Christian Life

Our Savior is Full of Grace and Truth

Sherry Christian Life Leave a comment

…full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

I bear my testimony that He is full of grace. Ah! had He not been, I should never have beheld His glory. I was full of sin to overflowing. I was condemned already, because I believed not upon Him. He drew me when I wanted not to come, and though I struggled hard, He continued still to draw; and when at last I came all trembling like a condemned culprit to His mercy-seat, He said, “Thy sins which were many are all forgiven thee, be of good cheer.” “He took me up out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay. He hath set my feet upon a rock, and put a new song into my mouth, and established my goings.” Let others despise Him; but I bear witness that He is full of grace. Oh, I would that some poor sinner who is full of sin, would remember that Christ is full of grace.

Finally, I bear my witness, that as He is full of grace He is full of truth. True have His promises been, not one has failed. I have often doubted Him, for that I blush; He has never failed me, in this I must rejoice. His promises have been yea and amen. I do but speak the testimony of every believer in Christ, though I put it thus personally to make it the more forcible. I bear witness that never servant had such a Master as I have; never brother had such a kinsman as He has been to me; never a spouse had such a husband as Christ has been to my soul; never a sinner a better Savior; never a soldier a better captain; never a mourner a better comforter than Christ hath been to my spirit. I want none beside Him. In life He is my life, and in death He shall be the death of death; in poverty Christ is our riches; in sickness He makes our bed; in darkness He is our star, and in brightness He is our sun; He is the manna of the camp in the wilderness, and He shall be the new corn of the host when they come to Canaan. He is the rock that follows them today; He is the rock on which they shall rest, and within which they shall dwell for ever. So be it, Lord. Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm

Thou Art Indeed My Lord and My God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

And 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. – John 1:14

We bear our testimony that He is “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Brothers and sisters, instead of preaching let me bear my testimony; my testimony of what I have seen, what my own ears have heard, and my own heart has tasted-that Christ is the only begotten of the Father. He is divine to me, if He be human to all the world besides. He has done that for me which none but a God could do. He has turned my stubborn will, melted a heart of adamant, broken a chain of steel, opened the gates of brass, and snapped the bars of iron. He hath turned for me my mourning into laughter, and my desolation into joy; He hath led my captivity captive, made my heart rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Let others think as they will of Him, to me He must be the only begotten of the Father: blessed be His name.

“O that I could now adore Him,
Like the heavenly host above,
Who for ever bow before Him,
And unceasing sing His love. Happy songsters!
When shall I your chorus join?”

Thy name is precious even as ointment poured forth. Thou art indeed my Lord and my God, as certainly as ever Thou wast the God of Thomas. Like Paul, my soul shall say, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” – C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm

The Glory of His Final Triumph

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

…and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father… – John 1:14

We have beheld His glory in His final triumph. Yes, brethren, by faith we have seen in the very moment when the sun was darkened, and when the earth was shaken, and the rocks rent asunder; we have seen Christ darkening the world’s glories; we have seen Him rending rocky hearts, and bidding the dead arise. We have seen Him in the very instant when He gave up the ghost leaping from the cross, pursuing with thunderbolts the prince of hell, and driving him to darker shades below; we have seen Him grasping at last the tyrant in His hands, and chaining him to His chariot wheel. Our faith has beheld Him riding up the everlasting hills, leading captivity captive; we have seen the gates wide open flung while angels said, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” We have joined by faith the triumph and have swelled the train, we have heard the acclamation of the spirits of the just made perfect; we have heard above all the voice of God, “Well done, Thou hast finished Thy Father’s will.” We have seen Him ascend in august majesty the throne which is His resting place, and we have seen Him sit down on the right hand of the Father, while from heaven and earth, and even hell, there went up one prolonged note of praise, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Nay, our faith has gone beyond the mere matters of the past. We have beheld His glory; we have seen Him as one by one His sheep are brought, and His prayer is heard, “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am.” We have seen Him going forth day after day in the chariot of Salvation scattering with both His hands His mercies among the poverty-stricken sons of men, and we have cried unto Him, “Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Thou most mighty.” …We have beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm

The Glory of His Love and Sacrifice

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Father Leave a comment

…and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father… – John 1:14

We have beheld His glory, not merely in His person, but in the motive for which He undertook His great work. That motive was love, love which could have His self interest to be an alloy, love to worthless creatures, love to those who could never repay His love to rebels, love to men who crucified the Lord of glory, and we have said as we have seen this love sparkling like a jewel in a black setting, lying in the heart of the pool, injured, poverty-stricken, houseless, comfortless Man of Nazareth. “There is a glory here in this love that is never to be found elsewhere.” We have looked upon Him giving up everything for us, renouncing His crown and sceptre, laying aside His royal robes and splendor, leaving His Father’s house, and palaces, and honor, becoming man, nay, a poor man, a despised afflicted man; nay, becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross. We have read history through, but we never saw a self-sacrifice that could equal His. In Him selfishness never lived, and therefore, never needed to be kept in check. He was not His own; His whole history could be written in this: “He saved others, Himself He cannot save.” Glorious Christ, in this whilst Thou wast rejected of men, we have beheld Thy glory.

