A Bold Challenge Justified

A Bold Challenge Justified

(No. 3067)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1907.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MARCH
1, 1871.

"Who is he who condemns?It is Christ who died, yes rather, who is risen
again, who is even at the right hand ofGod, who also makes intercession
for us." Romans 8:34.

[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon, upon this passage are as follows–#256,
Volume 5–THE BELIEVER'S CHALLENGE;

#1223, Volume 21–JESUS, THE SUBSTITUTE FOR HIS PEOPLE and #2240,
Volume 38– A CHALLENGE AND A SHIELD.]

ALL through this very wonderful chapter the Apostle seems to be piling
up, in heaps upon heaps, the many marvels of Divine Grace. I might
quote from the old classic fable of the giants who piled the mountains,
one upon the other– Pelion upon Ossa–and I might say that even so has
Paul done here. He has piled mountain upon mountain of wondrous Grace
in his description of the way to Heaven! And now he seems to have
climbed to the top of them all and to have transformed them into a kind
of Tabor or Pisgah. And as he stands there, he exults in the Lord! He
waves the palm branch of triumph. He boasts with holy boasting. And he
challenges all his enemies to attack him–"Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who
condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."

I. Here, first of all, is A SOLEMN QUESTION–a very solemn question if
it were put to all here present–"Who is he who condemns?"–for I am
afraid that some of my hearers, if they asked that question, might have
a speedy answer– "It is your own conscience that condemns you; it is
the Word of God that condemns you; it is Christ Himself who condemns
you. It is God, the Judge of All, who condemns you because you have not
fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you in the
Gospel–you have not believed in Jesus Christ." But Paul is speaking as
a Believer in Christ and for him to ask the question, or for any other
Believer to ask it, is a very different thing, for he may say what
others must not, "Who can lay anything to mycharge? Who is he that can
condemn me, now that I have believed in Jesus Christ, my Lord and
Savior?"

Now, Beloved, one answer that might be given to this question, "Who is
he who condemns?" is that, there are many who would if they could for
probably no Believer in Christ is without his enemies. There are few
good men and women who are not slandered. The majority of God's people
have been persecuted in some way or other–and some of them have had to
lie in prison year after year. Many more have been condemned to die and
yet, inasmuch as slanderers and persecutors have no right to condemn
the man of God, he may challenge his slanderers and his persecutors and
say, "You may profess to condemn me if you please, but I count your
condemnation to be no more potent than the whistling of the wind. You
would condemn me if you could, but you cannot really do so." Satan, our
arch-enemy, would condemn us if it were in his power. Only fancy him
for a moment sitting on the Judgment Seat. If we had the devil to judge
us, he would soon bring to our recollection our many faults, follies
and failings–and condemn us for them. But, O you fiend of Hell, God
has not made you the judge of His saints! You may cast foul
insinuations against them, but the Lord says to you concerning each one
of them, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire?" Satan has no right to judge us and no power to condemn
us! So when he speaks the worst he can about us, we laugh him to scorn,
rejoicing that God will shortly bruise him under our feet!

But, Beloved, sometimes our own conscience condemns us. The best man
here will, at times, have painful memories of the past and to look at
the past, except through the glass made red by our Savior's precious
blood, is to look upon

despair–for our past transgressions would drag us down to Hell were it
not for the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Yes, and we need not
look back far to have this sad view, for the sins of any one of the
best days we have ever lived might cause us to tremble! The sins of our
holy things are black enough to cause us great sorrow. Did you ever
pray a prayer that you could not have wept over afterwards? Have you
ever preached a sermon with which you could feel content? Is not sin
mixed with all that we do? But here is the mercy, that our conscience
is not set upon God's Throne to judge and to condemn us, although we do
well to listen to the voice of conscience and to give heed to its
admonitions. The Apostle John reminds us that, "if our heart condemns
us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things." And that, "if
any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
Righteous." With all our imperfections and our consciousness of guilt
we rejoice that–

"There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Emmanuel's veins.

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains."

