son; therefore, they have now another light; namely, the Word which thou hast given me, and which I have given unto them. And now they no longer look upon me as the world does, according to their own under standing, but, according to the Word which they hear from me, and which was manifested by the Father..>

And consider not this a light or trifling consolation, that Christ glories before the Father that this work is wrought in us, that he is glorified in us. Nor is this honour to be exchanged by us for the riches and dignity of the whole world, that he desires to be glorified through the weakness of our flesh and blood; and that it so pleases God the Father, and is a matter of such consideration with him, that Christ is praised and magnified by us. For there are by no means a small number who boast of the Gospel and know how to prate a great deal about it, but this glorifying is not so common. For to glorify Christ and to believe in him, is nothing more or less, than, as I have said, to be fully persuaded that he who has Christ has the Father also, together with all grace, all heavenly blessings, and life eternal. Of this, the saints of this world, together with the Pope and his sects, know nothing. For although many speak' of Christ and imitate our words, that he is the Son of God, by whose benefits we are delivered; yet, they never learn and experience how he is to be received, made use of, sought, found, and held fast; or how the Father is to be apprehended through him; but are all the while with Socrates soaring aloft in their vain thoughts and speculations.

Of this take a most manifest example from our fanatical spirits, who have learnt from us to talk of Christ and faith. But, how seldom do they treat of this doctrine yea rather, how emptily and coldly do they speak whenever they treat upon this principal article, which they for the most part pass by with a certain indifference, as considering it to be a knowledge of no moment, and already understood by all to a nicety? In a word, they are full of other cogitations; so that, if they should now and then speak of it rightly, (which is a very rare thing indeed,)

they themselves do not know about what they are talking; and immediately, leaving that, they go away again to their own dreams. Whereas, a true preacher treats upon this article the most frequently of all, because, all things that pertain either to the knowledge of God or to our own salvation, are contained in it; as you may see every where in the Gospel of St. John and in the Epistles of St. Paul. For in both these, those words hold good" From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

And now, I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.

He had given two reasons why he prayed for them. The one, where he says "thine they were, and thou gavest them me:" that is, thou hast taken them out of the world into thy kingdom, possession, grace, and protection. The other is, because, (saith he,)" I am glori"I fied in them :" that is, they praise me and confess me to be he, who has all things that are thine. And now to these two reasons he adds a third, because, he is going from them, and about to leave them in the world behind him in the midst of all perils, persecutions, and bitterness. For when he says, "I am no more in the world," he speaks as one who is just about to depart and die, and to be totally separated from the world; which is what the prophet Isaiah had before predicted concerning him, chap. liii.; where he says, "He was cut off out of the land of the living:" that is, as one that was taken out of this life by violence, and compelled to leave all behind him, and to live no longer here; but he evidently enters upon another life, which Christ calls going to the Father.

Here arises an enquiry again. How comes it to pass that Christ says, "I go to my Father," when he must (as God) still be in the world? For we believe that the prophets said truly, that God is in every place, and fills all things; as it is continually written in the Psalms, and particularly in Psalm cxxxix.-that God is present in heaven and in the deep, or, in hell. And Paul,

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Acts xvii. saith, that "he is not far from every one of us. For it is by him, as he saith, that we live, move, and have our being. And therefore, wheresoever we seek him and call upon him, there he is at hand and presents himself to our view, which he did frequently to the people of Israel; as when he divided the red sea and made a dry passage for them to go over, but destroyed their enemies who pursued them, so that there was not one of them left. But how does he here say, that he is now no longer in the world, and why does he represent himself as though he were going away to a great distance, so that we could hold him no longer? This question may be answered in two ways. In one way, according to frothy human wisdom,—that he is ascended up on high, and sits above as in a swallow's nest. Thus do men sport in their cogitations, according to that which they apprehend with their sight, which re mains fixt in one place only and cannot behold both heaven and earth together; and therefore, he must also, (according to that,) be confined to one place, and circumscribed to one circle, so as not to be any where else.

