John 14:19

[Jesus] applied the word world to those who, being bound by this material and carnal life and beholding the truth by material sight alone, were ordained through their unbelief in the resurrection to see our Lord no more with the eyes of the heart.… For the carnal person who has never trained his mind for contemplation but rather keeps it buried deep in the lust of the flesh, as in mud, is powerless to look up to the spiritual light of the truth.

Now that the Passion is close at hand, and brings along with it the moment of His Assumption, He says that He will be invisible to the world, that is, to them that value the enjoyment of things temporal before the Divine blessings, and set more store by earthly things than by heavenly. And by way of making our belief to the end thereof kindred and consistent with what has been already said above, we shall be right in saying, that God the Father has given the Paraclete, i.e. the Holy Spirit, of course through the Son; for all things are through Him from the Father. Notwithstanding He has come, not on all indiscriminately, both evil and good, but on them on whom it was fitting He should go forth. For so far forth as touches the most rich and unstinted grace of the Giver, no man of all in the earth remained a non-partaker: For I will pour out, He says in the prophets, of my Spirit on all flesh. Yet each man is unto himself an accessory cause of his possessing or else wholly failing to get the God-given blessing. For some men, because that in no wise do they strive to cleanse their own mind by all goodness, but love exceedingly to dwell in the evils in the world, shall abide non-partakers of the Divine grace, and shall not see Christ in themselves, forasmuch as they have a heart void of the Spirit. For this cause albeit they are ranged on the side of the Protector of the orphans they are torn in pieces by simply everything that is strong enough to overreach, be it a passion or a devil, or yet any other worldly lust, and by everything that can drag them down as it were and overpower them unto sin. Howbeit, unto the holy and them that were purposed to receive Him, He said, as was likely He would, forasmuch as they were going to endure none of those ills, I will not leave you orphans, I am coming unto you. […]

(Hom. lxxv. 1) At the first He said, Whither I go ye shall come; but as this was a long time off, He promises them the Spirit in the interval. And as they knew not what that was, He promises them that they most desired, His own presence, I will come to you: but intimates at the same time that they are not to look for the same kind of presence over again: Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more: as if He said, I will come to you, but not to live with you every day as I did before. And, I will come to you alone, He says, thus preventing any inconsistency with what He had said to the Jews: Henceforth ye shall not see Me.

(Hom. lxxv. 2) To me however he seems to refer not only to the present life, but to the future; as if He said, The death of the cross shall not separate you from Me for ever, but only hide Me from you for a moment.

And lest they think that He would appear in the body to them and to everyone as before, He says: "The world will no longer see Me. You alone will see Me after the resurrection. For I live; though I will accept death, yet I …

Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more, because after the Passion he did not appear to the worldly, but to the Apostles; Acts 10: "He gave him to be made manifest not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by …

For as that 'Comforter,' after the Ascension of the Mediator, being another Consoler of mankind, is in Himself invisible, so He inflames each one that He has filled to long after the invisible things. And because worldly hearts are set upon the things that are seen alone, the world receiveth Him not, because it doth not rise up to the love of the things that are unseen. For worldly minds, in proportion as they spread themselves out in interests without, contract the bosom of the heart against the admission of Him. And because out of mankind there are few indeed, who, being purified from the pollution of earthly desires, are opened by that purification to the receiving of the Holy Spirit, this word is called 'a hidden word,' since, surely, there are particular persons that receive that in the heart, which the generality of men know nothing of.

Here he explains how he will return and shows that his return to the apostles will be in a special way. Since they might think that he would return to them as still subject to death, he excludes this, saying: Yet a little while, and …

As if He said, Though I shall die, I shall rise again. And ye shall live also, i. e. when ye see Me risen again, ye will rejoice, and be as dead men brought to life again.

But ye see me - That is, ye shall certainly see me. Because I live, ye shall live also - Because I am the living One in my Divine nature, and shall rise again in my human nature, and live for ever in heaven: therefore ye shall live the life of faith and love on earth, and hereafter the life of glory.

That also was an help unto me, Because I live, ye shall live also.

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more,....

A little while - This was the day before his death. Seeth me no more - No more until the day of judgment. The men of the world would not see him visibly, and they had not the eye of faith to discern him. But ye see me - Ye shall continue to see me by faith, even when the world cannot. You will continue to see me by the eye of faith as still your gracious Saviour and Friend.

