Jesus was making many jewish disciples

JESUS WAS MAKING MANY JEWISH DISCIPLES
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 8:31 31To the Jews who had believedhim, Jesus
said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples.
Believing On Jesus—And Its Counterfeits
BY SPURGEON
“As He spoke these words, many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to
those Jews which had believed Him, If you continue in My Word, then
are you My disciples, indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.”
John 8:30-32
Our Lord, on this occasion, was surroundedby quibblers. We must not be
astonishedif the like should happen to us when declaring the Gospel. Our
Lord went on preaching, all the same, and He did not concealobjectionable
Truth because of opposition–say, rather, that He setit forth with greater
boldness and decisionwhen surrounded by His enemies!The more they
opposed, the more He testified.
The Lord Jesus also told the contradicting sinners that the day would come
when quibblers would be convicted. Observe how He put it–“Whenyou have
lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am He, and that I do
nothing of Myself.” Quibblers may have a fine time of it just now, but they
will, one day, be convictedeither to their conversionor their confusion! Let us
hope that many will see the Truth before they die–earlyenough to seek and
find a Savior. But many in our Lord’s day who discoveredit after His
uplifting on the Cross and His uplifting from the grave, came by their
knowledge sadlylate, for in the meantime they had crucified the Lord of
Glory. Ah, how much of sin comes out of delayed faith! A far greaternumber

of these Jews were convictedin their minds altogethertoo late, for when they
were driven to feel, by the attendant circumstances ofHis Crucifixion and
Resurrection, that He really was the Son of God, they still perseveredin
rebellion and sank into obstinate rejectionof His claims. On such His blood
restedto their eternalcondemnation. Quibblers, you may riot for a little
season, but your time is short! The hour will come when you shall behold and
wonder–andperish. I pray that there may come an end to your unbelief by
your being convicted in this life and led to repentance. But if it is not so, you
will certainly be ashamedand confounded in the day when the Lord shall
come in His Glory and you shall, in vain, beseechthe mountains to fall upon
you and hide you from His face!
Quibblers ought to be convinced even now–the Savior implies this when He
adds, “He that sent Me is with Me: the Father has not left Me alone; for I
always do those things that please Him.” The CharacterofJesus should have
convinced the Jews ofHis mission. His evident obedience to God and the
equally evident witness of Godto Him, would have led them to see His
Messiahshipif they had not been blinded by prejudice and pride. Any candid
man at the present day, studying the life of Christ and observing His unique
Character, should be convinced that He is the Son of God–andshould come to
believe in Him.
But, Beloved, though the Savior was thus surrounded with objectors and had
so much to endure from their ignorance and their malice, yet His
controversies withthem were not without hopeful effects, for our text informs
us, “As He spoke these words, many believed on Him.” Albeit we may be
surrounded with generaland virulent opposition, yet there will be fruit from
the preaching of the Truth of God. The Word of the Lord shall not return
unto Him void–it shall prosper in the thing whereto Godhas sent it. We may
hope that not only a few, but many will acceptthe sacredtestimony, since we
see that, even in the midst of an exceedinglyhot dispute, it happened that, “As
He spoke these words, many believed on Him.”
1. These Believers were notall of one kind and upon that fact I shall
enlarge in this beginning of my sermon. Let that stand as our first
observationupon the text–OUR LORD HAD DIFFERENTKINDS OF
BELIEVERS AROUND HIM. There were evidently two sorts of
Believers who may be set forth to you by the differing expressions used
in the RevisedVersion. We read in verse thirty, “Many believed on
Him.” And then in the 31 st verse we read of “those Jews whichhad
believed Him.” Mark the distinction between, “believedon Him” and,
“had believed Him.” It is a singular expression, also, “ThoseJewswhich