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But I, according to the scripture, give this answer, and say, that "in the world" means to be in this external and sensible state; that is, to enjoy this life which the world enjoys, which is called the natural life in which we eat, drink, sleep, labour, and take care of our families; in a word, in which we make use of the world, and of all things necessary unto this life. On the other hand, those are by no means said to be in the world, who are removed and separated from all these things now mentioned, so as to have no need of eating, drinking, standing, walking, or any other corporal or na tural exercise: for this is what Isaiah calls being "cut off from the land of the living" not that he departed altogether out of this life, and had nothing more to do with us: but, that he had no farther need to take care of it, as man has to take care of his life. Therefore, he no longer lives a life after the manner of this world: that is, he no longer is in a corporal life, which is to be supported by meat, drink, and other corporal necessaries.

Hence, the puerile and futile cogitations of these frothy praters of ours, that, to go out of the world, is, to go out of heaven and earth to some. particular place, are mere nothings at all. For if this were the case, then the devil alone would reign in the world, and God would have no place at all; nay, according to the opinions of some, could not be even in the hearts of the elect.

Therefore, it is a far different thing to be in the creature, (that is, to be in that place where the creature is,) and to be in the world." These are in the world," saith he; that is, they live as men live in the world, using the works of the body, the five senses and the four elements, without which this worldly and corporal life could not proceed. But I go away,' that is, I withdraw and separate myself from the use of all corporal things, from eating, from drinking, from working, from suffering, and from an external conversation and communication..

Wherefore, be thou fully persuaded, that Christ neither walks, nor stands, nor speaks, nor exercises any work which he was accustomed to do when upon earth. Otherwise, the words that follow could not be consistent, "and I come to thee." For tell me, in what place is the Father? He is by no means in the swallow's nest above.' And, if he is gone to the Father, then he must of necessity be wherever the Father is. And the Father is every where, both in heaven and out of heaven, in the earth and in all creatures; so that, he cannot be fixed and stationed to any certain and particular place, as the stars are fixed in the heaven. For we are to declare and to believe, that God is present wherever you call upon him, in the prison, in the waters, in the fire, and in all afflictions and necessities. But this text our frothy praters dare not hear and look at, but pass it by and take some one part of it which they may wrest to their own purpose. But of this we have abundantly spoken elsewhere.

Holy Father, keep through thine own name.

In these words he explains what he prays for:

namely, that the Father would receive them as commended to him, while he should be gone and should leave them alone in the world; and would preserve them as he had preserved them when present with them. And when he says "Holy Father!" it proceeds from the utmost fervor of the most ardent heart. For what he has respect to in this one expression, is this, (and he opposes it to all profane life, doctrine, and actions, to which the world is given, under the pretext and splendid show of the greatest sanctity;)—it is as though he had said, O dearest Father, such sects, errors, and seductions do I see, such Nero and Phalarislike tyrants do I behold who are fully set on blood, and will endeavour under the cover of thy name to raise up every iniquity and evil against the true holiness, that I may say, that there is no one holy any where, what splendor and ornament soever may be appended to him, but thy holy name and the word which I preach. To the same effect also does Psalm xxii. speak, "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." As though he had said, There is no one who does not wish to be. holy, and to have the Holy Spirit, and to teach and rule the world; but they all, under the pretext of thy holy name, and a show of sanctity, deceive and seduce the world... And as thou only art holy, (saith he,) and as the dragon of abomination and of diabolical seduction is so great, "Keep thou them in thine own name." But why this? And why in his own name? (For, all liars and seducers, as I have before observed, boast of and assert the name of God, and to this name all things in the world are appended; as it is commonly said, Every evil begins with the name of God,' nor does any error, arise that does not make use of this name, and effect its purposes under the cover of it.) — I answer, these are not in the name of God, nor will they be preserved by that name. And therefore, he reminds the Father of his holiness, against which so much profaneness is every where raised up, that he would separate his flock from these, and would preserve them that they might remain under that one name.

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