Place for the Word
(No. 2584)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 21, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, APRIL
8, 1883.
"My Word has no place in you." John 8:37.
This was very plain speaking on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
could not only read the thoughts of these Jews, but He could also tell
the source of them. He not only knew their feelings towards Himself,
even before they expressed them, but He also knew why they had such
feelings. Our Lord is not here, now, in bodily Presence, but He is here
by His Spirit. He knows those who have received His Word, and He looks
with gracious approval upon them. If you have given it entrance into
your heart, thank Him for it and take care that you retain it–and that
you permit it to influence your whole life. Let His Word be in you as
salt to preserve you and as light first shining into you–and then,
streaming from you–let it make your life a blessing to all those who
are around you! My Master is glad as He looks upon everyone here who
has received His Word. Precious is that coffer which holds the
priceless treasure of the Word of Christ. Your body is precious to Him,
your soul is precious to Him when He can see that sacred deposit of His
own Word abiding within you!
But there are some here, I fear–no, in all honesty I must say that
there are some here in whom the Word of God is not to be found. To them
Christ says, "My Word has no place in you." Jesus knows your condition,
my dear Hearer, if that is your case. He knows how often you have heard
that Word and He knows what struggles it has cost you to keep that Word
from entering your heart! He knows with what determination you have
refused to receive that Truth of God which has come from God to you. I
would like, if I could, to talk very simply and in a very friendly and
homely manner to every person here who has not received God's Word. And
I would wish to speak so that I should not be understood to be
preaching to this great mass of people so much as to be talking to
individuals, one by one, lovingly anxious that any here who have not
Christ's Word in them may not go out of this building until it has a
place in their hearts.
I. I will begin by asking this question–WHAT PLACE OUGHT THE WORD OF
GOD HAVE IN MEN'S HEARTS? Jesus said to these Jews, "My Word has no
place in you." What place ought the Word of God have in our hearts?
First, it ought to have an inside place. Many persons will give it an
outside place. "The Word of God," says one– "yes, of course I have it
in my house. The Word of God–if you come home with me, you will find
that I have a splendid copy of the Bible in my best room, well bound
and capitally illustrated!" Another says, "I have a Bible in almost
every room of my house. I think there is one in every room, I like to
see it there." Yes, that is very proper and right, but still, the place
for God's Word is not an outside place, but an inside place! It is
infinitely better to have it hidden in your heart than it is to have
many copies of it laid among the furniture of your house. It may be
that your having the Word of God so plentifully at home may increase
your damnation rather than lead to your salvation! You had the Lamp of
Life, but you made a dark lantern of it–you shut in the light and
never used it for any practical purpose. My dear Hearers, you who pay
an outward reverence to that Word and say that it is undoubtedly
Inspired, and praise and extol it–if, at the same time, believing it
to be true, you do not yield yourself up to its power, may God have
mercy upon you and lead you to repent of your sin! The proper place for
the Word is inside, in your heart–have you got it hidden there?
Next, it ought to have a place of high honor God's Word in a man ought
to be in the best part of that man, not merely in the store room of his
memory, but in the drawing room of his enjoyments, in the parlor where
it will talk with him. If the human mind is compared to a palace, the
proper place for Christ's Word is on the throne! All the writings of
men put together cannot equal in value one single chapter of the Bible!
Their words, at best, are but gold-leaf. But God's Word is bullion!
Here you have pearls that are altogether priceless, such as can never
be found elsewhere. If the Word of Christ dwells in you, let it dwell
in you richly–let it be honored and reverenced beyond all the words of
men–however excellent those words may be.
Give the Word of Christ an inside place and a place of honor.
Next, give it a place of trust. Let it cover you as the hen covers her
chickens with her wings. Let it surround you as the ramparts surround
the city and protect it from the invader. Give yourself up to God's
Truth as one trusts himself in a lifeboat, hoping to be safely landed.
Have no confidence but in the Word of the Master. If you stand partly
on God's Word and partly on man's word, you will have one foot on a
rock and the other foot upon quicksand–and that one foot upon the
quicksand will be your ruin! "Trust you in the Lord forever," for His
Word is faithful, true and steadfast. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but His Word shall never pass away! Give, then, to that Word, all your
confidence! Repose upon it for it is Infallible and unchangeable.
