Seeing Jesus
(No. 3443)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1915.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 9, 1896.
"Yet a little while, and the world sees Me no more; but you see Me."
John 14:19.
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. There will be another baptism for you and you will eat
bread at a far different table from that of the Lord, by-and-by, for
unless you are converted, these, instead of being means of Grace, shall
be swift messengers against you to your condemnation! It is a very
sorrowful case when a man is so bad that that which is good becomes bad
to him, and a fearful proof of the fall of our race and the depravity
of our unregenerate nature–that even the best religious privileges
will only become a savor of death unto death unto us unless the Grace
of God shall change our hearts!
Note, then, that as the text says that the world which saw Christ
should soon see Him no more, so it teaches us that there are many
outward privileges in religion that even worldly people enjoy that they
shall soon enjoy no more, for, as they would not have the inward
spiritual Grace, they shall not forever have the outward and visible
sign to tread beneath their feet! As they would not receive the Grace
of God into their hearts in the power of it, so shall the very offers
of love and the outward ministrations of mercy be withdrawn from them!
With that black foil, the gem of our text may shine the brighter. "But
you see Me"–you, My people. You that have believed, you who, by Grace,
have received the new nature. You who have passed from death unto
life–when the world sees Christ no more, you shall see Him in His
Glory! And even now, while a blind world beholds Him not, you are
enjoying a sight of Him. Our first word tonight, after this preface,
shall be–
I. SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES.
The world sees Him no more, but you see Him. The difference lies in the
kind of sight. The world's sight of Christ, in the first place, was
only a sight to the eyes and, consequently, the moment Christ was gone
out of this world, the world saw Him no more. But when He was gone,
there were others who had seen Him with a different sight, which was
not affected by His corporeal absence–they continued to see because
their seeing had been something other than the sight of the eyes. Now,
when Jesus Christ was here upon earth, all that an ungodly man saw of
Christ was His outward form–as some think incomparably beautiful, and
so I suppose it was at the first. So perfect a spirit must surely have
been enshrined within a matchless, outward form! I can conceive Him to
have been full of Grace, even in the common sense of that term, as well
as in its higher meaning. But in later years, such were the griefs of
His heart that we know that He appeared to be older than He was, for
the Jews said, "You are not yet fifty years old," when He was but a
little more than thirty. Such was the decay, probably, such the
emaciation that grief brought upon Him, that He had no form or
comeliness, and when men looked upon Him they saw Him as the Man of
Sorrows and the acquaintance of grief. Whatever the
outward form may have been, it was certainly all that the ungodly man
saw, all that the Pharisee saw, all that Pilate saw, all that Herod
saw–just that outward form. They did not, therefore, see the real
Christ of God at all, and in proof that they did not see Him, we find
that some of them could only see in Him an impostor, who pretended to
be what He was not. Others could only see in Him an ordinary Prophet, a
remarkable man, but still one of the common of Prophets, and no more.
They could not see in Him what His disciples saw, namely, His glorious
inward Character, the Glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full
of Grace and Truth.
Now, you do not know a man because you happen to know the color of his
eyes, the peculiar curl of his hair, or what kind of features he may
possess. You know a man better when you have lived with him, when you
know his spirit, when you have traced his virtues, when you have read
his secrets. That is the man. The spirit is the man. The body is, after
all, but the shrine in which the spirit dwells. The world saw Christ
only as to His outward form–and when He was gone they saw Him no more
in that respect. But His disciples had seen His inward Nature. Some of
them had seen what flesh and blood could not reveal to them–they had
been made to see, by having their eyes spiritually anointed with
heavenly eye-salves and, consequently, when Christ was gone from their
natural sight, they continued to see–and I venture to say they saw
more clearly than they had done before, for now, when He was taken up
from them, they began to read what He had said to them with greater
understanding! They began to see some of His actions in a different
light–and much that they did not understand at one time when He was
with them, because they could not bear it, they began to understand now
that He was gone because His Spirit revealed it–their understandings
being capable of receiving the deeper Truth. They saw the better for
His absence, while the world saw not at all!
