectly reasonable when faith accepts what God reveals. And so we stand face to face
with this wondrous Person, the Word of God, that was God. and yet that was made flesh, and we
read of Him dwelling among us that we may behold His glory -- not the glory of the Judge, or of
the Royal Sovereign, though He is all this, but the glory of grace which meets the sinner's wants,
and the glory of truth which commends the Word to our souls, and makes us feel that it must be
true.
Then, as we pass on to consider the way in which the blessed Saviour presents Himself in this
Gospel, there is in it a majesty and power totally distinct from the presentation given by St.
Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke. Are we aware, for instance, that the Lord Jesus says, no less
than ten times in this Gospel: "I am," in a way, that, in the Greek, is exceedingly strong, and
places the Speaker very prominently forward! And if we ask, what are the lights in which He is
presented to us, under that expression, "I am"? We find that they are very solemn. I would bid
you study them, remembering that the last of them in xviii. 8, when our Lord is in the garden of
Gethsemane, is perhaps the most wonderful, though hardly realised by the common English
reader who does not notice that the word He is in italics. There, when the band of men were
asked by Jesus, "Whom seek ye?" they said, "Jesus of Nazareth," and He responded, egoeimi, "I
am." He does not say, "I am he" in the Greek. It is the assertion of His majestic Jehovahship, just
as we read in Ex. iii. 14, where the Lord God said to Moses that he was to say to Pharoah, "I AM
hath sent me unto thee." And so Jesus speaks to those people in the garden, and says, "I am." He
had said before, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," "I am the vine," "I am the door," "I am the
good shepherd," and many other such words. But here the final declaration of His majesty, of His
Divinity, of His eternity, of His omnipotence, of His omniscience, of His omnipresence, is
brought out in the simple assertion which so awed the multitude that "they went backward, and
fell to the ground." So struck were they with the glory of the Godhead revealed in the flesh,
though "full of grace and truth," that, when the awful power of it confronted them, they fell to the
ground, as Christ said, egoeimi, "I AM."
Again, when we consider further how He is presented to us in this Gospel, is it not very
striking that here we have not one single parable in the same figure or form in which parables are
given to us in the other three Gospels? I am well aware that we read in one chapter, "This
parable" Jesus spake." But the word is not parable according to our rendering; it is paroimia
instead of parabole. There is not a single parable, with a tale, or narrative, or story in it, presented
in the Gospel of St. John. Only four kinds of figures does he use at all. In chapter x., for Instance,
he uses the figure of the thief and robber; and in chapter xii. the figure of the wheat. Then there
are the figures of the vine, and of the woman in travail. Otherwise there is not a single parable to
be found in the Gospel of St. John. Do we ask why? The answer clearly is -- because it is the
word that is to carry weight. It is to the ignorant, to the outside people, to the world that Christ
Jesus speaks in parables. He says that in St. Matthew. But to the inner circle, for whom the
Gospel of St. John is prepared He can speak plainly. St. John xvi. 29: "His disciples said unto
Him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no parable," or "proverb," as the word should
be rendered. It is specially for the inner circle, those who have already entered into the privileges
and glories of sonship, that this Gospel is given, that they may know that they have eternal life
through that name of the Son of God; and then to them Christ Jesus speaks in words which will
confound the wisdom of this world, but will be full of weight and blessing to the believer.
Doubtless many of my readers are aware that Bishop Westcott, in his writings, elaborately argues
out this idea: that words as used in Eastern language are simple in utterance, yet figurative to the
last degree, and thus involving an immense amount of consideration and study by Western
minds. And so, it is not enough for us to say: "I read the 15th chapter of St. John about the vine,
and the promise of the Comforter." We must give ourselves to long and prayerful study before
we can enter into the meaning of those simple words, "I am the vine," "I am the door," "I am the
good shepherd? "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
Again, when we ask what is the main teaching of this wonderful Gospel, may I venture to
divide it into three separate portions, as I have done for many years, though Bishop Westcott
divides it into only two? He says that the first twelve chapters are upon light, and the latter part
of the gospel is upon love. I have for years, before I studied his writings, believed that there are
three divisions. The first seven chapters present to us specially life. From the eighth to the end of
the twelfth chapter is specially dealt with light. From the thirteenth chapter to the end of the
twenty-first, the chief subject is love. Of course, they interweave the one with the other. It is true
that we find every one of them in the first three chapters. "In him was life, and the life was the
light of men." And God so loved us. But we have to deal there, specially with life, and so, for
seven chapters, the Lord Jesus Christ presents to us the grand doctrine of life in the most
remarkable way life has found in a Person, as communicated from Him, and as resulting in a
power to communicate that life to others.