Further, if the Word of God is in you, give it a place of rule. Let it
be the master of your thoughts, ruling your understanding–the master
of your affections, curbing your passions and exciting holy desires in
you. Let it be the master of your words. Let all sinful and even all
idlewords be banished from your lips! Let your speech be seasoned with
the salt of Revelation. Let the Word of the Lord be the master of your
action. "Whatever He says to you, do it." If Christ forbids you to do
anything, let it be avoided with all the energy of your spirit. Put the
Scripture, the Inspired Word–put Christ, the Incarnate Word, Himself,
upon the throne of your whole being and surrender yourself to Him,
without attempting to make any terms or conditions!
The Word of God ought also to have in us a place of love. ' 'O how love
I Your Law," said David. God's Word is never truly known till it is
loved. "I hate vain thoughts, but Your Law do I love," said David. He
esteemed it more than gold, yes, than much fine gold. In religion, to
love is to know–I wish it were always true that to know is to love.
When we love the Word and it saturates our whole being so that we
cannot relinquish it, but take an intense delight in it, and have a
fervent affection for every part of it–then it is that we put the Word
of God into the place it ought to occupy– not in the attic of the
brain, but in the parlor of the heart, and there let it take up its
permanent abode!
That last remark suggests that the Word of Christ ought to have a
permanent place in us–it ought never to be forgotten. We should not be
followers of Christ, today, and followers of somebody else, tomorrow.
No! Let the Word that Christ has spoken have an eternal effect upon our
immortal nature and a perpetual abiding place within our heart. God
grant that it may be so intertwined with the very warp and woof of our
being that it would be impossible to take it from us without destroying
our very selves! May our life prove that the Living Word is within us,
quickening us and causing us to live with the life of God!
Now, dear Friends, it is for a special reason that I have insisted upon
this point, that the Word of God should have its rightful place in us.
I am no Prophet, nor the son of a Prophet, yet I perceive that there is
coming upon the world a time of most unusual trial. I believe that
within the next few years we shall hear of all sorts of fanaticism and
folly such as you have hardly imagined. There will probably arise false
christs and false prophets of every kind–and you will be bid to
believe in this, and to follow that, and to obey the other. I charge
you, by the living God, have no master but Christ and have no book but
the Bible to be your Infallible Guide! Now, soldiers, the watchword for
today is, "Stand fast." You who are but babes must grow, or else you
will be swept off your feet in the cyclones of excitement that have
already begun! Be no longer children, leaping over the hedge to seek
for every nest that silly birds may build. Keep to the King's Highway
and follow Christ! And he that comes to you, though he seems a saint,
transparent as crystal and bright as the sun, turn from him if he
speaks to you any other thing than this Word of Christ, this permanent,
perpetual Word which cannot be shaped or changed! Stand on this solid
Rock and when the hurly-burly is over and when brains shall cease to
swim, you will have cause to rejoice in your steadfastness! There are
swift currents, now, that strain every ship and compel the mariner to
put on all steam even to hold his own against them–and blessed shall
he be who is not carried away by them. Blessed shall be the brave
sentinel of Christ who stood still in his watchtower though the morning
was long in coming, and who watched through the dreary night with
steadfast expectation that it would come–and with this resolve that
whether it did come or did not come–he would stand where His Master
put him!
As for me, I care not what men invent, or what they deny–the Truth
which I have learned from the Scriptures, by the teaching of the Holy
Spirit–is the Truth of God by which I shall stand so long as there is
breath in my body! And with Luther I say I can do no other. To this I
must stand! Let those who will do otherwise, follow after novelties
till they weary of them.
This much have I spoken concerning the place which God's Word ought to
have in every man's heart.
II. Now give me your heart, Friend. Let me have a good grip of it while
I try to answer a second question–WHY HAS THAT WORD NO PLACE IN MANY
HEARTS?
