Teaching Resources International

God in Christ is Love by Ebenezer Erskine

January 17, 2010 by ADMIN

I hope to make it a little more evident, that God in Christ is a God of love. This will be abundantly clear, if we consider these few things:—1. God in Christ is a reconciled God, a God of peace that has received the atonement: 2 Corinthians 5:19: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” Romans 5:10: “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” He both finds the ransom, and accepts of the ransom that he has found; and having accepted of the ransom, of the Surety, he proclaims himself to be “the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ.” Oh, sirs! Does not this say that God is love? What greater evidence of it could God give, than to provide a ransom, and to receive it, than to cry, “Deliver them from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom?”

2. God in Christ is a promising God and does not this say that he is a God of love? God abstractly considered is a threatening God, a revenging God; but in Christ, a promising God; and we find, 2 Corinthians 1:20, that “all the promises of God are in Christ, and in him yea and amen.” Whenever you meet with any promise in the Bible, of grace or of glory, of peace or of pardon, or be what it will, you should still take it up as a promise of a God in Christ: Christ having fulfilled the condition of the promise of eternal life, by his obedience and death, the promises are given out to us, through him, as the immediate ground and foundation of our faith, with an intimation and advertisement, “The promise is unto you, and to your seed, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Sirs, if any man should present to you a bond, bill, or security, for a vast sum of money, which would enrich you for all your days, you would look upon it as a great and indisputable evidence of his love to you. Well, this is the very case between God and you; through Christ, he is a promising God; he comes in a gospel dispensation, saying, “I will put my Spirit within you; I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” These promises are presented to you as the ground of your faith; and that very moment you take hold of them in a way of believing, you come to be possessed of them, and all the benefits of his purchase, according to that, Isaiah 55:3: “Hear, and your soul shall live;” it is the hearing of faith that is intended; “and I will make” or establish “an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” Oh, sirs! does not this say that God is love?

3. God in Christ is a God sitting upon a throne of grace: and does not this say, that God is love? God has a threefold throne, —a throne of glory, a throne of justice, and a throne of grace. The first of these, his throne of glory, is so bright, that it dazzles the eyes of angels, and they cover their faces with their wings when they approach it. The second, namely, his throne of justice, is clothed with red vengeance; and it is so terrible, that the most holy saints tremble when they behold it, “If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? In thy sight shall no man living be justified.” And because we were not able to stand here, he has erected another throne, namely, a throne of grace, from whence he issues out acts of grace and mercy to guilty sinners; and so soon as he is seen sitting upon his throne, he is taken up as a God of love; and upon this the poor sinner, that was trembling at the thoughts of being cited before the throne of justice, flees for his life to the throne of grace, saying with the apostle, Heb. 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

4. God in Christ is a God matching with us, and betrothing us unto himself in loving kindness; and does not this say, that he is a God of love? There is a twofold match that the great and infinite JEHOVAH has made with Adam’s family.

(1.) He espouses with our nature by a personal union in the person of his eternal Son: he marries our nature; and thus he becomes akin to the whole family of Adam, an honor that the angelic family was never dignified with; for “he takes not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.” Oh, sirs! What shall I tell you? Strange and surprising news indeed, “God is manifested in the flesh!” The great God becomes related to us in Christ; for he is clothed with our nature; he is become “bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh;” and what is the language of this, but that of the angels at his birth, “glad tidings of great joy, good will and peace towards men upon earth?.”

(2.) Another espousal he makes with us, is, by taking us actually under the bond of a marriage relation. The espousal is proposed to all in the call and offer of the gospel: but you know the bare proposal of marriage does not make marriage, till once the consent of the bride be obtained; and the moment the soul gives its assent and consent to the proposal made in the gospel, he betroths that soul to himself in loving kindness and in mercy, in righteousness and in judgment; and the Lord rejoices over that soul, as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, saying to it, “Thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name,” Isaiah 54:5. And, oh, sirs! Does not this say that God is love? Because the distance between him and us was too great, (abstractly considered,) therefore, he first comes on a level with us, by taking on our nature, that so the inequality of the persons might be no barrier: he becomes our husband, and we his spouse and bride.

5. God in Christ is a God with us, on our side, our friend, and takes part with us against all evil or danger: and does not this say, that God is love, as he is in Christ? Oh, sirs! God out of Christ is a God against us: hence, he is said to be “angry with the wicked every day;” he “whets his glittering sword, and his hand takes hold on judgment,” to render vengeance to every transgressor of his holy law. But God in Christ is not a God against us, but a God with us, or a God for us; the name Immanuel imports, God with us. And every one that takes a God in Christ for their God, may say, upon warrantable grounds, with the church, Psalm 46:7: “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” And they may say it upon a covenant ground, for God in Christ has said, Isaiah 43:2: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

6. God in Christ is a pardoning God, and does not this declare him to be a God of love? “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.”

7. God in Christ is a pitying God. He pities Christless and unbelieving sinners, and is loath at his very heart to give up with them: Hosea 11:8: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.” And how great is his pity to the soul that believes in him! His pity to them is like the pity of a father to his son: Psalm 103:13: “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” It is like the pity of a fond mother to a sucking child: Isaiah 69:15: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that he should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”

8. God in Christ is a God of infinite bounty and liberality, and a prayer-hearing God; (I cast things together, that I may not be tiresome.) Oh, sirs! his heart is free, and his hand is full and open; open-hearted, open-handed: “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” Such is his bounty and liberality, that it is nothing but ask and have with him: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” Matthew 7:7. When we have asked great things of him, he chides us, as if we had asked nothing: he does not deal with a miserly or a sparing hand: no, no: “Ask, and ye shall receive,” says he, “that your joy may be full.” Yes, such is his bounty, that he is ready to do for us exceeding abundantly above what we can either ask or think; such is his bounty, that he presents us with the blessings of his goodness: his goodness and mercy are like the rain or dew, that does not wait for the sons of men: Isaiah 65:24: “And it shall come to pass, that, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

9. God in Christ is an urging God, an entreating God, to sinners: and does not this say, that he is a God of love? He invites us to come to him for all needful grace: Isaiah 55:1: “Ho, every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price.” He is an entreating God in Christ: 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” He complains of the backwardness of sinners to come to him: “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” He complains to them on this account: “O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me.” He waits for an answer; he will not take a repulse. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” And he stands knocking till his locks are wet. Oh! Does not all this say that God in Christ is love?

10. To crown all, God in Christ is our God. He makes a grant of himself in the covenant as such; “I will be their God:” and he allows us to claim him by faith as our God, upon this very grant he makes of himself to us in Christ, Zechariah 13:9:” I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” And, oh! happy that soul that is enabled to give faith’s echo to this covenant grant, and say, “This God is my God forever and ever; and he will be my Guide even unto death.” In a word, God in Christ is our Father; for it is only a God in Christ that says, “I will be unto them a Father, and they shall be unto me sons and daughters.” He has taught us to say, “Our Father which art in heaven.” And he is displeased with us, when we are shy with unbelief to call him by this endearing title: Jeremiah 3:4: “Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, and not turn away from me?” Oh! What but infinite feelings of sympathy and love could speak in such a style and dialect? Now, from all this I think the truth of the doctrine is abundantly evident, that God in Christ is a God of love.

Posted in Ebenezer Erskine |

The Condescension of Christ by A. W. Pink

January 17, 2010 by ADMIN

For the sake of accuracy, a distinction should be drawn between the condescension and the humiliation of Christ, though most writers confound them. This distinction is made by the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:7-8).

First, He “made himself of no reputation;” second, He “humbled himself.” The condescension of God the Son consisted in His assuming our nature, the Word becoming flesh. His humiliation lay in the consequent abasement and sufferings He endured in our nature. The assumption of human nature was not, of itself, a part of Christ’s humiliation, for He still retained it in His glorious exaltation. But for God the Son to take into union with Himself a created nature, animated dust, was an act of infinite condescension.

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:6-9).

These verses trace the path of the Mediator from highest glory to deepest humiliation and back again to His supreme honor. What a wondrous path was His! And how terrible that this divine description of His path should have become the battleground of theological contention. At few points has the awful depravity of man’s heart been more horribly displayed than by the blasphemies vented upon these verses.