It looks like a bold question for any man to put so unreservedly, "Who
is he that condemns?" But there is really only One who can condemn. Our
characters may have been pulled to pieces by a thousand accusers, but
they could not condemn us. When a prisoner stands in the dock, he need
not be afraid of anybody except the judge and jury. It does not matter
what you or I may believe about him–nobody but the 12 men in the box
can give the verdict against him or in his favor. These are the persons
before whom he has cause to tremble but before none besides. So whoever
may pretend to condemn us, there is only One who can really do so–and
that is the Judge–and what is His name? O Christian, what a comforting
fact is this to you! Your Judge is your Savior! And it is not possible
to conceive that He who died and rose again, and entered into
Heaven–and every day pleads for us–can ever use His blessed lips to
pronounce condemnation upon any one of His own people! "Oh," you say,
"but He must do it as He is the Judge! He must not show any favor on
the Judgment Seat." That is a correct remark and I have been sorry
whenever I have heard a preacher say that. It is a consolation to think
that the Judge will be our Friend. Why, Beloved, we must not imagine
that Jesus will judge partially and give His verdict in our favor
because we are His friends. No, but here is our comfort–He who is our
Judge, beyond everybody else, knows the whole truth about us and He
would not justify us at the last if we really ought to be condemned.
Ah, no, He is too just to do that! But He knows that every Believer is
so completely justified that he cannot be condemned. He knows, as
nobody else does, how the Believer was justified–what blood it was
that washed the Believer white! And what righteousness it is that has
made the Believer "accepted in the Beloved." He knows His own and He
knows the way in which He has justified His own and, therefore, as an
Omniscient, Infallibly just Judge, He knows that the sentence which
will be passed upon the Believer, which is a sentence of acquittal, is
the only one that could be passed!

"Who is he who condemns? Christ who died." So the fact stands that
whatever there may be in store for others in connection with the coming
Day of Final Judgment and the banishment of the condemned to Hell, all
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will never be condemned! Under no
possible or conceivable circumstances can they ever be condemned, for
they who are once forgiven and justified always shall be forgiven and
justified in time and throughout eternity! There is now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus–and there never shall be! [See Sermon
#1917, Volume 32–in christ no

CONDEMNATION.]

II. Our second point is THE GROUND OF THIS HOLY CONFIDENCE.

It was holy confidence that made Paul ask, "Who is he who condemns?"
And he has given us the reasons for his confidence, but I shall first
call your attention to what he has not given as the ground of
confidence.

He does not say, "Who is he who condemns?–for we have never sinned."
That would be a very good ground of confidence if it were true, for if
we had never sinned, nobody could condemn us. God is not unrighteous,
so He does not condemn an innocent man. But there is not one glorified
person in Heaven who will ever dare to plead that he never sinned, for
"all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We have all gone
astray from God like lost sheep. Everyone of us has gone the downward
road. By the works of the Law we can never be justified, for the Law
only brings to us a knowledge of sin and proves to us that our fancied
perfection can never be the ground of our confidence.

Neither does the Apostle ground his confidence on the fact of his
repentance. Some people seem to have a notion that although sin is a
very evil thing, yet if repentance is sincere and deep, it will suffice
to wash out the sin. But Paul does not

say, "Who is he who condemns?–for I have felt the plague of sin and
hated it, and wept over it and turned from it." He makes no mention
whatever of his repentance as a ground of his confidence! He had truly
repented, yet he never dreamed of relying upon his repentance as a
reason for his justification in the sight of God!

Nor does he say that he puts any dependence upon a long life of
holiness. From the time of his conversion, Paul had been an example to
all the flock, so that he could even write, "Be you followers of me,
even as I also am of Christ." Yet he does not say, "Who is he who
condemns?–for I have lived a blameless life among you all, and none
can convict me of sin." Not a word of that sort does he utter! I know
that some of you seekers after salvation fancy that those good
Christian people whom you very much admire must get a great deal of
comfort out of the good lives that they lead. But I can assure you that
this is not the case with any of them. They will all tell you that they
have not the least confidence in themselves, or in their own works, but
that their confidence is found in quite another direction!