had believed Him.” They were still Jews as to their traditional belief
and connection–Jews firstof all–whateverthey might be in connection
with their Judaism. The omissionof the word, “on,” or, “in,” is a happy
one, because it is exactly accurate, and it helps to bring out an
important distinction while it also accounts forwhat seems so strange,
that those who had believed Him should, almostimmediately after,
charge Him with being a Samaritanand having a devil, and should even
take up stones to stone Him! There were two sorts of Believers and on
these I will speak a while.
The first, “believed on Him.” These are the right kind. What is it to believe on
Christ? It means not only to acceptwhat He says as true and to believe that
He is the Messiahand the Sonof God, but trustfully to rest in Him. To believe
on Him is to take Him as the ground of our hope, as our Savior, upon whom
we depend for salvation. When we believe in Him or on Him, we acceptHim
as God sets Him forth–and we make use of Him by trusting on Him to do for
us what God has appointed Him to do. This trusting on Jesus is saving faith!
“As many as receivedHim, to them gave He powerto become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name.” “He that believes on the Sonhas
everlasting life.” To believe Him may be a very different thing from believing
on Him. Such belief may fall far short of saving faith. To believe on Him
means heartily to give yourself up to Him and to follow Him as the Way, the
Truth and the Life to you. Rejecting all rival confidences, the heart leans all
its weight on Jesus and leaves all its burdens with Him. Believing in Him, we
repose all our concerns, fortime and for eternity, in His hands.
To believe on Him is also to believe implicitly. We believe all that He may yet
say. We acceptnot only what He says which we can fully understand, but that
which as yet is dark to us. We so believe in Him that we go with Him in all His
teachings, be they what they may. We not only go as far as He has revealed
Himself to us, but we are prepared to go as much farther as He pleases.What
He says is the Truth of God to us, on the sole evidence that He says it! We
believe in Jesus, notbecause we judge that what He says can be endorsed by
our understanding (though that is, indeed, the case), but because He says it!
Our Lord’s Word is reasonenoughfor us. The ipse dixit of the Son of God
suffices us, even if all men deny His assertions.He has said it and He is the
Truth of God, itself. We believe on Him–Son of God and Son of Man, living,
dying, risen again, ascendedinto the heavens–wetrust Him. He is our
Infallible Prophet and our Omniscient Teacher. We restourselves wholly on
Him! That is saving faith. Oh, that it may be said of this congregation, “Many
believed on Him”!

But there is another kind of faith which was produced by the Savior’s
testimony. It had much of hope in it and yet it never came to anything. There
is a temporary faith which believes Jesus, in a sense, and after its own way of
understanding Him, or rather of misunderstanding Him. This faith believes
about Him; believes that He was undoubtedly sent of God; that He was a
greatProphet; that what He says is, to a high degree, reasonable andright
and so forth. This faith believes what He has just now said, but it is not
prepared to believe on Him so as to accepteverything that He may sayat
another time. This faith believes everything that commands itself to its own
judgement–it does not, in fact, believe in Jesus, but believes in itself–andin
Him only so far as He agrees with its own opinions. This faith is not prepared
to obey Christ and acceptHim as its Masterand Lord. This was the kind of
faith these Jews possessed–itwas a faith which was so crowdedup with a mass
of favorite prejudices that before long it was smothered by them! They might
acceptJesus as the Messiah, but then He must be the kind of Messiahthey
had always pictured in their own minds–a leaderwho would defeatthe
Romans, who would deliver Palestine from the foreignyoke, rebuild the
Temple and glorify the Jewishrace. Theyhalf hoped that He might turn out
to be a greatleaderfor their own purposes, but they did not believe in Him as
He revealed Himself as the Light of the world, as the Son of God and as One
with the Father.
A greatdeal of disbelief and misbelief is current at the present day. We are
encouragedby certain persons to include in our churches all that have any
sort of belief and, indeed, the line is to be more inclusive, still, for those who
have no belief at all are to find an open door! The Church of Christ is to be a
menagerie of creatures ofevery kind. I fear if they come into this Noah’s ark,
wild beasts, they will also go out wild beasts. Only those who enter by the door
of regenerationand spiritual faith will, in very deed, be within the Kingdom of
the Lord! If they have receivedChrist, we may receive them into His Church,
but not else. It is true, the people of temporary faith will creepinto the visible
Church, but they do so on their own responsibility.
Nor need we think that some strange thing has happened to us as a Church
when the basersort are found among us, for one such enteredinto that college
of Apostles–a man who, doubtless, believed the words of Jesus, and thought
Him to be the Messiah. I mean Judas, who, with a traitor’s hand, sold his
Master. His intellect had been convinced, but his heart had never been
renewed. He even dared to use his professionof religion and the position
which it brought him, as a means of unhallowed gain. Another notable
believer of this sort was Simon Magus, who believed because he saw the signs

