May 21
10
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
John 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
If you want to know
what heaven is, you can
spell it in five letters, and when you
put the five letters together they look
like this: J E S U S.
That is heaven. It is all the heaven
the angels round the throne desire to
know. They want nothing better than
this- to see his face, to behold his glory,
and to dwell in it world without end.
(from Spurgeon’s sermon, “Christ the
Glory of His People” #826. Luke 2:32.)
“And we beheld His Glory!”
(John 1:14)
Who are these favoured people who have beheld the glory of him who is the only begotten of the Father?
They are a chosen people, God’s elect. The Lord Jesus said, “I know whom I have chosen.” He said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” He came unto his own, and his own received him not; but they who did receive him are described as people who were “born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The elect in Christ’s day, though they were but a small remnant, nevertheless did exist. There were but few who followed him; but there were a few who followed the Lamb whithersoever he went. The “we,” then, who beheld Christ’s glory, were a chosen company. So it was then, and so it is now. Thank God for his electing love. Those who behold his glory are those who were chosen from eternity to behold his glory (Acts 13:48).And those who behold his glory here shall behold his glory forever in the world to come (John 17:24). Thank God for his electing love.
Those who behold Christ’s glory are a graciously called people. We behold his glory because we have been specifically called by him to behold his glory. — “He calleth unto him whom he would” (Mark 3:13). — “He calleth his own sheep by name” (John 10:3). It is written of those he delivers from going down to the pit, “His life shall see the light” (Job 33:28). “Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:3). — “They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God” (Isaiah 35:2). — “The humble shall see this and be glad” (Psalms 69:32; Isaiah 25:9). The Son of God calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. If you and I behold Christ’s glory, it is because he has called us to himself; and that call is the result of his election of us unto salvation.
These who behold his glory are also a divinely illuminated people. If others do not see what we see, and we are as blind as they by nature, our seeing his glory must be because of something he has done for us and in us, and not because of anything in us or done by us (2 Corinthians 4:6).
C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “None of the princes of this world knew him. The priests who had studied the law could not discover him; the members of the Sanhedrim, who were under some expectation of his advent, could not perceive him. In vain the star in the east; in vain the miraculous appearance of angels to the shepherds; the blind generation would not perceive him. In vain the opening of blind eyes and the preaching of the gospel to the poor; in vain the raising of the dead; in vain all those innumerable signs and wonders; they could not perceive his glory; but of those who did perceive it it may be said, as of Simon Barjonas, ‘Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee.’”
“Blessed are your eyes, for they see!” — None believe in Christ but those who are his sheep. No man comes unto him except the Father who sent him draws them, and none ever perceive him but those whose eyes are opened by his own healing fingers. Let the question be passed round among us. — Do I behold his glory? If so, beloved, it is because he chose me, he called me and he illuminates me by his grace.
Don Fortner
“The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth!” John 1:14
(Charles Spurgeon)
Believer, you can bear your testimony that Christ is the only begotten of the Father.
You can say, “He is truly divine. He has done that for me, which none but a God could do!
He has . . .
subdued my stubborn will,
melted a heart of adamant,
opened gates of brass,
and snapped bars of iron!
He has turned my mourning into laughter, and my desolation into joy!
He has 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!
And He is full of grace. Ah! had He not been, then I would never have been saved! He drew me when I struggled to escape from His grace; and when at last I came all trembling like a condemned culprit to His mercy-seat He said, “Your sins which are many, are all forgiven!”
And He is full of truth. True have His promises been, not one has failed.
I bear witness that . . .
never any servant had such a master as I have;
never any brother had such a kinsman as He has been to me;
never any spouse had such a husband as Christ has been to my soul;
never any sinner had a better Savior;
never any mourner had a better comforter than Christ has been to my heart.
I desire none beside Him!
In life, He is my true life.
In death, He shall be the death of death.
In poverty, Christ is my true riches.
In darkness, He is my sun.
He is my manna in this poor wilderness world.
He shall be heavenly manna when I come to the heavenly Canaan.
Jesus is to me . . .
all grace, and no wrath;
all truth, and no falsehood.
And of grace and truth He is full, infinitely full!
“The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth!” John 1:14
Dear Miss Medhurst
(Letters of John Newton)
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!” Hebrews 12:2
Dear Miss Medhurst,
The best advice I can send, or the best wish for you, is, that you may have an abiding and experimental sense of those words of the apostle which are just now upon my mind, “Looking unto Jesus!” The duty, the privilege, the safety, the unspeakable happiness, of a believer — are all comprised in that one sentence! Let us first pray that the eyes of our faith and understanding may be opened and strengthened; and then let us fix our whole gaze upon Him!