Paul does not say that his confidence was based upon the fact that he
had practiced great self-denial and had been a most devoted missionary
of the Cross of Christ. It is true that he had been beaten, and stoned,
and shut up in prison, and that he had been quite willing to lay down
his life for his Lord, but he makes no mention of all that as the
reason why he felt that he could not be condemned. What do you think
was Paul's opinion of all the good works he had ever done, and of all
that he had suffered for the name of Christ? This is what he says, "I
do count them but dung," (he could hardly have used a more opprobrious
word than that), "that I may win Christ and be found in Him." A good
man, when he was dying, said that he was gathering all his good works
and his bad works together in one bundle and flinging them all
overboard. In his estimation, the one set was about as good as the
other as a ground of confidence in the sight of God– and he meant to
be rid of the whole and to put his trust somewhere else. And believe
me, dear Hearer, as I stand here before you, I know whom I have
believed–and I have not only a hope of eternal life, but I know that I
have eternal life within my own soul! But, if you ask me whether I base
my confidence of my salvation upon the fact that these many years I
have preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I tell you, "No, I place no
reliance upon my own preaching as any ground of merit in the sight of
God." And if I am asked whether, having experienced much of the Grace
of God, I build my confidence on my experience, I answer, "No, in no
wise. Infinitely better than anything within me or of me is the Rock
upon which my soul rests, or else I should be resting upon a shifting
quicksand which would be my destruction." On Christ and what He has
done, my soul hangs for time and eternity! And if your soul also hangs
there, it will be saved as surely as mine shall be! And if you are lost
trusting in Christ, whoever you may be, I will be lost with you–and I
will go to Hell with you! I must do so, for I have nothing else to rely
upon but the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died, was
buried, rose again and went up to Heaven–and still lives and pleads
for sinners at the right hand of God!

I have thus shown you that the Apostle's confidence was not founded
upon anything of himself. Now I want to explain to you the reasons why
he knew that he was not condemned and never should be. He had four
pillars to his confidence.

And the first great massive pillar was this–"It is Christ who died.
"But Paul, you have broken God's Law, so He must punish you. He
replies, "God cannot punish me. He cannot even condemn me." But Paul,
you helped put Stephen to death–your hands were red with the blood of
the martyrs! You hunted the saints of God and delighted to put them to
death–and yet you say that God cannot condemn you for that and never
will? "Yes," says the Apostle, "He never will. He never can!" And why?
"Because Christ died." But Paul, what has Christ's death to do with
your guilt? His answer is, "All my sins, however many or however black
they may have been, were laid upon Christ and He stood in my place in
the sight of God. And in my place He suffered that which has rendered
full satisfaction to the Law of God for all my evil deeds, thoughts and
words. The sufferings of Jesus were the sufferings of my Substitute. He
bore, that I might never bear, the wrath of God on account of my sin."
Do you see this, poor sin-burdened soul? If Jesus Christ died in your
place, God cannot condemn you! If Jesus Christ did really suffer in
your place, as your Substitute, where would God's honor and justice be
if He should punish the sinner for whom Jesus had died as Substitute?
That can never be!

The comfort of the text lies here. Paul says, "It is Christ who died."
That is to say, it is the Son of God who died and there must be
infinite merit in the Atonement which was presented by the sufferings
of so august a Person. Paul says, "It is Christ who died." That word
signifies "the Anointed One"–the Divine Person who was sent by the
Father and anointed by the Holy Spirit–and who Himself undertook to
suffer in the place of His people. He did not do it of His own will
alone–He was authorized to do it–appointed and anointed to do it! God
put His Son into that place, as the Prophet Isaiah says, "All we like
sheep, have gone astray; we have turned, everyone to his own way; and
the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Now, if Christ was
Substitute, and if God appointed Him and anointed Him as my only
Substitute, to suffer in my place, where in the whole Universe can
there be found any reason why God should first punish Christ and then
punish me? The only question is–Did He so die in my place? The answer
to that question is this–If I believe in Christ, I am one of those for
whom He died as Substitute. If I trust Him with my whole heart. If I
rely alone upon Him as my Substitute and Savior, I have the mark and
sign upon me that He suffered in my place, that He offered a full and
complete Atonement for my sin and, knowing this, I dare to say as
confidently as the Apostle Paul said it, that Christ died for me! Who
can ever condemn the sinner for whom Christ died as Substitute and
Savior? Is not this a good foundation to have under my feet? May I not
stand here securely and, knowing that Jesus died instead of me, may I
not feel assured that I can never die and that I can never be sent to
Hell–for Jesus Christ has suffered all that I ought to have suffered?