A glance at the context (Philippians 2:1-5) at once shows the practical design of the apostle was to exhort Christians to spiritual fellowship among themselves — to be likeminded, to love one another, to be humble and lowly, to esteem others better than themselves. To enforce this, the example of our Lord is proposed in the verses we now consider. We are to have the same mind in us that was in Him; the mind, spirit, habit, of self-abnegation, the mind of self-sacrifice, and of obedience to God. We must humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, if we are to be exalted by Him in due time (1 Peter 5:6). To set before us the example of Christ in its most vivid colors, the Holy Spirit takes us back to the position which our Mediator occupied in eternity. He shows us that supreme dignity and glory was His, then reminds us of those unfathomable depths of condescension and humiliation into which He descended for our sakes.

“Who being in the form of God.” First of all, this affirms the absolute Deity of the Son, for no mere creature, no matter how high in the scale of being, could ever be “in the form of God.” Three words are used concerning the Son’s relation to the Godhead.

First, He subsists in the “form” of God, seen in Him alone.

Second, He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), which expression tells of His manifestation of God to us (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:6).

Third, He is the “brightness of his glory and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), or more exactly, the “effulgency (outshining) of His glory and the exact expression of His substance” (Bagster Interlinear). These perhaps combine both concepts suggested by form and image, namely, that the whole nature of God is in Christ, that by Him God is declared and expressed to us.

“Who being,” or subsisting (it is hardly correct to speak of a divine person “existing.” He is self-existent; He always was in “the form of God.”) “Form” (the Greek word is only found elsewhere in the New Testament in Philippians 2:7, Mark 16:12) is what is apparent. “The form of God” is an expression which seems to denote His visible glory, His displayed majesty, His manifested sovereignty. From eternity, the Son was clothed with all the insignia of deity, adorned with all divine splendor. “The Word was God” (John 1:1).

“Thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Almost every word in this verse has been the occasion of contention. But we have sufficient confidence in the superintending providence of God to be satisfied the translators of our authorized version were preserved from any serious mistake on a subject so vitally important. As the first clause of our verse refers to an objective delineation of the divine dignity of the Son, so this second clause affirms His subjective consciousness. The word “thought” is used (here in the aorist tense) to indicate a definite point in time past. The word rendered “robbery” denotes not the spoil or prize, but the act of taking the spoil. The Son did not reckon equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit an act of usurping.

“Thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” This is only a negative way to say that Christ considered equality with God as what justly and essentially belonged to Him. It was His by indisputable right. Christ esteemed such equality as no invasion of Another’s prerogative, but regarded Himself as being entitled to all divine honors. Because He held the rank of one of the Three coeternal, coessential, and co-glorious persons of the Godhead, the Son reckoned His full and perfect equality with the other two was His unchallengeable portion. In verse 6 is no doubt a latent reference to Satan’s fall. He, though “the anointed cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14), was infinitely below God, yet he grasped at equality with Him. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14).

However the Greek word for “robbery” is translated, it is evident the emphatic term of this clause is “equal.” For if it signifies a real and proper equality, then the proof for the absolute deity of the Savior is irrefutable. How, then, is the exact significance of this term to be determined? Not by having recourse to Homer, nor any other heathen writer, but by discovering the meaning of its cognate. If we can fix the precise rendering of the adjective, then we may be sure of the adverb. The adjective is found in several passages (Matthew 20:12; Luke 6:34; John 5:18; Acts 11:17; Revelation 21:6). In each passage, the reference is not to a likeness only, but to a real and proper equality! Thus the force of this clause is parallel with, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) must not be allowed to negate John 10:30. There are no contradictions in Holy Writ. Each of these passages may be given its full force without there being any conflict between them. The simple way to discover their perfect consistency is to remember, that Scripture exhibits our Savior in two chief characters: as God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity; and as Mediator, the God-man, the Word become flesh. In the former, He is described as possessing all the perfections of deity; in the latter, as the Servant of the Godhead. Speaking of Himself according to His essential Being, He could unqualifiedly say, “I and Father are one,” — one in essence or nature. Speaking of Himself according to His mediatorial office, He could say, “My Father is greater than I,” not essentially, but economically.

Each expression used (Philippians 2:6) is expressly designed by the Holy Spirit to magnify the divine dignity of Christ’s person. He is the Possesser of a glory equal with God’s, with an unquestioned right to that glory, deeming it no robbery to challenge it. His glory is not an accidental or phenomenal one, but a substantial and essential one, subsisting in the very “form of God.” Between what is Infinite and what is finite, what is Eternal and what is temporal, He who is the Creator and what is the creature, it is utterly impossible there should be any equality. “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One” (Isaiah 40:25), is God’s own challenge. Thus, for any creature to deem himself “equal with God” would be the highest robbery and supremest blasphemy.

“But made Himself of no reputation.” The meaning of the words is explained in those which immediately follow. So far was the Son from tenaciously insisting upon His personal rights as a member of the blessed Trinity, He voluntarily relinquished them. He willingly set aside the magnificent distinctions of the Creator, to appear in the form of a creature, yes, in the likeness of a fallen man. He abdicated His position of supremacy and entered one of servitude. Though equal in majesty and glory with God, He joyfully resigned Himself to the Father’s will (John 6:38). Incomparable condescension was this! He who was by inherent right in the form of God, suffered His glory to be eclipsed, His honor to be laid in the dust, and Himself to be humbled to a most shameful death.

“And took upon Him the form of a servant.” In so doing, He did not cease to be all that He was before, but He assumed something He had not been previously. There was no change in His divine nature, but the uniting to His divine person of a human nature. “He who is God, can no more be not God, than he who is not God, can be God” (John Owen). None of Christ’s divine attributes were relinquished, for they are as inseparable from His person as heat is from fire, or weight from substance. But His majestic glory was, for a season, obscured by the interposing veil of human flesh. Nor is this statement negated by John 1:14 — “we beheld His glory” (explained by Matthew 16:17), in contrast from the unregenerate masses before whom He appeared as “a root out of a dry ground,” having “no form nor comeliness” (Isaiah 53:2).

It was God Himself who was “manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). The One born in Bethlehem’s manger was “The mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6), and heralded as, “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Let there be no uncertainty on this point. Had He been “emptied” of any of His personal excellency, had His divine attributes been laid aside, then His satisfaction or sacrifice would not have possessed infinite value. The glory of His person was not in the slightest degree diminished when He became incarnate, though it was (in measure) concealed by the lowly form of the servant He assumed. Christ was still “equal with God” when He descended to earth. It was “The Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8) whom men crucified.

“And took upon Him the form of a servant.” That was the great condescension, yet is it not possible for us to fully grasp the infinity of the Son’s stoop. If God “humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” (Psalm 113:6) how much more so to actually become “flesh” and be amongst the most lowly. He entered into an office which placed Him below God (John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 11:3). He was, for a season, “made lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7); He was “made under the law” (Galatians 4:4). He was made lower than the ordinary condition of man, for He was “a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Psalm 22:6).

What point all this gives to, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). How earnestly the Christian needs to seek grace to be content with the lowest place God and men assign him; to be ready to perform the meanest service; to be and do anything which brings glory to God.

Posted in A. W. Pink |

The Great Birthday by Charles Spurgeon

January 17, 2010 by ADMIN

“The angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” — Luke 2:10

There is no reason upon earth beyond that of ecclesiastical custom why the 25th of December should be regarded as the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ any more than any other day from the first of January to the last day of the year; and yet some persons regard Christmas with far deeper reverence than the Lord’s day. You will often hear it asserted that “The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants,” but it is not so. There are Protestants who have absorbed a great deal besides the Bible into their religion, and, among other things, they have accepted the authority of what they call “the Church” and by that door all sorts of superstitions have entered. There is no authority whatever in the word of God for the keeping of Christmas at all, and no reason for keeping it just now except that the most superstitious section of Christendom has made a rule that December 25th shall be observed as the birthday of the Lord, and the church by law established in this land has agreed to follow in the same track. You are under no bondage whatever to regard the regulation. We owe no allegiance to the ecclesiastical powers which have made a decree on this matter, for we belong to an old-fashioned church which does not dare to make laws, but is content to obey them.

