by Rev. William Dyer
To be in a state of grace is to be miserable no more, is to be happy for ever. It is faith that unites Christ and sanctified souls together on earth; and love that unites God and glorified souls together in heaven. O believers! you are those worthies of whom the world is not worthy. Jesus Christ, from one saint, hath more glory given to Him than He receiveth from all the world besides. We owe not only our service to Christ, but we owe also ourselves to Him.
The believer’s Saviour is a wonderful Saviour. “He shall be called Wonderful”, (Isa. 9, 6.) He is wonderful in the eyes of all angels and saints for love. The world and devils, for fear, wonder at Him. For the opening of this excellent point, take these particulars: — Christ is Wonderful in His nature — in His person — in His incarnation — in His saints — in His offices — in the miracles that He wrought — in His humiliation — in His conquest — in His ascension — in His exaltation — in His working towards His saints, — Lastly, He is Wonderful in His coming to judgment.
Some have more time than matter, but I have now more matter than time: therefore I must omit much precious matter, for want of precious time. Beloved, I will handle but one of these particulars, and that is the seventh, viz., That Jesus Christ is wonderful in humiliation. This is the head we shall now insist upon, and indeed this is one of the greatest wonders of all; that He that was so high should be brought so low; that He that was so rich should become so poor; that the Lord of life should die, and the great God become a babe, and the Eternal Word not able to speak a word; that He that made the law should be under the law; that He that was more excellent than all the angels should become less and lower than the angels. O ye angels! how stand ye amazed at this, that the Lord of heaven and earth should become a Servant to His own servants. “He took upon him the form of a servant”. (Phil. 2: 7.) This must needs be wonderful to all the angels in heaven.
First, Jesus Christ took upon Him our nature. (Heb. 2: 16.)
God could stoop no lower than to become man, and man could be advanced no higher than to be united to God. He that before made man a soul after the image of God, now made Himself a body after the image of man; for to be like to God is a wonder, but for God to be like man is a greater wonder. But when was it that Jesus Christ took upon Him our nature? When it was in innocence from misery and calamity? No; but when it was at the lowest, after the fall, when it was most beggarly, most wretched, most bloody, most accursed, most sinful, most feeble. “When we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”. (Rom. 5: 6.) That Jesus Christ should take upon Him our condition, our frailty, our curse, our nature, when it was thus low, thus poor, thus wretched: Oh! this is a wonder of wonders, and yet thus you see did Jesus Christ. Oh, wonderful abasement! Must God take upon Him our frailty? Had we so far run upon the score of vengeance that none could satisfy but God Himself? Could He not send His angels or saints, but must He come Himself in person? No, no; angels or saints could not do it; but if Christ will save us, He Himself must come and die for us.
Secondly, Our Saviour’s humility descended very low.
He was born of a poor maid, of no account or reputation. Was there never a great lady or gentlewoman in Jerusalem for this great Prince of heaven to be born of, but that He must be born of a poor despised virgin? Yea, certainly, there were gentlewomen in store in Jerusalem, but our Lord Jesus Christ regarded not the rich more than the poor. He was revealed to poor shepherds, not to emperors and kings, not to rulers and great men, not to doctors and learned men, not to Caesar at Rome. I say, the angels did not go and declare these joyful tidings and good news to Caesar at Rome, but to poor shepherds in the fields. (Luke 2: 8.) He was born in a stable. Not in a fair house or palace, not in a parlour or chamber; no, but in a stable where horses and beasts are fed. He was wrapped up in clouts, and laid in a manger; they were no clouts of fine linen or silks, no cloths of silver or gold, nor precious robes, but poor and mean, like to beggars’ rags. Now, beloved, put all this together, and tell me what is more wonderful than this? O humility, humility, how great are thy riches that are thus commended to us! Thou pleasest men, delightest angels, and confoundest devils, and bringest the Creator to a manger. O sweet Jesus, Thou conquerest death by dying!
Thirdly, The third wonder in Christ’s humiliation is this — He became poor;
that He that was so rich became so poor; that He that was Lord of all had nothing at all: He that made heaven and earth had no habitation of His own; He that gives crowns of victory, of life, of glory to others, had no crowns Himself here, but a crown of thorns. “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head”. (Matt. 8: 20.) The foxes had holes to lay their heads in, but Christ hath not a place to lay His head on. As He was born in another man’s house, so He was buried in another man’s tomb. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet he became poor”. (2 Cor. 8: 9.) “Yet he became poor”; ay, poor indeed, and so poor that He had not a penny. You will say that a man is very poor that hath not a penny; truly such an one was Christ: He had not a penny to pay tribute till He got it out of a fish. (Matt. 17: 27.) And when He was to ride in pomp to Jerusalem He had no coach, no chariot, no horse or beast of His own; He was fain to ride upon another man’s ass. (Matt. 21: 2.) O ye blessed saints, admire and wonder at this! is not He the brightness of God, the paradise of angels, the beauty of heaven, the Redeemer of man, the destroyer of death, the King of saints? And that He should become so poor for us! Oh! this is wonderful to angels and men.
