The Fullness of Jesus the Treasury of Saints
A sermon
(No. 858)
Delivered on Lord's-day Evening, FEBRUARY 28, 1869, by
C.H.SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"Of His fullness have we all received and Grace for Grace."- John 1:16.
THESE are not words spoken by John the Baptist, as a cursory reader
might imagine, but they were written by John the Evangelist. The verse
preceding is a paragraph cast into the midst of the Gospel, causing a
temporary break. Omitting that verse, we read as follows: "The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as
of the only-begotten of the Father), full of Grace and truth; and of
His fullness have we all received and Grace for Grace."
In its more limited meaning, as it stands in its connection, the text
appears to teach that while Jesus Christ dwelt on earth there was a
Divine Glory about His Person and Character which His Apostles and
disciples clearly beheld, perceiving in Him and in His teaching a
fullness of Divine Grace and the Truth of God. And further, that this
Grace and Truth were Divinely contagions, so that the disciples
participated in it and men took knowledge of them that they had been
with Jesus and learned of Him–this being especially true of the
Apostles who drank most fully into the life and power of Jesus and
continued to reveal to the world, after their Master was taken up–the
Grace and Truth of the Gospel committed to them.
But this passage is not to be restricted to so limited a sense–it is
of far wider range and of much greater depth. We understand it of our
Lord Jesus in the whole of His Character and work. Looking beyond His
earthly life we see Him in His Crucifixion, His Resurrection, His
Ascension, His sitting at the right hand of God and His Second Advent.
And beholding Him as the all-sufficient Savior, we this day behold His
Glory, the Glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of Grace
and Truth! And we, that is, the whole range of the saints in all ages
past and in all periods to come–we receive out of this fullness
superabundant Grace!
I. In discussing this text I shall first remind you of the ONE GLORIOUS
PERSON concerning whom this verse is written. There are other persons
in the verse, but they are comparatively insignificant. "We all" are
mentioned as the receivers–we occupy the most humble place. The one
throne of the text, (and a glorious high throne it is), is reserved for
Him who is intended in the pronoun, "His." "Of His fullness have we all
received." We know that this is no other than that august Person whom
John calls, "The Word," or the speech of God, so called because God in
Nature has revealed Himself, as it were, inarticulately and
indistinctly–but in His Son He has revealed Himself as a man declares
his inmost thoughts–by distinct and intelligible speech.
Jesus is to the Father what speech is to us. He is the unfolding of the
Father's thoughts, the revelation of the Father's heart. He that has
seen Christ has seen the Father. "Would you have me see you?" said
Socrates, "then speak," for speech reveals the man. Would you see God?
Listen to Christ, for He is God's Word, revealing the heart of Deity.
Lest, however, we should imagine Jesus to be a mere utterance, a mere
word spoken and forgotten, our Apostle is peculiarly careful that we
should know that Jesus is a real and true Person, and therefore tells
us that the Divine Word, out of whose fullness we have received, is
most assuredly God!
No language can be more distinct. He ascribes to Him the eternity which
belongs to God–"In the beginning was the Word." He clearly claims
Divinity for Him–"The Word was God." He ascribes to Him the acts of
God–"Without Him was not anything made that was made." He ascribes to
Him self-existence which is the essential characteristic of God–"In
Him was life." He claims for Him a Nature peculiar to God–"God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all." And the Word is "the true
light, which lights every man that comes into the world." No writer
could be more explicit in his utterances, and beyond all question he
sets forth the proper Deity of that Blessed One of whom we all must
receive if we would obtain eternal salvation.
Yet John does not fail to set forth that our Lord was also Man. He
says, "the Word was made flesh"–not merely assumed manhood, but was
made. And made not merely Man as to His nobler part, His Soul, but Man
as to His flesh, His lower element. Our Lord was not a phantom, but One
who, as John declares in his Epistle, was touched and handled. "The
Word dwelt among us." He tabernacled with the sons of men–a
carpenter's shed His lowly refuge and the caves and mountains of the
earth His midnight resort in His later life. He dwelt among sinners and
sufferers, among mourners and mortals, Himself completing His
citizenship among us by becoming obedient to death, even the death of
the Cross.