At the same time, the day is no worse than another, and if you choose to observe it, and observe it unto the Lord, I doubt not he will accept your devotion: while if you do not observe it, but unto the Lord observe it not, for fear of encouraging superstition and will-worship, I doubt not but what you shall be as accepted in the non-observance as you could have been in the observance of it.

Still, as the thoughts of a great many Christian people will run at this time towards the birth of Christ, and as this cannot be wrong, I judged it necessary to avail ourselves of the prevailing current and float down the stream of thought. Our minds will run that way, and, because so many around us are following customs suggestive of it, therefore let us get what good we can out of the occasion. There can be no reason why we should not, and it may be helpful that we should, now consider the birth of our Lord Jesus. We will do that voluntarily which we would refuse to do as a matter of obligation: we will do that simply for convenience sake which we should not think of doing because enjoined by authority or demanded by superstition.

The shepherds were keeping their flocks by night; probably a calm, peaceful night, wherein they felt the usual difficulty of keeping their weary eyelids still uplifted as sleep demanded its due of them. On a sudden, to their amazement, a mighty blaze lit up the heavens, and turned midnight into midday. The glory of the Lord, by which, according to the idiom of the language, is meant the greatest conceivable glory as well as a divine glory, surrounded and alarmed them, and, in the midst of it, they saw a shining spirit, a form the like of which they had never beheld before, but of which they had heard their fathers speak, and of which they had read in the books of the prophets, so that they knew it to be an angel. It was indeed no common messenger from heaven, but “the angel of the Lord,” that choice presence angel, whose privilege it is to stand nearest the heavenly majesty, “mid the bright ones doubly bright,” and to be employed on weightiest errands from the eternal throne.

“The angel of the Lord came upon them.” Are you astonished that at first they were afraid? Would not you be alarmed if such a thing should happen to you? The stillness of the night, the suddenness of the apparition, the extraordinary splendor of the light, the supernatural appearance of the angel — all would tend to astound them, and to put them into a quiver of reverential alarm; for I doubt not there was a mixture both of reverence and of fear in that feeling which is described as being “sore afraid.” They would have fallen on their faces to the ground in fright, had there not dropped out of that “glory of the Lord” a gentle voice, which said, “Fear not.” They were calmed by that sweet comfort, and enabled to listen to the announcement which followed.

Then that voice, in accents sweet as the notes of a silver bell, proceeded to say, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” They were bidden to shake off all thoughts of fear and to give themselves up to joy. Doubtless they did so, and amongst all mankind there were none so happy at that dead of night as were these shepherds who had seen an amazing sight, which they would never forget, and now were consulting whether they should not haste away to gaze upon a sight which would be more delightful still, namely, the Babe whereof the angel spoke.

May great joy be upon us also while our thought shall be that the birth of Christ is the cause of supreme joy. When we have spoken upon this we shall have to enquire, to whom does that joy belong; and thirdly, we shall consider, how they shall express that joy while they possess it. May the Holy Spirit now reveal the Lord Jesus to us and prepare us to rejoice in him.

I. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST SHOULD BE THE SUBJECT OF SUPREME JOY.

Rightly so! We have the angelic warrant for rejoicing because Christ is born. It is a truth so full of joy that it caused the angel who came to announce it to be filled with gladness. He had little to do with the fact, for Christ took not up angels, but he took up the seed of Abraham; but I suppose that the very thought that the Creator should be linked with the creature, that the great Invisible and Omnipotent should come into alliance with that which he himself had made, caused the angel as a creature to feel that all creatureship was elevated and this made him glad. Besides, there was a sweet benevolence of spirit in the angel’s bosom which made him happy because he had such gladsome tidings to bring to the fallen sons of men. Albeit they are not our brethren, yet do angels take a loving concern in all our affairs. They rejoice over us when we repent, they are ministering spirits when we are saved, and they bear us aloft when we depart; and sure we are that they can never be unwilling servants to their Lord or tardy helpers of his beloved ones. They are friends of the Bridegroom and rejoice in his joy, they are household servants of the family of love, and they wait upon us with an eager diligence, which betokens the tenderness of feeling which they have towards the King’s sons.

Therefore the angel delivered his message cheerfully, as became the place from which he came, the theme which brought him down and his own interest therein. He said, “I bring you good tidings of great joy,” and we are sure he spoke in accents of delight. Yea, so glad were angels at this gospel that when the discourse was over, one angel having evangelized and given out the gospel for the day, suddenly a band of choristers appeared and sang an anthem loud and sweet that there might be a full service at the first propounding of the glad tidings of great joy. A multitude of the heavenly host had heard that a chosen messenger had been sent to proclaim the new-born King, and, filled with holy joy and adoration, they gathered up their strength to pursue him for they could not let him go to earth alone on such an errand. They overtook him just as he had reached the last word of his discourse, and then they broke forth in that famous chorale, the only one sung of angels that was ever heard by human ears here below, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Thus, I say, they had full service; there was gospel ministry in rich discourse concerning Christ, and there was hearty and devout praise from a multitude all filled with heavenly joy. It was so glad a message that they could not let it be simply spoken by a solitary voice, though that were an angel’s, but they must needs pour forth a glad chorus of praise, singing unto the Lord a new song.

Brothers, if the birth of Jesus was so gladsome to our cousins the angels, what should it be to us? If it made our neighbors sing who had comparatively so small a share in it, how should it make us leap for joy? Oh, if it brought heaven down to earth, should not our songs go up to heaven? If heaven’s gate of pearl was set open at its widest and a stream of shining ones came running downward to the lower skies to anticipate the time when they shall all descend in solemn pomp at the glorious advent of the great King; if it emptied heaven for a while to make earth so glad, ought not our thoughts and praises and all our loves to go pouring up to the eternal gate, leaving earth a while that we may crowd heaven with the songs of mortal men? Yea, verily, so let it be.

“Glory to the new-born King!

Let us all the anthem sing

‘Peace on earth, and mercy mild;

God and sinners reconciled.’”

For, first, the birth of Christ was the incarnation of God: it was God taking upon himself human nature — a mystery, a wondrous mystery, to be believed in rather than to be defined. Yet so it was that in the manger lay an infant, who was also infinite: a feeble child who was also the Creator of heaven and earth. How this could be we do not know but that it was so we assuredly believe, and therein do we rejoice: for if God thus take upon himself human nature, then manhood is not abandoned nor given up as hopeless. When manhood had broken the bonds of the covenant and snatched from the one reserved tree the fruit forbidden, God might have said, “I give thee up, O Adam, and cast off thy race. Even as I gave up Lucifer and all his host, so I abandon thee to follow thine own chosen course of rebellion!” But we have now no fear that the Lord has done this, for God has espoused manhood and taken it into union with himself. Now manhood is not put aside by the Lord as an utterly accursed thing, to be an abomination unto him forever, for Jesus, the Well-beloved, is born of a virgin. God would not so have taken manhood into union with himself if he had not said, “Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it.” I know the curse has fallen upon men because they have sinned, but evidently not on manhood in the abstract, for else had not Christ come to take upon himself the form of man and to be born of woman. The word made flesh means hope for manhood, notwithstanding its fall. The race is not to be outlawed and marked with the brand of death and hell and to be utterly abandoned to destruction, for, lo, the Lord hath married into the race, and the Son of God has become the Son of man. This is enough to make all that is within us sing for joy.

Then, too, if God has taken manhood into union with himself, he loves man and means man’s good. Behold what manner of love God hath bestowed upon us that he should espouse our nature! For God had never so united himself with any creature before. His tender mercy had ever been over all his works, but they were still so distinct from himself that a great gulf was fixed between the Creator and the created, so far as existence and relationship are concerned. The Lord had made many noble intelligences, principalities, and powers of whom we know little; we do not even know what those four living creatures may be who are nearest the eternal presence; but God had never taken up the nature of any of them, nor allied himself with them by any actual union with his person. But, lo, he has allied himself with man, that creature a little lower than the angels, that creature who is made to suffer death by reason of his sin; God has come into union with man, and therefore full sure he loves him unutterably well, and has great thoughts of good towards him. If a king’s son doth marry a rebel, then for that rebel race there are prospects of reconciliation, pardon, and restoration. There must be in the great heart of the Divine One wondrous thoughts of pity and condescending love, if He deigns to take human nature into union with himself. Joy, joy forever, let us sound the fond cymbals of delight, for the incarnation bodes good to our race.