The world’s glory lies at His feet; He chooses rather our salvation than the glories of earth. He counted the reproach that He should bear for us greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. We see Him mocked, yet never reviling, spit upon, yet never spitting back again even so much as a word of venom. We see Him despised, yet never attempting to clear Himself; accused, yet silent before the judgment-seat; so giving up Himself that He can bear all things, whatsoever they may be. Many waters could not quench His love, neither could the floods drown it… Great God, there is none like Thee in the omnipotence of Thine endurance. We have seen Thy glory, even when Thou didst tabernacle among men. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm

His Glory Beheld by Our Faith

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Father Leave a comment

…and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father… – John 1:14

By faith we have beheld the glory of His complex person. We have known and believed that He is the everlasting Word, the veritable Son of the Father, we have beheld Him by faith, as dwelling with the Father or ever the world was, the beloved of His Father’s soul; we have seen Him and we have marked that His goings-forth are of old, even from everlasting, we have seen Him weighing the clouds, measuring the channels of the great deep, planning the heavens, and meting out the sea, we have seen Him with the line and with the plummet, making all things according to His wisdom, and the purpose of the counsel of His will, for “without Him was not anything made that was made.” We have seen Him as God, seated upon the throne of His Father, and we have believed that the sea roareth only as He bids it, that the earth with all the creatures that are therein obeys His glorious will. Lo, in His hands to-day the keys of heaven and death, and hell! We have had no doubts whatever as to His Divinity, for we have seen and known that He is “very God of very God.” “God over all, blessed for ever Amen.”

We have seen Him too as man. We have perceived that He is of the substance of His mother, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh; man in all infirmities, but not man in any guiltiness of His own; man weak, suffering, hungry, thirsty, dying, but without spot or wrinkle-pure, the immaculate Lamb of God. We have beheld Him in the glory of this complex person-not God deteriorated to man, not man deified to God, but God, very God, and very man; God in all that is God-like, man in all that is manlike, and we have adored Him as such. We have seen in Him the lustre of a beauty which far outshines all that earth can present us, or all that heaven can offer. Whom have we on earth but Jesus? Who is there in heaven that we can desire beside Him? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm

Faith, Experience, and Communion Sees It

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

…and we beheld His glory… – John 1:14

“How can we behold His glory?” Why, faith sees it. Faith is sometimes assisted by Experience; and Experience sees His glory: it sees the glory of His grace in rolling away all our sins; the preciousness of His blood in giving us reconciliation with the Father; the power of the Spirit in subduing the will; the love of His heart in constantly remembering us upon the throne; and the power of His plea in its perpetual prevalence with God. Experience shows us the glory of Christ in the deep waters, while He puts His arm beneath us and says, “Fear not, thou shalt not be drowned.” It shows us the glory in the blazing furnace while the Son of Man treads the glowing coals with His afflicted Israel. Experience shows us the glory of Christ in all the attacks of Satan. While He is our shield, He wards off every poisoned arrow; experience shows us the glory of Christ in helping us to live and enabling us to die; and by-and-bye it shall show us the glory of Christ in enabling us to rise and take possession of the crown which He hath purchased for His children.

And with Experience there is another that helps us to behold the glory of Christ, namely, Communion. Beloved, I hope you know what that means-when in the chamber shut in with God, and the world shut out, our eyes behold Him and not another; when we can kneel down in the very posture of the poor agonizing victim of Gethsemane, and see by fellowship the sweat of blood as it streams from the pores of His frame: when we can mark Him hounded, hissed, scouted through all the streets of His own city, and taken to Calvary to die. Communion knows something of the bitterness of the cup which He then drank, somewhat of the sharpness of the nails that pierced His hands, and somewhat of the death which was endured when at last He said, “It is finished!” and gave up the ghost. Yes, Communion can show us the glory of Christ even in His shame. And then it can take to its wings and show us His glory beyond the skies. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm

We Beheld His Glory

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

…and we beheld His glory… – John 1:14

What is the word “Beheld?” It says not we heard of His glory, we read of it in prophecy, or we listened to it from the lips of others, but we beheld His glory. What a privilege was this, which was accorded to the first disciples! Have you not often envied them? To see the Man, the very Man, in whom God dwelt-to walk with Him as one’s companion along His journeys of mercy-to listen to the words as they stream all living from those eloquent lips-to look into His eyes, and mark the depth of love that glistened there-to see His face, even though it was more marred than that of any man… “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth”-to have had one’s faith encouraged by touching His very flesh, as He did of whom it is written, that he put his finger into the print of the nails and thrust his hand into His side. But what are we talking about? All this is carnal, all this is of sight, and the Christian is a nobler being than to live and walk by sight. He lives by faith; and to this day, brethren, there is a sight of Christ which can be had by faith; and therefore, we need not murmur because we are denied the privilege of sight. The sight of Christ it seems, did but little good to those who had it, not even to His disciples, for they were sorry dolts, even though He was the Master. It was only when the Spirit came down at Pentecost, that they began to know Christ, and to understand what He had said to them, though He himself had said it. And truly ’tis better to see Christ by faith than it is to see Him by sight, for a sight of Him by faith saves the soul; but we might see Him with the eye, and yet crucify Him, and be found amongst the greatest rebels against His government and power.

Now we say to you, have you beheld His glory by faith? Oh! ye have all of you heard of it. Ye may hear of His glory and perish in your sins. Oh! to behold His glory! This is soul work, saving work, blessed work, everlasting work: have ye any interest in it? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0414.cfm