See, then, my beloved Brothers and Sisters, where God has treasured up
the fullness of His Grace! It is in a Person so august that Heaven and
earth tremble at the majesty of His Presence and yet in a Person so
humble that He is not ashamed to call us, "Brethren." The Apostle, lest
we should by any means put a second person in comparison with the one
and only Christ, throughout this chapter continually enters caveats and
disclaimers against all others. He bars the angels and shuts out
cherubim and seraphim by saying, "Without Him was not anything made
that was made"! At the creation of the world no ministering spirit may
intrude a finger. Angels may sing over what Jesus creates, but as the
Builder of all things He stands alone.
Further on the Apostle guards the steps of the Throne against John and
virtually against all the other witnesses of the Messiah, albeit among
those that are born of women there was not a greater than John the
Baptist, yet, "he was not that Light." The stars must hide their heads
when the sun shines–John must decrease and Christ must increase. No,
there was One whom all the Jews reverenced and whose name is coupled
with that of the Lamb in the triumphant song of Heaven! They sang the
song of Moses, the servant of God and of the Lamb. But even he is
excluded from the glory of this text, "For the Law was given by Moses,
but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ." Moses must sit down at the
foot of the Throne with the tablets of stone in his hands, but Jesus
sits on the Throne and stretches out the silver scepter to His people.
Lest there should remain a supposition that another person yet
unmentioned should usurp a place, the Apostle adds, "No man at any time
has seen the Father." The best and holiest have all, alike, been unable
to look into that excellent Glory! But the Word has not only seen the
Father, but has declared Him unto us! The text is as Tabor to us and
while in its consideration, at the first we see Moses and Elijah and
all the saints with the Lord Jesus, receiving of His fullness, yet all
these vanish from our minds and our spirit sees "no man, but Jesus
only." Gazing into this text, one feels as John did when the gates of
Heaven were opened to him and he looked within them and he declared, "I
looked and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion."
He saw other things afterwards, but the first thing that caught his eye
and filled his mind was the Lamb in the midst of the Throne! Brothers,
it becomes us as ministers to be constantly making much of Christ, to
make Him, indeed, the first, the last and the midst of all our
discourses! And it becomes all Believers, whenever they deal with
matters of salvation, to set Jesus on high and to crown Him with many
crowns. Give Him the best of your thoughts and works and affections,
for He it is who fills all things and to whom all things should pay
homage.
II. Secondly, there are TWO PRECIOUS DOCTRINES in the text. The first
doctrine teaches us that in this glorious Person of Jesus all fullness
is treasured up, and the second–without which the first might yield us
little comfort–that all this treasure of Divine Grace is received by
His saints, so that all His saints receive all they have that is
gracious and truthful from Him.
1. First consider this master Truth of God, that all Divine Grace is
treasured up in Christ Jesus. "His fullness," says the text. Ah, what a
word, "His fullness!" If I had no other text given me to preach from
until all preaching should be ended, this might suffice. His fullness!
O Brothers and Sisters, here is a fullness which cannot be measured for
length, or breadth, or depth–for He is filled with all the fullness of
God! "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." The
fullness of which the text speaks particularly is His double fullness
of Grace and Truth. There is in Jesus Christ a fullness of essential
Grace for it is His Nature to overflow with free mercy to the miserable
sons of men.
It was a fullness of Grace in Him that made Him enter into the Eternal
Covenant and undertake suretyship engagements for us. It was a fullness
of love and Grace which sustained Him in the discharge of His
liabilities as our Great Substitute and the fullness of Grace it is
which constrains Him, still, to persevere in His work, saying, "For
Zion's sake I will not rest, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not hold
My peace." In Christ there is a fullness of Grace to impart to us and
to that the text refers a fullness ofpardoning Grace, so that no sin
can ever exceed His power to forgive!
