Taken with editing from Days in Kirkfield. Preached on 1 December, 1839, it is the second in a series of sermons on John 17:3 in Kirkfield Chapel, Glasgow, during a time of revival. These are Anderson’s notes, but they are not complete.
In preaching on this subject previously, it was proposed to consider: (1.) The objects of the knowledge here spoken of; (2.) The nature of the knowledge; (3.) Its excellence; (4.) Its bestowal. We have already considered the first of these; we found it to be twofold: first, the Father, the only true God, and second, Jesus Christ, the One sent by the Father.
We have termed this a twofold object, not two objects of knowledge, because they are so connected that it is impossible to know one and not know the other: “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him”. We cannot get a knowledge of the Father but by seeing His glory as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. Therefore the pretences of men to a knowledge of God as the Creator, Preserver and Governor of the world, without any reference to His character as, in Christ, the God of salvation must be rejected. He that acknowledges not the Son has not the Father. But, on the other hand, it is impossible for anyone to be acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, and not to have a knowledge of the Father, for “He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God”; “If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also”; “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father”.
2. We now proceed to the nature of the knowledge spoken of in the text. First we may briefly refer to its essential character, its leading properties, and its necessary effects. In regard to its essential character, I observe
(1.) that the object known is supernatural, for the ordinary works and ways of God, which are commonly described as natural, are silent as to Jesus Christ, and they are equally silent as to the distinction of Persons in the Godhead. So the character of the Father, the only true God, is not one amidst the variety of objects that are embraced in this sphere of the universe. The eternal power and Godhead of the Creator are manifested in His works, but not the wisdom, love and power of the Three-One God, as the Redeemer of sinners.
The revelation of this object is also supernatural. The light of nature – that is, of the works of creation and providence – goes no further than the objects which they embrace. And we have seen that the Father and His Christ are not included in these objects; therefore the light of nature cannot make them known. In this sense, “no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him”. We apprehend this object by supernatural principles. The principles we received in our creation match a covenant of works but, by the entrance of sin, they are so corrupted that, while they lead us to cling with infatuated obstinacy to that covenant, they work for us nothing but destruction. By the exercise of our natural understandings, we can get nothing but an increase of darkness; by the affections of our carnal hearts, nothing but deeper alienation from God. By the labours and sacrifices, tears and prayers of a natural state, we can get nothing but a larger store of wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgement of God: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God”; “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Now, if this is our helpless and wretched condition in regard to the first covenant, what shall we say of the second, where higher glory shines, where weightier truths are declared, where richer love is dispensed, and where deeper mysteries are unfolded? A great change must take place; we must be born again; we must have a new heart and a new spirit, before we can take in a ray of that light which reveals to men the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent: “He that is spiritual” – that is, born of the Spirit – “judgeth [or discerneth] all things”; “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God”. The light in which these objects are revealed to the soul is supernatural. The Word in which they are declared is supernatural, and that Word is called light, just as the sun is called the greater light and the moon the lesser light; this is because, like them, it is the medium through which light is conveyed. But the Word is not light in the ordinary sense of the word; and we have a proof of this in the mournful fact that many of you read the Word and hear it, and continue to grope in darkness. Also believers themselves, though the Lord has given them sight, can sometimes see nothing in the Word: all is enveloped in thick, impenetrable darkness. The light of the soul is, primarily, God Himself: “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven”. Mediatorially, it is the Lord Jesus Christ: “I am the light of the world”; efficiently, it is the Spirit of the Father and the Son: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God”. In illuminating the soul, the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in the new nature, which He has produced and united to Christ; and every degree of illumination is the result of His immediate and active operation on the soul: “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”.