"Oh!" says one, "I am so very busy that I cannot admit it. " My dear
Friend, I hope you will alter that answer. I heard, some time ago, of
one who, when anyone spoke to him about religion, always used to reply,
"You see, I am so very busy that I cannot attend to it." It happened,
one morning, that he saw in the paper that a fellow-tradesman had
suddenly died and, as he read the paragraph, he said to his wife, "I
don't know how old So-and-So found time to die! I have such a deal to
do that I could not afford time to die." He staggered as he went out of
the room and fell across the threshold dead within five minutes after
having uttered that wicked speech! I have no doubt that the same thing
has happened elsewhere. You may fancy that you are too busy to think of
the affairs of your soul, yet you may be taken away, all of a sudden,
from the midst of your occupations and then what will those gains
benefit you? It may be printed in The Illustrated London News that you
died worth so many thousands of pounds, but will it not be a great lie?
When a rich man dies, what is he worth? He has, perhaps, a lead coffin,
or the undertaker may use more expensive wood than for a poor man.
Granted there might be a greater display at the funeral and, very
often, there is more squabbling with his family over what he has left!
I have often thought that the poor man's funeral has much more sorrow
in it, much more that could be desired and spoken of with pleasure than
the funeral of the man who seeks to be immensely rich. You know what
happens when poor Hedge dies. His wife weeps, for he was the mainstay
of the household, the bread-winner of the family. The poor woman
wonders how he is to be buried. Well, there is his daughter, Mary–she
is a domestic and she gets about 15 pounds a year for wages. She has
not much to spare, but she makes up her mind that her father shall not
be buried by the parish, so she finds a little of the money that is
needed. There is the eldest son. He has eight children of his own and
he has only the wages of an agricultural laborer–but he pinches so
that he may subscribe his sovereign towards the expense. They all feel
what they give–they are made to feel it–and they all sincerely mourn
and lament. And though there is not a sixpence to divide between them,
yet with what honor and with what love they lay their father in the
silent tomb!
On the other hand, you know how it often is with rich people–the best
part of the funeral is when the will is read. And I have more than once
heard some such remark as this–"That man was very much like a hog–no
good to anybody while he lived, but he will make some fine sides of
bacon when he is cut up." Is it worth while for a man to fling his soul
away merely that he may get so much together that he cannot use, and
which will very likely be misused by those who inherit it? I say that
"the game is not worth the candle." My dear Friend, if this is the game
you have been playing, give it up at once, and say, "I must have time.
I will have time, come what may, to seek the salvation of my soul, for
above all else I want to make sure of life eternal." You will not again
say that you are too busy to receive Christ's Word, will you?
Another says, "You ask me why the Word of Christ is not abiding in me?
I think it is because–." No, you would not like to say it, so I will
say it for you–it is because there is no particular novelty about it.
You like a brand-new gospel, do you not? Well, there are plenty of
people, nowadays, who supply that worthless article. We get a new sect
about every month and some new-fashioned gospel invented almost every
week! Away they go after something fresh. First, North, then, South.
Then, East, then, West. "Hurrah! We have found the very thing! Sound
the timbrels, beat the drums, blow the trumpets!" Just so, but "the
Kingdom of God comes not with observation." Remember what was written
concerning Christ hundreds of years before He came to earth? "He shall
not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A
bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not
quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth." If the gospel that
men teach is new, it is not true, for there is nothing that can be new
and true! The Truth of God is old as the everlasting hills. Therefore,
dear Friends, be not touched with that Athenian madness of always
seeking after some new thing! Did you ever hear of new gold? To all
intents and purposes, all gold that is worth having is old. Men can
make what they call pearls, sapphires and diamonds–but they are paste
gems and utterly valueless. It is just the same with the doctrines made
by men–they are not according to the eternal Word of God and,
therefore, they are not worth a penny a cartload! Do not be so foolish
as to reject Christ's Word because it is ancient–that is the very
reason why you should receive it and retain it in your memory and in
your heart.
Shall I suggest that there are some who do not receive Christ's Word
because they are listening to man's word?'f you know anybody who is
equal to my Master, hear him! If you know anybody who is superior to
Christ, hear him! As for me, He is the one and the only Teacher of the
Truth of God and at His feet I reverently and humbly sit. All other
teachers whom I have ever heard of, or met with, so far as they speak
as He does, are worthy of attention. But whenever their teaching
differs from His, on that point they are worthy of no regard whatever!