It refers a fullness of justifying Grace, so that He justifies the
ungodly. A fullness of converting Grace, so that He calls to Him whom
He pleases. A fullness of quickening Grace, for "He quickens whom He
wills." Here is a fullness ofpurifying Grace, for His blood cleanses us
from all sin and a further fullness of comforting Grace, of sustaining
Grace, of satisfying Grace, of restoring Grace–Jesus has a fullness in
whatever office you regard Him–and with whatever needs. He is never
limited in any gift or Grace, but always full thereof. This fullness,
time would fail us to rehearse! Drink of it! Plunge into it, and you
shall know far more than I can, by any possibility, tell.
This, however, I may say–the fullness which dwells in Christ is, from
the text, clearly proved to be an abiding fullness, for, mark, "We
all," says he, "have received of it." And yet he calls it a "fullness,"
still. It was a fullness before a single sinner came to it to receive
pardon–before a solitary saint had learned to drink of that river the
streams of which make glad the Church! And now, after thousands and
even myriads of blood-redeemed saints have drank of this life-giving
stream, it is just as overflowing as ever!
We are accustomed to say that if a child takes a cupful from the sea it
is just as full as before, but that is not literally true–there must
be just so much the less of water in the ocean. But it is literally
true of Christ, that when we have not only taken out cups full–for our
needs are too great to be satisfied with such small quantities–when we
have taken out oceans full of Divine Grace–and we need as much as that
to carry us to Heaven–there is actually as much left! Although we each
have drawn upon the treasury of His love to an extent so boundless that
we cannot understand it, yet there is as much mercy and Divine Grace
left in Christ as there was before. And it is a "fullness," still,
after all the saints have received of it.
Brethren, there is a fullness of Truth in our Lord as well as Grace,
that is to say, everything which Christ says is not only true, but
emphatically true. And not only true in one sense, but true in multiple
senses–true to the letter and to the jots and to the tittles–true
today and true tomorrow and true forever! True to one saint and true to
every saint! True at one season and true in all seasons! There is a
blessed emphasis of Divine reality in Christ Jesus. Every word He
speaks is as the decree of God. Every doctrine that He promulgates is
clear as the Great White Throne. In Him there is no admixture of error.
"Never man spoke like this Man," because His teaching is unalloyed
gold. All doctrine which He reveals is as pure and celestial as the dew
from Heaven.
Brethren, there is an abiding fullness of truth in Christ! After you
have heard it for 50 years, you see more of its fullness than you did
at first. Other truths weary the ear. I will defy any man to hold
together a large congregation, year after year, with any other subject
but Christ Jesus! He might do it for a time. He might charm the ear
with the discoveries of science, or with the beauties of poetry. And
his oratory might be of so high an order that he might attract the
multitudes who have itching ears, but they would, in time, turn away
and say, "This is no longer to be endured. We know it all."
All music becomes wearisome but that of Heaven! But oh, if the minstrel
does but strike this celestial harp, though he keeps his fingers always
among its golden strings and is but poor and unskilled upon an
instrument so Divine, yet the melody of Jesus' name and the sweet
harmony of all His acts and attributes will hold His listeners by the
ears and thrill their hearts as nothing beside can do! The theme of
Jesus' love is inexhaustible! Though preachers may have dwelt upon it
century after century, a freshness and fullness still remain.
2. The second doctrine is that all the saints have received all of
Grace out of the fullness of Christ. It is not one saint who has
derived Grace from the Redeemer, but all. "Of His fullness have we all
received." And they have not merely derived a part of the blessings of
Grace from Jesus, but all that they ever had they received from Him. It
would be a wonderful vision if we could now behold passing before us
the long procession of the chosen, the great and the small– the goodly
fellowship of Apostles, the noble army of martyrs–the once weeping but
now rejoicing band of penitents. There they go! I think I see them all
in their white robes, bearing their palms of victory.