If God has taken manhood into union with himself then God will feel for man, he will have pity upon him, he will remember that he is dust, he will have compassion upon his infirmities and sicknesses. You know, beloved, how graciously it is so, for that same Jesus who was born of a woman at Bethlehem is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, having been tempted in all points like as we are. Such intimate practical sympathy would not have belonged to our great High Priest if he had not become man. Not even though he be divine could he have been perfect in sympathy with us if he had not also become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. The Captain of our salvation could only be made perfect through suffering; it must needs be that since the children were partakers of flesh and blood he himself also should take part of the same. For this again we may ring the silver bells, since the Son of God now intimately sympathizes with man because he is made in all points like unto his brethren.

Further, it is clear that if God condescends to be so intimately allied with manhood, he intends to deliver man, and to bless him. Incarnation prophesies salvation. Oh, believing soul, thy God cannot mean to curse thee. Look at God incarnate! What readest thou there but salvation? God in human flesh must mean that God intends to set man above all the works of his hands, and to give him dominion, according to his first intent, over all sheep and oxen and all that pass through the paths of the sea and the air yea it must mean that there is to be a man beneath whose feet all things shall be placed, so that even death itself shall be subject unto him. When God stoops down to man it must mean that man is to be lifted up to God.

What joy there is in this! Oh that our hearts were but half alive to the incarnation! Oh that we did but know a thousandth part of the unutterable delight which is hidden in this thought, that the Son of God was born a man at Bethlehem! Thus you see that there is overflowing cause for joy in the birth of Christ, because it was the incarnation of the Deity.

But further, the angel explained our cause for joy by saying that he, who was born was unto us a Savior. “Unto you is born this day a Savior.” Brothers and sisters, I know who will be gladdest today to think that Christ was born a Savior. It will be those who are most conscious of their sinnership. If you would draw music out of that ten-stringed harp, the word “Savior,” pass it over to a sinner. “Savior” is the harp, but “sinner” is the finger that must touch the strings and bring forth the melody. If thou knowest thyself lost by nature and lost by practice, if thou feelest sin like a plague at thy heart, if evil wearies and worries thee, if thou hast known of iniquity the burden and the shame, then will it be bliss to thee even to hear of that Savior whom the Lord has provided. Even as a babe, Jesus the Savior will be precious to thee, but most of all because he has now finished all the work of thy salvation. Thou wilt look to the commencement of that work, and then survey it even to its close, and bless and magnify the name of the Lord. Unto you, O ye who are of sinners the chief, even unto you, ye consciously guilty ones, is born a Savior. He is a Savior by birth: for this purpose is he born. To save sinners is his birthright and office. It is henceforth an institution of the divine dominion, and an office of the divine nature to have the lost. Henceforth God has laid help upon One that is mighty and exalted One chosen out of the people that he may seek and save that which was lost. Is there not joy in this? Where else is there joy if not here?

Next the angel tells us that this Savior is Christ the Lord, and there is much gladness in that fact. “Christ” signified anointed. Now when we know that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save, it is most pleasant to perceive in addition that the Father does not let him enter upon his mission without the necessary qualification. He is anointed of the Highest that he may carry out the offices which he has undertaken: the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him without measure. Our Lord is anointed in a threefold sense, as prophet, priest, and king. It has been well observed that this anointing, in its threefold power, never rested upon any other man. There have been kingly prophets, David to wit; there was one kingly priest, even Melchesidek; and there have also been priestly prophets, such as Samuel. Thus it has come to pass that two of the offices have been united in one man, but the whole three — prophet, priest, and king, never met in one thrice anointed being until Jesus came. We have the fullest anointing conceivable in Christ, who is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, and as the Messiah, the sent One of God, is completely prepared and qualified for all the work of our salvation. Let our hearts be glad. We have not a nominal Savior, but a Savior fully equipped; one who in all points is like ourselves, for he is man, but in all points fit to help the feebleness which he has espoused, for he is the anointed man.

See what an intimate mingling of the divine and human is found in the angel’s song. They sing of him as “a Savior,” and a Savior must of necessity be divine, in order to save from death and hell; and yet the title is drawn from his dealings with humanity. Then they sing of him as “Christ,” and that must be human, for only man can be anointed, yet that unction comes from the Godhead. Sound forth the jubilee trumpets for this marvelously Anointed One and rejoice in him who is your priest to cleanse you, your prophet to instruct you and your king to deliver you. The angels sang of him as Lord, and yet as born; so here again the godlike in dominion is joined with the human in birth. How well did the words and the sense agree.

The angel further went on to give these shepherds cause for joy by telling them that while their Savior was born to be the Lord yet he was so born in lowliness that they would find him a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Is there cause of joy there? I say, ay, indeed there is, for it is the terror of the Godhead which keeps the sinner oftentimes away from reconciliation; but see how the Godhead hath graciously concealed itself in a babe, a little babe — a babe that needed to be wrapped in swaddling bands like any other new-born child. Who feareth to approach him? Who ever heard of trembling in the presence of a babe? Yet is the Godhead there. My soul, when thou canst not for very amazement stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire, when the divine glory is like a consuming fire to thy spirit, and the sacred majesty of heaven is altogether overpowering to thee, then come thou to this babe, and say, “Yet God is here, and here can I meet him in the person of his dear Son, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Oh, what bliss there is in incarnation if we remember that herein God’s omnipotence cometh down to man’s feebleness and infinite majesty stoops to man’s infirmity.

Now mark, the shepherds were not to find this babe wrapped in Tyrian purple nor swathed in choicest fabrics fetched from afar.

“No crown bedecks his forehead fair,

No pearl, nor gem, nor silk is there.”

Nor would they discover him in the marble halls of princes, nor guarded by praetorian legionaries, nor lackied by vassal sovereigns, but they would find him the babe of a peasant woman, of princely lineage it is true, but of a family whose stock was dry and forgotten in Israel. The child was reputed to be the son of a carpenter. If you looked on the humble father and mother, and at the poor bed they had made up, where aforetime oxen had come to feed, you would say “This is condescension indeed.” O ye poor, be glad, for Jesus is born in poverty and cradled in a manger. O ye sons of toil rejoice, for the Savior is born of a lowly virgin, and a carpenter is his foster father. O ye people, oftentimes despised and downtrodden, the Prince of the Democracy is born; one chosen out of the people is exalted to the throne. O ye who call yourselves the aristocracy, behold the Prince of the kings of the earth, whose lineage is divine, and yet there is no room for him in the inn. Behold, O men, the Son of God, who is bone of your bone, intimate with all your griefs, who in his after life hungered as ye hunger, was weary as ye are weary, and wore humble garments like your own; yea, suffered worse poverty than you, for he was without a place whereon to lay his head. Let the heavens and the earth be glad, since God hath so fully, so truly come down to man.

Nor is this all. The angel called for joy, and I ask for it too, on this ground, that the birth of this child was to bring glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men. The birth of Christ has given such glory to God as I know not that he could ever have had here by any other means. We must always speak in accents soft and low when we talk of God’s glory; in itself it must always be infinite and not to be conceived by us, and yet may we not venture to say that all the works of God’s hands do not glorify him so much as the gift of his dear Son, that all creation and all providence do not so well display the heart of Deity as when he gives his Only Begotten and sends him into the world that men may live through him? What wisdom is manifested in the plan of redemption of which the incarnate God is the center! What love is there revealed! What power is that which brought the Divine One down from glory to the manger; only omnipotence could have worked so great a marvel! What faithfulness to ancient promises! What truthfulness in keeping covenant! What grace, and yet what justice! For it was in the person of that newborn child that the law must be fulfilled, and in his precious body must vengeance find recompense for injuries done to divine righteousness. All the attributes of God were in that little child most marvelously displayed and veiled. Conceive the whole sun to be focused to a single point and yet so softly revealed as to be endurable by the tenderest eye, even thus the glorious God is brought down for man to see him born of a woman. Think of it. The express image of God in mortal flesh! The heir of all things cradled in a manger! Marvelous is this! Glory to God in the highest! He has never revealed himself before as he now manifests himself in Jesus.