Did you say that such-and-such a thing is believed by you because you
found it in Calvin's Institutes? I am a Calvinist and a lover of that
grand man's memory and doctrine–but I believe nothing merely because
Calvin taught it–but because I have found his teaching in the Word of
God. "Oh, but the Prayer Book says such-and-such!" It may do so, but, I
pray you, believe nothing because it is there unless it can also be
found in Holy Scripture! "But such-and-such things were in the Minutes
of Mr. Wesley's Conference." If they are according to Scripture, let
them stand! But if they are not, who was Mr. Wesley that we should
receive his teaching? "Oh, but the archbishops have said it!" And what
are all the archbishops piled together from the days of the first
archbishop until now, wherein they have differed from the Word of God?
No, my Friend, do not fill your brain with other people's teaching–if
you would be right, turn all else out and come and say–"The Word of
Christ for me! The Word of Christ for me!" If I have any influence over
you and if you are ever inclined to believe a thing simply because I
say it, I charge you, throw away such superstition and test all that I
say by the Word of God. The real weight of truth consists not in what
one man says, or in what another man says–the weight, the power, the
substance lies in what Christ has said–that, and that alone, is the
Truth of God.
I think I hear another say, "I have not received Christ's Word for it
seems to me to be too spiritual, too holy." We can never deny that it
is holy and spiritual, but, my Friend, think that matter over and
withdraw those words you just uttered. Can anything be too spiritual to
come from God, or too holy to bring us back to God? Let those
characteristics of the Word of God charm you to Christ and not drive
you away from Him!
"Oh, but," someone says, "if I were to believe Christ's Word, it would
be very cold comfort to me, and it would rob me of many of my present
enjoyments." Yes, if those enjoyments would rob you of your soul, but
not else. There is no pleasure denied to me, as a Christian, except
such pleasure as would be no pleasure to me as a Christian! The moment
a man's mind takes in Christ's Word and is saturated with Christ's
Spirit, he finds a pleasure only in that which is good– while that
which is deluding, that which is degrading, that which is depraving,
becomes a misery to him. Can anyone find comfort in Christ's Word? Ask
the sick who can lie on their beds and sing! Is there comfort in
Christ's Word? Ask the aged who, tottering on their staff in the midst
of many infirmities, are taught a holy patience! Ask the dying who, as
they gasp out their life, yet shout of victory, their faces beaming
with the light of the Glory which is opening up before them! If you
want real joy, find it in Christ's Word, and no longer say that it has
no place in you!
Let me give you a very special squeeze of the hand and whisper in your
ear that I am afraid the reason why God's Word has no place in your
heart is that you are not very much in earnest. You are only like a
butterfly–you have not come to real living yet–you are sporting,
playing, trifling. Oh, that you might soon find life in earnest and
think in earnest about eternity! Then, but not till then, will you seek
to lay hold on Christ.
May I also whisper to you very softly and ask, "Is not the reason why
you have not received Christ's Word because you have some favorite sin?
I have known men who could not be Christians and they argued very
plausibly about the matter, but the real hindrance was that they had
another house besides their own. I have known some men who could not
believe in Jesus Christ for one very sufficient reason–namely, that
they believed too much in the bottle. You know that a man cannot be a
Believer in the Savior when he is devotedly attached to the god
Bacchus! And I have known some to get very much enraged against the
Truth of God and the one who preached it when the reason has been that
their mode of conducting business did not square with the Gospel. Their
yard measure was short of 36 inches–and when they began to count up to
a hundred, it was very difficult for them to get beyond eighty-five! A
"dozen" did not mean twelve, and a gross–well, I do not know how
grossly short their "gross" fell.
There are all sorts of tricks of trade and a man who practices them
says, "Well, you know, I am not strait-laced." No, Sir, nobody ever
thought that you were. "Oh, but I am not going to be one of your
precise people!" No, I know you are not. We really would not malign you
so much as to suppose that you were going to be precise, like the
Puritans, for instance. You, also, are among those who like a broad
theology. Yes, I know, you sometimes are unable to get home at night
because the pavement is so narrow. I understand you perfectly well. It
is for this reason that many do not receive Christ's Word–because
there is some pet sin of their own that they do not like to have
interfered with and, therefore, Christ and His Word are shut out of
their heart.