and wonders workedby the Apostles. But as he, also, sought to make gain of
godliness, he remained in the gallof bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity–
and never became “a disciple, indeed.” There is a greaterone than all these,
even the devils. We read that “the devils believe and tremble.” They hold the
faith and feelsomething of the powerof it, for they tremble which is more
than modern critics do! Devils know that Jesus is the Christ of God, for they
have, upon occasion, confessedit, and have borne witness to the Gospelin the
open streets, crying after the preachers of the Word. And yet, with all their
knowledge, andwith much of a sortof faith, and with an apprehensionwhich
leads to trembling, they still remain devils and make no advance towards God.
Ah, my Hearers!Beware ofthat faith which is a mere intellectual movement,
which does not control the heart and the life. To come to faith through a cold
argument and to feel no spiritual life is but a poor business. You need a faith
that leads you to an entire reliance upon the Personof Jesus, to the giving up
of everything to Him, to the receptionof Him as your Savior and King, your
All in All. You have not believed unto eternallife unless you have so believed
on Him that you make Him the foundation and cornerstone of your hope! You
must believe in Him as taking awaysin! God has set Him forth to be the
Propitiation for sin and you must believe on Him in that capacity!
This will suffice upon our first head–andthis very naturally leads us to the
secondremark.
II. OUR LORD TAKES NOTICE EVEN OF THE LOWEST SORT OF
FAITH. When He saw that these people believed Him in a measure and were
willing to acceptHis testimony so far as they comprehended it, He looked
upon them hopefully and spoke to them. Out of a weak and imperfect faith,
something better may arise. Saving faith, in its secretbeginnings, may be
containedin this common and doubtful faith. It is written, “When the Son of
Man comes, shallHe find faith on the earth?” Certainly He can find it if
anyone can! He has a very quick eye for faith. He deals with little faith as we
used to do with a spark in the tinder, in the days of our boyhood. When we
had struck a spark and it fell into the tinder–though it was a very tiny one–we
watchedit eagerly, we blew upon it softly and we were zealous to increase it,
so that we might kindle our match thereby. When our Lord Jesus sees a tiny
spark of faith in a man’s heart, though it is quite insufficient, of itself, for
salvation, yet He regards it with hope and watches over it, if, haply, this little
faith may grow to something more. It is the wayof our compassionate Lord
not to quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed. If any of you have
only a little faith, now, and that marred by ignorance and prejudice, it may be
like a connecting thread betweenyou and Jesus–andthe thread may thicken

to a cable. Your partial and feeble faith as yet only takes hold upon a part of
the Revelationof God, but I am glad that it takes hold on anything which is
from above! I would not roughly break that single holdfast which now links
you to the Truth of God–and yet I would not have you trust to it as though it
would stand the stress of tempest. Oh, that your faith may be increasedtill
you trustfully commit yourself to Jesus and believe in Him unto eternal life!
Our Lord addressedHimself especiallyto these questionable Believers. He
turned from His assureddisciples to look after those who were more in
danger. Their characterwas a curious combination–full of peril–“Jews who
believed Him.” You that are familiar with the New TestamentScriptures will
think the phrase more suggestive than it, at first sight, appears. It reminds me
of those of you who believe the Gospeland still remain worldly, impenitent,
prayerless. You fear the Lord and serve other gods!You are not infidels in
name, but you are atheists in life! To you there is urgent need that I speak.
The Masterturned round and spoke to those who were Believers and yet not
Believers–holding with Jesus–andyet really opposedto Him. Oh, you that halt
betweentwo opinions, my Lord looks on you with a pitying hopefulness and
He speaks especiallyto you at this time! May you have Divine Grace to hear
and obey His Word!
It is clearthat He encouragesthem, but He does not flatter them. He says,
“if.” A great, “if,” hovered over them like a threatening cloud. Wisely does
our Lord commence His word to them with, “if.” “If you continue in My
Word, then are you My disciples, indeed.” Continuance is the sure test of the
genuine Believer. Our Lord does not say, “Go your way, you are not My
disciples.” He, in effect, says, “Istand in doubt of you. The proof of your
discipleship will be your persevering in your faith.” If we say that we believe
in Jesus, we must prove it by abiding in believing and by still further
believing! The Word of Jesus must be the object of our faith–into that Word
we must enter–andin that Word we must continue. Beginning to believe is
nothing unless we continue to believe!
Our Lord showedHis interest in the weakersortof Believers by helping them
on in the safe way, urging them to continue in His Word. “You believe,” He
seems to say, “continue to believe!Believe more. Believe all that I say. You
have entered into My Word–dive deeper into it and abide in it. Let My Word
surround you–dwell in it–continue in it.” Good advice this! And it is the
advice I would give in my Master’s name to any here who are feeling after
Christ and His Gospel. As far as you have already come in faith, keepfast
hold and seek formore! You are on the right track in believing Jesus–atrack
which will lead to the King’s Highway if fairly followed. Any kind of faith is

