He makes here no mention of it. Remembering the low conceptions His disciples had of Him, and anxious at once to lift up their hopes, He reminds them not of His own, but of "God's" omnipotence. We know what He might have said. "Who, you ask, can be saved? Am I not a Saviour mighty to save? You yourselves have felt My power when, with a word, I drew you from your fishing-nets; and I will yet work more mightily in you, and level your difficulties before you by My power. You shall then see that I am able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by Me."

Let me draw a few other remarks, in conclusion, from this scripture. Some of you know nothing at all of the difficulties of salvation. You are going to Heaven, you think, but you are going there with so little difficulty or labour that you scarcely know what a spiritual obstacle is. All I would say to you is, does such a state of things harmonise with the language of those disciples, or with the language of our Lord? Bring it to the trial of this one scripture, and see what it is worth. Like the religion of the rich young man elsewhere in this chapter, it will not bear the trial; it will prove itself worthless and insufficient.

Others of you, like these disciples, have just begun to see the difficulties before you. They, perhaps, dishearten you. But to such we would say, Judge for yourselves, ought they to discourage you? Difficulties God may place in your way, and call on you to overcome them. And to do this, you may avail yourself of God's strength and make it your own. "He will grant you to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man." The design of this passage in your case is

twofold. It is intended, on the one hand, to make you feel how helpless you yourself are; and on the other, to teach you that you have within reach a strength which is boundless. "Cursed is he that maketh flesh his arm," says God; and then goes on, "Trust ye in the Lord for ever: in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." And what ought your answer to be? God Himself tells you: "Let the weak say, I am strong." A prophet tells you, "Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength;" and an apostle says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

XVI.

Christ Standing at the Door.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with Me."-REV. iii. 20.

THIS is a wonderful text. Well may it begin with that impressive word, not always a word of admiration, "behold." But it is a very simple picture which it calls our attention to. Paint to your mind's eye a house; its inhabitants within, its door closed. That house represents man's heart, the dwelling-place of his thoughts, desires, and feelings. And then imagine that you see a stranger coming up to this house, and, pausing at its door, knocking at it. Something answering to this is going on in our case. There is One standing at the door of our heart and knocking.

1. First, then, observe who it is that says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." It is Christ, the glorious Lord of heaven and earth; for He speaks in the next verse of sitting on a throne together with God His Father. See, then, how this text sets forth the infinite mercy of the Godhead! It is a very great thing that God should sit on a throne waiting for sinners to come to Him; but here He describes Himself as coming to sinners. He is not now the father of the prodigal

running to meet his returning son; He is that father going to that son before he thinks of returning; standing by his side, in the far-off country, among the swine and the husks. "You will not come to me," He seems to say in the yearnings of His heart. "Behold, then, I come to you; even now I stand at your door." 2. The question, then, comes secondly, why is Jesus knocking at our door?

In the previous chapter He says, "I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts." And had He not told us why He is come to us, we might have supposed that He wishes to inspect our hearts more closely; to look into them for concealed sin. But He says, "No! I am not come to you now for any such purpose. I come not as a judge, but rather as a petitioner. I want to be received within you. hold, I am knocking for admittance."

Be

And this implies something on our parts and something on His. On our part it implies this mournful fact, that our hearts are all naturally closed against Christ; yea, fastened, bolted, barred against Him. The world, brethren, has never to knock there in vain. Sin has no need to cry aloud, "Let me in!" To sin and the world the door is open at all times. But when the blessed Jesus draws near, oh, how closely does the heart shut itself up against Him! Our language perhaps is, It is kind in you to come, and merciful, and gracious. We thank you for it, but we are not ready for you yet. Come in, ye vanities (says the soul) that have so often deceived and mocked me; come in, ye cares and anxieties, that have so many times distressed and weighed me down; come in, ye sins, whom I have often resolved never again to

admit; come in, and welcome, anything that is base and earthly I will cherish you; but my holy Lord I must shut out. I know He ought to be let in, but this crowded heart of mine can find no place for Him. It will not, it cannot receive Him.

On Christ's part, this expression implies a willingness to enter our hearts, and more than a willingness, an earnest desire to enter them. He not only stands waiting at the door ready to come in; He calls there, and knocks there, unwilling to be kept out.

By the door we understand the various inlets of the soul, those parts and faculties of it which, as it were, admit things into it. And by knocking at these is meant appealing to them, trying them, endeavouring to get into the heart by means of them. There is our understanding, for instance, or our judgment; Christ knocks at that by showing us that it is reasonable we should admit Him, that it is our duty and interest to do so. Then there are our affections; He appeals to them. might say) "and given Myself for you. I have bled for you; do not after this shut Me out. You would be ashamed to shut out the father who cared for you or the mother that nourished you, but I have done for you more than a father or a mother." Sometimes He tries our hopes; "I will ease the heavy-laden and speak peace to the troubled." Sometimes He appeals to our fears. In all these ways "He stands at the door, and knocks."

"I have loved you" (He

The means He adopts to do all this are various. His word written in Scripture is one avenue by which He approaches us; the chapters we read, the sermons that sound in our ears, are others. We may also