reap in joy." "He that now goeth on his way weeping, and
beareth forth good seed, shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring
his sheaves with him." "Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee, in
whose heart are Thy ways; who going through the vale of misery, use it
for a well, and the pools are filled with water. They will go from
strength to strength: and unto the God of gods appeareth every one of
them in Sion." To which may God in His great mercy bring us all. Amen.

SERMON XII. PRESENCE IN ABSENCE

Eversley, third Sunday after Easter. 1862.

St John xvi. 16. "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a
little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father."

Divines differ, and, perhaps, have always differed, about the meaning of
these words. Some think that our Lord speaks in them of His death and
resurrection. Others that He speaks of His ascension and coming again in
glory. I cannot decide which is right. I dare not decide. It is a very
solemn thing--too solemn for me--to say of any words of our Lord's they
mean exactly this or that, and no more. For if wise men's words have (as
they often have) more meanings than one, and yet all true, then surely
the words of Jesus, the Son of God, who spake as never man spake--His
words, I say, may have many meanings; yea, meanings without end, meanings
which we shall never fully understand, perhaps even in heaven, and yet
all alike true.

But I think it is certain that most of the early Christians understood
these words of our Lord's ascension and coming again in glory. They
believed that He was coming again in a very little while during their own
life-time, in a few months or years, to make an end of the world and to
judge the quick and the dead. And as they waited for His coming, one
generation after another, and yet He did not come, a sadness fell upon
them. Christ seemed to have left the world. The little while that He
had promised to be away seemed to have become a very long while.
Hundreds of years passed, and yet Christ did not come in glory. And, as
I said, a sadness fell on all the Church. Surely, they said, this is the
time of which Christ said we were to weep and lament till we saw Him
again--this is the time of which He said that the bridegroom should be
taken from us, and we should fast in those days. And they did fast, and
weep, and lament; and their religion became a very s