better than that deadly doubt which is cried up so much nowadays!By faith
comes salvation, but by doubt comes the opposite!Your feeble and imperfect
believing has in it much of hopefulness, but it must be continued, or we shall
be disappointed. Your home and refuge must be the Word of the Lord Jesus
and in that refuge you must abide!
Believe what Jesus says in His New Testament of Love. Whatever you find
that He reveals by Himself or by His Apostles, receive it without question!
Hold fast His Word and let it hold you fast. First, believe Him, believe Him to
be true, believe Him to be sent of God for your salvation–andthen put
yourself into His hands. When you have committed yourself to Him, continue
to do so. Do not run away from your faith because ofridicule. Mind that you
so believe in Jesus as to practice what He commands–you cannotcontinue in
His Word unless you learn to obey it. The text of faith is obedience. What He
bids you, do it. Let your life be affectedby the Truth He teaches. Letyour
whole mind, thought, desire, speech, bearing and conversationbe coloredand
savoredby your full faith in Jesus!Enter into His Word as a man into a
stream and live there as a fish in the water!
“Continue in My word.” Getinto Christ’s Word as a sinking sailorwould get
into a lifeboat and, once there, keepinside the boat–do not throw yourself out
into the stormy waves through despair–but continue in the place of hope. This
is Christ’s gracious counselto those in whom there seems to be some hopeful
sign.
My Hearers, we never preach the saving powerof temporary, unpractical,
unsanctifying faith! If a man says, “I believe in Christ and, therefore, I shall
be saved, his faith will have to be testedby his life. If, sometime after, he has
no faith in Christ, that faith which he claimed to have is proven to be goodfor
nothing! The faith of God’s electis an abiding faith! It is precious faith and,
like precious metal, it survives the fire! "Now abides faith, hope, charity, these
three.” Thus true faith is classedamong the abiding things–it is undying,
unquenchable. If you truly believe in Jesus, it is for life! Saving faith is a life-
long act. It is the relinquishment of all trust in self, once and for all, and the
trusting in Jesus forever. He is and always shall be our only confidence. That
is the faith which saves.
But the temporary faith which comes and goes, is worth nothing. The shout of,
“I believe it,” too often ends when the excitement is over. To sing, “I do
believe, I will believe,” is well enough–but unless that believing appertains to
daily life and changes the inner nature–and abides even till death–it has not
savedthe man. The measure of faith of which we have been speaking may
turn out to be the beginning of saving faith, but it may, on the other hand,

turn out to be a mere deception soonto be dispelled–a morning cloud which
disappears–anearlydew exhaled by the sun.
I think I have said enough upon my secondpoint. Let it encourage you, that
our Lord takes notice, evenof the lowestkind of faith. But let it also warn you,
when you see that He receives it with an, “if,” and goes oncarefully to exhort
and warn, lestthe hopeful thing should die and its promise should be
unfulfilled.
III. But, next, OUR LORD SETS BEFORETHESE PEOPLE
INDUCEMENTSTO CONTINUE IN HIS WORD. “Jesustherefore saidto
those Jews which had believed Him, If you abide in My Word, then are you
truly My disciples, indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free.” Observe three inducements, eachone of them great–and
when placed togetherexceedinglyattractive.
The first was certifieddiscipleship–“Thenare you My disciples, indeed.” That
is to say, if they perseveredin obeying His Word, they would be disciples, not
in name only, but in truth. It is a small thing to be calledChristians, but it is a
greatmatter to truly be Christians. Further, they would not be merely
superficial learners, but deeply taught and inwardly instructed disciples of
Jesus. Theywould really and truly know what Jesus taught and would receive
it into their inmost souls–theywould be not untrained beginners in the school
of Christ, but pupils of the sixth form, “disciples, indeed.”
DearFriends, it is a greatthing to be no longer a probationer, but a disciple,
indeed! There is more in the expressionthan I can readily set forth in words.
A certain personsays he is a disciple of Christ, but you would never know it if
he did not tell you! You might live with him for years without hearing an
expressionor remarking an action which is distinctly Christian–this is NOT to
be a disciple, indeed! Another man loves his Lord and treasures His Words.
He puts his discipleship of Christ before everything–and you cannot live with
him a single day without perceiving a savor of Christ in his words and action.
You sayof him, “That man is, indeed, a Christian!” In such a case, religionis
not exhibited by way of pride, as with the Pharisees ofold, but it is seen
because it is there and must shine forth. Faith throbs in the man’s pulse! It
looks out from his eyes. It tunes his voice and lights up his countenance!It
rules his house and controls his business. The man lives for Jesus and if it
were necessary, he would die for Him. How we prize a thoroughbred Believer!
Your mongrel is a poor animal. Blessedis he who makes his Master’s service
his pleasure!His Lord’s Law is his delight! His Savior’s Glory the absorbing
occupationof his time. He is a disciple, indeed!

