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between the written and the Incarnate Word, John v. 39.

Thus we may see our Lord as "the Truth." Surely He is one on whom we can depend, John vi. 68. Let us simply take Him at His word, Mark ix. 7; and continue in it, John viii. 31; and we shall know the blessing of the Truth, John viii. 32.

Fourth Sunday after Easter.

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD."

Learn John iii. 18-21. Passages to be referred to-Ps. cxviii. 24-29; Isa. lx.; Luke i. 68-79; John viii. 12; 1 John i.

THE state of man by nature is described in the Bible as one of darkness, Eph. iv. 18; Acts xxvi. 18; Prov. ii. 13. By no light or power of his own could he obtain spiritual illumination. He had the light of nature, Rom. i. 19, 20, but this availed not. He had the light of conscience, Rom. ii. 14, 15, but the result was the same, Rom. iii. 23. And the history of the world goes to prove that the world by wisdom never could know God, 1 Cor. i. 21.

Here, then, is a great want of the soul, which is met by Jesus Christ in the title before us, "I am the light of the world." In the midst of the darkness consequent on the fall, Jesus was promised, Gen. iii. 15; and from that time, as with the rising sun, the light went on slowly, but surely, to increase, till, in the fulness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. "The true light now shineth," 1 John ii. 8.

But now let us ask how Jesus is the light of the world.

1. In regard to Himself. We know that "God is light," 1 John i. 5; that He dwells in light, 1 Tim. vi. 16; that He is the only source of light, James i. 17; and as that great luminary, the sun, can only be seen by its own light, so God can only be manifested by Himself. The Son of God, therefore, came to make God known, John i. 18, xiv. 9, xvii. 6; Col. i. 15; Heb. i. 1-3. But that you may understand how He is "the Light," consider what light is—a combination of rays-red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Thus, in Christ you have all the attributes of God combined. His love, John iii. 16; Rom. v. 8; His holiness, Luke i. 35; Acts iii. 14; His wisdom, 1 Cor. i. 24; Eph. iii. 10; His justice, Rom. iii. 26; His omnipresence, John iii. 13; His omniscience, John xvi. 38; His omnipotence, Matt. xxviii. 18; with which passages compare Isa. ix. 6; 1 Cor. i. 30. Thus is God fully manifested to us in the person of His dear Son, 1 Tim. iii. 16. Thus Jesus Christ is the light.

2. In regard to mankind. This will appear in three ways: He is the channel of life: as things cannot live and grow without light, so the soul cannot live and grow without Jesus, John xiv. 19, xv. 5; Gal. ii. 20; Col. iii. 3. He is the channel of love: luminous bodies are the most loving, most unselfish, as shining not for them

selves, but for others. So with Christ, Eph. v. 2; Rom. xv. 3. He is the channel of truth: there is nothing deceptive in light, John iii. 20, 21; it makes everything clear and manifest, Eph. v. 13; and so Jesus makes us see and know distinctly things as they really are, John xvii. 6-8, xviii. 37. We know what sin is, John xv. 24; what the world is, John xv. 19; what the devil is, 1 John iii. 8; what salvation is, John v. 24; what God is, John xvii. 26; and all this we know through Christ.

It is the blessing of His people thus to know Jesus as the Light, Ps. xxxvi. 9. If He is the light of the world, He is so to you and to me, Ps. xxvii. 1. See that you have accepted what He is so ready to bestow, Ps. xliii. 3, cxviii. 27. See that you are walking as under the influence of Christ's light, Eph. v. 8; 1 John i. 6, 7. It is an awfully solemn matter to reject the light, John iii. 19.

Fifth Sunday after Easter.

"THE FAITHFUL WITNESS."

Learn, Rev. xix. 10-13.

Passages to be referred

to—Prov. xiv. 25; Isa. xliii. 8-13; John viii. 12-59; Acts i. 8.

WHAT God wants every one of His children on earth to be is a faithful witness, Matt. x. 32. In this respect He desires them to follow in the steps of their Lord and Master, Rev. iii. 14. And for this He gives them every qualification in the gift of the Holy Ghost, Acts i. 8.

We

Let us understand what a witness is. generally mean one who furnishes evidence or proof from having known or seen anything; and thus did Jesus reveal the truth of God, Isa. lv. 4; John xviii. 37; but the word witness, in Greek, is martyr—one that gives testimony to the truth at the expense of his life; and thus also was Jesus the Witness, 1 Tim. vi. 13. See 1 John iii. 16; John x. 11, 15.

But there are three things which go to making a faithful witness; and we shall find these three marks in our Lord by considering His ministry.

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