Shall I tell you one thing more? Very possibly you do not receive
Christ's Word because you need to be made a new man before you will do
so. The carnal man receives not the things that are of God. There is a
hard slab of rock in your heart and when the good Seed falls upon it,
the birds soon take it away. What you need, Friends, is to have that
rock broken up, dissolved, changed into pliable earth. Can I do that
for you? I was going to say, I wish I could, but I cannot. Only the
Eternal Spirit, who can quicken the dead, can renew you in the spirit
of your mind. Cry unto God that this great miracle may be worked–you
will never receive the Word until it is. This is the message for you,
"You must be born again." Must, mark you. It is not may–"you must–you
must be born again," for until you are born again, this living and
incorruptible Seed of the Word of God will never get into your hearts.
May the Holy Spirit speedily work the miracle of regeneration in your
spirit!
III. I have finished when I have tried to answer very briefly my third
question–IF YOU HAVE NOT THE WORD OF CHRIST IN YOU, WHAT WILL COME OF
IT?
Something came to the Jews because they rejected Christ's Word. They
sought to kill Christ because His Word had no place in them. I hope
that will not happen to you, Friends, but I have witnessed it in
others. I have seen the child of godly parents quench conscience and
resist the Spirit. I have seen many a young man, full of fair promises,
but refusing to be decided for Christ and, all of a sudden, I have
found him a skeptic, seen him grow into an infidel and seen him develop
into a blasphemer. I have known him to become a most violent antagonist
to the Gospel. "Is your servant a dog," says one, "that he should do
this thing?" No, it may be that you are not a dog, but there is enough
of the dog spirit in you to do it. If you are dog enough to turn away
from Christ, you will yet be dog enough to howl at His heels. Beware of
resisting the Spirit of God and trifling with conscience, for there is
nothing worse! A man may play on the edge of a precipice and he may do
it safely for many a day, but one of these days he will make a fatal
slip. Mind what you are doing, I pray you! Never let it be said of you,
as Christ said to these Jews, "You seek to kill Me because My Word has
no place in you."
Or, if that shall not be the case with you, I will tell you what may
happen. Christ may cease speaking to you. "I shall not leave off going
to Chapel," says one. No, perhaps not, but the Gospel may no longer
have any voice to you. Possibly it has already less power over you than
it once had–you used to shiver in your shoes when you heard the Truth
of God! You have gone out of this place trembling under the Word–but
you do not do so now. I hope it is not because I do not preach as
earnestly as I did, but if I do preach as earnestly and as faithfully
as ever, then what is happening to you? Why, you are getting deaf ears
and a callous, hardened heart–and these are the commencement of that
most awful of all conditions into which men slide when God says to His
messengers, "Go and tell this people, Hear you, indeed, but understand
not; and see you, indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this
people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert, and be healed." It is a terrible thing when
even the Gospel becomes the savor of death unto death to those who
would not permit it to be the savor of life unto life to them! Before
Christ packs up His wares and goes His way because you would not have
His goods, ask Him to let you buy them of Him. His terms will not hurt
you–He sells His precious things "without money and without price."
Urgently require at His hands that before He turns His back on you, you
may yield to Him and be saved!
And, remember, once more, that if the Word of God has no place in us,
it will exist somewhere. Down came the Word of God to a man, the other
night, and it knocked very hard at his heart, but the door was shut.
The Word knocked again, and again, and again. Still the door was shut
and the Word went back to Him who sent it and it stayed there. How many
times have you heard the Gospel, my Friend? Could you count up the
number of faithful sermons that have been preached in your hearing? Do
you know how many earnest entreaties from friends have been addressed
to you in vain? You shut them out, but they all went back and there
they are–at the Throne of God! And when you come there, at last, and
your trial takes place, you will be surprised to find all those
messages and messengers present at the last grand assize to bear
witness against you! Oh, let it not be so, I pray you! Will you not
believe in Jesus Christ even now? Will you not turn to Him and live
this very hour? Will you not leave your sins and trust the Savior? Will
you not go to Him and, with a broken heart, confess that you need Him?
He may be found of those who seek Him! Then, will you not seek Him now?