But the Apostle had a second reason for feeling sure that he should not
be condemned, and that was that Christ had risen from the dead. "Yes
rather, "he says, "who is risen again. "Now, if Christ had not risen
from the dead, He would have been proved to be an impostor. If He had
not risen from the dead, it would have been clear that He was not God,
or the Son of God. But His rising from the dead proved that He was both
God and the appointed and anointed Savior. Christ's death paid the debt
that His people owed to Divine Justice–and when He came out of the
prison of death in which He had been detained for a while, it was, so
to speak, God's receipt by which He said to the whole universe, "My Son
has paid the debts of all His people; therefore I let Him go free."
Jesus was the Hostage for all His chosen ones and until the last
farthing of the tremendous price of their redemption had been paid, He
must lie in the prison of the tomb. But when it had been certified by
Infallible Justice that the great transaction was finished and the
redemption of His people was fully accomplished, then Christ was set
free and "He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." Now
see, Believer, what is the effect of this glorious Truth of God! How
can God ever condemn you after He has accepted Christ as your
Substitute–after He has publicly accepted Him by raising Him from the
dead in the presence of men and angels? God cannot so belie himself! It
is not possible that after He has accepted the Substitute, He should
afterwards condemn those for whom that Substitute bled and died!

Paul had those two pillars–the death and Resurrection of Christ–but
he added a third. He says that Christ is at the right hand of God. This
is another weighty reason for our feeling that we never can be
condemned, for the right hand of God is the place of power and the
place of majesty! Christ at the right hand of God is there as King. And
as King He is able to defend His people against all their adversaries.
False accusers, therefore, shall be driven away by the power of His
Omnipotent arm. While Christ is King, at the right hand of God, what
accuser shall dare to impeach us in the courts of Heaven? Christ's
sitting at the right hand of God proves that His great redeeming work
is done! If He had not completed it, He would not be sitting down. But
it is done and done forever! Finished in that matchless loom is the
perfect Robe of Righteousness that we are to wear forever! The last
throw of the sacred shuttle of His untold agony has been made. Dyed is
the wondrous garment that we are to wear, for it has been dipped in His
precious blood. And when it was finished, the Divine Worker "sat down
at the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies
are made His footstool." For Christ to sit at the right hand of God is
a continual certificate from the Father that He is satisfied with the
substitution of His Son instead of us and satisfied with us as we are
represented in Him. Every moment that Christ is at the right hand of
God, every Believer is safe. For Christ to be in Heaven and for the
people for whom He died to be in Hell is utterly impossible! For Christ
to be there as our Representative and yet for those whom He represents
to be cast out from the favor of God would be a monstrosity, a
blasphemy which cannot be imagined for a single instant! The Head is
glorified, so the members of His mystical body shall never be
condemned. They must be eternally saved because He is at the right hand
of God! Look up, then, Christian! You looked down into the tomb and saw
Him there paying your debts. You looked round to the garden from where
He rose and saw that your debts were all discharged. Now look up to the
Heaven where He dwells with His Father–and see yourself "accepted in
the Beloved."