But you shall not, if you stop the procession at any point, be able to
discover one who will claim to have obtained Grace from another source
than Christ. Nor shall one of them say, "I owed the first Grace I
gained to Christ, but I gained other Grace elsewhere." No, the
unanimous testimony is, "of His fullness have we all received." My
inner eye beholds the throng as the procession pauses before the Throne
of God. Oh, can you see how every man prostrates himself before the
Throne of the Lamb and altogether they cry, "Of His fullness have we
all received"?
Whoever we may be. However well we may have served our Master. Whatever
honor we have gained–though our Lord has helped us to finish our
course and to win the prize–yet it is ALL of him–"Non nobis Domine!"
Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Your name be all the praise! What a
precious Truth of God, then, we have before us, that all the saints in
all ages have been just what you and I must be tonight if we would be
saved–receivers! They did not, any one of them bring anything to
Christ, but received from Him.
If they, at this moment, cast their crowns at His feet, their crowns
were first given to them by Him! Their robes are wedding garments of
His providing. The whole course of saintship is receptive. None of the
saints talk of what they gave. None of them speak of what came of
themselves, but they all bear testimony without a solitary exception
that they were all receivers from Jesus' fullness! Oh, but this casts
mire into the face of human self-sufficiency! What? Not one saint who
had a little of his own? Not one of all the favored throng who could
furnish himself? No, not one! Did none of them look to the works of the
Law? No, they all went to Jesus and His Grace and none to Moses and the
Law.
Did none of them trust in priests of earthly anointing? Did none of
them bow down before holy fathers and saintly confessors to obtain
absolution? There is not a word said about such foolishness! Nor even a
syllable concerning appeals to saints–but all the saved ones received
direct, "from His fullness," who fills all in all. I must not leave
this second doctrine, however, without noting that these receptive
saints received very abundantly. They drew from an abundance, even a
fullness–and they also drew largely, as indicated by the words, "and
Grace for Grace," which words are only difficult to understand by
reason of the extent of meaning hidden in them–for they might be
translated a dozen ways with equal accuracy.
Do they not mean this?–Just as Samson slew so many Philistines that he
cried out, "Heaps upon heaps," so our Lord has given to His people
Divine Grace at such a rate that they have Grace upon Grace for
abundance? They have received from Him such a plenty, such a plenitude
of Divine Grace and the Truth of God that as the ancients fabled Mount
Pelion to be piled upon Ossa by the giants to make a staircase to the
skies, so our great Savior has piled mountains of Grace upon mountains
of Grace–that on these, as on a stupendous ladder–His elect might
climb to the Throne of God! Not one step to Heaven is other than of
Divine Grace–and all comes out of His fullness.
III. We advance to the third point and mark THREE EXPERIENCES indicated
by the text. And first, Beloved in the Lord, if you and I would receive
of the fullness of Christ, it is imperatively necessary that we should
have an experience of our own emptiness. All saints receive of Christ,
but no vessel can receive beyond the measure of its emptiness. The more
full it is, so much the less is its capacity for reception. And the
more empty it is, so much the greater the space which can be filled.
This is a hard lesson for human nature, for we firmly believe in
ourselves.
You say, "I am rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing."
We learn this with our mother tongue and we repeat it so often that we
believe it! And like the Pharisee, we make it our daily boast, "God, I
thank You that I am not as other men are." The Pharisee would see no
chaff in his wheat, whereas Divine Grace makes us to be like the
publican who could see no wheat in his chaff and would only say, "God
be merciful to me a sinner." It is hard going down the ladder of
self-knowledge. We give up with great reluctance our flattering
opinions of ourselves. We are hard to empty of the notion of our own
inherent merit–and if the Lord spills that upon the ground–we then
hold to the idea of our own inherent strength!
