CHAPTER X.

THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN UNITY.

"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”—Jo¤n xvii. 11, 12.

As the unity of believers in Christ and with one another is of so much importance, both for the glory of God and His Son Jesus Christ, their own souls' benefit, and also that of the world at large, it is satisfactory to know that it rests on a permanent foundation. It is not attained or preserved by adhesion to any dogma or formula, but by believers being kept in the name given in and through Jesus Christ. "Holy Father, keep through "—or as it should be, IN-" Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me."-That is, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me to make known to them. "The petition is, that, for the purpose mentioned in the last words of the verse, they may be kept in the Father's name, which He has given to the Son. Light is again

thrown upon the word 'name.' It cannot be simply the name 'Father,' for that could not be given to another; it is His revelation of Himself in Jesus. That revelation had been given to the Son; it had been appropriated by the disciples; they were living in it: the prayer is, that, amidst all the temptations of the world, they may be kept in it." 1

"The phrase is very remarkable, and has no exact parallel except in verse 12. Perhaps the same thought is found in Philippians ii. 9; and it is illustrated by the imagery of the Apocalypse. Thus, in Revelation ii. 17, a promise is made to the victorious Christian: 'I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it'; and again it is said of the Word of God,' 'He had a name written that no man knew but Himself' (xix. 12); and again, of the saints in glory, 'They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads' (xxii. 4). These passages suggest the idea that the 'giving of the Father's name' to Christ expresses the fulness of His commission as the incarnate Word to reveal God. He came in His Father's name, and to make that name known. He spoke what He had heard. And all spiritual truth is gathered up in 'the name' of God, the perfect expression (for men) of what God is, which 'name' the Father gave the Son to declare when He took man's nature upon Him."2

Many persons are led away from a right interpretation of Revelation ii. 17, by referring "receiveth it " to the "name" instead of to the "stone." They read as though it was written, "saving he that receiveth this name"; whereas we ought to read, "saving he that receiveth this stone." It is assumed by such expositors that the overcomer's own name is that which is written on the stone. It is evident, however, that the

new name" is the name of Jesus Himself. That is, some revelation of God in that higher state by Jesus, who, through an identity of knowing and being, is capable of making it known. It is quite true that, through the knowledge which believers have of God in Christ Jesus, they are the subjects of new revelations, new hopes, and new desires. Do we know what it is to have God manifested to us in such a manner as to be able to address Him as Father; to occupy the place, not of servants in His house, but of children at His table? Is our hope outside the borderland of the present world? Is Christ our hope, and the glories of His appearing among the things for which we are looking amid the darkness and sadness of this age? ? Are our desires Godward, heavenward? If such is the experience of our hearts, if such are our hopes and longings, we have much to be thankful for, seeing that "no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him."

There has been, from the first, an unfolding of the names of God: Great God, Almighty, Jehovah, Father. In this connection our minds revert to Exodus xxxiii. 21, xxxiv. 7, Isaiah ix. 6, and many other Old Testament Scriptures.

Seeing that Jesus had made the Father fully manifest unto His disciples, we may understand the words, "Keep them in Thy name," to imply, Keep them in the knowledge of the name, and what is included in it.

"Holy Father" must not be confounded with "Father" in verse 1, as we have already explained, nor yet with "righteous Father," in verse 25. Righteousness conveys the idea of purity, separation from everything which is evil in His moral administration, rightness. Holiness, when applied to God, expresses more particularly what He is in Himself. It implies mercy and favour. It was holy ground where He made Himself fully known to Moses. In the holiest of holies mercy and grace were shown forth, and from that sacred chamber blessings proceeded, in consequence of the finished work of Christ, which was the consummation of Divine grace, being typified therein. The cherubim and seraphim are continually crying, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isa. vi. 3). "Holy Father" must therefore be understood as intended to convey the fullest revelation of the heart of God.

Before leaving this part of the subject we may

notice that in the expression, "Holy Father," our Saviour condenses, so to speak, the Old and New Testament expressions into one, uniting the deepest word of former revelations with the new name which was now about to be manifested in all its fulness. Keep them in the knowledge of this was our Saviour's request.

We may understand the words, "Keep them in Thy name," to mean further—

Keep them in the blessed experience and consolation resulting from such a knowledge. The experience of those who look upon God as a tyrannical King or an unrelenting Judge has a claim on our pity and commiseration. Again, the experience of those who think God will express His good pleasure at last if they prove to be faithful and true, without any regard to the manifestation which He has made of Himself in grace, is not calculated to give joy or strength for either service or suffering. To know God as Father in His Son Jesus Christ, and that by the mighty power of His Spirit, who bears witness with our spirits that we are born of God and belong to His family, is absolutely necessary if the liberty and happiness of His people are desired; and the glorious hope is to encourage our hearts. To know Him as "Holy Father" is to know Him as the gracious provider for all our wants, as seen in the gift of His Son. It is here we see that, notwithstanding the terrible condition to which man had brought himself by sin,