13 — Spiritually Discerned

Chapter 13 THE GLORY OF CHRIST SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED

It is recorded of the two disciples, in their instructive and animating interview with their divine Master on their way to Emmaus, that " their eyes were holden so that they did not know him." The Sum of righteousness may shine around us in the fulness of his glory; but if our eyes are closed, it matters not to us whether he be risen, or covered with a cloud. It is one thing for him to possess these unutterable glories, and another for men to behold them. At his first advent, " the light shone upon the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." It is no uncommon thing for those who have strong convictions of the truths of the gospel and some hopes of the divine favor, to complain of the obscurity of their views of Jesus Christ. They are not without some just impressions of their need of him; nor without occasional glimpses of his fitness, excellence, and beauty; nor do they doubt his fulness and all-sufficiency; yet the great defect in their religious experience, and as they themselves judge, the dark spot in their character consists in their defective views of Christ. On the other hand, there are those who think much and speak much of him, and seem to make much of him in their hopes, who do not furnish the best evidence in the world that they partake of his spirit. They profess to enjoy delightful, and even ravishing views of him; yet you cannot help feeling that their Christianity is questionable. It has an Antinomian cast; nor do they appear to have a sufficiently deep impression of the truth that " if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."

Yet the important fact may never be forgotten nor obscured, that personal, experimental, practical godliness has much to do with Christ. His character and work and glory not more certainly form the great and prominent subjects of a supernatural revelation, than believing and sanctified views of him form the inward source and spring of devout affections and holy sensibilities of soul. All true believers are " complete in him." From " his fulness have they all received, and grace for grace." He " of God is made to them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." He is the fountain of their spiritual life, the ground of their hopes, the solace, the joy of their hearts, and their everlasting portion.

It is of no ordinary importance, therefore, that we make a scriptural presentation of those views of the glory of Christ that are peculiar to the people of God. There were those in the days of his flesh who " beheld his glory;" there are those who behold it now, and whose views differ from those which " see in him no form, nor comeliness." We shall confine our remarks to the following characteristics of those views of the adorable Saviour which are enjoyed only by his own people. The first of these characteristics is, that they are the fruit of the Spirit. The apostle Paul represents unrenewed men as "having their understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. This blindness is nowhere more obvious than in their ignorance of Christ. Their views of him are obscure and confused. They are perverted views, and such as dishonor him; they are false views, and sometimes no views at all. Not a few persons of this description do not possess even a gleam of intellectual light when they hear or read of him who " is the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his Person." Of true Christians the Scriptures speak in very different language. "Ye were once darkness; but now are ye light in the Lord;" — " We all, with unveiled face, behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord;" — " Ye are a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."

We say, therefore, that the peculiar views which Christians have of Christ are produced by the Holy Spirit. " God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in their hearts to give them the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ." It is not the work of man, nor of means, nor of the unillumined intellect in its deepest researches, or its loftiest flights. When the Apostle Peter, with his characteristic boldness, made that memorable declaration, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," the Saviour said to him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." In speaking of the appropriate work of the Spirit, the Saviour remarks, " He shall take of mine and show it unto you;" and he elsewhere speaks of " manifesting himself to his disciples as he does not unto the world." As a consequence of this general and leading truth, we remark, in the next place, that the views which all true Christians enjoy of their divine Lord are spiritual views, in distinction from those which are purely intellectual. In the act of creating them anew in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of God creates within them "a new heart and a new spirit;" he " sheds abroad the love of God in the heart," which of itself lays the foundation for new discernment, new sensibilities, and, if I may so speak, a new spiritual taste. We see not why the metaphysical writers of a very intelligent class should have made so fierce a warfare upon what we mean by spiritual taste. It is a common-sense view of the subject when we speak of a spiritual taste in men, and a natural taste. Just as there is in some minds a peculiar sensitiveness to the beauty of colors, or to the melody and harmony of sound, or to the beauty of proportions; so is there in every truly regenerated mind a moral or spiritual sensitiveness, a ready perception of the deformity of sin, the beauty of holiness, the excellence of the divine character, and the glory of Christ, There is a taste and relish for divine truth, and for the duties and enjoyments of piety. There is no more certain criterion by which true grace may be distinguished from all counterfeits than this. The renewed mind receives pleasure from the contemplation of divine objects; nor can you touch a string within the whole circle of divine truth, but such a mind, if well instructed, responds to it. It is far otherwise with the unrenewed heart. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he show them, because they are spiritually discerned. Spiritual minds are deeply interested in Christ’s instructions; they have exalted and delightful views of his Person and work and ineffable glory. Their views of him are above and beyond all mere intellectual views, however just those" intellectual views may be. All spiritual views of him are scriptural but all scriptural views of him are not necessarily spiritual. Judas Iscariot may have had scriptural views of him. We are told that " the devils believe and tremble;" they may, and doubtless do possess views of Christ’s Person and work that are accordant with truth: and wicked men may be well instructed in all those doctrines of the gospel which relate to the Son of God. Yet none of these ever truly beheld his glory.