What if we have no merit, yet at least we will have some, by-and-by,
and we spin out our poor resolves as freely as a spider spins her web
and the fabric is as frail. And if our notion of power is taken from
us, we then betake ourselves to our self-justification by endeavoring
to persuade ourselves that we are not responsible! Or, wrapping
ourselves in despair, we declare that we cannot help ourselves and
wickedly cast our ruin upon destiny. Man is hard to be dragged away
from the rock of self-justification. Like Theseus in the old mythology,
he is glued so fast to the great stone of self-conceit which lies hard
by the gates of Hell, that a stronger than Hercules is needed to tear
him from it! And even such a deliverer must rend him from it, leaving
his skin behind.
When the Lord comes and makes the sinner stand before His bar and
plead, "Lord, I am guilty," the man is made ready to receive of
Christ's merits because he is emptied of his own. Hear him again:
"Lord, I would gladly repent and believe, but oh, for this I have no
strength! Be You my Helper." The man's own power is gone and with it
his hardness of heart. He confessed that he has willfully and wickedly
sinned, and now the Lord pours out His Grace and mercy. Our
Lord withholds from those who are full–but He is always ready to give
to those who are empty! Never does He keep back anything from those who
are consciously in need. Never does He give anything to those who say
they need nothing.
There must be in each of us, then, an emptiness of self if we are to
enjoy the fullness of Christ. But he who knows the emptiness of self is
not, therefore, saved. The man who knows he has the fever is not cured
by that knowledge. The man who knows he is condemned to die is not, for
that reason, pardoned. It is a dreadful thing to stop short with a mere
sense of sin–we must go on to the second experience–a personal
reception of Christ Jesus. Here I shall put the question to each of my
hearers, especially to professors of religion–Have you received out of
Christ's fullness? I am not asking you whether you are Church members.
We sorrowfully know that it is one thing to be that, and quite another
thing to receive Christ.
I do not ask you whether you received the ordinance of the Lord's
Supper. Alas, to receive bread and wine is a very different thing from
feeding upon the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ! The one is a carnal
act which Judas might perform, who had a devil, but the other is a
spiritual act, possible only for spiritual men. "Oh," says one, "do not
put high standards before us." No, I am not. I am putting the lowest
standard that can prove a soul to be saved–have you received Christ? I
want to call your attention to the marvelous simplicity of this one act
by which salvation comes to all the saints. It is receiving. Now,
receiving is a very easy thing. There are 50 things which you and I
cannot do, but, my dear Friend, you could undoubtedly receive a penny,
could you not?
There is not a man, nor woman, nor child here, so imperfect in power as
to be unable to receive. Everybody seems capable of receiving any
amount. Mark, then, in salvation you do nothing but merely receive.
There is a hand, a beggar's hand and if it is needed to write a fair
letter, it cannot do that, but be assured it can receive! Try it, and
the beggar will soon let you know. Look at that hand again. Do you see
that it has the palsy? It quivers and shakes! Ah, but it can receive,
for all that! Many a palsied hand has received a jewel. But do you not
see that in addition to being filthy and palsied, it has a foul
disease? The leprosy lies within and is not to be washed out by any
mode of purification known to us, and yet it can receive!
The saints all came to be saints and remained saints through doing
exactly what that poor dirty, leprous, quivering hand can do. All their
Divine Grace came by receiving! So, dear Hearer, I am not setting up a
high test, though I am assuredly setting up a very safe and necessary
one. Have you received out of the fullness of Christ? Did you come all
empty-handed and take Jesus Christ to be your All? I know what you did
at first. You were for accumulating the shining heaps of your own
merits and esteeming them as if they were so much gold–but you found
out that your labor profited not, so at last you came empty-handed and
said, "My precious Savior, do but give me Yourself and I will have done
with merit. I renounce all merit and all doing and working and I take
You to be everything to me."