When we study the first seven chapters of this gospel carefully, we notice that the word water
comes before us in each chapter, with the Holy Spirit's teaching thereon. For instance, in the first
chapter it is the water of baptism which, clearly, means the, passage through death unto life. I am
asked by two anonymous writers to expand that expression "baptism into death." May I say that
it will fall to my lot this evening to bring out, partly, that subject in an address that I am called to
give as the closing address in this tent. If my anonymous correspondents are present, may I ask
them to kindly wait till then for an exposition of my meaning.
In the first chapter, then, water, represents the passage through death unto life. In chapter ii.
water is brought before us as the gift that Christ changed into wine to make the heart glad and to
show the festal character of the life bestowed by Him. In the next chapter it is brought before us
in connection with the gift of the new birth whereby we pass from death to enjoy the life of God
through Jesus Christ. In chapter iv. it is, as you know, the gift of the Holy Ghost, to make life
beautiful, and to be in us a well of water springing up into everlasting life. In the 5th chapter, it
has a healing power, by which the poor cripple is delivered and enabled to walk and glorify God
as a delivered one. In chapter vi. it is the passage process from one point to another, and the
place formiraculous walking to be exhibited, so that Christ and His people can walk upon the
waves and not be overwhelmed thereby, In the 7th chapter it becomes not simply a well, but a
river. Out of the belly of a man who has received the Holy Spirit in power shall flow rivers of
living water, the communicated life of God, to others. Such is the beautiful picture of the life
power of Christ as presented to us in the first seven chapters of St. John.
But when we pass to the 8th chapter we see what the life can do. How solemn is that first
passage (accepting its authenticity) where the light shone upon that woman and upon her would-
be judges who, convicted of sin by the light of Christ, have to go forth one by one. Would to God
that that light might come even now upon us, so that we may go forth convicted, and not daring
to cast a stone, or hurl a word of reproach, against the vilest of our acquaintances, Would to God
that our Saviour's light might so touch our heart that we could never judge a sinner again, but
must walk in love, because Christ has redeemed us, and we see ourselves to be sinners whom He
has saved from ruin. That is the commencement of the light in its working power upon souls.
Then in the 9th chapter we see Jesus giving light to the man, blind from birth, and so making
him see, that he can humbly say: "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see"; and
though he be but a common peasant, he can give teaching even to the Sanhedrim, because the
light of the blessed Redeemer, the Son of God, is upon his soul. Throughout each of these
chapters we observe the working of light, whilst Christ Jesus is ever coming before us as the
Light, for He could say (ix. 5): "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" and
(xii. 46): "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in
darkness."
Then, suddenly, we are introduced into the upper chamber, and only a little band, alas! with
one traitor among them, is with the blessed Saviour in the supper room. We are told, at the
opening of the 13th chapter: "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them
unto the end." What a comfort for any poor, sorrowing sinner who reads these words. There may
be someone who has been faithless to the blessed Redeemer, someone who got blessing and light
long years ago, and who walked in the light for many a day, but who has gone back into the
darkness of doubt and despair of a sinner who feels himself condemned by the law. Let him
hearken! "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." He
cannot withdraw His love. No less than thirty times do you find, in chapters xiii. to xvii., the
noun agape, and the verb agapao (love, and to love) brought in by the blessed Saviour Himself.
Thirty limes in these chapters He cannot refrain speaking of love, and, as never before the
children of men, the love of God is revealed by Jesus. Then onward to the very end, dying for
sinners who have rejected and despised Him, for the very vilest who have denied Him, like Peter,
the blessed Saviour shows His love, until He stands before that poor penitent disciple and says:
"Simon, son of Jonas, Invest thou me?" It is the end of the glorious Gospel of the glorious Son of
God. "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." Then "go, feed my sheep."
Go out from Keswick blessedly redeemed and chosen to feed the sheep, to tend the lambs, to
look to the flock, and to look for the Son of God in His glory.
And what shall be the special lesson for ourselves from this Gospel? One will have to die like
a Peter, and Jesus tells him how he may glorify God by his death. Do not forget that. Another
shall wait. Jesus does not say: "He shall not die"; but "if I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee"? Leave him alone and let him go to his work. There are some who are faithful unto
death. Then glorify God in your death. There are some longing to see Jesus, and if He will that
they tarry till He come, what is that to others? Leave them alone; He will look after them.
But now let me call attention to one of the tremendous words that occur in this Gospel as
nowhere else -- seventy-eight times, I think, though I am a little doubtful. It is the word world
which I find either seventy-seven or seventy-eight times -- I had not time to decide which is the
correct figure. But imagine that, in this wondrous Gospel of the heavenlies. "What a strange
contrast! How can that be?" I wonder if it has ever occurred to us that in the 17th chapter --
which is the prayer of the Saviour to the Father for the coming glory, rejoicing in His holy
privileges as the perfect Saviour -- the word world occurs eighteen times from the Saviour's lips.