The short passage before us is singularly rich in "precious promises." Twice our Lord Jesus Christ says, "I will." Twice He says to believers, "You shall." We learn from this passage, that Christ's second coming is meant to be the special comfort of believers. He says to His disciples, "I will not leave you comfortless—I will come to you." Now what is the "coming" here spoken of? It is only fair to say that this is a disputed point among Christians. Many refer it to our Lord's coming to His disciples after His resurrection.

IT is very noticeable in this verse and in many other parts of the New Testament, what a sharp line of demarcation the Lord draws between His people and the world—"The world sees Me no more, but you see Me." We have the same Truth of God taught in John's first Epistle. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the Wicked One."

WHATEVER religious privileges men of the world may have, they will lose them. It was a great favor to see Christ in the flesh. Kings and Prophets had desired to see His day and had died disappointed because He had not come, but that sight of Him which the generation in which Christ lived enjoyed was taken from them. They were none the better and, in some respects, they were all the worse for having seen Him, whose blood was on them and on their children.

I will not leave you comfortless--in a bereaved and desolate condition; or (as in Margin) "orphans." I will come to you--"I come" or "am coming" to you; that is, plainly by the Spirit, since it was to make His departure to be no bereavement.

So thou must leave me undevoured because I abide in Him, and live and suffer for His name's sake. Men may hunt me out of the world--that I care not for--but I shall not on that account abide in death. I shall live with my Lord Christ, since I know and believe that He liveth!" (quoted in STIER).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

The short passage before us is singularly rich in "precious promises." Twice our Lord Jesus Christ says, "I will." Twice He says to believers, "You shall." We learn from this passage, that Christ's second coming is meant to be the special comfort of believers. He says to His disciples, "I will not leave you comfortless—I will come to you." Now what is the "coming" here spoken of? It is only fair to say that this is a disputed point among Christians. Many refer it to our Lord's coming to His disciples after His resurrection. Many refer it to His invisible coming into the hearts of His people by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Many refer it to His coming by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. It may well be doubted, however, whether any one of these three views conveys the full meaning of our Lord's words, "I will come." The true sense of the expression appears to be the second personal coming of Christ at the end of the world. It is a wide, broad, sweeping promise, intended for all believers, in every age, and not for the Apostles alone—"I will not stay always in heaven—I will one day come back to you." It is like the message which the angels brought to the disciples after the ascension—"This same Jesus shall come in like manner as you have seen Him go." (Acts. 1:11.) It is like the last promise which winds up the Book of Revelation—"Surely I come quickly." (Rev. 22:20.) Just in the same way the parting consolation held out to believers, the night before the crucifixion, is a personal return—"I will come." Let us settle it in our minds that all believers are comparatively "orphans," and children in their minority, until the second advent. Our best things are yet to come. Faith has yet to be exchanged for sight, and hope for certainty. Our peace and joy are at present very imperfect. They are as nothing to what we shall have when Christ returns.

THIS world saw our Lord Jesus for a very little time, but now it seeth him no more. It only saw him with the outward eye and after a carnal sort, so that when the clouds received him and concealed him from bodily vision, this spiritually blind world lost sight of him altogether. Here and there, however, among the crowds of the sightless there were a few chosen men who had received spiritual sight; Christ had been light to them, he had opened their blind eyes, and they had seen him as the world had not seen him.

THIS world saw our Lord Jesus for a very little time, but now it seeth him no more. It only saw him with the outward eye and after a carnal sort, so that when the clouds received him and concealed him from bodily vision, this spiritually blind world lost sight of him altogether. Here and there, however, among the crowds of the sightless there were a few chosen men who had received spiritual sight; Christ had been light to them, he had opened their blind eyes, and they had seen him as the world had not seen him. In a high and full sense they could say, “We have seen the Lord,” for they had in some degree perceived his Godhead, discerned his mission, and learned his spiritual presence of its object, those persons who had seen Jesus spiritually, saw him after he had gone out of the world unto the Father. We who have the same sight still see him. Read carefully the words of the verse before us: “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me.” It is a distinguishing mark of a true follower of Jesus that he sees his Lord and Master when he is not to be seen by the bodily eye; he sees him intelligently and spiritually; he knows his Lord, discerns his character, apprehends him by faith, gazes upon him with admiration as our first sight of Christ brought us into spiritual life, for we looked unto him and were saved, so it is by the continuance of this spiritual sight of Christ that our spiritual life is consciously maintained. We lived by looking, we live still by looking. Faith is still the medium by which life comes to us from the life-giving Lord.