But HOW are we to behold Him? I answer, in the looking-glass of His written Word! There He is represented to us in a variety of views. The wicked world can see no form nor loveliness in the portraiture He has given of Himself. Yet blessed be God, there are those who can “behold His glory as the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth!” And while they behold it — they find themselves “changed into His image, from glory to glory,” by the transforming influence of the Spirit.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
J.C.Philpot
When our desires and affections ascend to where the Lord Jesus Christ now is, when raised out of all the smoke and fog, din and strife, noise and bustle, cares and anxieties, pursuits and pleasures, sins and sorrows of this earthly scene, we can in faith and hope, in love and affection, live above and beyond all things here below, and beholding with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, “are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”–this is being made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus went up on high he entered into his glory. As then we behold him in his glory in faith and love, there is the reflection of his glory, and saints thus favored enter into heaven when still upon earth, and have the foretaste of the glory which is to be revealed at the Lord’s coming before they are forever clothed with it. There are indeed comparatively few who are so highly favored, and even they only at rare intervals, and for short moments; but that does not affect the truth and certainty of the fact. It is a most blessed truth that if we are members of the mystical body of Christ, the deficiency of our experience, though it deprives us of much of the enjoyment, does not deprive us of our interest in, or union with, our great covenant Head, and of the fruits which spring out of it.
In vain do we use our reasonings and arguments, and resolutions — to beat down our sins and corruptions, and to silence our fears; but a believing view of Jesus does the business!
When heavy trials in life are appointed to us, and we are called to give up, or perhaps to pluck out, a right eye — it is an easy matter for a bystander to say “Be comforted;” and it is as useless as easy; but a view of Jesus by faith comes home to the point.
When we can fix our thoughts upon Him, as laying aside all His honors, and submitting for our sakes to drink off the bitter cup of the wrath of God to the very dregs; and when we further consider: that He who thus suffered for our sins, knows and sympathizes with all our weaknesses; that He is now the Supreme Disposer of all that concerns us; that He numbers the very hairs of our heads, appoints every trial we meet with in number, weight, and measure; and will allow nothing to befall us but what shall contribute to our good — this view, I say, is a medicine suited to the disease, and powerfully reconciles us to every cross!
When Jesus is upon our thoughts, either in His humbled — or His exalted state; either as bleeding on the cross — or as worshiped by all the host of heaven — then we can ask the apostle’s question with a befitting disdain, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” What! shall I sin against my Lord, my Love, my Friend — who once died for my sins, and now lives and reigns on my behalf! What! shall I sin against my Redeemer who supports, and leads, and guides, and feeds me every day? God forbid! No! I would rather wish for a thousand hands and eyes, and feet, and tongues — for ten thousand lives — that I might devote them all to His blessed service!
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!” Hebrews 12:2
Have You Beheld His Glory?
“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 beheld.” — John does not say, we heard about his glory, or we read about his glory, but “we beheld his glory.” What a privilege that is!
This is much more than a physical, carnal vision of the Lord Jesus. Many saw him with the eyes of their heads, who never saw him with the eye of faith, who never beheld his glory. And many today behold him with the eye of carnal reason, who never behold his glory; because they do not know him and do not behold him by faith, having him revealed in them by the Spirit of God.
When John says, “We beheld his glory,” he is saying the very same thing Peter said when he wrote, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). He is talking about that which he, with Peter and James, beheld on the Mount of Transfiguration. Christ was transfigured before them. They saw him as he now appears in heaven, glorified with the glory he had with the Father before the world was. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ as the sinner’s Substitute, who accomplished redemption by his death upon the cursed tree (Luke 9:28-31).
The word “decease” in Luke 9:31 is literally the word “exodus.” These disciples beheld his glory upon the mount, the very same glory that is revealed to us by the saving operations of his Spirit.
By the death he accomplished, our Lord Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets,
pleased the Father (Matthew 17:5),
obtained eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12),
earned the right to be Lord as our Mediator and
revealed the glory of God as “a just God and a Saviour” (Isaiah 45:20-22).
In Christ crucified God sent forth “his mercy and his truth” from heaven and saved us (Psalm 57:3; 85:10; Proverbs 16:6; Micah 7:20).
Have you beheld the glory of Christ by the Spirit’s gift of faith?
If you would behold his glory, he says, “Look unto me!” Look and you will see.
He does not say “Work for me,” but “look unto me.”
He does not say, “Figure me out,” but “look unto me.”
He does not say, “Serve me,” but “look unto me.”
He does not say, “Feel after me,” but “look unto me.”
He does not even say, “Pray to me,” but “look unto me.”
Look away to Christ and, looking, you will behold his glory.
Trusting Christ, we see his glory, just as Isaiah did, “the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (Isaiah 6:1-7). It is by faith, only by faith that we behold his glory (John 11:40). Trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, we behold his glory in redemption, in the saving operations of his grace and in his blessed providence!
Don Fortner