Some would say: "That is a strange coming down!" No, indeed it is not; it is an uplifting, for
Jesus takes His people and lifts them out of the world, that they may no longer belong to it. And
ye who claim to be saints, have ye learned the lesson of this Gospel? Have ye heard your Saviour
say to you: "I have taken thee out of the world"? "They are not of the world, as I am not of the
world." That is the Gospel of St. John. We rise on eagle wings. until we hear the voice of
Jehovah, even in the terrors of Sinai, amid lightnings and thunders, saying: "I bare you on eagles
wings, and brought you unto myself." Out into the world we go that we may be uplifted to walk
with God, like Enoch of old, and like those men in the furnace. Glorify ye the Lord in the fires,
says the Prophet, and walk with God according to your privileges, instead of going down to
belong to the world.
But, what I am now going to mention may perhaps stagger some; or possibly provoke a smile;
yet I wish to bring out deep realities, and to show how people can trifle with sacred things. A
lady sat in my study, not long ago. She said: "I have come to ask you whether it is wrong to
dance." I said "I never uttered a word of the kind." "No," she said, "you did not say that, but I
think you meant it. Now I am quite aware that the polished-floor ball is a really wicked thing; but
a little carpet-dance -- is there any harm in that?" Beloved are any of us trying to have a little
carpet-dance, or to get pleasures which, as it were, tickle the flesh, and please the lower
appetites? Another asked me if I would say that smoking is wrong. God forbid! I am no man's
judge. But I say, and Christ Jesus says: "They are not of the world," and each one has to settle
what is of the world. Let us seek to settle this in the heavenly regions, and quarrel not with our
blessed Saviour because He seems to ask a great deal of His followers. But say: "Lord, Thou
knowest that I love Thee. Speak therefore, for Thy servant heareth."
And now, go, study, I pray you, some of the abstract words of this Gospel. Life, forty-three
times mentioned in this Evangel; and Death twelve times. How solemnly clear is the contrast
made: and glad should we be to place them side by side, and judge how life may be ours in all its
reality: not merely to be saved from eternal death, but to have nothing to do with the things of
death. Again Light twenty-three times; and Darkness seven times. What instruction there is in
this contrast also. Lastly, consider that beautiful word which is found so frequently in this Gospel
and in the Epistles of St. John, the Greek verb menoein (to abide, or to dwell). It is translated
frequently to dwell, and frequently to abide. It occurs no less than forty-one times in the Gospel
of St. John, and thirty-two or thirty-three times in his Epistles: and to know its meaning and
power is to be the privilege of believers.
I have been weighted with a sense of burden. In closing this address, permit me to say, that I can
hardly express, in seeking to do even the smallest justice to this wondrous vision which the Holy
Ghost has given to us in this Gospel. The hearts of some, yet even now may be aching, and
saying: "I would, to God, that this life were mine in truth!" Then remember that the blessed word
truth occurs twenty-seven times in this Gospel, and it is confirmed by Jesus no less than twenty-
five times by the solemn declaration, "Verily, verily," which only occurs in the Gospel of St.
John. Twenty-fivetimes we find Him using that striking expression; and is with this purpose,
surely, that all who hear and believe may be lifted up into an assurance of the truth of everything
that the Son of God has deigned to say to them as "the Word of God." But when I mention that
the great teacher, Bishop Westcott, informs us that he has found sixty-five words in this Gospel
which are found nowhere else, and he thinks there are a few more, all realise the difficulty of a
speaker like one self, seeking to commend the Gospel to other men's attention. Will all take this
study of St. John's Gospel with that thought in their minds. And in conclusion, "What does this
Gospel offer to every one of us?" Life, light, love, which are all of them meant to end in glory.
Eighteen times the glory of the Godhead appears in this Gospel, and it shows us that the purpose
of God in giving His Son is that the Son may lift us up until, at last, as He prayed for Himself:
"Glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was;
so He could actually say of His followers "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them."
And that glory is, to glorify God in the body and in the Spirit, which are His, while we walk in
the flesh upon earth, and then to enter into the glory of God for ever, and to abide with Him
eternally as one with our Redeemer in all His perfection. Let us press on, then, I beseech you,
until at last we see Him and are like Him, "because we shall, see Him as He is." Let us never go
back into Egypt -- or the Life of the flesh; but, study St. Matthew again and again till we see the
righteousness of the law fulfilled and presented to us as a pattern and power: Study St. Mark
again and again till we see the blessed power of service and the beauty of self-sacrifice: study St.
Luke again and again till we see what the Son of Man in His gracious goodness can do, and what
He can call His followers to. But, above all let us rise on the wings of faith, on the eagle wings of
the Son of God Himself through anunceasing and prayerful study of St. John, until, in the
heavenlies, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we live in the very presence of God, in the very
power of God, and with the glorious prospect of being comformed to Christ's image graven
deeply upon our souls and raising us evermore, higher and higher, till we stand in the glory of
God for ever.