Then, Friend, you are saved if that is true, for the acceptance of
Christ is the mark of the saint. I said there were three
experiences–the first was emptiness. The second is receiving. And the
third is that blessed experience, the discovery that all we receive
comes to us by Divine Grace. Look at the last words, "And Grace for
Grace," which words may be read, "And Grace because of Grace," that is
to say, the only reason why we get Grace is because of Grace! Grace is
the cause of itself. It is a self-creating thing. God will have mercy
on whom He will have mercy. He is gracious because He is gracious and
He gives Divine Grace to men NOT because they deserve it, or ask for
it–but because He is gracious and chooses to bless them. I trust,
beloved Brethren, you all have experienced this. If you know your own
emptiness and Christ's fullness, I am sure you know, in a measure, the
doctrine of Divine Grace and I hope you will go on to know it more and
more. May you also get Grace to have more Grace–Grace to qualify you
for a higher degree of Grace!
Now, you do not get some Grace from God's Grace and then the rest from
your own efforts, but every step you have to go from the gate of the
City of Destruction up to the pearl gates of the New Jerusalem, is all
Grace. The road to Glory is paved with stones of Grace. The chariot in
which we ride to Heaven is all of Grace. The strength that draws it and
the axle that bears it up is all of Grace and Grace alone. In the whole
Covenant of Grace, from the first letter of the charter down to its
last word, there is nothing at all of merit or man's goodness, but it
is Grace, Grace, Grace. As Grace laid the foundation, so Grace brings
out every stone and as we sing–
"It lays in Heaven the topmost stone, And well deserves the praise."
I cannot make out where some of the Lord's children get their creed
when they preach up the dignity and free will of man. There are good
people but who seem to me to use part of the speech of Ashdod and only
part of the speech of Jerusalem. To my mind, free will seems such an
incongruity when tacked on to Divine Grace and makes a man's ministry
like Nebuchadnezzar's image, with its head of gold and its feet of
clay–the two things do not consort. O for a Gospel that is all of one
piece–that reveals the sinner as saved by Grace from first to
last–that God may have all the praise!
IV. As briefly as possible we shall speak of FOUR DUTIES.
1. First, if we have received from Christ all we have, then let us
praise Him. If we live on His fullness, let us magnify and bless His
name. Gratitude is a natural virtue and it ought always to be in us a
spiritual Grace. O let our tongues talk well of Him to whom we owe
everything! There was a poor man who was a pauper, but a kind friend
had taken care of him and the old man was never better pleased than
when he could ramble out his thanks to passing strangers. "That's a
dear man who lives up at the white house, there, Sir.
"Do you see these clothes? He has given me all. I have not a rag on me
but what is of his finding and I have a nice little cottage down there
and, you know, he gave it to me–told me I might live there rent free!
He lets me walk through his grounds and tells me I am welcome to all I
can desire." It was the old man's joy to expatiate upon the
extraordinary goodness of his benefactor. I wish we all imitated him.
Do you see anything that is happy and peaceful in me? It all came from
Jesus. I am a poor worm with nothing at all in myself that I could
boast of, but if there is anything at all that could commend the
Gospel, I received it all from my dear Lord and Master who has done
more for me than tongue can tell!
Brethren, speak more of Him and sing more His praise! If you have the
gift of song, never prostitute it (as I think it must be) to light,
giddy, loose verses. Keep your sweetest notes for Him. Music, reserve
your charms for him. If the things of this world might claim a note or
two, yet, oh, let Him have the loudest of your harmony. You daughters
of Israel, go forth to meet your David–for if any of this world has
helped you–if Saul has slain his thousands–this David has slain His
ten thousands! The mightiest of your foes He has overthrown. One of the
best ways of praising Jesus is by trusting Him more. Faith is often
compact praise. A trustful heart has in it the quintessence of music.
Jesus loves to be trusted–it is a true, if indirect, form of
gratitude, when we repose confidence because of mercies received.
Once more, if you wish to praise the Prince of Peace, as I trust you
do, go and beg harder of Him. Go to Him this very night and say–
"The best return for one like me, So wretched and so poor, Is from Your
gifts to draw a plea, And ask You still for more."