Yet while we say these things, it is not unimportant to remark that the best and most orthodox intellectual views of Christ are very apt to be intellectually defective. There may be just views of his natural perfections as he unfolds them in the works of creation and providence; while not a few who live under the broad daylight of the gospel have no just conceptions of the glory of his moral nature. This thought suggests the true and discriminating nature of spiritual in distinction from mere intellectual views. It requires rectitude to perceive rectitude, goodness to perceive goodness, love to perceive and form a true estimate of love, just as it requires thought to perceive thought, and genius to perceive and appreciate genius, and nobleness and generosity to perceive and appreciate them in others. It is one thing to possess the intellectual conviction that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again according to the scriptures, and another to perceive the excellence of his Person and work. Those there are who do not call in question the instructions of the gospel concerning him, whose views of him are limited to the bare letter of these instructions without any right feeling or corresponding emotions. When we speak of spiritual in distinction from intellectual views of Christ, we are aware that we use language that is capable of perversion. The words spirituality, spiritual and spiritualize are some of these compendious words, which, if we do not regard their true import, may conduct minds not a few, to the mysticisms of piety, rather than to its intelligible reality. Mysticism is obscurity. It is a sublimated, rather than a sublime religion, and flows from a supposed and direct intercourse with the divine Spirit, without the intervention of God’s truth. The puerile illusions and collusions of modern spiritualists, are scarcely more absurd than the mysticism of the fourth and twelfth centuries. The Spirit of God always acts upon the mind through the medium of truth. Truth is one whether revealed in the works and providence of God, unfolded in the Scriptures, or brought to the view of the mind by that divine Agent, whose office it is to take of the things of Christ, and show them to men. Spiritual views of Christ are sober and veritable views. They are not high-wrought sentimentalism. They are not poetry; nor are they the effect of mere mental abstraction. They are not the fancies of the cloister; nor are they produced by dreams, and visions, and supernatural audible voices. Nor are they the effect of any extraordinary light to the outward eye; nor do they consist of those perceptions that are caused by an excited and fertile imagination, painting the Saviour as suspended on the cross, and surrounded by a halo of indescribable glory. Nor let the remark be deemed too trivial, when we say that they are never steeped and drugged into the soul by subtle opiates and alcoholic poisons, stealing upon the nerves and senses, and super-inducing that dreamy and exquisite sensibility, which, by weak minds, is so often mistaken for the fervors of piety. Nor is it any evidence that they are spiritual views, that they were obtained in some extraordinary and unaccountable way, and have been deeply affecting. It is true that the " wind bloweth where it listeth;" the Spirit of God may sometimes come over the soul amid the night-watches; amid hours of solemn thought, and through altogether unwonted agencies; but when he does so, it is always in the overshadowing’s of truth. All other views are imaginary or false, and are not worthy of confidence. They are a sort of religious transcendentalism, which a believing mind looks upon with suspicion and rejects. The great facts of the Bible form the basis on which a mind enlightened by God’s Spirit rests its confidence. Spiritual views are " full of truth;" God’s truth lies at the foundation of them all.