IT is very noticeable in this verse and in many other parts of the New Testament, what a sharp line of demarcation the Lord draws between His people and the world—"The world sees Me no more, but you see Me." We have the same Truth of God taught in John's first Epistle. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the Wicked One." It is quite evident that our Lord kept prominent in His teaching the distinction between the regenerate and the unregenerate—the converted and the unconverted—those who have been quickened by the Holy Spirit and those who have remained dead in trespasses and sins. This distinction which our Lord kept up so strikingly, should always be made clear in every ministry. I feel that much evil comes of a mode of address which is adopted by some of my ministerial brothers in which they speak to the entire congregation as though all who were present were Christians. That is a false theory to go upon because it is not at all likely that any congregation ever gathered together will consist wholly of Christians. The mere coming together for public worship, nowadays, does not at all prove people to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. When they met in the Catacombs or in the caves of the earth and every worshipper had to carry his life in his hands, there might have been some excuse for addressing the whole assembly as Christians. In these days we know right well that there are unconverted persons in the audience and it is proper, therefore, to have one message to the saints and another message to the sinners—and to let it be seen, all through the sermon, that the preacher is aware that the Lord has made a distinction between Israel and Egypt—between them that fear Him and them that fear Him not. The same rule ought, I think, to be observed in prayer.

THIS was and is the mark of the true Believer—that he sees Jesus. When Jesus was here among men, the world saw Him in a certain sense, but yet in truth it did not see Him at all. The world's eyes saw the outside of Christ—the flesh of the Man, Christ, but the true Christ the ungodly eyes could not discern. They could not perceive those wonderful attributes of Character, those delightful graces and charms which made up the true spiritual Christ. They saw but the husk, and not the kernel.

THIS was and is the mark of the true Believer—that he sees Jesus. When Jesus was here among men, the world saw Him in a certain sense, but yet in truth it did not see Him at all. The world's eyes saw the outside of Christ—the flesh of the Man, Christ, but the true Christ the ungodly eyes could not discern. They could not perceive those wonderful attributes of Character, those delightful graces and charms which made up the true spiritual Christ. They saw but the husk, and not the kernel. They saw the quartz of the golden nugget, but not the pure gold which that quartz contained. They saw but the external Man—the real, spiritual Christ they could not see. But unto as many as God had chosen, Christ manifested Himself as He did not unto the world! There were some to whom He said, "The world sees Me not, but you see Me." Some there were whose eyes were anointed with the heavenly salve, so that they saw in "the Man, Christ Jesus," the God, the glorious Savior, the King-of-kings, The Wonderful, The Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace! The blind world said of Him that He was a root out of a dry ground. And when they saw Him there was no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. He was despised and rejected of men. But God's elect were men who saw Him as God over all, blessed forever, descending to tabernacle among men and to take upon Himself man's imperfect nature, so that He might redeem him from all iniquity and save him. Now, to this hour, this is the mark of the true Christian. This is to be of the elect! This is the very badge and symbol of the faithful—they see Jesus. They look beyond the clouds. Other men see the cloud and the darkness and they know not what it is.

WHATEVER religious privileges men of the world may have, they will lose them. It was a great favor to see Christ in the flesh. Kings and Prophets had desired to see His day and had died disappointed because He had not come, but that sight of Him which the generation in which Christ lived enjoyed was taken from them. They were none the better and, in some respects, they were all the worse for having seen Him, whose blood was on them and on their children. So, as a general Truth of God, all the outward religious privileges which any of you may enjoy, if you do not become spiritualmen and are not, indeed, Christ's disciples, will be taken from you, speedily taken from you, leaving no blessing behind, but rather a curse! You are hearers of the Gospel today, some of you, though unconverted—but you shall not always hear it. There is a land where Sabbath bells never ring, where the joyful feet of the messengers of mercy are never seen, and where no loving expostulations and no affectionate entreaties will be addressed to you! Now you join in song with God's people but you will not do so soon—another sound, more strange and full of trembling—will be in your ears! Some of you, it may be, unconverted as you are, even venture to touch the ordinances and have been baptized and have come to the Lord's Table.

Because I live - As surely as I shall rise from the dead, so shall ye. My resurrection shall be the proof and pledge of yours. And because I live a life of intercession for you at the right hand of God, ye shall live a life of grace and peace here, and a life of glory hereafter.