Beloved Friend, I shall ask you, before I pass on–Have you ever had
such a sight of Jesus Christ? No, I do not mean, did you ever dream you
saw Him? I do not mean, did you ever think you saw a vision? I do not
care whether you have or have not. If you saw the devil, that would not
send you to Hell–and if you saw Christ, it would not send you to
Heaven. But have you ever had that spiritual sight of Him which has
made you to understand His Character? Have you ever seen Him as the
Christ of God, the God-Man, the Only-Begotten, the Well-Beloved, the
Savior, the King of your spirit? Have you so seen Him as to be subdued
by the sight and to be at once enlisted in His service? Oh, this is the
sight which He gives to His own people, the sight which saves, the
sight of which He speaks when He says, "The world sees Me no more, but
you see Me"–the difference between the sight of the eyes and the sight
of the inner man!
We have a sight of Christ, further, which not only lasts when Christ is
gone, but which lasts when our eyes are gone. The world can only see
while the eye endures. If the eye should by any means be filmed, or if
especially the eye and all the powers of the body should be smitten by
death, then there would be to the world no sight of Christ. But in our
case our sight of Jesus Christ is one which has been known to be even
brightened by the eyes being quenched–a sight which grows more and
more clear as the flesh decays, a sight which will be clearest of all
when we have done with eyes altogether, when we shall be in the
disembodied and spiritual state–then shall we see the King in His
beauty to perfection and though, after a while there shall be added to
that sight a corporeal sight, when the body shall rise again from the
grave, yet meanwhile our sight is such that if our eyes were taken away
from us, we thank God it would not dim our sight of Christ one bit!
There are some in this place, tonight, whom I remember with
affectionate regard, who have not seen the light of the sun for many
years, and yet their eyes see the face of Christ almost always, for
their love to Christ is so fervent and the communion they have with
Christ is so constant that the loss of their eyes seems to be, in their
case, almost a privilege! They see the better because that drop screen
has crossed the optic glass and shut them out from the world. Yes, and
if any of us should be overtaken by the gradual closing of the eyes,
heavy as such an affliction must be, we thank God we shall still be
able to see Him! And when the eye-strings break in death, then, even
then, shall we see Him! And while we lie pining there, and friends
think us shut out from everything that is happy, we shall but consider
ourselves shut in, waiting for the full appearing of the Lord our
Savior! The sight, then, which God gives to His people, is a sight
which is not dependent upon Christ's bodily Presence, and is not
dependent, in the next place, upon our bodily eyes!
On this matter of spiritual differences we remark next, that the sight
which is here meant is one which is an available thing when everything
else goes to the contrary. When everything prospers with a man of the
world, even he sees, and says, "Perhaps God is here." If he is an
outwardly religious man, though not inwardly so, if he mingles in a
congregation where there is some degree of religious excitement, if his
own mind is gratified, he will say he thinks Christ is there. But the
child of God can see Jesus Christ where nobody else can, namely, in the
midst of the storm and the tempest, where everything threatens present
destruction! The Believer hears Him say, "It is I," and sees Him
walking upon the waves– sees Him not only in exciting religious
meetings, but in the quiet of solitude. Worldlings in solitude see
nothing, have no
holy thoughts–but there the Christian perceives Jesus, and if that
solitude is attended with much of trial, and temptation, and inward
sorrow, and distress, yet faith is fully at work and the Believer looks
through every mist and cloud, and still sees Jesus, according to His
promise–"Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." It
is a poor faith that can only see Christ in the sunlight. It is a brave
faith that sees Him at midnight. It is poor faith that believes that
Jesus is there when all prospers, but it is right faith that knows He
is there when nothing prospers except faith, which prospers most when
tried. It is glorious to be able to read God's Word sometimes
backwards–not to believe that His hard messages mean unkindness, but
to understand that there is love in every stroke of the rod, eternal
love in every hard word that falls from the Savior's lips. Faith, then,
not only sees Jesus when He is corporeally absent, and sees Him without
corporeal eyes, but sees Him when to sense it seems quite impossible
that Jesus should be there! Note these differences, and let us pass on.
