CHRIST’S PRAYER: 

“Sanctify them through the truth; thy word is truth.”

CHAPTER I.

A word in the prayer.

CHRIST’S WORDS.

All who really love Christ love His words.  They may not always fully understand their meaning, but they never reject any of them.  The very fact that any word has been on the lips of Christ and received His sanction, gives it a sound of music to all who are truly disciples of the Nazarene.

Mother’s words.

The words that your mother used frequently—­are there any words quite the same to you?  She may be resting under the solemn pines of a silent cemetery, but, to this hour, if anyone uses one of her favorite words, instantly the heart leaps in answer, and the mind flies back to her, and the fancy paints her as you knew her in the garden or at the fireside or by the window.  It lies in the power of a single word to make the eyes fill and the throat ache because of its association with the voice of a queenly mother.

A man’s testimony.

Thus it is with Christ and his words.  It matters not where we meet the word, if it is Christ’s we are touched and made tender.  An aged man stands in a prayer-meeting in a bare and cheerless hall, and says in broken and faltering voice, “The dear Lord has blessedly sanctified my heart,” and like a flash the room lightens, and the whole place seems changed and made cheery.  The heart cries, “That is my Master’s word,” and the entire being is attentive and interested.

Jesus’ life dear.

Yes, to the really regenerated soul everything connected with Jesus is dear.  The place of His birth, the land of His ministry, the garden of His agony, the mount of His crucifixion, the Olivet of His ascension, all these are illumined with a peculiar and special light.  The mind dwells lovingly on His parables, ponders deeply His sayings, lingers tenderly over His words.

We welcome the word.

We will not therefore shrink from the Word of our Lord:  “Sanctify.”  It may have been stained by the slime of some unworthy life, or soiled by the lips of men who prated about sanctification, but knew nothing of its nature; yet, for all that, since the word is Christ’s we hail its enunciation with gladness.

Christ’s burden.