Fourthly, The fourth wonder in Christ’s humiliation is this, that He shed His blood six times for poor sinners.
The first time was, when He was circumcised at eight days old. Oh what a blessed Jesus is this! What! ready for the sacrifice already? What! but eight days old, and shed His blood for the salvation of men’s poor souls? The second time was when He was in His agony in the garden. Matthew tells us that His soul began to be sorrowful. “Sore amazed” (saith Mark). (Mark 14.) To be troubled: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour”. (John 12: 27.) Troubled, O Lord! What! Thou that bindest up the proud waves of the sea, turnest the hearts of kings as rivers of waters; Thou that laidest the foundations of the earth, and spreadest the heavens as a curtain; Thou that guidest the stars and thunderest in the clouds; Thou that upholdest all things by the word of Thy power; and, what! Thou troubled! Oh the horror, the terror, the sorrow that seized upon the soul of Christ! Saith Luke: “He began to be in agony, and he sweat”. (Luke 22: 44.) What! no natural sweat, but blood: He was in a bloody sweat all over. — He sweat clots of blood, as the original hath it. Oh! how did Christ come swimming to us in blood; and have not we a tear to shed for all those streams of His? We did eat the sour grapes, and His teeth were set on edge: we climbed the tree, and stole the forbidden fruit, and He went up the ladder of the cross and died: Oh how lovely should He be in our eyes! We should wear His cross in our hearts, and treasure it up as Moses did the manna in the pot. Christ’s cross, saith he, is the golden key that lets us into paradise, and the angel with the flaming sword is turned out. His blood washed away our sins.
He shed His blood for us when His cheeks were nipt and torn: the pulling off the hair, as the prophet speaks: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that pulled off the hair”. (Isa. 50: 6.) Oh how was that face of His lacerated and covered with blood that was brighter than the sun! He that was fairer than the sons of men; He that is the great glittering and sparkling diamond of the ring of glory: how was He besotted and besmeared with blood! O ye hard of heart, ye stubborn of heart! (and indeed too stubborn are we all; if judgment and the hammer will not break your hearts, let love and mercy do it), look unto Christ, and say, Hast Thou suffered this for me, and shall I not love Thee, O Lord, and serve Thee, and obey Thee, and honour Thee! So say, and so do, and the Lord say, Amen.
Christ shed His blood when the crown of prickling thorns was put upon His head. (Matt. 27.) Oh what a sight was this to behold that head of His, that was as the most fine gold, as the spouse expresseth it to be, now covered with thorns, and rent with thorns; that He should wear the prickly crown of sharp thorns, that was fit to wear the crown of glory! He shed His blood when His hands and feet were nailed to the cross; these beautiful feet of His that came skipping upon the mountains, bringing the glad tidings of peace and salvation. How were those blessed hands of His nailed and made fast to the cross! O ye blessed spirits, look down from heaven, and you may see even the Almighty kneel at the feet of men! O ye angels, how should you be amazed at this, to see your Lord and Master so far deny Himself as to take upon Him the form of a servant! “We saw Jesus,” saith the apostle, “made a little lower than the angels”. To suffer death, the Creator not only became a creature, but inferior to some of the creatures which He had made. O ye blessed saints! why do ye not wonder at this wonder? to see the beauty of heaven, the paradise of angels, the brightness of His Father’s glory, the Redeemer of man, thus humble Himself, and take upon Him man’s nature, for the salvation of man’s soul. Christ shed His blood when the spear was thrust into His side, out of which presently gushed water and blood. (John 19: 34.) You will say a very strange cure that the physician should bleed, and His blood should have the virtue that we should all be saved. Physicians be usually liberal of other men’s blood, but sparing of their own; but it is not so with our Physician; instead of the patient’s bleeding in the arm He bled in the side: why dost Thou shower down Thy blood and come swimming in Thy blood? Is not a drop sufficient? “One drop”, saith Luther, “is more worth than heaven and earth”. Oh love without measure! Oh wonderful redemption! That God should take upon Him man’s frailty, that is wonderful indeed! It is enough for a king to pardon a thief, but that the king himself should die for the malefactor, that is beyond expression! Thus did our blessed Lord and Saviour: He died that we might live: He went and suffered in His agony, that He might “stay us with flagons, and comfort us with apples:” He endured the greatest pain, that we might enjoy the greatest pleasures. Oh how lovely, how lovely was Christ in His sufferings! Who would not love thee, Thou King of saints! Christian, consider how much thy dear Lord and Saviour hath suffered and undergone for thee. Oh precious blood! it redeemeth us, it cleanseth us, it washeth us, it justifieth us, it sanctifieth us, it restoreth us to God, and bringeth us to heaven.