(2.) Further, this knowledge is spiritual. In this view, I cannot so easily tell what it is as I can tell what it is not. A gift may be supernatural and not spiritual. For example, the gifts bestowed upon Bezaleel for the construction of the tabernacle were supernatural, but they were not spiritual. They were mechanical – fitting him for the special work to which he was called. The gift of prophecy was supernatural, but not spiritual, as is proved by the case of Balaam, who gave utterance to some sublime prophecies, yet perished in his iniquity. The gift of miracles was supernatural, but not spiritual; and hence the Lord says, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” And addressing His disciples, He says, “In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven”. The knowledge of which we speak is both supernatural and spiritual. The objects it embraces are spiritual: “God is a Spirit”; and the principle by which the soul embraces them is spiritual: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. And the light in which the soul contemplates them is spiritual: “O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me”. Now if it be asked whereby one may determine whether his knowledge is spiritual, we would answer briefly, It is if it is attained in the teeth of felt opposition from the flesh. The religion of many is all smooth, easy and pliant, and their knowledge is attained without opposition from themselves or the devil, and therefore without trouble and conflict; or if they have difficulties, they are such difficulties as they encounter in acquiring any kind of knowledge. Now these people demonstrate that the Spirit is not in them, for otherwise the flesh would lust against it and fleshly wisdom would oppose spiritual wisdom. A child of God has the same difficulties that other people have in acquiring the knowledge of this world, but he meets with special difficulties in seeking after spiritual knowledge. He can read and understand other books, when perhaps he does not dare look at the Word of God; or if he reads it, he can make nothing of it; and his conscious blindness, stupidity and vanity make him conclude that he is still walking in darkness, when it is one of the most satisfactory evidences that he has been brought into the true light: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth”. “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”
(3.) The knowledge spoken of in the text is holy. I place this among the essential characteristics that belong to it, because of its vast importance and necessity; and also because, however small is the amount of the knowledge which an individual may possess, it must have this element, otherwise it is not of the right kind: “The wisdom that is from above is first pure”. By pure and holy knowledge, I mean such as directly tends to exalt the Three-One God, represented by the Father and revealed through the Son. The essential note of carnal knowledge is that it puffs up, it exalts self, and proportionally dishonours God. And just as every particle of saving knowledge has in it the element of holiness, so every particle of carnal knowledge has in it the element of enmity against God. How solemn the thought that every soul is now drinking in from my words nourishment to the poisonous root of enmity, or else nourishment to the healthy tree of holy wisdom! It is awful to be feeding this pestiferous plant of enmity, more deadly than hemlock, more bitter than wormwood, in the bosom of your families; but how much more so to be feeding it in the house of God and under the preaching of His Word! But the knowledge of which we speak tends uniformly to abase self and to exalt God; it exalts Him in the esteem of the soul, in the plans which the individual forms, in the employments he follows, and in the ends he pursues. Now some of you may say, This is fatal to all our pretensions to Divine knowledge, for scarcely have we got any light, or what we think is light, when in one way or other pride begins to rise and swell, and we question whether we have the slightest regard to God; and this is our great grief. Now, to a spiritual observer, all this indicates the presence of holy knowledge, for do you think that someone can possess it without opposition from the carnal heart? No, the very consciousness of this opposition indicates the presence of a different principle in the soul. But our remarks will condemn many that profess to have some knowledge of God and His Christ, because it never leads them to God; it will induce them to talk about this thing and that thing connected with the cause of Christ, but if you shut them up in their closets and tell them to lay out their knowledge in exalting God, they are as if imprisoned in a dungeon: “God is not in all his thoughts”; “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him”.
Second, we may now refer to a few of the main properties of the knowledge we speak of.