To be a disciple, indeed, creates within the mind a blissful assurance. Some
are always asking themselves, “AmI truly a disciple?” It is not amazing that
they ask the question, for it is a greatquestion. But he that continues in
Christ’s Word in loving obedience soonceasesto ask that question–he has the
witness in himself, or, better still, as some read it, he has the witness in Christ.
He knows that he is Christ’s disciple, for he continually follows his Master. He
not only believes, but he knows that he believes!He has continued in the Word
so long that he has no doubt about his being in it. How can he doubt, when he
is, from hour to hour, feeding on the Word in which he lives like a mite
feasting upon the cheesein which he dwells? He is a disciple, indeed, for his
deeds are those of a disciple. Oh, you that believe my Masterat times and up
to a certain point, you must go on to believe Him more constantly, more
thoroughly, more absolutely! Mayyou cheerfully stake your souls upon your
Lord’s veracity! O my Friend, if you would find Jesus to be your Savior,
surrender yourself to His wisdom, yield your whole being to His power!So
shall you become a disciple, indeed, and be able to claim all the love, care,
comfort and honor which such a Lord puts on His faithful disciples! May you
bring forth much fruit–so shall you be His disciples–andto you shall be the
double portion which belongs to those who follow the Lamb wherever He
goes.
The next blessing which our Lord setbefore Believers was that of sacred
knowledge. Observe,“Youshall know the truth”–not a truth, but the truth–
the saving, purifying, glorifying Truth of God! Keep on believing and Jesus
will teachyou that great Truth which is above all other truth–essential,
quickening, cleansing, Divine!You shall know the Truth of God! You may be
chargedwith dogmatism, but you will not flinch from the assurance that you
know the Truth! You no longerguess at Truth, nor hit on a sliding scale of
probabilities, but you know it assuredly!You will grow familiar with it! The
Truth of God will be to you a well-knownfriend! You will discriminate so as
to know the Truth when you see it and detectit, at once, from the deceptive
falsehood. You will know the Truth and you will not be led awayby the
flattering voice of error. You will have the touchstone with you and will not be
deceivedby base metals. You will so know the Truth of God as to be
influenced by it, actuatedby it, filled by it, strengthened by it, comforted by it
and, by its power, you will, yourself, be made true! Surely this is a good
reasonfor abiding in Christ’s Words!
The third benefit was spiritual liberty–“The truth shall make you free.” Our
Savior further on explains that He means free from sin. He that lives in sin is
the slave of sin. Sincere belief in the Word of Christ leads to emancipation

from the tyrannical power of the evil which dwells in our members and from
the dominating powerof the sin which rules in the customs of the world. “The
truth shall make you free.” You shall be free from your own prejudices,
prides and lusts. You shall be free from the fearof man. If you have sunk so
low as almost to ask of the greatones permission to breathe, you shall break
that irksome fetter! The Truth of God knownwithin your spirit shall make a
free man of you! Up to now you have been the bondsman of self. You have
enquired, “What will this thing profit me?” And thus the desire of
selfaggrandizementhas ruled everything! But when Jesus is your Lord, you
shall be free from this sordid motive! “The truth shall make you free.” This is
a noble saying! Oh, the liberty that comes into the soul through believing on
Jesus, who is the Truth! It makes life to be life, indeed, when this freedom is
enjoyed! In laying hold on the Truth of God as it is in Jesus, the soullays hold
on the charter of her liberties and she enters on her citizenship in Heaven!
DearBrothers and Sisters, I hope many here enjoy these three privileges.
Disciples, indeed, you believe anything that is taught to you in God’s Word, be
it what it may. The Truth of God has so entered into you that you now know it
and are sure. And this believed-Truth has made you so free that you defy the
fetters which men would castaround you! Your Lord has causedyou to
believe in Him and you have now found the element wherein your soul may
abide in life, light and liberty. Thus our Lord dealt with those in whom He
saw some hopeful signs–He setchoice blessingsbefore them to induce them to
proceedfurther.
IV. But now, fourthly, OUR LORD THUS TESTED THEM BY THE MOST
EFFECTUALMEANS. The test was very sharp in its actionand sudden in its
results. He said to them, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.” And what follows? “TheyansweredHim”–answeredHim rather
than believed Him! How did they answer? Did they say, “Yes, Lord, we
believe. Teachus Your Truth and make us free”? No, no. They cried, “We are
Abraham’s seedand were never in bondage to any man–why do You say, You
shall be made free”? These supposedBelieversstumbled at the Lord’s Word–
stumbled at a privilege. Jesus said, “The truth shall make you free,” and that
offended them! To make freedom a stumbling block is folly! On another
occasionour Lord spoke to His disciples concerning eating His flesh and
drinking His blood. And then we read, “Fromthat time many of His disciples
went back, and walkedno more with Him.” The privilege of feeding upon His
Sacrifice, whichbinds many of us to Him with bands of love, drove others
awayfrom Him with cords of hate! Sad factthis!