Fifthly, Another wonder in Christ’s humiliation is this — He suffered in His soul: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death”. (Matt. 26: 38.)
Oh what a word was this for God to speak! For a man to say so is no wonder, but for God to say so, oh this is a great wonder indeed! The suffering of His soul was the soul of His sufferings: Christ yielded His soul for our souls, His soul in our souls’ stead. Many of His faithful servants have suffered much in their bodies, as the martyrs that were racked, and burnt, and sawn asunder: but they had much freedom in their souls — their souls were full of much spiritual joy and comfort. But now Jesus Christ did not only suffer in His body, but in His soul: and that is it which makes the wonder the greater. He drank the cup of affliction, that we might drink the cup of consolation; He tasted death for us, that we might taste life through Him; He was forsaken, that we might never be forsaken.
Sixthly, Another wonder in Christ’s humiliation is that He should suffer Himself to be so much mocked.
He was mocked as Samson was by the Philistines when His eyes were put out. And truly this is a great wonder, if we consider who Christ was; and if we consider who they were that mocked Him. He was God, the God-man; they were but dust and ashes. They did spit upon Him; — they blindfolded Him; — they crowned Him with thorns; — they put a reed into His hand, instead of a sceptre; — they clothed Him with purple garments; — they bowed their knees to Him in scorn; — they saluted Him with “Hail, king of the Jews”; — they made Him carry His own cross, on which He was to be crucified; as malefactors go with halters about their necks to execution, so they made Him carry His cross; — they reviled Him, wagging their heads; — they crucified Him with two thieves, and Him in the midst of them, as though He had been the prince of thieves, the greatest malefactor of them all; — they exulted over Him in His misery. Thus they never left Him till His soul left the world: and all this they did in scorn to Him, that they might make His death more painful and shameful. Oh, this is no small wonder, if we consider how Jesus Christ was mocked.
Seventhly, In the humiliation of Christ He suffered much from His Father; here is a wonder, if you talk of wonders.
He did not only suffer from Jews and Gentiles, Scribes and Pharisees, Judas and Pilate, wicked men and devils, but He suffers too from the Father; and this is that which makes the wonder the greater. (Isa. 53: 10.) “It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief”. Mark, one would have thought, if God would spare any, it should have been His Son, His own Son, His beloved Son, His begotten Son, His bosom Son; and yet God spared Him not: “He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all”. (Rom. 8: 32.) Mark, God did not spare Him, but delivered Him up for us. If Jesus Christ will come and take our sins upon Him, God will not spare Him, but let out the fulness of justice to the full upon Him, till He had paid the uttermost farthing of justice. O blessed Jesus, didst Thou undergo so much for our sinning, for our offending, for our rebelling? Oh, then, what infinite cause have we to love Thee, and obey Thee, and honour Thee! For the more He hath done and suffered for us, the dearer He ought to be unto us.
Eighthly, The last wonder that I shall mention is, that Christ foresaw all this, and yet He willingly undertook it, to save mankind:
He knew before He came from heaven how His countrymen the Jews would use Him, and that one of His family would betray Him: “Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray Him”. (John 6: 64); nothing was in the womb of time that was not first in the womb of Christ; He knew it from the beginning. That our Lord Jesus Christ should foreknow all this most wonderful misery that He endured, yet that He should come freely, willingly, and joyfully from heaven, to die and suffer by and for such poor wretches as we are; here is a wonder to angels and men, “Lo, I come”, saith Christ, “to do thy will, O God”. (Heb. 10: 9.) And what was it He was to do? Why, to suffer for poor man, to redeem poor man. Do you see here, sirs, what great love Christ bore to His people? Rather than they should be in hell, and be damned, Jesus Christ would come from heaven and suffer all this for them, though He knew before how He should be used. Oh this is a great wonder dear Christians! Methinks such a pearl should sparkle in our eyes. We sail to glory, not in the salt seas of our tears, but in the red sea of Christ’s blood. Truly it is wonderful to think how much He did for us, and how little we do for Him: the greater His sufferings were, the greater were our sins: the greater His pain was, the greater should our love be to Him.