It is through our Lord Jesus being born that there is already a measure of peace on earth and boundless peace yet to come. Already the teeth of war have been somewhat broken and a testimony is borne by the faithful against this great crime. The religion of Christ holds up its shield over the oppressed and declares tyranny and cruelty to be loathsome before God. Whatever abuse and scorn may be heaped upon Christ’s true minister, he will never be silent while there are downtrodden nationalities and races needing his advocacy, nor will God’s servants anywhere, if faithful to the Prince of Peace, ever cease to maintain peace among men to the utmost of their power. The day cometh when this growing testimony shall prevail and nations shall learn war no more. The Prince of Peace shall snap the spear of war across his knee. He, the Lord of all, shall break the arrows of the bow, the sword and the shield and the battle, and he shall do it in his own dwelling-place even in Zion, which is more glorious and excellent than all the mountains of prey. As surely as Christ was born at Bethlehem, he will yet make all men brothers, and establish a universal monarchy of peace of which there shall be no end. So let us sing if we value the glory of God, for the new-born child reveals it; and let us sing if we value peace on earth, for he is come to bring it. Yea, and if we love the link which binds glorified heaven with pacified earth — the good will towards men which the Eternal herein manifests, let us give a third note to our hallelujah and bless and magnify Immanuel, God with us, who has accomplished all this by his birth among us. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

I think I have shown you that there was room enough for joy to the shepherds, but you and I, who live in later days, when we understand the whole business of salvation, ought to be even more glad than they were, though they glorified and praised God for all the things that they had heard and seen. Come, my brethren, let us at least do as much as these simple shepherds and exult with our whole souls.

II. Secondly, let us consider TO WHOM THIS JOY BELONGS.

I was very heavy yesterday in spirit, for this dreary weather tends greatly to depress the mind.

“No lark could pipe to skies so dull and grey.”

But a thought struck me and filled me with intense joy. I tell it out to you, not because it will seem anything to you, but as having gladdened myself. It is a bit all for myself to be placed in a parenthesis; it is this, that the joy of the birth of Christ in part belongs to those who tell it, for the angels who proclaimed it were exceedingly glad, as glad as glad could be. I thought of this and whispered to my heart, “As I shall tell of Jesus born on earth for men, I will take license to be glad also, glad if for nothing else that I have such a message to bring to them.” The tears stood in my eyes, and stand there even now, to think that I should be privileged to say to my fellow men, “God has condescended to assume your nature that he might save you.” These are as glad and as grand words as he of the golden mouth could have spoken. As for Cicero and Demosthenes, those eloquent orators had no such theme to dwell upon. Oh, joy, joy, joy! There was born into this world a man who is also God. My heart dances as David danced before the ark of God.

This joy was meant, not for the tellers of the news alone, but for all who heard it. The glad tidings “shall be unto all people.” Read “all the people,” if you like, for so, perhaps, the letter of the original might demand. Well, then, it meant that it was joy to all the nation of the Jews — but assuredly our version is truer to the inner spirit of the text; it is joy to all people upon the face of the earth that Christ is born. There is not a nation under heaven but what has a right to be glad because God has come down among men. Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem. Take up the strain, O ye dwellers in the wilderness, and let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof! Ye who beneath the frigid zone feel in your very marrow all the force of God’s north wind, let your hearts burn within you at this happy truth. And ye whose faces are scorched by the heat of the torrid sun, let this be as a well of water unto you. Exult and magnify Jehovah that his Son, his Only Begotten, is also brother to mankind.

O wake our hearts, in gladness sing!

And hail each one the newborn King,

Till living song from loving souls

Like sound of mighty waters rolls.”

But brethren they do not all rejoice, not even all of those who know this glorious truth, nor does it stir the hearts of half mankind. To whom, then, is it a joy? I answer, to all who believe it, and especially to all who believe it as the shepherds did, with that faith which staggers not through unbelief.

The shepherds never had a doubt: the light, the angels, and the song were enough for them; they accepted the glad tidings without a single question. In this the shepherds were both happy and wise, ay, wiser than the would-be wise whose wisdom can only manifest itself in caviling. This present age despises the simplicity of a childlike faith, but how wonderfully God is rebuking its self conceit. He is taking the wise in their own craftiness. I could not but notice in the late discovery of the famous Greek cities and the sepulchers of the heroes, the powerful rebuke which the spirit of skepticism has received. These wise doubters have been taken on their own ground and put to confusion. Of course they told us that old Homer was himself a myth, and the poem called by his name was a mere collection of unfounded legends and mere tales. Some ancient songster did but weave his dreams into poetry and foist them upon us as the blind minstrel’s song: there was no fact in it, they said, nor indeed in any current history; everything was mere legend. Long ago these gentlemen told us that there was no King Arthur, no William Tell, no anybody indeed. Even as they questioned all sacred records, so have they cast suspicion upon all else that common men believe. But lo, the ancient cities speak, the heroes are found in their tombs; the child’s faith is vindicated. They have disinterred the king of men, and this and other matters speak in tones of thunder to the unbelieving ear, and say, “Ye fools, the simpletons believed and were wiser than your ‘culture’ made you. Your endless doubts have led you into falsehood and not into truth.”

The shepherds believed and were glad as glad could be, but if Professor — (never mind his name) had been there on that memorable night he would certainly have debated with the angel and denied that a Savior was needed at all. He would coolly have taken notes for a lecture upon the nature of light and have commenced a disquisition upon the cause of certain remarkable nocturnal phenomena, which had been seen in the fields near Bethlehem. Above all he would have assured the shepherds of the absolute non-existence of anything superhuman. Have not the learned men of our age proved that impossibility scores of times with argument sufficient to convince a wooden post? They have made it as plain as that three times two are eighteen that there is no God, nor angel, nor spirit. They have proved beyond all doubt, as far as their own dogmatism is concerned, that everything is to be doubted which is most sure, and that nothing is to be believed at all except the infallibility of pretenders to science. But these men find no comfort, neither are they so weak as to need any, so they say. Their teaching is not glad tidings but a wretched negation, a killing frost which nips all noble hopes in the bud, and in the name of reason steals away from man his truest bliss. Be it ours to be as philosophical as the shepherds, for they did not believe too much, but simply believed what was well attested, and this they found to be true upon personal investigation.

In faith lies joy. If our faith can realize, we shall be happy now. I want this morning to feel as if I saw the glory of the Lord still shining in the heavens, for it was there, though I did not see it. I wish I could see that angel and hear him speak; but, failing this, I know he did speak, though I did not hear him. I am certain that those shepherds told no lies, nor did the Holy Ghost deceive us when he bade his servant Luke write this record. Let us forget the long interval between and only recollect that it was really so. Realize that which was indeed matter of fact, and you may almost hear the angelic choir up in yonder sky singing still, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” At any rate, our hearts rehearse the anthem and we feel the joy of it, by simply believing, even as the shepherds did.

Mark well, that believing what they did these simple-minded shepherds desired to approach nearer the marvelous babe. What did they do but consult together and say, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass”? O beloved, if you want to get the joy of Christ, come near to him. Whatever you hear about him from his own book, believe it; but then say, “I will go and find him.” When you hear the voice of the Lord from Sinai draw not nigh unto the flaming mountain, the law condemns you; the justice of God overwhelms you. Bow at a humble distance and adore with solemn awe. But when you hear of God in Christ hasten hither. Hasten hither with all confidence, for you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, but ye are come unto the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel. Come near, come nearer, nearer still. “Come,” is his own word to those who labor and are heavy laden, and that selfsame word he will address to you at the last — “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.” If you want joy in Christ come and find it in his bosom, or at his feet; there John and Mary found it long ago.

And then, my brethren, do what the shepherds did when they came near. They rejoiced to see the babe of whom they had been told. You cannot see with the physical eye, but you must meditate and so see with the mental eye this great, and grand, and glorious truth that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. This is the way to have joy today, joy such as fitly descends from heaven with the descent of heaven’s King. Believe, draw near, and then fixedly gaze upon him, and so be blest.