Now we have here– II. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT.
I shall ask you, Brothers and Sisters, now quietly to look into
yourselves to see whether you have the spiritual discernment we shall
now speak of. We see Him. We see Him, first, with a trust which hangs
all its confidence upon Him. The world does not see Christ as the great
Foundation Stone of its hope. It sees its own works. It hopes in
ceremonies and in outward forms. But we see Him. Whenever our faith
looks abroad, she sees nothing but Jesus. "No man, but Jesus only." On
that dear Cross my soul hangs all her confidence–not a rag anywhere
else!–
"All my trust on You is stayed, All my help from You I bring." This is
an essential mark of a Christian, that he sees Jesus with the simple
faith that relies alone upon Him. Dear Hearer, do you in this respect
see Jesus? If so, rest assured that where He is in His Glory, you shall
shortly be! There is life in that look! There is more than life
present–there is life eternal in a look at Him! I hope you are not
among those who say, "I did look to Jesus once." No, we still see Him.
The life of our faith dwells in a perpetual life-look at Christ! We do
not say that we have seen Him and then we have withdrawn our glance,
but we continue still to look. Our faith does not depend on something
done in the past in us, but on that finished work which abides still
for us, and to which we look day by day. We see Him with the look of a
simple faith.
We see Him, next, with the look of a reverent worship. Where is He
tonight, Christian, do you think? He is yonder as to His body–He is
yonder at the right hand of the Father! I will not try to use my
imagination to picture Him there in that supernal splendor which far
outshines the lamps of Heaven, otherwise we might so speak of Him that
you might seem to hear Him pleading, now, for you, and see Him wearing
your names engraved on the jewels of His breastplate, displayed before
the Father's face for you at this hour. But though we will not thus
picture Him, yet we see Him there by faith, and our soul bows and
worships! All hail! All hail! Immanuel, Son of Mary and Son of God! Man
and God, we worship You with all our hearts! Had we crowns, we would
cast them at Your feet, but as these are not ours as yet, we bring You
our songs, and our prayers, and our hearts' love. And here, tonight, in
the assembly of Your saints, we look at You and we worship You!
Now, I am conscious in my own heart, tonight, of a clearer sight of
Christ than the sight which I take of you sitting in your pews. As I
see you in your pews, I do but glance upon the flesh in which you live.
As for what you really may be, I cannot see you. Your thoughts and your
feelings are all unseen of me. But when I look at Christ, tonight,
though I cannot see His flesh, nor behold His scars, nor all the Glory
of His risen body, yet I can see Him, for I know what He is thinking
of, I know what He is feeling, I know what He is looking for, I know
what His heart is bent on. He is full of love to His people! He is
thinking of their interests! He is pleading for us! He is working for
us as an intercessor before the Throne of God! We see Him with the
glance of reverent adoration, then, and see Him clearly, too!
Again, we see the Lord Jesus Christ tonight–I trust we do–with the
eye of sanctified obedience. We believe that He is here. We believe
that when we go to our homes He will be with us in spirit. That when we
go to our business or to our work tomorrow morning, He will still be
with us. Now we could not sin in His Presence as other men sin. We dare
not plunge into the common customs of the world. We could not use the
world's talk. We would not yield to its maxims, and why? Because Jesus
is there and a sense of His Presence is always a check to us against
temptation, and oftentimes it is not only a negative force, but a sense
of His Presence compels us to serve Him as best we may! I wish we saw
Jesus more usually in this sense, and yet, my Brothers and Sisters, I
hope some of us do, as a general rule, see Him daily thus, as though He
were overshadowing us. I know I often do when I am sitting and thinking
of what I shall say to you, and I start, as though I could look up and
see Him looking down on me. And as I am walking by the way it often
happens that I
almost seem to check myself as though I heard His footsteps at my side.
