"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." John 16:7
Why did the coming of the Comforter depend on Christ's going away? We may say, for one thing, that the Comforter could not come — until the great offering for sin had been made. The Father sent the Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sins. Without shedding of blood — there could be no remission of sins. There was, therefore, no redemption to be offered and applied — until Jesus had made His great sacrifice. It was necessary, therefore, that He should go away and should die — before the Comforter could come. The precious alabaster box of Christ's humanity must be broken open — in order that the sacred ointment of His most blessed life might be poured out on the dead world.
It was necessary, also, that Christ should return to the Father as the Son of man, the representative of humanity, and be received into the Father's bosom as such. "Humanity was to ascend to Heaven — before the Spirit could be sent to humanity on earth." Christ also says, that He will send the Comforter. He could not do this until He had returned to His glory and been exalted, in His humanity, to His throne of power.
These are hints of the reasons why Jesus had to go away before the Comforter could come. We live now under the blessed reign of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we wish we had lived in the time of Christ's human presence in this world, and look back on the period of the incarnation as earth's brightest and most glorious days; but really we have far richer privileges than those had, who knew Christ in the flesh. We have the same blessed Presence that they had, only without the limitations of flesh. Christ is now to millions everywhere, even far more than He was then to a few favored ones.
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J.R. Miller (1840 - 1912)
Prolific author and pastor of Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois, Rev. James Russell Miller served the USCC as a field agent in the Army of the Potomac and Army of the Cumberland.J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia. J.R. Miller D.D.'s lasting fame is through his over 50 books. Many are still in publication.
James Russell Miller (March 20, 1840 - July 2, 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
In 1857, James entered Beaver Academy and in 1862 he progressed to Westminster College, Pennsylvania, which he graduated in June, 1862. Then in the autumn of that year he entered the theological seminary of the United Presbyterian Church at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mr. Miller resumed his interrupted studies at the Allegheny Theological Seminary in the fall of 1865 and completed them in the spring of 1867. That summer he accepted a call from the First United Presbyterian Church of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. He was ordained and installed on September 11, 1867.
J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia.
Five years later, in 1880, Dr. Miller became assistant to the Editorial Secretary at the The Presbyterian Board of Publication, also in Philadelphia.