The Apostle had yet one more ground of confidence for he says that
Christ "also makes intercession for us." And if any doubt could linger
until now, surely this must expel it! When Jesus pleads for His people,
His pleas are Omnipotent and God will nearer deny to His Son the reward
of His soul-travail. I suppose that in Heaven Christ pleads for His
people vocally, but it is not at all necessary that He should, for His
very Presence there is an irresistible plea. If someone were

pleading before an earthly court and if he had been an old soldier, and
had rendered valiant service to his country, if he were to bare his
chest and show the scars of the wounds that he received in battle, he
would not have to say much, for his scars would plead better than any
words could. And Jesus in Heaven lifts His hands and feet, and shows
His pierced side. His scarred Person still adorned with the marks of
His passion and death is an everlasting and overwhelming plea. If Jesus
pleads for me, can His Father reject me? If so, He must also reject His
Son! He must refuse the authoritative requests of His only-begotten and
well-beloved Son! He must deny to Jesus that which He well
deserves–and that He can never do. O Believer, if you still have any
doubts about your acceptance in Christ, let them fly before this fourth
mighty blow, "who also makes intercession for us."

I am not going to keep you here much longer, but I want to remind you
that the main difficulty with some of you seems to be that you do
believe these great Truths of God, but you do not fully realize what is
contained in them. I am speaking now only to you who really do believe
in Jesus. You are resting upon Him alone–you know you are. Unless you
are awfully deceived, each one of you can say–

"My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness."
Well, Beloved, do not let me merely say this and you simply hear it,
but believe it, enjoy it, drink it in, live on it! You are not
condemned by God and, therefore, the opposite of that is true–you are
accepted by God, you are Beloved of God, you are dear to God–you are
pure and precious in God's sight. Let that blessed thought get into
your brain and when it is there, pray to God to let it get down deeper,
even into your heart and soul, and then say as Paul did, "Being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." And "there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Why
do I see you hang down your head and look as gloomy as an owl? You
might well look so if you were condemned or if there were any threat of
your being condemned–but there is no such fear if you are a Believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ!

I sometimes hear preachers say that we are in a state of probation, but
I should like to know who is in such a state as that. Certainly the
sinner is not, for he is already lost! And the saint is not, for he is
saved and can never be lost. The sinner is already condemned and the
saint is already justified! We are not waiting for the verdict for it
has already been given! It is recorded concerning every Believer that
he is justified and that the claim he makes that he is a child of God
is a true one and that all the glorious inheritance in the land of the
blessed is his and he may claim it at once as his own, for it all
belongs to him! So, up with you child of God! Up with you, bird of the
day! Eagle of God, will you sit day after day moping in the dark when
you might soar up into the light and gaze even at the sun? Up with you,
son of the morning! Up with you, child of light! Away from all your
gloomy doubts and fears! You have a million a year for spending money,
given to you by the God of Grace, so will you go on spending a few
pence a day, like a beggar who needs to be careful even of his
farthings? You are forgiven! Then live as a forgiven man should. What
if God smites you every now and then with trouble? Can you not say, as
one did long ago, "Smite, Lord, as hard as You will, for there is now
no anger in Your blows and, therefore, I can bear them without
complaining"? Are you suffering severe losses and carrying heavy
crosses? They ought to seem very light to you now! As long as you are
forgiven, what does anything else matter? Go to a man in Newgate,
condemned to die, and take him a free pardon. Tell him that by the
favor of his sovereigns, he is to live! And do you think he will begin
murmuring because some little thing is not just as he would like it?
Oh, no! He will say, "It is enough for me that my life is spared." Now
you are forgiven! You are God's child! You are on the way to Heaven, so
"fret not yourself because of evil-doers." Murmur not against the Most
High. Take your harp down from the willows and sing unto the Lord a new
song, for He has worked marvels of mercy for you!

And then, in the light of this wonderful love of God to you, so live at
home and abroad that others shall ask, "What makes this man so happy?
What makes this woman so glad?" I will not say to you who are
forgiven–Sing with your voice all the day, though I would have you
praise the Lord with joyful lips as much as you can. But let the bells
of your hearts go on ringing all day! Sometimes when I think of what
the Lord has done for me, I feel myself to be like a church steeple
that I saw some few months ago. There had been a wedding in the place
and the bells were pealing out a merry chime. And as they rang, I
distinctly saw that steeple reel and rock, and the four pinnacles
seemed to be tossing to and fro–the whole tower seemed as though it
would come down as the bells pealed out again and again. And sometimes
when my soul pulls the big bell–"Jesus loved you and gave Himself for
you, and you are accepted in Him, you are God's

own child, and on your way to Heaven, and a crown of eternal life is
yours"–I feel as if this crazy steeple of my body would rock and reel
beneath the excessive joy and be scarcely able to hold the ecstatic
bliss which the love of God creates within my soul! And then do I
sing–

