(Taken from his MS. and hitherto unpublished.)
“The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.”—JOHN vii. 46.
THE enemies of Christ sent messengers on this occasion to apprehend Him. On their return, the chief priests and Pharisees put the question, “Why have ye not brought Him?” “The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.” It is evident that they were restrained that they could not touch Him until His hour would come. They were struck not only with the order and wisdom wherewith He spoke, shutting the mouths of His adversaries, but with the works done by Him in a miraculous manner. They observed that He had nothing to do but to speak, and the dead were restored to life. He healed all manner of diseases, cast out devils, and restored the dumb, the deaf, and the blind to their respective senses. They were struck also with awe at His holy appearance and language, and probably a divine restraint was exercised to keep them in check, so that it was not in their power to touch Him.
We shall observe some of the times at which Christ spoke, both before and after He came into the world.
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He spoke as God before the world was created. He called into existence by His word a world of holy beings, such as angels, cherubim and seraphim, some of whom are in their order and rank higher, brighter, and more glorious than others, the same as exists among the Church in earth and in heaven. Yet they are perfectly happy in the rank in which God placed them at their creation. It appears that angels are the highest in rank of the various orders of created beings. Christ, as the eternal Son of God, spoke when He commanded these holy beings to be created and delighted in.
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He spoke in the eternal counsels, when the scheme of Redemption was devised. God foresaw man’s fall, and made provision for the redemption of the elect, as Joseph made for the years of famine in Egypt to keep his brethren alive. Christ spoke then, and was filled with joy when the plan of redemption was delineated by divine wisdom, and spread out, as it were, in the council of peace, and God set Him apart as the Redeemer of His people. Then they entered into the covenant of grace. Christ spoke, when He acquiesced in all its conditions, and undertook most willingly to become man, and to suffer and die and perform every work implied therein. He spoke consenting to God’s proposals and rejoicing at the prospect that His people would be redeemed, and that He would possess additional glory by becoming man and working out their redemption. (Prov. viii. 30-31; Ephes. i. 18.)
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He spoke when the time of the world’s creation came, according to the eternal decree. He was the Word by whom “all things were made.” (John i. 3.) It was the voice of the eternal God that was then heard accompanied with infinite wisdom and power, and as He stood at the womb of non-existence, the dawn of the visible world appeared. Every material object came forth in order, as it was previously arranged in the divine mind. On the first day the heavens and the earth were created, and the work of each day came forth in succession, until the great object for whom all these things were, was made, with more solemnity than anything else. The Three Persons assembled, and man was made in the divine image. The world was filled with all kinds of creatures useful to man—the heavens were garnished with lights, and the sea was filled with fishes—all showing forth the power and glory of God. (Psalms cvii. 28, and civ. 25-26.) Nobles among men build castles, and make many improvements on their estates, not merely for their own comfort, but for the benefit of their heirs that they may possess all and be comfortable. So God created all things, not only for His own glory, but for the benefit of His Church who were to be His heirs, “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” (Rom. viii. 17.)
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He spoke in time. Christ spoke to the Church in the Old Dispensation, before He assumed human nature. He spoke to the patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon and others with an audible voice. He assumed the appearance of a man, and spoke the language of man, and yet had not the tongue of man. He that made the tongue of man and put language into it, could easily speak without the aid of man’s tongue. But there was a time coming when He was to speak with man’s tongue in our nature.
Christ spoke when He came into the world. He spoke then, not only as man, but as the great God in human nature. He became “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” but His words were different from those of other men. His was the voice of the eternal God, accompanied with irresistible power and wisdom. A veil was drawn over His divine glory, so that He could associate with men. For the measure of infinite glory He displayed in heaven would have been intolerable to men on earth. Moses said to the Lord, “Show me thy glory,” but the Lord said, “Thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.” A little of this glory was seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in the Isle of Patmos. (Rev. i. 12-17.)
