I will praise my God while I have
my being; my joy shall be in the Lord.'
SERMON XX.--SELF-HELP
ST. JOHN xvi. 7.
It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him
unto you.
This is a deep and strange saying. How can it be expedient, useful,
or profitable, for any human being that Christ should go away from
them? To be in Christ's presence; to see his face; to hear his
voice;--would not this be the most expedient and profitable, yea, the
most blessed and blissful of things which could befall us? Is it not
that which saints hope to attain for ever in heaven--the beatific
vision of Christ?
My dear friends, one thing is certain, that Christ loves us far
better than we can love ourselves, and knows how to show that love.
He would have stayed with the apostles, instead of ascending into
heaven, if it had been expedient for them. Yea, if it had been
expedient for him to have stayed on earth among mankind unto this
very day, he would have stayed.
Because it was not expedient, not good for the apostles, not good for
mankind, that he should stay among them, therefore he ascended into
heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, all authority and
power being given to him in heaven and in earth.
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