“Hark how all the welkin rings

Glory to the King of kings!

Peace on earth and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled.

“Veil’d in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail the incarnate Deity,

Pleased as man with men to appear,

Jesus our Immanuel here.”

III. My time has fled, else I desired to have shown, in the third place, HOW THAT JOY SHOULD BE MANIFESTED.

I will only give a hint or two. The way in which many believers in Christmas keep the feast we know too well. This is a Christian country, is it not? I have been told so so often that I suppose it must be true. It is a Christian country! But the Christianity is of a remarkable kind! It is not only that in the olden time “Christmas broached the mightiest ale,” but nowadays Christmas keepers must needs get drunk upon it. I slander not our countrymen when I say that drunkenness seems to be one of the principal items of their Christmastide delight. If Bacchus were born at this time, I do think England keeps the birthday of that detestable deity most appropriately, but tell me not that it is the birth of the holy child Jesus that they thus celebrate. Is he not crucified afresh by such blasphemy? Surely to the wicked, Jesus saith, “What hast thou to do to keep my birthday and mention my name in connection with thy gluttony and drunkenness?” Shame that there should be any cause for such words. Tenfold shame that there should be so much.

Express your joy, first, as the angels did, by public ministry. Some of us are called to speak to the many. Let us in the clearest and most earnest tones proclaim the Savior and his power to rescue man. Others of you cannot preach, but you can sing. Sing then your anthems, and praise God with all your hearts. Do not be slack in the devout use of your tongue, which are the glory of your frames, but again and again and again lift up your joyful hymns unto the new-born King.

Others of you can neither preach nor sing. Well, then, you must do what the shepherds did, and what did they? You are told twice that they spread the news. As soon as they had seen the babe, they made known abroad the saying that was told them, and as they went home they glorified God. This is one of the most practical ways of showing your joy. Holy conversation is as acceptable as sermons and anthems. There was also one who said little, but thought the more: “Mary pondered all these things in her heart.” Quiet, happy spirit, weigh in thy heart the grand truth that Jesus was born at Bethlehem. Immanuel, God with us — weigh it if you can; look at it again and again, examine the varied facets of this priceless brilliant, and bless, and adore, and love, and wonder, and yet adore again this matchless miracle of love.

Lastly, go and do good to others. Like the wise men, bring your offerings and offer to the new-born King your heart’s best gold of love, and frankincense of praise, and myrrh of penitence. Bring everything of your heart’s best and somewhat of your substance also, for this is a day of good tidings, and it were unseemly to appear before the Lord empty. Come and worship God manifest in the flesh, and be filled with his light and sweetness by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Posted in C. H. Spurgeon |

The Birth of Christ by Jim Ehrhard

January 17, 2010 by ADMIN

Preface to the Study

All our meditations of the coming of Christ should lead to wonder, amazement, and awe. And like the angels who announced His birth, it should provoke a spirit of great joy in all our hearts over what the Lord has done in sending His son.

This issue is dedicated to the Birth of Christ. In “the Great Birthday,” Charles Spurgeon reminds us of the importance of celebrating the great birthday of our Savior with great joy. In his usual eloquent fashion, Spurgeon points us to that first Christmas and reminds us that the great joy the shepherds experienced and testified to ought to be ours even more! How will you celebrate His birth this year? Will you rejoice at the salvation of the Lord as the angels and the shepherds did that first Christmas morning?

We have also included two articles by A. W. Pink. The first, “The Condescension of Christ,” reminds us that the incarnation is about the condescension of the Lord Jesus Christ. He left His throne in glory to come and be among us – the Christmas message is about His condescension. The second article, “The Person of Christ,” discusses the mystery of the incarnation: Christ as both God and man. In His becoming man, He became man fully; and yet, He remained fully God!

Ebenezer Erskine’s article, “God in Christ is Love,” causes us to think about the “love of God that came down.” It is easy to become caught up in the theology of the birth of Christ and forget that His coming was an act of God’s great love toward us! Through a series of ten meditations, Erskine reminds us that Immanuel, “God with us,” provides many proofs of God’s love in sending Jesus to be born in a manger in Bethlehem.

Finally, this issue ends with a section from Spurgeon’s sermon, “No Room for Christ in the Inn,” that has been edited from one section of that sermon, “Room for Jesus?” This article asks each reader to consider whether he has given place for Jesus in his life. While it is sad to read of a pregnant woman and her espoused husband to be turned away because “there was no room for them in the inn,” it is even sadder to think of the countless millions who will celebrate this Christmas season without a personal knowledge of this babe as their Savior! Is there room for Jesus in your life? Will you make room for Jesus even in your Christmas?

As you approach this Christmas season, we pray that your thoughts about the birth of Christ lead you to a season of great joy because of the birth of our savior: “For unto you is born, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 1:14).

By His Grace,

Jim

Posted in Jim Ehrhard |

The Fulfillment of the Two Greatest Commandments by John Arndt

January 17, 2010 by ADMIN

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. — Matthew 22:37-40

Loving God, and our Neighbor

Now the end of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. — 1 Timothy 1: 5

In this verse, the apostle sets before us love as the highest and noblest virtue; and acquaints us at the same time, with four particulars concerning it.

Love’s Benefits …

1. First, that love is the summary of all the commandments: for “love,” says the apostle, “is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10); in which all the precepts are comprehended, and without which, all gifts and virtues are unprofitable and fruitless.

2. Second, that love must arise from a pure heart, which relates to the love of God and requires a heart void of worldly love and affection, according to that saying of St. John: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth foreve.” (1 John 2:15-17). Whosoever, therefore, has a heart purified from all love to the creature, so as to depend or acquiesce in no transient good whatsoever, can cleave most intimately to God, saying with David, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalm 73:25, 26). The love of such a one proceeds out of a “pure heart.” Of the same character also, is that love which is attended with great delight, pleasure and joy in God; of which we have an illustration in David: “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Psalm 18:1, 2).

3. The apostle, in the third place, teaches us, that love must be “out of a good conscience.” This properly concerns the love of our neighbor, who is to be loved, not for the sake of interest or worldly advantage (which would be a false love out of a bad conscience); but for the sake of God only, and of his commandments. Nor ought we to afflict our neighbor either by word or deed, either secretly or openly; nor on any account, bear envy, wrath, hatred, malice or rancor against him; that so our conscience may not accuse us when we address ourselves in prayer to God Almighty.

4. The fourth requisite of love is, a “faith unfeigned;” so that nothing be done that is contrary to the rule of faith and to our Christian profession, and that God be not denied publicly or privately, in prosperity or adversity. This is the substance of what is contained in that sentence of the apostle. We shall now speak more particularly, with respect to each of the several parts.

5. In the fifth place, then, love, according to the apostle, “is the end of the commandment;” for that love which arises from a pure faith, is the noblest among the fruits and effects of faith; than which a man can do nothing better or more acceptable to God. For God does not require at our hands great and difficult enterprises, no high performances that exceed our capacities; but he has changed the yoke of the Old Testament service, and its many commandments and ordinances into faith and love, and has given us for this end the Holy Ghost, who, “shedding abroad in our hearts the love of God” (Romans 5:5), renders everything sweet and easy, and proves the original spring of this heavenly virtue.

6. Love, therefore, is not a hard work, a labor attended with toil and difficulty; on the contrary, it makes everything easy to a good man. “His commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3), that is to say, they are not so to an enlightened Christian; for wherever the Spirit of God comes, he creates a free, willing and ready heart in the discharge of Christian virtues. Nor does God require of his children great skill or learning: it is only love which he regards. If this be sincere and fervent, free from disguise and dissimulation, God takes more pleasure and delight in it, than in all the knowledge and wisdom in all the art and talent that any man upon earth, in his best works, can possibly exhibit. Wherever this divine love is wanting, there all wisdom and knowledge, all works and gifts are altogether unprofitable. They are accounted vain and dead, as a mere body without life (1 Corinthians 13:1, 2).