At times the Lord Jesus laid aside the veil and spoke with double power. He spoke to the grave and to death, destroying their power, and restoring life to the dead. He spoke to devils, and they were obliged to leave their prey which they had in their possession, going to hell. He spoke to all kinds of bodily diseases and healed them—the deaf, the blind, and the lame. He spoke to them who had spiritual diseases, such as ignorance of God, unbelief, hardness of heart, and healed them who were wallowing in the mire of the carnal mind. He imparted salvation to the most notorious sinners that others guilty of the same sins should not lose hope of being saved—such as the Samaritan woman and Saul of Tarsus. (1 Tim. i. 13.)
Christ first speaks generally through the terrors of the law. “Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” He speaks to man’s reason, and awakens the sinner to a sense of his awful danger, and then imparts spiritual life. He opens up the memory and enumerates his sins, the most aggravated first. Then guilt fastens upon the conscience and God’s fiery wrath goes over his head. Some souls in this condition continue long to view and mourn their misery. They carry three burdens, a burden of guilt, a burden of God’s wrath, and a burden of fear of being lost. (Psalm cxvi. 3.) The Lord spoke to Elijah with the stormy wind which brake the rocks in pieces, but the Lord was not in it. He then spoke by the earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; “and after the earthquake, a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire.” (1 Kings xix. 11-12.) So, He passes in His terrors of wrath through the soul, but does not speak as a God of comfort. Godly sorrow and repentance, however, go on in the soul.
When the soul is entirely lost in his own estimation, then God speaks after the storm, the earthquake and the fire of His wrath have abated, with “a still small voice,” in the promise, imparting all needed comforts. The power of the remission of sins is in that voice, and the virtue of the blood of Christ which extinguished the fire of His wrath, restores peace to the troubled conscience. The light of God’s face shines in the heart, giving the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Such souls behold that glory with their understanding, and embrace Christ and believe in Him. They behold Him in His death, meeting the demands of the law in their room and stead as their surety.
God in Christ continues to speak to them, like a father whose affections are yearning over them with love. A father frowns, and smiles, and gives. So does Christ. He frowns upon them when they go astray; He smiles upon them when they walk in the truth and keep His commandments. He speaks to them when cast down and deserted. (John xiv. 1-3.) They find themselves so filthy that they are wondering that He ever spoke to them. They are surprised that He continues to speak and to convey life to them, comforting them with His presence. Christ shall never give up supplying your wants and speaking comfort to you. Although all the angels in glory, and all His servants on earth would speak to me, they could not satisfy me without Christ. Still, when His servants speak, Christ often speaks through them.
- Christ’s voice shall be heard at the judgment day. “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice.” (John v. 28.) He shall come in the clouds of heaven, and, as on Mount Sinai, fire shall go before him, to destroy the heavens and the earth. He shall sit on a great white throne, which shall not be fixed upon the earth, but set between heaven and earth. (Rev. xx. 11, 12.) He will not thus honour the world in which He was crucified, and which wicked men and devils have polluted. He shall be accompanied by a number of angels to minister to Him. All believers shall be with Him whose bodies have been mouldering in the dust. Then death and the grave shall hear His voice. They kept the human race under their power for ages, but Christ’s voice shall raise first all the bodies of the saints: neither death nor the grave can keep them. “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” (Hosea xiii. 14.) The bodies, that were useful in spreading the Gospel, shall rise, whose members were engaged in advancing His kingdom. The tongue, the feet, and the hands shall rise to partake of the enjoyments of glory. Their bodies were weak and diseased on earth, but they shall leave all their deformities in the grave. Being now holy and free from sin, the diseases that came in through sin shall go out with it. Their bodies shall be spiritual, refined by divine power out of the corrupt bodies that were buried in the grave. When you sow any seed, it is not the seed you sow that grows and bears fruit, but its substance. So their bodies shall be spiritual and glorious, like Christ’s. (Phil. iii. 21.) As they were adapted for this world—to work, to eat, and to drink—so shall they be adapted to the nature of heaven. Their souls shall meet their glorious bodies at the grave, and shall enter into them. Both shall be happy to meet one another in such a holy and happy condition in Christ’s possession. Then they shall meet the Lord in the heavens. Their bodies shall be strong to bear the glory of eternity. Moses will not need to go to the rock to hide; John will not fall at His feet as dead. Being perfectly holy, they can bear the glory of the heavenly host. One of them could kill thousands, as the angel slew the army of the Assyrians. They shall be of a bright appearance, like a shroud of crystal on a mountain-top, when the sun shines upon it; its brightness shines all over. They will be a fit company for the exercises of heaven. Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shall shine in and upon them, and they shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. (Daniel xii. 3.) Being heirs of God, they shall enjoy the inheritance after gaining a full victory over their enemies that caused them sighs and tears on earth. No dart from Satan, no blasphemous word from the world, no poison from sin, can ever molest them. They shall never mourn after Christ’s face; He shall be the companion and joy of their hearts eternally. When they met Him first, their joy was inexpressible; that joy shall never abate. Their bodies and minds shall be fitted to worship Him eternally without weariness, and they shall feel no pain, no poverty, no fears of death. Christ, and what He has done for them, shall be the subject of their contemplations. Their obscure knowledge shall be made perfect, and they shall increase in their understanding of the scheme of redemption. All the mysteries in the Bible shall then be opened up to them; the Bible shall be in their hearts; and the reasons of their trials on earth shall be revealed.
In that day of the Lord, the heavens shall be on fire. The air between heaven and earth shall be in a flame, mingled with the smoke rising from the earth and the sea which shall be on fire. (Rev. vi. 14, 15.) Every living thing on land and sea shall die, except man. The palaces, castles, and strong forts shall be on fire. All the cities with their ungodly citizens shall be terror-stricken and changed. All warehouses and banks shall be on fire. All the vessels in the seas shall be in flames, and all that were drowned in the ocean shall rise from the dead. The wicked everywhere shall rise from their graves, and shall find themselves between three fires—the fire of conscience, the fire of the wrath of the Judge, and the fire of the body. The fire in the conscience shall be most intense. Their memories will revive their sins, and this shall be most intolerable with Christ, the judge, frowning upon them. The justice of God in the exercise of infinite power shall drag their souls from hell, and cause them to re-enter their bodies, which shall curse one another for meeting. The soul will blame the body for being so active in sin, and the body will blame the soul for making it its slave to yield to its suggestions to sin, and to expose both to eternal torments. God shall make the bodies of the wicked like iron, to be able to bear the intensity of the fire of hell. Then they shall begin to weep and to pray to the mountains to fall upon them and to hide them from the face of the Lamb. (Rev. vi. 15-17.)
The books shall be opened. The book of God’s omniscience which contains a record of all things shall be opened; the book of man’s memory and conscience shall be opened; and the book of Scripture, by which the hearts and lives of men shall be tried, shall be opened. (Rev. xx. 11-15.) The condition of the lost at the judgment seat shall be most awful—speechless and trembling before God, whose holy face frowns upon them, and looking at the devil at their side in whose possession and company they are to go to hell. Satan shall be condemned for all the evils he has done in dishonouring God and destroying so many of the human race, and in tempting the saints and persecuting them through the instrumentality of wicked men.
Christ as the glorious judge shall then speak and say to the righteous, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” while all the ungodly shall hear the final sentence from His mouth, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. xxv. 34-41.) All the saints shall also be judges, and shall put their Amen to the condemnation of the ungodly. It is likely there shall be degrees of suffering in hell according to degrees of guilt. Some sins are more heinous in the sight of God than others. Persecutors of God’s people, and despisers of Christ in the gospel shall be subject to more torments than others who never heard of Christ, and shall have their portion with drunkards, murderers, adulterers, and all unclean persons in the place of woe. The treasures of God’s wrath shall be let loose upon them in outer darkness, and the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever.
“Never man spake like this Man” in a past eternity or in the days of His flesh; no man speaks like Him now as He does by His Word and Spirit; and no man shall speak like Him at the great day of judgment.