Quiet Talks on John's GospelGordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Religion
Quiet Talks on John's Gospel
Gordon, S. D. (Samuel Dickey)
Bible. John -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
And so He prays on, touching the same keys of the musical instrument of
His heart, back and forth, yet ever advancing in the theme. Now He
broadens out, in clear vision, beyond the gathering storm, to those,
through all the earth, and down the centuries, who would believe through
these men who are listening. What a sweep of faith. That singing cleared
His vision.
And then He sees them all, of many races and languages and radical
differences, all blended into one body of earnest loving believers drawn
by the one vision of Himself back in the glory of the Father's presence,
where they will all gather. And then love ties the knot on the end. A
personal love ties together Father and Son and--us, who humbly give the
glad homage of our hearts.
Right in the very midst of the prayer lies that innermost heart of which
I spoke a moment ago. It is in verse ten. Jesus says, "_All things that
are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine_." There lies the very inner
heart of all carried to the last degree. _There_ is glad giving and full
taking; surrender and appropriation. He who gives all may reach in and
take all. Here is, humanly, the secret of Jesus' stupendous character
and career.
And it is the same for the humblest of us. The road is no different. We
_may_ say, by His great grace, in the insistence of our sovereign wills,
"All that is mine is Thine: I give it Thee. I give it back to Thee: I
use all the strength of my will in yielding all to Thee, and in doing
it habitually."
Then we _can_ say, with greatest reverence and humility and yet bold
confidence, "All that is Thine _is mine._" Yet being mine it is Thine.
Still being Thine it is mine. So comes the perfection of the rhythmic
action of love. Our love gives our all to _Him_. And then _takes_ the
greater all of His--no, not _from_ Him, _for_ Him, held in trust, used
_for_ Him, while we keep knees and face close to the ground, lest we
stumble and slip and worse.
So the prayer closes. And if we might go back over it, alone in secret,
prayerfully, quietly thinking thoughtfully into it, until this great
simple prayer gets its hold upon our hearts. And then gradually it would
come to us that _so_ He is now praying for us, _you and me_.
What must it have meant to these men to stand there quietly, awed as
they listen to Him praying that prayer. How it reveals the deep
consciousness of the intimacy of relation between Father and Son. How it
must have touched and stirred them to the very depths to hear Jesus
telling the Father so simply about _their_ faith in Himself, and _their_
obedience, their break with their national allegiance to follow Himself.
And that word _joy_--did they wonder about it? And wonder more later
that night, and the days after? But the key-note of the music _caught_,
and soon they were singing the same tune, and in the same pitch.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account