"In the heavenly Lamb, thrice happy I am, And my heart it does leap at
the sound of His name!" Oh, I would that everyone of you had that joy!
And surely everyone shall have it who will have it in God's way! If you
believe in Jesus Christ, you shall be absolved from all your guilt. If
you will but trust yourself to Him, whoever you are, He will take your
sin and lift it off from you–and cause you to be accepted, as all His
people are!

God give to all of you the Grace to believe in Jesus and to go your way
rejoicing, for His name's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN20:1-18.

Verse 1. The first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early, when it
was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and saw the stone was taken away from
the sepulchei. Her love for her Lord made her rise early and helped her
to overcome the fear which would have prevented many from going out
"when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher." There are fears which some
cannot shake off in the dark–and those fears would be apt to become
intensified in going to a sepulcher in the dark. But love wakes early
to try to find Christ and love can see in the dark when looking for
Jesus! Mary little expected to find the tomb of Jesus rifled and the
stone rolled away–she was so surprised at what she saw that she
hurried away to tell the story to other friends of her Lord.

2. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple,
whom Jesus loved, and said unto them, They have taken away the Lord out
of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him. This was
the language of ignorance and unbelief. She had forgotten that the Lord
had said that He would rise again the third day. Or else she had never
understood the meaning of His words. So, instead of saying "He is
risen," she said, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher,
and we know not where they have laid Him." Unbelief often reads things
wrongly–it reads sorrow into facts that should create joy. Nothing
could have made Mary happier than to believe that her Lord had risen
from the dead–and nothing ever made her more sorrowful than feeling
that she must say, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher,
and we know not where they have laid Him."

3, 4. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to
the sepulcher So they ran both together: and the other disciple did
outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher They wanted to know what
had really happened, so they resolved that they would go and see. The
woman's message surprised them and troubled them, "So they ran both
together." A good many people seemed to be running that morning. Had
the disciples known the whole truth, they might have taken to dancing
for joy, but their fears quickened their footsteps!

5. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes. So that
he knew that they had not taken away the body of Jesus, for if they
had, they certainly would not have taken off the linen clothes. It
would have been very difficult and would have taken considerable time
to unwrap the cold grave-clothes when they were bound to the body by
the ointments that had been used–"He saw the linen clothes."

5. Yet went he not in. Perhaps out of reverence or, possibly, out of
deference to the older man. He would give him the preference and let
him enter first.

6. Then came Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher and
saw the linen clothes. They were evidently both struck with that sight.
It indicated that there had been no haste, no hurry by thieves, but
deliberate action of quite another kind.

7. And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen
clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself As one has well
said, there were the grave-clothes left as the furniture for the
Believer's last bed, and there was the napkin, "in a place by itself,"
to wipe away the tears of mourners. The chief lesson is that this act
had been done at leisure by someone who was in no hurry whatever! He
had put together the linen clothes and wrapped up the napkin, and laid
it "in a place by itself."

8. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the
sepulcher, and he saw, and believed. That is a great deal for John to
be able to say concerning himself, for Mary had not yet believed.
Possibly Peter had scarcely believed, but John had. He felt certain
that the Lord had risen. He remembered His words and He correctly
interpreted the fact now before him–"He saw, and believed."

9. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from
the dead. They did not understand it. Even John himself did not until
then. The rest of the disciples had never put that interpretation upon
our Lord's words which was the clear and simple meaning of them,
namely, that He would rise from the dead. I should not wonder if there
are other words of Scripture with regard to the future which we would
comprehend if we took them exactly as they stand in the Word–but we
have put other meanings upon them and, consequently, see no further
into them.

