JOHN xvi. 23. “And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing.”

THE subject is Christ’s personal presence removing the
necessity for prayer. Why does Christ’s personal presence
in heaven, now that He is risen, ascended, and glorified,
take away altogether the necessity for prayer in the cases
of the glorified?
I. Because God is in Christ, and God is an open Foun-
tain of good to every being in friendship with Him. Who
asks for water when standing at the very brink of a foun-
tain? Who asks for light when the summer sun is shining
on them?
II. Because Christ’s love for His disciples is such that
He cannot be with them without filling them with good.
When a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, walk-
ing through the path of His humiliation, He could never
be with His disciples without blessing them. How much
more now in His state of glorification! We justly glory
in His cross, but we have an equal right to glory in His
crown.
III. Moreover, the ministrations of the Saviour when
our hearts are right, as they will be very soon, cannot fail
to satisfy us. At present even God the Father of us all
does not satisfy us. He does not give us wealth fast
enough, or temporal blessings in abundance enough.
When we are free from sin, what God does for us will per-
fectly satisfy us.
IV. Because prayer can only be made in want. There
is a state where prayer is unsuitable. In such a state are
the unfallen angels. Prayer is the cry of spiritual infancy,
the call of helplessness, and the wail of sorrow.
Let us anticipate joyfully the future, and by the power
of hope bring its sunshine into the present.
Samuel Martin