You cannot do your Lord a better turn nor make His heart more glad by
way of praising Him, than by opening your mouth wider than ever tonight
that you may receive more out of His fullness than you have ever had
since you have known Him!
2. The second duty is this–if up till now we have received out of
Christ's fullness, then let us repair to Him again. As you have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. I find it my best and
safest way and I recommend it to you all, to live daily on Christ, as I
did when first I trusted in Him. If I have ever known Him at all. If He
has ever been revealed to me and in me. If He has ever answered my
prayers. If He has ever blessed me to your souls and made me the
spiritual parent of any that are in the skies, I do know that I had it
all from Him, for I never had a grain of anything good of my own–all
my Grace has been the free grant of His sovereign will!
But Satan says, "Ah, but you never knew Jesus!" Well, if I never did, I
know what to do now. I will go to Jesus at once. If I never did go to
Him before, I will hasten to Him now. Now, when I go to Jesus Christ in
that way, not as a saint but as a sinner–not as a preacher but as a
poor, miserable offender–I find my comfort returns to me. I would like
to be as a babe, always hanging on the breast of Jesus' love. I would
like to be the fruit which remains on the bough and so grows ripe and
sweet. I would like to be always locked up in Christ's pantry and never
live on what I had before fed on, but feeding evermore! To this duty I
invite you tonight. If you have received–come and receive again–you
have not received the whole of Christ's fullness yet!
But all that is in Christ is meant to be received. Jesus Christ is like
the sun–He is a storehouse of light, but the light is there to be shed
abroad. He is like the clouds–a storehouse of waters, but all that is
in Him is to descend in showers upon thirsty souls. There is nothing in
Christ but what was meant to be distributed! He is like Joseph's
granaries in
Egypt, full of corn for hungry men. Do you read of mercy in
Christ?–say, "That mercy was meant for a needy sinner. Even I will
have it." Little children, when they come to the table, seem to know by
instinct that everything there is meant to be eaten, so they cry, "Give
me this. Give me that."
Now, in this be children. If you see anything in Christ, however rich
and rare, however precious and choice, say, "Lord, give me that and
give me that," for it is all meant to be given away–it is all provided
on purpose to meet the needs of the Lord's people. So we leave that
duty, but I trust not till we have attended to it.
3. The third duty is, if you have been receiving of Christ, try to
obtain more, for the text says, "Grace for Grace"– that is, Grace upon
Grace–Grace to fit you for higher Grace. If you are no richer than the
old Believers under the Law and you have found only Jewish Grace, come
and ask for clearer views. If you have Grace as a babe, ask Grace to be
a young man. And if you have grown to be a young man, ask Grace to be a
father. Aspire to the highest point of Christian perfection! In other
matters we are very covetous, but in the things of God, what an
accursed contentment we soon fall into!
I use the word advisedly, for it is accursed, since it brings the curse
of barrenness upon us. I loathe to hear a Believer say, "Well, if I am
but just saved, that is enough for me. If I may but just get in behind
the door in Heaven, I shall be content." So you will, my dear Brother,
but you ought not to talk that way! Your business is to show forth as
much of Christ to His Glory as you possibly can. What? Are you so
selfish that if you can creep into Heaven that will content you? I
would Like to carry my Master a whole casket of jewels in my bosom! I
would gladly say to Him, "Here am I and the children whom You have
given me." I would desire to die with the sweet satisfaction, "I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith, therefore there is laid up
for me a crown of life that fades not away."
Wrestle for more Grace! If you are up to your ankles, wade into this
river of gracious fullness up to your knees. If you are up to your
knees, be thankful, but do not be content. I ask you to advance till
you are up to your loins and be not fully satisfied even then. Forget
the things that are behind, be not satisfied till you find a river to
swim in! Strike out till you feel you are utterly out of your depth and
then dive into it and strike out! Glory in Christ to think that it
pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell and be glad
that you have learned to comprehend with all saints what are the
heights and depths and to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge.