Another characteristic of those views of Christ which are peculiar to the Christian mind is, that they are not selfish views. Self is not dissevered from them, but they are not mainly excited or sustained by selfish considerations. They are views of a grateful, but not a selfish mind. They do not flow from regarding him merely as our benefactor; but from loving him as he is, and for his own sake. True love and gratitude are easily distinguished; while as exercised toward Christ by every truly Christian mind, they are never separated. A good man may receive benefit from one whose character he condemns; and a bad man may receive benefit from one in whose character he takes no complacency; while both may be grateful for the benefit and have no love for the character. Where the character deserves complacency and confidence, and the benefits bestowed demand gratitude; the complacency strengthens the gratitude, and the gratitude the complacency. The character of Christ and his love towards his people, give him the highest claim both upon the complacent and grateful admiration of his glory; nor need they be separated. But what if my impressions of my own personal interest in Christ are delusive, and my hope in his mercy no better than the hypocrite’s hope? Such a persuasion obviously has not anything gracious in its nature. Remove this delusion, and such a mind would see no beauty in the Son of God. Those views of his glory which are imparted by the Holy Spirit, consist of enlarged and gratified conceptions of his own intrinsic loveliness. If my impressions of my own personal interest in him are such as are founded in truth; are they not rather the result of my spiritual views of him, than these views themselves? They are views of him and not of my own hopes that are so transporting. These views of him produce a calm and peaceful state of mind; nay, they are often associated with hope’s full assurance, and because they furnish the scriptural evidence that those who enjoy them are personally interested in his redemption. But they are not selfish views; nor do they forsake the soul even in her most despondent hours. There are those who have very languid hopes for themselves, who have at the same time views of Christ that are truly spiritual. They have the assurance of faith without the assurance of hope. Through the power of temptation, or from a suspicious and gloomy temperament, or from bodily infirmity, they may be driven to the borders of despair; yet their souls pant after Christ, and they are resolved to seek him, though they die at his feet.

Then again, there are those whose views of the Saviour are so clear and transporting, that they do not stop to think of themselves. The manifestations of his glory are so resplendent and so absorbing, that they are raised above all thoughts of their own spiritual state. Such views are not selfish. The sweetest, purest, and most spiritual joys ever experienced by the people of God, arise from their objective views of Christ. Self is lost sight of. Christ is the object they are contemplating; nor can they, in such a state of mind, consent to withdraw their thoughts from him. His loveliness and glory are then realized, and make corresponding impressions on the heart. There is that heart-felt sense of his excellence and beauty, imparted by that grace which the world knows not of.

Another characteristic of these views is the perfect assurance they produce of the reality and excellence of the things that are thus discovered to the soul. They put to flight all doubts of the truth of God’s word, and of the method of salvation there revealed. The Christian who enjoys them no more doubts than Peter did, when he exclaimed, " We know and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God." He no more doubts than he doubts his senses. He has the evidence of experience; it is experimental knowledge; he has " tasted and seen that the Lord is good." This, to him, is more than all other evidence. It is no theory; it is matter of fact. He never forgets it; many a time, in subsequent seasons of darkness does he recur to it in order to eradicate his unbelieving fears and repel the suggestions of the adversary. There is something unutterably delightful in such views of God and his Christ, were it for nothing more than the assurance, and perfect repose they produce in the reality of the things thus seen. Babes in Christ may have these intelligent teachings, and this assurance that they are taught. They may have no other evidence within their reach, but this satisfies them. They have found the truth of Christ to be what it professes to be; it speaks to them as nothing else speaks. Mere speculative knowledge cannot produce this impression. It is something written on the "fleshly tables of the heart." It is unwrought; it is " truth in the inward parts," and is as much a reality as their own thoughts and affections. It is the joy and rejoicing of the heart. Good men glory in it as Paul did when he " gloried in the cross." The Person and grace of Christ shine with such a divine glory, that they seek no other Saviour. They are satisfied with Christ, though in want of other things; while without him all other things are nothing.

Another characteristic of these views is that they produce a lowly mind. No views, be they ever so transporting, are the fruit of the Spirit that have not this effect upon the soul. Never does the Christian lie so low as when he enjoys the clearest perceptions of his Redeemer’s glory. " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes!" When he looks up and sees how exalted and glorious that Saviour is, he is covered with shame; an humbling sense of his own abjectness and vileness abases him. Past and present sin humbles him, abases his pride, and fills him with self-loathing. He lies low, and " his comeliness is turned into corruption." The soul feels its wants then. It is sensible of its insufficiency and ill-desert, and its language is " God be merciful to me a sinner!" We may rest satisfied that where our views of Christ are such as to lift up the heart in pride, and produce a self-sufficient and self-exulting spirit, they are not of God.