7. As for human learning and great abilities, they are common to heathens as well as to Christians; and great actions are performed as well by infidels as by believers. It is love only which proves the sure test of a sound Christian, distinguishing between the false and the true. For wherever love is wanting, there can be no good thing, however it may claim the admiration of men by its specious appearances. The reason is, because God is not there; for “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

8. Love is also pleasant, not only to God who gives it, but also to man, who exercises it: whereas, all arts and sciences, all the knowledge and wisdom which man grasps, are not attained but with great labor and study, with much care and application, and even at the expense of bodily health. But this heaven-born love cheers both the body and the mind. It invigorates the spirits, confers new strength, and wonderfully improves and exalts the mind. Nor is it attended with any loss whatever, but on the contrary, produces many good and noble effects in the soul. Love is itself the reward of the lover, and virtue always carries its own recompense with it; as, on the contrary, the vicious man is punished by his own excesses, and vice is the constant tormentor of him that commits it.

9. Again, when the other faculties of the body and mind are faint and wearied, love faints not. Love is never weary, never ceases. Prophecy may pass away, tongues may cease, and sciences may be destroyed; arts may be lost, the knowledge of mysteries may vanish; yea, faith itself at last may fail also: but yet “love never faileth,” nor can fail. For when all that is imperfect is happily removed, then love alone abides forever and attains its full perfection (1 Corinthians 13:8).

10. Love makes one acceptable before God. To render anything pleasing to Almighty God, it is necessary that it proceed from him; since he approves of nothing but what he himself works in us. Now, God is love; it therefore follows, that all that we do ought to proceed from a divine faith, in order that it may be pleasing to God; and from pure love, that it may prove profitable to men. This love must be pure, without any regard to self-honor, self-interest, and those mean designs which sometimes intrude into a Christian’s actions. In like manner, our prayers should spring from a principle of love, that they may have the more ready admittance to the God of love. Consider, therefore, how can man’s prayer be acceptable to God, who is full of wrath and rancor, hatred and malice? Were such a one to repeat the whole Psalter every day, it would be but an abomination before the Lord. True worship consists in spirit (John 4:23, 24), in faith, in love, not in a long recital of words. Remember the example of Christ, who, from a merciful heart, cried, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). A man that does not love God is also unwilling to pour out his heart in prayer and supplication: but to him who is affected with a sense of divine love, the duty of prayer is easy and delightful. A man that has a cordial love to God readily serves him; but he that is void of this love, does not serve him at all, though he may submit to much toil and drudgery, and even heap one mountain upon another.

11. Love is profitable. Upon the whole, then, nothing is more agreeable to human nature, nothing better and more profitable, than this divine love, which, therefore, should be stirred up in the heart of man, and when once raised into a flame, should be carefully preserved from being ever quenched.

Love from Faith …

12. Faith should work all things in a Christian through love; and love should be the agent of faith, as the body is the agent of the soul. The soul sees and hears, speaks and acts, through the body, to which she is united; so, O man! should the love of God, springing from faith, do all things in and through thee. Whether thou eat or drink, hear or speak, commend or reprove, let all be done in love, after the example of Christ, in whom resided nothing but pure love. If thou beholdest thy neighbor, behold him with the eyes of a compassionate friend; if thou hearest him, hear him with love and tenderness; and if thou speakest with him, let thy speech be seasoned with love and Christian affection.

13. Carefully preserve the root of Christian love by faith, in order that nothing but that which is good may grow up in thy heart, and issue thence, as from its genuine centre (1 Corinthians 16:14). Thou shalt then be enabled to fulfill the commandments of God; since they are all comprehended in love. Hence, a holy man has expressed himself after this manner: “O love of God in the Holy Ghost! Thou art the highest joy of souls, and the only divine life of men. Whosoever enjoys not thee is dead even while he lives; and whosoever possesses thee, never dies in the sight of God. Where thou art not, there the life of men is a continual death; but where thou art, there life is made a foretaste of eternal happiness.” Whence it appears that this divine love is the sum and fulfilling of all the commandments of God.

Love from a Pure Heart …

14. We consider now that our love to God ought to proceed “out of a pure heart.” The heart of a man who is desirous to love God ought first to be cleansed from all worldly love and attachment to the creature. It is then that God becomes the chief and sovereign Good to the soul. She can then say, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot” (Psalm 16:5). “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright,” that is, those that love him out of a disinterested heart; “and their inheritance shall be forever” (Psalm 37:18). “Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4). In a word, God is the only fountain whence all our joy ought constantly to spring.

15. God, therefore, should be the most beloved object of our souls, and our hearts should rest in him alone, because he is the highest good. He is nothing else than mercy and goodness, love and kindness, clemency and patience, truth, comfort, peace, joy, life, and happiness. All this he has laid up in Jesus Christ. Whoever, therefore, has Christ, is thereby put into the possession of all these heavenly virtues. And whoever loves God, must also of necessity love God’s truth and mercy, his goodness and kindness, and the whole train of divine virtues.

16. For a true lover of God has a love to all that God loves, and an aversion to all that God hates. If any man loves God, he must love truth, mercy, and righteousness, because God is all this himself. He must also delight in humility and meekness, since thereby he is rendered conformable to that meekness and lowly-mindedness which resided in Jesus. On the other hand, a true lover of God cannot but abhor all ungodliness, with all the works of iniquity; because all manner of impiety is enmity against God and is the work of the devil himself. A lover of God hates a lie, because the devil is the father of lies and was a liar from the beginning. And this is the reason that everyone who loves lies, injustice, and other vicious workings of nature, must needs, in that sense, be the offspring of the devil (John 8:44); and again, whoever loves Christ, his Lord and Savior, loves also the example of his pure and holy life, his humility and meekness, his patience, and the other heavenly virtues that appeared in his conduct. And such a one must of necessity be adopted into the number of the children of God.

17. This love, proceeding out of a “pure heart,” must be obtained from God by prayer and supplication. And truly, God is willing to enkindle in us this heavenly flame through the love of Christ, if He is but earnestly solicited, and if the heart be every day and every moment laid open to his divine influence. If thy love should grow cold and weak at any time, arouse thy heart, faint not, but stir up the grace of God within thee, and be not too much discouraged at it. In the name of God arise again, set to work, and renew the acts of thy first love. As thou art sensible of thy coldness in love, thou mayest be assured from that circumstance, that the eternal light of divine love is not wholly extinguished, although it be eclipsed, and at present gives but little heat. Doubt not that thy Savior will enlighten thee again, and fire thy heart with his love; so that thou mayest sit once more under his shadow, and rejoice in the light of his countenance. At the same time, be earnest in prayer and supplications, lest hereafter the flame of this heavenly love should be again deadened in thy heart. Such is love “out of a pure heart,” unmixed with love of the world.

Love from a Good Conscience …

18. Let us now consider, Love, as arising from a “good conscience:” and as it respects our neighbor. The love of God and the love of our neighbor are so closely united that they can never be separated. The true touchstone of our love to God is the love which we bear to our neighbor. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God, love his brother also” (1 John 4:20, 21). For the love of God cannot dwell in a man who is filled with hatred or malice, or divested of all bowels of love and compassion. If thou hast no pity on thy brother, who stands in need of thy help, how canst thou love God, who needs not anything that is thine and has commanded thee to express thy love towards him, by bestowing marks of it upon thy brother?

19. As faith unites to God, so love unites to our neighbor; and as a man is made up of body and soul, so faith and love (that is, the love both of God and of our neighbor) make up a true Christian. Thus he that “dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God” (1 John 4:16). And since God effectually desires the good of all men, it follows, that he who loves in like manner is of one heart with God; and that he who is otherwise affected is against God, and has not the mind of the Lord, but is the enemy of God as well as of his neighbor. He is, unquestionably, an adversary to God who is an enemy to men.

20. It is the property of this love to bewail and compassionate the infirmities of others (Galatians 6:1). Indeed, the failings and weaknesses of our fellow-creatures represent to us, as in a mirror, our own imperfections, and remind us of the various defects that encumber our nature. Therefore, when thou seest another overtaken in a fault, consider that thou also thyself art but a man; and learn from thy own infirmities, to bear those of others with patience, meekness, and humility (Romans 15:7).

