love out
of our heart, and grow angry, or become bitter. In time of sickness,
trial, or bereavement, that which we should fear is not the illness or
the sorrow, but that we shall not keep sweet, with the peace of God in
our breast. The only thing that can do us real harm is sin. So the
intercession on our behalf ever is, not that we may be kept from things
that are hard, from experiences that are costly or painful, but that we
may be kept pure, gentle, and submissive, with peace and joy in our
heart.

There was a pleading also that the disciples might be led into complete
consecration of spirit, and that they might be prepared to go out for
their Master, to be to the world what he had been to them. This was
not a prayer for a path of roses; rather it was for a cross, the utter
devotion of their lives to God. Before the prayer closed, a final wish
for his friends was expressed,--that when their work on earth was done,
they might be received home; that where he should be they might be
also, to behold his glory.

Surely there never has been on earth another gathering of such
wondrously deep and sacred meaning as that farewell meeting in the
upper room. There the friendship of Jesus and his chosen ones reached
its holiest experience. His deep human love appears in his giving up
the whole of this last evening to this tryst with his own. He knew
what was before him after midnight,--the bitter agony of Gethsemane,
the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, and then the terrible shame and
suffering of tomorrow. But he planned so that there should be these
quiet, uninterrupted hours alone with his friends, before the beginning
of the experiences of his passion. He did it for his own sake; his
heart hungered for communion with his friends; with desire he desired
to eat the Passover, and enjoy these hours with them before he
suffered. We may be sure, too, that he received from the holy
fellowship comfort and strength, which helped him in passing through
the bitter hours that followed. Then, he did it also for the sake of
his disciples. He knew how their hearts would be broken with sorrow
when he was taken from them, and he wished to comfort them and make
them stronger for the way. The memory of those holy hours hung over
them like a star in all the dark night of their sorrow, and was a
benediction to them as long as they lived.

Then, who can tell what blessings have gone out from that farewell into
the whole Church o