city wall 'saw the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing'--
having sprung to His feet to help His poor servant--'at the right
hand of God,' so with that vision in our eyes and the light of that
Face flashing upon our faces, and making them like the angels', we
shall be masters of grief and care, and pain and trial, and enmity
and disappointment, and sorrow and sin, and feel that the absent
Christ is the present Christ, and that the present Christ is the
conquering power in us.

Dear brethren, there is nothing else that will make us victors over
the world and ourselves. If we can grasp Him by our faith and keep
ourselves near Him, then union with Him as of the Vine and the
branches, which will result inevitably in suffering here, will result
as inevitably in joy hereafter. For He will never relax the
adamantine grasp of His strong hand until He raises us to Himself,
and 'if so be that we suffer with Him we shall also be glorified
together.'



THE DEPARTING CHRIST AND THE COMING SPIRIT

'Nevertheless I tell you the truth; 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. And when He is
come, He will _convince_ the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment.'--JOHN xvi. 7, 8.

We read these words in the light of all that has gone after, and to
us they are familiar and almost thread-bare. But if we would