Still another characteristic of all spiritual views of Christ is a cherished solicitude to honor and glorify him. They give him the throne, and would see him enthroned in every heart. One glimpse of his glory, and no living man asks for greater evidence that he deserves to be practically acknowledged as " God over all blessed forever." The crown of the Godhead is his; the crown of Creation is his; to him belong all the badges of kingdom and royalty. The crown of heaven is his; and his the crown of all the earth. His " By ancient covenant, ere nature’s birth, And he has made his by purchase since. And overpaid its value with his blood."

Look where he will, after such rich views of his divine Lord, the believer exclaims, " Whom have I in heaven but Thee; and what is there on the earth that I desire beside Thee!" His heart finds its sweetest impulses to active and self-denying duty in the character, the love, the ineffable glory of his adorable Master. His reason goes on from step to step, but finds naught to gratify it like the revelations that are made of Christ. When his affections become enchained and his imagination enchanted by earthly good; nothing breaks the charm like spiritual perceptions of this " brightest, sweetest, fairest One." Where these views of Christ do not furnish effective inducements to holy living, they may always be regarded as spurious. The Christian profession is a good profession; and where it is sustained by supreme love to Christ and joy in him, is indicated by watchfulness and prayer, by a circumspect deportment, and a faith that is manifested by works. His light shines before men, that others seeing his good works, may glorify his Father who is in heaven. If he is obstructed in his heavenly career, he is the more careful to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth most easily beset him; and though he is never what he should be, he strives to be better than he is, and seeks for grace to enable him to walk worthy of his high hopes and high vocation.

Such are some of the characteristics of that spiritual discernment of the glory of Christ that are peculiar to the people of God. They are by no means the same in all Christians, nor with the same Christians at all times. The best " see through a glass darkly;" while not a few " see men as trees walking;" and others walk for the most part in darkness. No one may draw the conclusion that he is not the disciple of Christ because he has not the same illumined views with Moses and Paul. If he does not habitually enjoy the sunlight splendor of God’s countenance, let him be thankful for its milder, and less refulgent rays. Paul was not always in the third heavens, nor was Moses always in the Mount with God. There are bright views of the Redeemer’s glory; and there are those equally spiritual that are less bright. The more bright we should desire and seek after, because they are attainable. There are no new faculties imparted to the soul in order to enjoy them; they are such views as all might enjoy if their hearts were always right with God, and they loved the Saviour as they ought. They are not obtained by the revelation of any new truths not contained in God’s word; but by clear and deep impressions of those already made known, and carried home to the heart by the Holy Spirit.