But it is so in many ways. I believe that God chose His people from before the
foundation of the world, I rejoice in the glorious Doctrine of Election! But a
greatmany refuse to believe because ofthis heavenly privilege. The privileges
of the Gospelare the stumbling blocks of legalists!It is too large a Gospelfor
narrow souls, for, it is too glorious a Gospelfor groveling intellects. Men
refuse the gift of God because it is so excellent. If we would cut it down till
there was nothing left but a more cheese-paring ofGrace, I suppose they
would acceptit. But the very Glory of the Gospelwhich should fascinate and
attract them, repels and disheartens them!
The reasonwhy these Jews became so angry with our Lord was that He
touched their pride. “Make us free, indeed!” they cried. “We always were
free! We were never slaves. We enjoy the largestrights through our father
Abraham. We have never come under the dominion of any false prophet or
idol god. Make us free, indeed! How can You saythis?” Thus the wild thinker
claims that he is free and needs no liberty from Christ. The sinner who is in
bondage to his passions says that he leads a free and easylife and scorns the
idea of being set at liberty, as if he were a slave!The more a slave a man is to
his ownconceitor his own lusts, the more he talks about his freedom! We
would not know that he was free if he did not callhimself so. Unbelief calls
itself, “Honestdoubt,” and not without cause, for we would not have known it
to be honestif it had not labeleditself so. When a man puts up in his shop
window, “No cheating practicedhere,” I should trade next door. “He protests
too much.” Your free love, free thought, free life and so forth, are the empty
mockeryof freedom! Oh, that men knew their state–andthen freedom would
be prized! For lack of self-knowledge, the blessings of the Gospelprove an
offense when they should have hearty welcome.
The prejudices of the Jews which believed Him were wounded. Oh, how often
do we find men who will hear the Gospeljust so far, and no farther! They
have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. They have not entered into His
Word so as to be prepared to believe all that He teaches and, consequently,
when some doctrine is heard which grates upon their feelings, or jars on their
judgments, or conflicts with their original conceptions, straightwaythey grow
angry with their Savior! After all, it would seem, from the criticisms which
you offer, that you know better than the Son of God! Your judgment would
seemto be clearerthan His, for you sit in judgment upon His Word! What is
Christ to you? Why, He comes before you like the prisoner who stoodbefore
Pilate. You question Him, as the Roman Governor did when he asked, “What
is truth?” You believe what you choose to believe and disbelieve what you
choose to disbelieve! In such a case, who is the greater, the disciple or his

Master? Surely you presume too much when you act as judge of Him who is to
be the Judge of all the earth!
You are no disciple of His! You cannever know the Truth and the Truth can
never make you free, indeed! No blessing can come to you since you put
yourself out of its way. You may talk about believing, but you have not
believed, and you cannot be savedby Jesus until you yield your judgment to
His Infallibility, your heart to His Rule, your every faculty to His Grace.
Welcome Him as undisputed Lord of your bosomand crown Him Lord of All
within your soul–suchloyalfaith He claims and this He must have–oryou will
fall short of His salvation.
These people soonshowedtheir true character, forvery soonafterwards they
said, “Now we know that you have a devil”–and they took up stones to castat
Him! Oh, that we may be delivered from having a faith which will end in open
rejectionof the Lord!
1. I close with a fifth point–OUR LORD DESERVES OF US THE
HIGHEST FORM OF FAITH–yes, the highest degree of faith which is
possible!Would you mind looking in your Bibles into the next chapter,
which fitly follows the present one? It contains the story of the man
blind from his birth, to whom the Saviorgave sight. Let me read a
description of the kind of faith which I desire for you all. “Jesus heard
that they had casthim out; and when He had found him, He saidto him,
Do you believe on the Son of God? He answeredand said, Who is He,
Lord, that I might believe on Him? And Jesus saidto him, You have
both seenHim and it is He that talks with you. And he said, Lord, I
believe. And he worshipped Him.” That is the faith which saves–the
faith which learns of Jesus from Jesus–hears andbelieves, and takes
Jesus to be its God! The faith which bows at the feet of Jesus and
worships Him as Divine is the faith which saves!
Men will not do this till their eyes have been opened. While they say, “We
see,” their sin remains and their blindness, too. Only he who cansay, “One
thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see,” willworship Jesus with all
his heart. The gracious Lord has come and touched my sightless eyes and
given me heavenly sight and, therefore, I trust Him! I, that could see nothing
at all, have seenHim! I, that had no idea of what light was, for I was born
blind, I have seenthe light through Him and I both believe and adore! Oh, for
a worshipping faith–faith on its knees in the Presence ofthe Son of God! Faith
beholding Jesus with the eyes which He has opened!