(1.) It is very simple. This attribute belongs to all the works of God. With the highest grandeur and deepest intricacy, there is combined beautiful, inimitable simplicity. The truths that are embraced by the spiritual mind are indeed the loftiest and the deepest, the widest and the broadest that can come before an intellectual being. The angels find ample scope for their exalted and active powers in contemplating them: “Which things the angels desire to look into”; and eternity, in its immeasurable extent and endless duration, will be spent in the study of them. Yet with all this, the views which the Spirit of God gives out are distinguished for their simplicity. O how clumsy are the carnal notions of men, though laboured out at the expense of much time and toil and patience! But the soul, when admitted to the Fountain of life, feels as if it had nothing to do but to receive the pure stream which flows forth. A text may indeed appear dry and barren, and all the efforts of man cannot dig the truth out of it: like the rock in Horeb, which afforded no refreshment to the weary Israelites till it was smitten with the rod of God. Then did the water gush out, and the people had just to come and fill their vessels. Likewise, when the Spirit of God is given, with the rod of His grace and power, the most unpromising text becomes like a spring of water, and the thirsty soul has nothing to do but to drink: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God”. Not, let him rack his mind with study: that is needed sometimes as means. Not, let him accumulate books: that may be useful as a means. Not, let him consult with man: that may be beneficial as a means. “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” “I have more understanding than all my teachers; for Thy testimonies are my meditation.”
(2.) It is exceedingly clear. A believer, left to his own carnal wisdom, can make nothing of the truth at all; at best he can get very dark and confused notions of it. Indeed he may lose himself in the mist and begin to fancy, at the suggestion of the devil, that there is no truth at all. But when the day of Divine illumination breaks, the shadows flee away; and with amazing clearness, he perceives the objects which are unfolded to him. A sermon may appear very dark and confused to a man; at this moment, there may be some of you who do not know what I am speaking about and cannot understand it; perhaps unpleasant reflections arise against the preacher. Well, call me as blind and stupid as you will; you cannot exceed the mark. But beware of reflecting through the preacher on the truth of God and concluding that it is dark and confused! If you are in darkness, do not carp at the discourse, but secretly cry to the Lord to bring you out of darkness into His light. Marvelous it will appear – as for other things, so also for its plainness. “In Thy light shall we see light.”
(3.) It is absolutely certain. The objects which it embraces are true, indeed truth itself. “I”, says Christ, “am . . . the truth.” And the light in which they are exhibited is as real as the light of the sun at noonday. But it is sometimes hard for the soul to get a solid persuasion that it is so. There are many indeed who never questioned the reality of Divine things – for this very plain reason: they never believed them. And a man will never begin to be troubled with, and desire to get rid of, doubts till he has some faith. But how difficult it is for sinners to get a solid conviction even of the first truths of religion, such as the being of God, the glory of Christ, the sufficiency of His grace, the perfection of His salvation! And all who are in earnest about these things find it no easy matter to keep up, and to act on, this conviction. The knowledge, however, we speak of is accompanied with a solid persuasion that the things which it embraces are full of meaning and reality. And that persuasion rests on the broad, immovable foundation of Divine truth. The evidence of reason, of human testimony, of past experience may satisfy others, but nothing will satisfy a gracious soul – and I would say, one truly awakened – but, “Thus saith the Lord”. Do not be surprised if in seeking after a firm hold of this evidence, however, you should encounter doubts of every form and difficulties of every hue. The flesh lusts against the Spirit here also, and he is a very sorry believer that does not know something, more or less, of the power of unbelief. But do not despond even if Satan pours forth a deluge of doubts, and something worse: the Lord has just to speak the word and such evidence will burst upon your minds as will scatter your doubts to the wind as the rising sun does the mists of the morning: “We believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
(4.) It is wonderfully discriminating, in regard to truth and error. Some cannot distinguish between them: “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us”; “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me”. In regard to character: “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. It separates between the precious and the vile. His Word is engrafted into a believer: “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God”. “Be . . . wise as serpents.” In regard to the path of duty: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word”.
I must hasten to notice a few of the necessary effects which it produces.