I know it cannot be, but I am conscious of His Presence, conscious that
He talks with me and I with Him. Is it so with you? I know it is with
many of you. Oh, cherish this more! Some of us lose His Presence by the
week or the month together, and it is very sad, sorely sad, to be
living in such a world as this, far off from Christ. Oh, Sheep, you
cannot afford to be so far off from the Shepherd when the wolf is so
near! Child, you cannot afford to be so far away from your Elder
Brother when the pestilence is walking in darkness and the arrows are
flying by day, and none but Himself can shield you! Oh, try to get into
the fullness of this thought– we see Him, not only up there,
reverently to be worshipped, but here to be worshipped by our feeling
the restraints and the constraints of His Presence, feeling with regard
to Him as Hagar did with regard to Jehovah in the wilderness when she
said, "You God see me"–You Christ see me. You Crucified One, You are
with me. You exalted Lord, I tread in Your footsteps. How can I consent
to sin when You are so near me? Still we see Him!
We see Him further, dear Friends, oftentimes with a trust which
consoles us in hours of difficulty. Mark what I mean here. Oftentimes
the servant of God, when he sees how ill things go in the world, and
especially in the religious world, is apt to think that Jesus is not
there. Indeed, it needs a great deal of faith to see Jesus when things
are sluggish in the Church, when there are ministers who do not seem to
care about souls being saved, when there are churches that fall asleep,
and when the world seems to grow more wicked, more lascivious in its
amusements and more blatant in its atheistic blasphemy! But faith
learns to know that Jesus is still here, that He cannot be away from
the army. He is the Prince and He is concerned in the victory. He
cannot be away. The whole of what goes on in the world is still under
His direction and His control. Life has not put away the keys, blessed
be His name! Nor has He left them to the devil, but they are at His
belt. There they hang–the sovereign keys of death and Hell, still
entrusted to Him, alone! He has not left the chariot for some diabolic
Jehu to drive, and bring confusion upon this world. The government
shall be upon His shoulder! He shall be called The Wonderful, The
Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Still–
"He everywhere has sway, And all things serve His might." When He
allows, for a while, the powers of evil to have a longer tether than
usual, it is that afterwards He may pull them in again and prove His
power and lift them up to scorn by defeating then, even with all the
advantages they seem to gain! Have confidence, child of God! The Church
of God is safe! There is no danger to that. The pillars of that house
no Samson shall ever remove! The house goes on building, stone by
stone, both by night and by day, most surely and most certainly, and
the Top Stone shall be brought forth with shouts of, "Grace, Grace unto
Him." We see Him, then, with the eye of a confidence that consoles us
greatly in the times of darkness and of despair!
And, Brothers and Sisters, I trust we see Christ oftentimes with a joy
which enlivens us. Do you not think that a Believer ought to be ashamed
to be sad? "Oh," says one, "we have a great deal of trouble." Yes, I
know we have, and what a mercy it is that we have! I have a great many
things that God has given me that I much value, but of all the things I
ever had, next to His dear Son, that which I value most is the cross
that is the heaviest. I have got more good out of my affliction than
out of all my prosperity! I would not be without a cross for all the
world! Blessed be God, one loves to learn to bear his sorrows, for one
does not seem to need faith to see that it is good. One gets by
experience to see how good it is and to love our Father's cup, out of
which He gives us the gall every morning which is so bitter, but oh, it
has done us so much good! Like the man subject to fever, walking
through the malaria districts, he does not shudder to drink the quinine
as the child does who thinks it is so bitter–the man feels the tonic
effects of it, so that at last he comes to accept that cup with
thankfulness–so, Brothers and Sisters, our afflictions ought not to
make us sad! When they come to us we should remember that their
ordinary tendency is sadness, but their extraordinary tendency, when
they are rightly used, is to make us rather rejoice because our Father
pleases to send us these things! An old German writer tells us of some
birds which were in the house of a neighbor of his and which were being
taught to sing. Some were bullfinches, I think, and they were teaching
them to pipe, but there were some other birds–larks, and nightingales,
and so on, and these were in the dark. It was very cruel–the poor
little things were in the dark, and could see no light. But, he said,
these were they that could sing the sweetest. And oftentimes the child
of God, when he gets a sense of the Lord's Presence, is one of the
birds that can sing best in the dark. Why, when it is all light, you
know, there are plenty of things to distract our attention. But when it
is all dark, and Christ comes in, and He is the only thing to be seen,
why, then He is better than all the things we do not see and His Light
is brighter than all the stars that have been put out! And now we can
sing more clearly about His Presence than we could about all the
world's gifts, and about all the outward joys that have been taken
away. Do but let a child of God know that Christ is with him, and his
joy will be unspeakable and full of glory!–
"Since Christ is rich, while I am poor,
What can I need beside?