10. Then the disciples went away again unto their own homes. Having
ascertained that the body of Jesus was not there, and John having come
to the conclusion that the Lord had indeed risen from the dead, He and
Peter went away home prayerfully to wait and see what would happen
next.

11. But Mary stood. She was not going home. Love cannot leave the place
where it lost its objective. It will continue to search there. "But
Mary stood."

11. Outside of the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down
and looked. Some can weep, but never look. Do not act so, Beloved, but
look for comfort even when your heart is breaking. "As she wept, she
stooped down and looked."

11. 12. Into the sepulcher and saw two angels in white. The
resurrection color, the color ofjoy and gladness! "Two angels in
white."

12. Sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the
body of Jesus had lain. I have no doubt that the angel who sat at the
feet was quite as content to sit there as the other was to sit at the
head. If any two of you are sent upon the Lord's business, do not pick
and choose as to where you shall be, or what you shall do. "One at the
head, and the other at the feet." I am afraid that if they had been
men, instead of angels, both would have wanted to sit at the head, and
the feet would have been neglected. This sight seems to remind one of
the Mercy Seat where the cherubim stood facing each other and covering
the Mercy Seat with their outspread wings.

13. And they said unto her, Woman, why do you weep? She said unto them,
Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid Him. Grief has not many words. It is apt to repeat itself, as the
Lord Himself did in Gethsemane when He prayed three times using the
same words.

14. 15. And when she had said thus, she turned herself back and saw
Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said unto her,
Woman, why do you weep?Christ often repeats the words of His messengers
as if to endorse them. The angels said, "Woman, why do you weep?" The
angels' Master said the same. I pray Him, tonight, not only to give me
the right words to say, but also to say it, Himself, to your hearts.
But Jesus added another question to the angels', "Woman, why do you
weep?"

15. Whom do you seek?She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said unto
Him, Sir, 'if you have borne Him from here, tell me where you have laid
Him, and I will take Him away. Did it occur to her that, possibly, the
gardener objected to having a corpse in the garden and that, therefore,
He had come early in the morning and taken it away? We can hardly
imagine what she thought, but when people are in great grief, they
often think a great many things which they would not think if they were
quite in their right minds! What strange delusions, what singular
images of monstrous shape will pass through the heart of grief! God
help us to be clear-minded and not to think what we should not like to
say! Still, Mary was a brave woman, for she said to the gardener, "Tell
me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."

16. Jesus said unto her, Mary. She turned and said unto Him, Rabboni!
Which is to say, Master She said, "My Master, my Rabbi, my Teacher, my
Leader, my dear Master." And I expect she said it with great
exultation. She delighted to have her Master again, to have her Teacher
again for, to be without her Teacher and without her Lord was a
terrible bereavement to that gentle, teachable heart! I suppose she was
about to lay hold upon Christ, to grasp Him by the feet, lest He should
again go away from her.

17. Jesus said unto her, Touch Me not Or, as the words may be read,
"Hold Me not; detain Me not."

17. For I have not yet ascended to My Father. "I have to go away from
you, so do not imagine that you can hold Me back. No, the time for such
communications with Me is past, for I am now in another condition. I
will communicate with you spiritually but, for that, you must wait a
little–"I have not yet ascended to My Father.'"

17. But go to My brethren. He had never called them that before.
"Brethren," He had called them, but not with the emphatic, "My." "Go to
My brethren."

17. And say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to
My God, and your God. Thus Christ explained to them that the Father,
who is God, was God to Christ and God to them. The Father of Christ and
their Father also.

18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the
Lord. That was a very different message from her first one. Then she
came and said, "He is gone! The tomb is empty. The stone is rolled
away." Now she comes with the joyful tidings, "I have seen our risen
Lord."

18. And that He had spoken these things unto her. Sometimes we have to
deliver the message of stern justice which is one of doom to the
guilty, but oh how sweet it is to be able to come with the message of
the Gospel!–

"He lives!–The great Redeemer lives!"

He lives to plead for sinners! So, sinners, come and trust Him, for He
will manifest Himself to you as surely as He did to these disciples,
though not in exactly the same form!