4. The last duty and the last word. If you have received of Christ,
encourage others to receive of Him. Indeed, you need not go far for the
encouragement, for you may first of all look at home. If Jesus Christ
received you, whom will He not receive? If my Master's heart opened
wide its doors to let me in, I know He has received one of the blackest
that ever was accepted. And I feel confident in recommending you, poor,
needy, troubled, conscience-stricken Sinner, to come to Jesus by simple
trust tonight! I am sure if He had meant to reject you, He would not
have accepted me. If you want to encourage souls to come to Christ,
what a wonderful text this is: "Of His fullness have we all received."
I must bring that little dream of mine up to your mind's eye again.
There are all the saints–millions of them–and they tell you, all of
them, that they were all receivers. Now, suppose you were a beggar. You
know what beggars do. If they go to a door and get anything, they make
a little mark–you and I do not understand it, but it means, "Good
house to knock at." And the next beggar who comes sees that token and
he knocks boldly. If they get nothing, of course, they make some scurvy
remark or another, after their own fashion, which the next beggar
understands.
Now, I have already made that mark on Christ's door and I have told you
of it! It is a good house to knock at, for I have tried it. But
suppose, being a beggar, you were to meet some 50 or 60 tramps, all
coming down the street and they were to say to you, "Are you in the
same trade as we are?" "Yes, I am a beggar." "Well," they say, "there's
a good house down there, we have all of us been to it and they have
given us all something." "What? Given something to all of you?" "Yes,
to every one of us." "What? To that man yonder? Why, he looks good for
nothing!" "Ah, well, they gave him something." "What? To the whole of
you?" "Yes." "Then I shall be as quick as I can to knock and get the
next turn."
Why, of course, everybody would feel that that is the shop to beg at
where nobody has been rejected. Now, since the world began there never
has been a sinner who sincerely asked for mercy through faith in the
precious blood of Jesus who has been rejected! Since Adam was cast out
of the Garden, there has never been a sinner, whoever he might have
been, that has cast himself by simple trust upon the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ, whom God has cast out! Well, but if they
all received and all received, "of His fullness," why not you?
One thing more–it may be that you will still say, "Perhaps the Lord
will change His mode of dealing and reject me!" Oh, but let me tell
you, He has pledged Himself that He will not, for, in addition to all
those who have received at His hands, there is a promise given, "Him
that comes unto Me, I will in no wise cast out." He cannot cast you
away, for He has said He will not and that word, "no wise," is like the
flaming cherub's sword, which turns every way, not to keep you out of
the garden of life, but to keep out all your doubts and fears.
Observe, "I will in no wise cast out." Then, if any man says, "But I am
too old," that cannot be the reason for your rejection, for Christ has
said, "Him that comes, I will in no wise cast out." "Oh, but I have
sinned beyond all reason. I have gone to an excess of riot. Sir, I'm a
damnable sinner. No one can say too bad of me." I do not care what you
are! He cannot cast you out, for He has said, "in no wise," that is, on
no account, on no consideration, under no circumstances! If you come to
Christ, Heaven and earth may pass away and yon blue sky may be folded
up and put away as a worn-out mantle, and the stars shall fall like
withered leaves in autumn, and the sun be turned into darkness and the
moon into blood–but NEVER shall a praying, trusting sinner be cast
away from the Presence of God!
O come, then, you most guilty, you most empty, you most worthless! Come
and welcome! Hark! The silver trumpet sounds tonight, "Come and
welcome! Come and welcome! Come and welcome!" Come to the dear wounds
of Jesus and be hidden there! Come to the fountain filled with blood
and be cleansed there! Come to the heart of Christ in Heaven by
trusting Him and be saved both now and forever!
May God bless you and everyone in this great house tonight! May He
bless every one of you young women up there and of you men down there
and you strangers thronging the aisles! May every one of us have to
say, "Of His fullness have we all received and Grace for Grace." The
Lord bless you. Amen.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–John 1:1-18