If not, remember this scene–these crowded galleries, this area, these
thousands of eyes–I call upon all to witness against you, in that day,
that this night I preached Christ to you and bade you live–and if you
will not, if you prefer moral and eternal suicide–I call this
building, every beam and every stone in it, and every person here to
witness that I have told you of the way of salvation, and implored you
to run in it! They shall be swift witnesses against you to condemn you
if you will not repent! Turn you, turn you, why will you die? Trust the
Savior! Trust Him, now, and live forever! God grant that it may be so,
for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN8:28-59.
Verse 28. Then said Jesus unto them.–That is, to the Jews who were
questioning and opposing Him.
28. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I
am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father has taught Me,
I speak these things. Blessed be God, there were many, after the
crucifixion of Christ, who did believe in Him! Yet, alas, in others,
the blindness of heart continued and they would not see the Messiah in
Him who was crucified. We, who believe in the uplifted Savior, can see
the Father in the Son and, to us, faith has become a most blessed
thing–and we know that He does nothing of Himself and, that as the
Father has taught Him, so He speaks.
29. And He that sent Me is with Me. I commend that short sentence to
all my Master's servants, for there is great comfort in it. Your Lord
could say this and so can you if you are truly employed in His
service–"He that sent me is with me."
29. The Father has not left Me alone. There is another precious motto
for you. Jesus could truly say, "The Father has not left Me alone" and,
as He did not leave His only-begotten and well-beloved Son, so He will
not leave anyof His children.
29. For I do always those things that please Him. Let us labor
earnestly to be able to say that! If there is anything which would not
please God, let us have nothing to do with it. If it would not please
God, it ought not to please us. Blessed shall that servant of the Lord
be who can sincerely say, "I do always those things that please Him."
30-32. As He spoke these words, many believed on Him. Then said Jesus
to those Jews which believed on Him, If you continue in My word, then
are you My disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free. There is such a thing as a temporary
faith–beware of it, I beseech you. Men appear to believe in Christ for
a little while, like that Seed which was sown upon the rock, which
speedily sprang up and, just as quickly, withered away. God-given faith
is not temporary, but permanent. "If you continue in My Word, then are
you My disciples indeed." God gives us the faith which is able to
endure the fire of persecution and which continues steadfast even when
exposed to the evil example of an ungodly world. "He that endures to
the end shall be saved." But temporary faith brings only delusion and
ends in destruction.
33, 34. They answered Him, We are Abraham's seed, and were never in
bondage to any man: how say You, You shall be made free? Jesus answered
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whoever commits sin is the
servant of sin. Depend upon it, acts of sin breed habits of sin, and
habits are like the chains which slaves wear. How many there are who
are bound to their lusts with many shackles and fetters! Once they
seemed to enjoy the sin and to hold it in subjection, but now it has
bound them and they cannot escape from it.
35, 36. And the servant abides not in the house forever: but the Son
abides always. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be
free indeed. If He sets you free from sin, you will never go back to
its slavery! There is no emancipation like that which Jesus brings, for
it is eternal! When He snaps the fetter, He sets the Believer free
forever.
37, 38. 1 know that you are Abraham's seed; but you seek to kill Me
because My word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen
with My Father: and you do that which you have seen with your father.
It is a common characteristic of children to tell what they see. What
they witness at home, they are sure to tell abroad. If you are a child
of God, you will act and speak like your Father does. And if you are a
child of the devil, you will act and speak like he. Our parentage may
be discovered by our acts and our words–"I speak that which I have
seen with My Father: and you do that which you have seen with your
father."
39. They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said
unto them, If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of
Abraham. "That is, if you were the true spiritual children of faithful
Abraham, you would act as he did."
40-42. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man that has told you the truth,
which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. You do the deeds of
your father. Then said they to Him, We are not born of fornication; we
have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your
Father, you would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God;
neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. If any man has a right idea
of God and really loves God, if he will study the Character of Christ,
he will see that Christ is the very image of God in human flesh–and he
will fall in love with Christ. That result is inevitable! Men form
wrong ideas of God and then, when they read the life of Christ, they
see no likeness between the Christ and their conception of God–nor is
there any! But if they would take their idea of God from God's own
Word, then they would see that in the Person of the Man of Nazareth,
the Divine Character truly shines out, though it is toned down so as to
meet the human eyes without the excessive glare that would blind them.