(1.) It produces supreme love to the Father, “the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent”. I might have begun by saying that it produces faith or confidence in its object. But this is rather the knowledge itself than an effect of it. The reason for this is that the objects it embraces are Divine, invisible and eternal; so there can be no knowledge of them but by faith produced and maintained by the Spirit. We thus see that it is possible to repeat large portions of Scripture, to talk correctly on religious subjects, or even to preach in the most orthodox manner, and yet be without one particle of this knowledge. For if he is in his natural state, he must put his own construction on his language, which is as wide of the truth as a blind man’s ideas of light and colours. We do not doubt that Judas Iscariot preached correctly enough; yet he went to his own place. How solemn the thought that men may preach very evangelically and yet have no faith, and therefore be really ignorant of the gospel! We must identify the knowledge referred to in the text with true saving faith, because the same effects are ascribed to the one that are ascribed to the other. Now this knowledge, or faith, works by love of the Father, the only true God. The objects it embraces are infinitely excellent in themselves: “How great is His goodness! How great is His beauty!” As the saints have stood on the boundless ocean of His infinitude, they have been lost in wonder and delight. The time would fail me to speak of the excellence they have seen in His character, the wonders in His counsels, the beauty and sweetness in His words, the glory in His works. But what overcomes their hearts is the wonderful combination of holiness and love, of righteousness and peace that shine in the cross of Christ. And Jesus Christ whom He has sent is altogether lovely. He is lovely in His Person as God, as man, as God-man. He is lovely in His majesty and meekness, lovely in His greatness and condescension, lovely in His holiness and righteousness, lovely in His mercy, power, tenderness, offices, work and death; humiliation and exaltation; lovely on the cross and on the throne. But who can declare all His beauty? The spouse began but was soon obliged to break off, or rather to close this exalted theme by exclaiming, “He is altogether lovely”. Now such are the objects of the knowledge we speak of; and the immediate effect that flows from the soul’s apprehension of them is love. There is, first, the love of esteem – that is, the soul apprehends the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, as in themselves infinitely excellent, and delights in them on that account. And this is the highest form of love, and therefore, the sweetest in its exercise. To illustrate what I mean, I put it to you: Do you not love a man of God whose character is described to you, even though you do not know him personally and never received any favour from him. The ground of your love is the excellence of his character: but the more intimately you are acquainted with such an individual, the more sincerely you love him; because your intercourse brings out his excellence in a way which you did not perceive at a distance. Similarly, the soul grasps the excellences and moral beauty that are in the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. And it grasps them too, in the nearest connection, and therefore He loves them: “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
(2.) There is the love of gratitude: an affection which is produced by receiving benefits. And who among you, believers, can tell the favours you have received from the Lord? “If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” There is the benefit of creation; there is the benefit of preservation, the benefit of sparing mercy, the benefit of spiritual privileges; but above all, the gift of Christ, and the gift of the Spirit to apply Christ: “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift”. It is disputed whether this refers to Christ, or to the Spirit of Christ. But it is of little consequence which, for no one can get Christ but by the Spirit, and no one can get the Spirit without getting Christ. Now these benefits are inestimable in themselves, but the source from which they come enhances their value and is itself better than them all; and that is the eternal love of God and of Jesus Christ, His Son. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”; His “love is better than wine” – sweeter to the taste, more refreshing to the heart, more exhilarating to the spirits. He that is a stranger to this love, made up of these elements, has none of the knowledge of which the text speaks; and some of you, brethren, may say that this is your case; for instead of loving, you say your hearts are as hard as stone, or raging with rebellion like the waves of the sea. We ask, Is this your burden? At least, would you like it to be your burden of grief and distress? Then we can discover in this the trace of genuine love; for love appears as much in hating what is displeasing to God as in delighting in what pleases Him. If you were entire strangers to the war of the flesh against the Spirit of love, it would be a proof that you were still ignorant of God. And this leads me to remark that all of you who deny that you ever had hatred of God in your hearts show that as yet you have no love to Him. A viper is not seen without light, nor felt without life; so, if you had the light and life of love, you would have discovered the viper of enmity to God in your hearts. But not discovering this, we have to say to you, as our Lord said to the Jews, “I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you”.
But where love is dormant and inactive, you see how it is to be roused. If opposition is made to it, you see how it is to be overcome.