Let the reader, in view of these thoughts, ask himself, am l a Christian? Do I belong to that peculiar people, who in character and sources of enjoyment differ from other men? God has such a people, to whom he gives peculiar views of the glory of his Son. No thanks to them that they are what they are. The work is God’s; his the grace, and his the glory! " I thank thee Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight!" Would you be a happy Christian; seek to know more of Christ. There is more to be seen and admired in him than you have ever beheld. There is nothing which appertains to true godliness which those who have once experienced do not desire to experience again, and in still higher degrees. Paul could say, " Not as though I had already attained; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." There is room to know more, love more, admire, enjoy more, and to be more transformed by these delightful manifestations into the same image, from glory to glory. The mind of a godly man is alive to every repeated and every fresh discovery which the Redeemer makes of himself, whether in his word and ordinances, or in his providence. He " would see Jesus." He would see him everywhere, and enjoy him in everything. Whatever the scene, the events, the place, the duties which bring his Saviour near, attract his own heart toward Christ and heaven. That is the Mount of Transfiguration to him, and he says of it, " Lord it is good to be here!" The most adoring views he would have still more adoring. His prayer is, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory!" He would be satisfied to the full; he would drink of those " rivers of pleasure," that " river of life, flowing clear as crystal from the throne of God and the Lamb." If you walk in darkness, there is fault somewhere; and must it not be in you? It cannot be in God; for " God is love;" he " taketh pleasure in them that fear him and in them that hope in his mercy." It is not in the gospel; for the gospel is " glad tidings of great joy." It is not in the Saviour; for his glory is never concealed, but always luminous, always visible if men will but open their eyes to behold it. " He that followeth after me," says this great source of light and comfort, " shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." He passed through scenes of darkness, that he might "lift the light of his countenance upon them, and give them peace." Let the benighted Christian say, " Behold I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth." He is looking to other sources of light and joy, when he should be looking only to Christ. It is not the world that can give you peace, but Christ. It is not human counselors, but Christ the Wonderful Counselor. It is not frames and feelings, but Christ. To a sinner everything is dark but Christ. Happy frames and feelings are not Christ. They change, but he never changes. There is no delusion when faith fixes its eye not upon itself but upon him. " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ!’’ Let these simple truths sink down into your hearts, and your nights will be tranquil, and your days cheered and joyful. You will not indeed throw off from your heart the load of conscious wickedness, but you will find the relief of pardon and grace; you will be established in the peace, and hope, and joy of the gospel; your apprehensions will be dissipated, and you will possess those views of the Saviour’s glory which fill you with light and joy. Would you he fitted for death and ripe for heaven’, seek to know more of Christ. Special manifestations of his glory are often vouchsafed to the people of God for the purpose of furnishing them responsible and self-denying duty and toil. They are often imparted in order to prepare him for scenes of conflict and days of temptation and trial. But they always exert a happy influence in fitting them for death and heaven. No small part of the blessedness of that joyous world consists in " seeing him as he is;" though even there, there are heights and depths of his glory which the purest of disembodied spirits never penetrate. There the soul is happy because it loses itself in his infinity, and prospects are ever being opened which are the source of ever increasing joy. Preparatory to this glory hereafter revealed, there is no more delightful or effective means than those less refulgent manifestations begun on earth. Nothing so certainly withdraws the heart from things seen and temporal and fixes it on the things that are unseen and eternal. They are like the Pisgah views which the Prophet enjoyed of the Promised Land, where the eye of faith rests on the "delectable mountains," and runs over the fields beyond the flood. They are like some unlooked-for light which breaks on the path of the wearied and benighted traveller as he comes near to his journey’s end, and as it glimmers from the window of his own beloved home. They are no unfriendly indications of our departure from the present world, when the veil is thus drawn aside, and like the martyred disciple we are allowed to " see heaven opened and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." Christ is " all and in all," to the dying, as well as the living believer. John the aged might well consent to be gathered to his people after that vision of the Son of Man in the isle of Patmos. It was a view that traveled with him to his grave. Ever after that heavenly voice fell upon his ear, " Fear not; I am he that liveth and was dead." And when that same voice spoke the words, " Surely I come quickly;" well did this favored disciple reply, "Even so; come Lord Jesus!" But it may be that the reader is not a Christian. Yet is he travelling to the same eternity and through no such illumined path. It is a dark path through the wilderness which he has chosen, and a dark valley through which he enters upon his gloomy inheritance. No fellow spirit can accompany, no created arm support him in the dread conflict. The Comforter is afar oft’, and he goes alone to the house appointed for all the living."

What shall we say to him? Shall we cheer him by vivid delineations of earthly joy? His mind cannot be thus satisfied, even though thus transiently deceived. It may be that even now it would fain hunger and thirst after righteousness. It were no fitting counsel to magnify in his esteem the wealth, and honors, and pleasures of time. We come on a more kind errand, and have a sweeter message. We would tell him of the crucified and living One who came to guide his erring feet into the way of peace, to make him happy by making him holy, to show him his glory and induce him to become partaker of his joy. The pleasure of his return to God would outweigh all the pain of forsaking and mortifying his sin. One cheering view of Christ would far transcend all the glories of earth and time. Come, " taste and see that the Lord is good." Gather fruit, now before the harvest is past and the summer of life is ended, from this Tree of Life. Drink of these rivers of salvation, that you go not any more to these broken cisterns which hold no water.

O what overpowering splendor shines in the face of Jesus Christ! Behold it as the " glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." " Look unto him and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for he is God and there is none else!"