Since my Beloved is mine, and I am His, I will even sit down by Babel's
stream and sing the Lord's song, for the land is not strange where He
is. Even Kedar's tents are bright as the silken embroideries of Solomon
when Jesus comes there, and Meshech is no longer a name of lamentation
and of sorrow, but a name of joy and gladness when Jesus sojourns with
us, a Pilgrim and a Stranger, as we also are! We see Jesus with the joy
that enlivens us. And so once more, Beloved, we have learned to see
Jesus withthe hope that inspires us, for, having seen Him once, here,
we do not believe that He is teasing us. We cannot, we will not be led
to imagine that if we have lived to see Him here as in a glass darkly,
we shall be denied that for which we have been educated–even a face to
face view of Him! No, Beloved, the day is coming–every winged hour is
bringing it nearer–when we shall see the King in His beauty for
ourselves, and not another for us! Did you ever try to put yourselves
into that happy condition when you shall see Him? I have sometimes been
on the top of a Swiss mountain to see the sun rise. I must confess I
was never successful. I have strained my eyes in watching to see when
the sun should rise, but the clouds have generally concealed it. But a
sunrise is always a glorious thing, and what will the Everlasting
Sunrise be, when, from the top of Pisgah we shall see Him, when from
the top of Nebo we shall see our Savior? Beloved, it is well that we
shall not be in the body, then, for surely, that sight of Him would be
too much for us! It is well that when this body shall see Him, it shall
be a risen body, strengthened and accommodated to such an excess of
bliss, for if He were to reveal Himself, now, to us, as He does to the
saints in Heaven, I suppose we would die with the excess of brightness!
But do you ever try to picture to yourselves that you see Him?
Christiana asked Mercy what made her laugh. "Did I laugh?" she asked.
"Yes, last night you laughed in your sleep." Then Mercy told her dream,
of how she had seen the land, had been within the gates of pearl, and
seen the King. And Christiana said that well she might laugh. And have
you never laughed at the thought that your eyes shall soon see the
Christ of God, the Man that died for you, that these weeping eyes shall
weep no more, but shall look full on Him? Oh, 'tis well worth the
pilgrimage! When Godfrey had led his troops up to Jerusalem, they had
not yet captured the city, but the very sight of it made their hearts
leap for joy! But what will it be to see, not the new Jerusalem only,
but the King of the new Jerusalem, to have Him forever as ours, and to
lie in His embrace without fear of banishment, world without end? Come,
you disconsolate, pluck up courage! Come over the thorny way, for the
end is sweet and it will make amends for all the toil of the road! Oh,
that we were but looking at Him now, and that the kisses of His mouth
were ours forever and ever!–
"My heart is with Him on His throne, And ill can brook delay, Each
moment listening for the voice, 'Rise up, and come away.'"
May we have such a sight as this, then, inflaming our hope, inspiring
our desires and making us long for the bright day when we shall see Him
face to face! I shall close these fragmentary thoughts with two or
three– III. WORDS OF SPIRITUAL ENCOURAGEMENT.