21. Especially those who sin, not from malice or determined wickedness, but who are surprised into a fault by weakness and inadvertency; and who, coming soon to themselves again, repent of that which they have done and firmly resolve to watch the more against the snares of Satan for the future; such souls as these are surely to be pitied and assisted. He that does otherwise shows that he has nothing in him of the merciful and forbearing spirit of Christ. When a man hastily condemns the faults of his neighbor, without feeling any love or compassion, it is an evident sign that he is altogether void of God, and of his merciful spirit. On the contrary, a true Christian, being anointed with the spirit of Christ, treats all men as one that has a fellow-feeling with them and bears with them in a sympathizing Christian love and tenderness, according to the example of Christ, which he has left us to follow. Therefore, if any man, upon serious search into his inward condition, finds that he has not the love of his neighbor abiding in him, let him know, assuredly, that the love of God remains not in his soul and that he himself is without God. This should strike him with horror and indignation against himself; it should influence him the more speedily (after repenting of his sin from the bottom of his heart) to reconcile himself to his neighbor, that, in this order, the love of God may also return to him again. Then all his actions, while he continues in this love and faith, are good, holy, and divine; and this love, dwelling in his heart, will actuate him freely and willingly to embrace all men and with great affection and joy to do them all manner of kindnesses; so that he will “rejoice over them to do them good,” even as God himself (Jeremiah 32:41).

22. Without this love, whatever is in man, is diabolical and altogether evil. Nor is there, indeed, any other cause why the devil can do no good, but because he is utterly destitute of love both towards God and man. Hence, all which he does is radically evil, and deprived of all intrinsic goodness. In all that he sets about, he designs nothing but God’s dishonor, and man’s destruction. He cunningly contrives ways to vent his enmity both upon God and man; and, therefore, he seeks for such hearts as he can fill with spite and envy, and then discharges through them his malice and wrath. “And hereby it is manifest who are the children of God, and the children of the devil” (1 John 3:10).

Love from a “Faith Unfettered” …

23. Therefore, love must be “out of faith unfeigned,” that is, we must love God equally in prosperity and adversity. Whoever loves God sincerely, accepts with joy all the dispensations of his Providence, after the example of Christ; who, with a cheerful and ready mind, took up the cross, which he knew that the will of his Father imposed on him. “I have,” says he, “a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened (and in pain) till it be accomplished!” (Luke 12:50). In the same manner have all the holy martyrs carried with joy their cross after him.

24. To those that unfeignedly love God, the cross does not prove grievous or burdensome; and this for no other reason, than because it is the yoke of Christ (Matthew 11:29). If the magnet attracts the heavy iron, why should not that heavenly loadstone, the love of God, attract the burden of our cross and render it light and agreeable; especially after the heart is affected with a touch of the divine love? If the sugar sweeten such herbs as are bitter by nature, why should not the sweetness of the love of God make that pleasant and easy, which to the flesh is nothing but a cross and affliction? And truly it was from the fulness of this love, that the blessed martyrs bore the most exquisite pain with patience and joy; being transported with it to such a degree, as to be almost insensible of their very torments.

The Love of Our Neighbor, More Particularly Considered

Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. — 2 Peter 2:19

1. There is no bondage more hard and grievous than to be under the yoke of the passions: but of all these, none is so cruel as hatred, which so weakens and depresses all the powers both of body and mind, as not to leave to the man one free thought. On the contrary, he who lives in love is free. He is no slave to anger, envy, covetousness, pride, lying, or calumny; and being delivered from these by love, he suffers not himself to be subdued by evil desires, but continues Christ’s freeman (1 Corinthians 7:22) in the liberty of the Spirit: for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Whosoever, therefore, walks in the love of Christ, is no longer a slave to sin or a servant to carnal affections; for the Spirit of God’s love has freed and purified him from carnal concupiscence.

And we see that the love of God extends over all men; of which we not only find sufficient proofs in Scripture, but the footsteps of his universal benignity are also everywhere displayed in nature. We are all equally covered with the heavens and have all the use of the sun, the air, the earth, and the water; as well they who are of high degree, as they who are of the meanest condition. And the very same mind that is in God towards us ought also to be in us towards men; God himself having set us a pattern of universal kindness for our imitation. He regards not one more than another, but loves all with an equal affection. With him there is no respect of persons, of dignity, or merit; but he beholds all alike in Christ. This is for our instruction. Now, as God acts towards us, so ought we to act towards our neighbor. And truly, after the same manner as we deal with man, so God will deal with us again. We need not go far to inquire what favor we have with God Almighty. If we but enter into our own conscience, it will impartially tell us, what mind and affection we bear to our neighbor; and as we have done to him, so will God certainly do to us again and return our works into our own bosom. And in this sense it is said of God, that “with the pure he shows himself pure; and with the froward, shows himself froward” (Psalm 18:26); that is, if thou bearest an evil mind to thy neighbor, God will be thine adversary also.

2. Since, therefore, God has no need of our service, he has substituted our neighbor in his place, to receive our love, and has commanded us to pay it as to himself. He has made this love of our neighbor the very touchstone by which we are to examine the sincerity of our love to God.

3. And it is for this reason that he has enjoined the love of our neighbor with so great earnestness, requiring us to show constantly the same love to him which God shows to us. For unless a man be fully reconciled to and be in perfect love with his neighbor, he cannot have the favor or grace of God. And although all the sins of the world are atoned for by the death of Christ and a full pardon obtained, yet all mankind may in some sense be said to be in the same circumstances with the servant in the parable, who had not wherewithal to pay; the king freely remitted him all his debts: but when he afterwards behaved himself cruelly towards his fellow-servant, the king revoked his pardon, and condemned the servant, on account of the hard usage with which he treated his neighbor (Matthew 18:23, etc.). This parable Christ concludes with the remarkable expression: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother, their trespasses” (Verse 35). And, “With the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).

4. Hence, it plainly appears that man was not created for himself alone, but for his neighbor’s sake also. So strict is the commandment of loving our neighbor, that when it is broken, the very end of our creation is destroyed, and the love of God is immediately withdrawn from the soul. Nothing is left but the severest justice, judging and condemning all that are void of this love.

5. If we duly considered these things, we should never be angry with one another; neither would “the sun ever go down upon our wrath” (Ephesians 4:26). It is true, on the one hand, that Christ by his death on the cross has offered a full and complete atonement for all our trespasses, and in this respect, has remitted all our sins at once; yet is it, on the other hand, an awful consideration, that the whole extent of the merits of Christ will be of no avail at all to us, if we continue to hate our brother, and will neither pardon nor love him. We shall be entirely cut off from all the benefits that flow from the atonement.

6. Hence it appears how important the love of our neighbor must be in the sight of God, binding us even to such a degree, that God refuses to be loved by us, unless we love our neighbor also; so that if we fail in our benevolence toward the latter, we fall at the same time away from that grace that bringeth salvation and divine love that draws us to Christ. And for this reason, we were created all equal and of the same nature, that we might not despise one other; but, like children of one common parent, live in peace and love, and endeavor to maintain a good and serene conscience.

7. Now, whoever hates and despises his brother, hates and despises God also, who has forbidden all such animosities in the severest terms. If thou contemnest thy brother, God also contemns thee; which hastens thy judgment and condemnation, and deprives thee of all interest in the merit and redemption of Christ, by which sin is forgiven.

8. For it cannot be possible that a heart filled with wrath and bitterness, should in any degree reap a saving fruit from the blood of Christ, which was shed from a motive of pure love. Yea, the above parable (Matthew 18:35) plainly convinces us, that God “was less offended at the debt of ten thousand talents, than at the barbarous cruelty of which the servant was guilty; he can overlook the debt, but he cannot overlook the want of love. Let us, therefore, ponder the words with which the Lord concludes the parable: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you.”

9. But we must keep before us that an unfeigned love of the brethren is not grounded on any work of ours, but only on the merits of Christ applied to us by faith. From this righteousness of Christ, apprehended by faith, springs love to our neighbor, together with the whole train of Christian virtues, called by the apostle “fruits of righteousness, which are to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11).

From True Christianity.

Posted in John Arndt |

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