But it is the same Light of Light, the same Love of Love, the Glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ, "for in Him dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily." He is the express Image of God and he who truly
knows God will know that Christ is also God, for Father and Son are
One.
43-47. Why do you not understand My speech? Even because you cannot
hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie,
he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it And
because I tell you the truth, you believe Me not Which of you convicts
Me of sin! And if say the truth, why do you not believe Me? He that is
of God hears God's Words: you therefore hear them not, because you are
not of God. What a wonderful Character was the Character of Christ! We
get a strange light cast upon it as we read this dialog in which He
endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself. My Brothers and
Sisters, in Christ there is all the tenderness of a woman, but do not
think that He is effeminate, far from it! What masculine force, what
vigor, what power there is in Him! There are some people who, if we
speak plainly against error, tell us that we are uncharitable and that
we have not the spirit of Christ. Is it so? Did there ever fall from
any lips more burning words than those which we find here, when He is
brought into conflict with His foes? The fact is, He is meek and lowly,
but He is most courageous! He is genial and kind, but He is honest and
true! He speaks with suavity and gentleness, but, at the same time,
there is great force about every expression that He uses. He does not
mince matters when He is dealing with sin! There is no velvet on His
lips–He utters no honeyed phrases. Naked Truths of God flash like a
scimitar from its scabbard when He has to deal with those who oppose
it! "Because I tell you the truth, you believe Me not. Which of you
convicts Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe Me?
He that is of God hears God's Words: you, therefore, hear them not,
because you are not of God."
48. Then answered the Jews, and said unto Him, Say we not well that You
are a Samaritan, and have a devil? You know this form of answer. It is
an old trick, when there is no case–abuse the plaintiff! So, when
there is no answer to what Christ has said, call Him a Samaritan and
say that He has a devil.
49-51. Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honor My Father, and
you dishonor Me. And I seek not My own glory: there is One that seeks
and judges. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keeps My saying,
he shall never see death. What glorious Gospel brilliance Christ
suddenly flashes upon these men! He promises even to them that if they
will keep His saying, they shall live forever, they shall be partakers
of an eternal, unquenchable life! It might have seemed to us to be like
casting pearls before swine to proclaim that great Truth of God to such
hearers–but our Master's infinite wisdom does not permit us to think
so.
52-56. Then said the Jews unto Him, Now we know that You have a devil.
Abraham is dead, and the Prophets; and You say, If a man keeps My
saying, he shalnever taste of death. Are Yougreater than our father
Abraham, who is dead? And the Prophets are dead: whom do You make
Yourself out to be? Jesus answered, If I honor Myself, My honor is
nothing: it is My Father that honors Me; of whom you say, that He is
your God: yet you have not known Him, but I know Him: and if I should
say, Iknow Him not, I should be a liar like you: but IknowHim, andkeep
His saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and He saw it,
and was glad. He will not answer their questions, for they do not ask
that they may learn. They ask that they may quibble. So He multiplies
His riddles. He lets the light blind them yet more!
Now He speaks, not so much of the undying life of Believers, as of His
own eternal Existence, long before the Prophets and Abraham of whom
they had spoken.
57, 58. Then said thee Jews unto Him, You are not yet fifty years old,
andhave You seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Before Abraham was, I Am. Before there was any Abraham, there
was this glorious Christ of ours existing as the Eternal I AM, in all
the infinity of His Glory! Now comes a thoroughly characteristic Jewish
answer.
59. Then took they up stones to cast at Him: but Jesus hid Himself, and
went out of the temple, going through the midst of them and so passed
by. They believed that He claimed to be God, as He certainly did, and,
therefore, they tried to stone Him. And there is no foothold for those
who say that Christ was a very good Man, but only a Man. If He was not
the Son of God, He was not a good Man, for no good man would have left
upon his followers, and upon his foes, too, the impression that he
claimed to be God if he were not! And no good man could have claimed to
be God if he were not really so. Rank Jesus Christ either among the
grossest of impostors, or else as the Son of God–one or the other!
There is no halting-piece between the two. Blessed be Your name, O Son
of Mary, You are also the Son of the Highest and, as such, we worship
and adore You!