My Brothers and Sisters, some of you, perhaps, have been following me
while I talked about a sight of Christ, and you said, "Yes. Well, I
hope I know something about these things–not what I want, or what I
wish, or what I hope I shall know–but still, I know something of
them." Well, then, please remember that if you see Jesus, the Holy
Spirit made you see Him. You would never have seen Jesus in that
spiritual way by the power of human nature, or if you had been left to
yourselves. Here is a clear mark, then, that the Holy Spirit has begun
to work in your soul! Be grateful tonight, oh, be grateful that ever He
should come to those bleary eyes of yours and open them! That ever He
should come to that dead soul of yours and make it live! Tens of
thousands who are wiser, greater and, perhaps, better than you in some
respects, are left as blind as bats, while you, through Sovereign
Grace, are made to see! Will you not praise Him? Have you no music for
Him? Are there no good works that shall be like palm branches, with
which you can strew His pathway in your joyful adoration of His Grace
to you tonight?
Please remember, too, that if you have received this sight, this sight
will lead you to other sights. We see Him. Lay the stress there a
moment. There are some here who do not see the Doctrine of Election. My
dear Brother, I wish you did, but if you can see Hm, be glad for that.
There are some who cannot see the mysterious Doctrines of the Word of
God. They are often puzzled with the higher mysteries which belong to
men in Christ. My dear Friends, you shall see all these, by-and-by, if
you see Him! See Jesus first, and in Jesus, and through Jesus, you
shall be led into all the Truths of God! "What body of divinity," said
someone to me the other day, "do you recommend?" I answered, "I have
never heard of but one." "But there are several." No, there is only
one–the only body that divinity ever had was the body of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the study of that body of divinity will
make you systematic theologians of the best kind! Begin at the center,
with the sun, and you will understand astronomy! And if you put
anything in the center of your system, except Christ, you will be sure
to be in a thousand muddles and will never be able to understand the
things of the Kingdom of God! A sight of Jesus secures a sight of other
things. He that has seen Him has seen the Father, seen the Spirit, and
shall see all the rest!
Let us encourage ourselves with the thought that a sight of Jesus
Christ makes amends for a great deal else that we do see. And what do I
see? I see wars on all sides. I see sin in my members, but I see Him
and, therefore, I know that He will subdue sin. "You shall call His
name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." I see a
thousand imperfections and weaknesses in my daily walk and
conversation, but when I see Him, it covers all, for His blood and
righteousness shall cover all the iniquities of Israel, and if they are
searched for, they shall not be found. My dear Brothers and Sisters,
perhaps some of you see poverty tonight. Some of you Brothers see many
difficulties in your calling–some Brother minister here, perhaps, sees
much disappointment about his sphere of labor. But, my dear Friends, if
you can see Him, you shall find that that one sight will make amends
for all the black and dreary visions that rise before you–and you
shall be content and look on them with holy cheerfulness if you have
fully learned to look on Him!
To look on Him, again, is, as we have said before, to prepare our eyes
for the greatest sight that ever eyes can see. If we see Him today, it
is a small thing compared to that. It is a small thing to see angels,
as we shall see them, hovering about our dying bed. It is a small thing
to see the shining ones, as we shall see them, meeting us at the
river's brink to help us up the hill whereon the Celestial stands. If
we see Him, it will be, comparatively, no very great advance to see the
innumerable company of angels and the glorious Church of the
First-Born, whose names are written in Heaven, for in seeing Him we
have had the earnest and the pledge of all these wondrous sights! We
shall not fear to see the world on fire, though the elements dissolve
with fervent heat. We shall not fear to see the graves all opened and
the myriads of the saints departed starting up from their graves. We
shall not fear to see the dread assize and the Judgment Seat, and the
King with the balances in His hand, weighing out the fates of men! We
shall not fear to look upon yonder Hell, with all its horrors past
conception dire, nor on yon eternity, through which the terrors of
Divine Justice shall blaze forth as consuming fires! There is
nothingthat can alarm the man who has seen the Lord! No, there shall be
little that shall astonish him, for the sight of Jesus is the glorious
sight of all things in embryo. It is the sight that shall make a Heaven
within us, while teaching us, by His Spirit, what the Heaven shall be
in which we shall dwell hereafter! Press forward for more of this sight
of Christ. Get your eyes clear, and God grant that you may continue to
see Him and only Him.
