of righteousness and judgment to come,' are illustrations of the way
in which the humble disciples towered above the pride and strength of
the world, and from criminals at its bar became its accusers.

These three facts are the staple and the strength of the Christian
ministry. These three facts are misapprehended, and have failed to
produce their right impression, unless they have driven home to our
consciences and understandings the triple conviction of my text. And
so I come to you with the simple questions which are all-important
for each of us: Have you looked these three facts in the face--
unbelief, the ascended Christ, a judged prince of the world, and have
you learned their meaning as it bears on your own character and
religious life?

I. The first point here is the rejection of Jesus Christ as the
climax of the world's sin.

Strange words! They are in some respects the most striking instance
of that gigantic self-assertion of our Lord, of which we have had
occasion to see so many examples in these valedictory discourses. The
world is full of all unrighteousness and wickedness, lust and
immorality, intemperance, cruelty, hatred; all manner of buzzing
evils that stink and sting around us. But Jesus Christ passes them
all by and points to a mere negative thing, to an inward thing, to
the attitude of men towards Himself; and He says, 'If you want to
know what sin is, look at that!' _There_ is the worst of all sins.
There is a typical instance of what sin is, in which, as in some
anatomical preparation, you may see all its fibres straightened out
and made visible. Look at that if you want to know what the world is,
and what the world's sin is.