If any here have never seen Jesus, let me remind them of this one text,
"Like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." To believe on Him is to trust Him.
If you trust Him, you shall have everlasting life, but if you trust not
in Jesus Christ, you shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
you! May these words never be forgotten by you till you have, by His
Grace, looked to Christ. Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 110:1-7; HEBREWS 7:1-14.
Verse 1. The LORD said unto my Lore. Or Jehovah said unto my Adonai.
1, 2. Sit You at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your
footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion:
rule You in the midst of Your enemies. This is the Messiah, this is
Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the King of Kings, and the
Lord of Lords. Where are His subjects?
3. Your people shall be willing in the day of Your power, in the
beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: You have the dew of
Your youth. A willing people shall make up the forces of this great
King–and upon them the freshness of the morning shall rest!
4. The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, You are a Priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. King and Priest. None other of the
house of David save our Lord Jesus Christ could claim the union of
these two offices. In Christ we have a King and a Priest, as also with
Melchizedek of old, a great type of Jesus.
5-7. The Lordat Your right hand, shall strike through kings in the day
ofHis wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places
with dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. He
shall drink of the brook
in the way: therefore shall He lift up the head. This conqueror shall
be refreshed in His journey; therefore shall He lift up the head.
HEBREWS 7:1-14.
Verse 1, 2. For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the Most
High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings,
and blessed him: To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first
being by interpretation King of Righteousness, and after that also King
of Salem, which is, King of Peace. His very names being instructive,
Righteousness first, and Peace afterwards, as it is with our Divine
Lord who has brought in everlasting righteousness, and speaks peace to
guilty men!
3. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;
abides a priest continually. Melchisedec just passed across the
page–he has no predecessor, he has no successor. We see him in
Scripture and we know nothing of his descent. We know nothing of his
death. We only know that he was a priest of the Most High God–and this
very silence about him is highly significant and instructive–for in
this he is "like unto the Son of God, who abides a priest continually."
Now consider who this great man was, unto whom even "the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth part of his spoil." If Abraham, the father of
the faithful, the friend of God, paid tribute to him, how great must he
have been, how high his office!
5-7. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the
office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the
people according to the law, that is of their brethren, though they
come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted
from them receive tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the
promises. And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the
better. Therefore, Abraham was less than Melchisedec–he could not
bless Melchisedec, but Melchisedec could bless him. How great, then,
was he. How far greater still is that Lord of ours of whom Melchisedec
was but a type!
8-10. And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receives them
of whom it is witnessed that he lives. And as I may so say, Levi also,
who receives tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he wasyet in the loins
ofhis father, when Melchisedec met him. Thus the old priesthood, the
Levitical and Aaronic priesthood, did homage unto the Melchisedec
priesthood, which is still greater!
11. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for
under it the people received the law), what further need was there that
another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be
called after the order of Aaron? We read in the Psalm just now, "You
are a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec," which proves that
the priests of the order of Levi were not sufficient–there was need of
a still greater priesthood.
12. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a
change also of the law. The law of the priesthood alters, since the
person of the priest, the character of the priest, and the very office
of the priest had altered too.
13. For He of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe,
of which no man gave attendance at the altar. According to the belief
of the Jewish people, the Messiah was to come of the tribe of Judah,
yet none of the house of David or of the tribe of Judah ever presumed
to present themselves as priests of the order of God.
14. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe
Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. So there was an entire
change of the priesthood and of the law of priests.