“Alas,” says one, “I wish I had that faith.” Listen, then, that you may find it.
Faith comes by hearing. When I meet with convertedpersons, I like them to
tell me what text was blessedto them, for then my mind runs on that text. I
have sometimes askeda convert, “What part of the sermon was it that God
blessedto you? BecauseI would like to repeat that passagemore than once or
twice. I would like to "tell it o'er and o'eragain.” Perhaps the Lord would
bless it to another, and another. Think, then, what part of our Lord’s sermon
was it that brought faith to those many who believed on Him? I think it was
the 28 th verses.
In verse 28 the Lord spoke ofHis death and all that went with it, and all that
came out of it–“Whenyou have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know
that I am He.” How did they lift Him up? They lifted Him up on the Cross–it
alludes to His Crucifixion. But they did not know that in another sense they
lifted Him up–it was through His death that there was a possibility of His
Resurrection!And when He rose againand ascendedup on high, the Holy
Spirit was poured out upon the Church–and He entered into Heavento make
intercessionfor us–andall this was emphatically a lifting up!
The Cross and its surroundings remain, to this day, the greatarguments for
our holy faith. The things that should lead men to believe on Jesus Christ are
found at His Cross. He was the Son of God, but He died the death of the Cross
for love of men. Being dead and buried, His Father raisedHim from the dead
and thus gave evidence of His mission and of His acceptancewith God. There
is no question about His Resurrection–itis proved beyond all doubt that Jesus
rose againfrom the dead on the third day. His disciples saw Him for the space
of 40 days and ate and drank with Him–and then they beheld Him go up into
Heaven till a cloud receivedHim out of their sight. They waited at Jerusalem
and the Holy Spirit came upon them in cloven tongues, the Divine testimony
to His ascendedpower!By the preaching of His Word in the power of the
Holy Spirit, the nations were made to hear concerning Jesus, the Savior, and
bowed before His Cross.
Now, the more you think of this unique occurrence–this factwhich could not
have been a piece of imagination, this fact which was attestedby honest men,
who bled and died for it–the more you think of this, I say, the more you will
feel faith stealing overyour spirit! Christ on the Cross is thought to be hard to
believe in, but it is not so, for the more you know of a Crucified Christ, the
more easywill faith become!Christ raised to the Crownby His Cross is the
greatbreeder of faith! Christ rising from the dead is a marvel, yet it is the
keystone ofthe arch of faith. Believe it! Christ gone into Glory–the Son of God
bearing His Manhoodinto the highest place of supreme sovereigntyand

pleading there for guilty men–think much of this Truth of God and you will
find faith come to you, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of God.” Especiallyis faith begottenand nourished by that part of God’s
Word which treats of the Cross and the Crown–the double lifting up of Jesus!
Also, once more, and I have done–you will find faith much helped by looking
to the life of Jesus setforth in the Gospels. Readthe verse, “He that sent Me is
with Me: the Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that
please Him.” What a perfectlife is that of Jesus!Could it have been invented?
He who could have sketchedit from his imagination must, himself, have been
perfect. But, then, no perfectman could have been guilty of a forgery. Jesus
was obedient to the Fatherin all things and yet He put no force upon Himself
in so doing–it was natural to Him to be holy. It was His meat and His drink to
do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work. And the God of
Heaven, by His miracles, was with Him and bore witness to Him.
There is no superfluous miracle recordedin the Gospels–theyare all
necessaryevidence, suchas was called for in that court wherein the
Perfection, the Messiahship, the Deity of our Lord were tried. If you read His
whole life through till you come to His death, and even study that death in
which the Father hid His face from Him as to the enjoyment of His smile, you
can see that God was always with His Son Jesus, working outHis Divine
purposes by Him and bearing witness to Him. God is in accordwith Jesus,
that is clear. He is with Him even now! Nobody can doubt that there are such
things as conversions, forthey are common phenomena in every living
Church of God. And conversions are God’s testimony to the Word of Jesus
and the proofs that the Father and the Holy Spirit are working with the Son.
Think of this, and then yield to the Sonof God, since God bears witness of
Him to you! Come along with you, you that have had other notions. Come and
take Jesus to be your Light and Life! You that have had other confidences,
leave them all and believe on Him, for He is worthy of your utmost
confidence. You that have been hesitating, believe in Jesus once and for all!
You that have been procrastinating, come this very day and listen to that
voice which shall at once setyou free! Oh, that you would now trust Jesus, my
Lord and my God! May the goodSpirit help you, now, to believe on the
Crucified One and may this be another of those occasions concerning which it
shall be written in the Book ofRecord, “Manybelieved on Him”! God grant
it, for our Lord Jesus'sake!Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTUREREAD
BEFORE SERMON–John8:12-59.HYMNS FROM OUR “OWN HYMN-
BOOK”–427,565, 564.

BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
"my Disciples."
John 8:31
J.R. Thomson
Teaching and learning are the condition alike of the intellectualand of the
moral life of humanity. All men who live do both, and goodmen do both well.
Of the scholarof Oxenford, Chaucersays, "And gladly would he learn, and
gladly teach." Christianity, being a Divine religion, accepts andadapts itself
to this condition of our existence.
I. THE MASTER. Christwas acknowledgedto be a Hebrew Rabbi, even a
Prophet. But the enlightened knew him to be the Teacherand the Masterof
mankind. Witness his ministry, his sermons, his parables, his conversations
and discourses.As a Master, he was wise, winning, patient. His vocationof
teaching he continues to fulfil through human history. He is still and ever
teaching men who are prepared to learn from him. And those who know him
first as Teacher, come to know him afterwards in the other greatmediatorial
offices he sustains to man.
II. THE SCHOLARS. As the Pharisees hadtheir disciples, and as John had
his, so the Prophet of Nazareth gatheredaround him those who were docile
and sympathetic, and communicated to them his truth, and bestowedupon
them his spirit. Thus the twelve, the seventy, learned of him. WhereverJesus
went, he made disciples: women, as the woman of Samaria and Mary of
Bethany; scholars, as Nicodemus;persons counted sociallyinferior, as
Zacchaeus. After our Lord's ascension, "disciples"became a common
designationof Christian people, as much as "saints" or"brethren," It justly
remains such throughout this spiritual dispensation.
III. THE LESSONS. Christhimself has always beenhis own chief Lesson, far
greaterthan any words can embody and convey. This appears from his own
language, "Learnof me," and from the apostolic appeal, "Ye have not so
learned Christ." His characterand his Word are truth. In Christ his disciples
learn
(1) to believe aright regarding God, man, eternity; and, what is even greater,

(2) to do, viz. to acquire the practicallessons ofrighteousness,fortitude, and
patience, etc. Who has masteredChrist's teaching? Who has thoroughly
learned his lessons? Who has completely drunk into his spirit?
IV. THE STRAIT OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP.
1. Lowly, as regards ourselves, the learners.
2. Reverent, as regards him, the Teacher.
3. Diligent and persistent, as regards the lessons to be acquired.
4. Interestedand appreciative, sympathetic and receptive.
V. THE CULTURE OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP. Learning is a means
to an end. To what end is Christian discipleship the means? To what discipline
of blessing do Christ's pupils attain?
1. The culture of knowledge - Divine and precious knowledge.
2. The culture of character - Christ-likeness.
3. The culture which qualifies for usefulness. As schooland college fit a youth
for business or professionallife, so Christ's discipline qualifies for Christian
service.
4. The culture for immortality. This is Christ's school;above is Christ's home,
the scene ofperfect service and of lasting joy. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
Then said Jesus unto those Jews which believed on Him.
John 8:31-59

A glorious liberator
Sunday SchoolTimes.
I. FREEDOM PROFFERED.
1. Sin makes bondage (ver. 34; Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13;Romans 6:16, 17;
Galatians 4:25; 2 Peter2:19).
2. Truth brings freedom (ver. 32; Romans 6:14, 18; Romans 7:6; Galatians
5:18; James 1:25; 1 Peter2:16).
3. Christ gives freedom (ver. 36;Psalm 40:2; Psalm118:5; Romans 6:23;
Romans 8:2; 1 Corinthians 7:22; Galatians 5:1).
II. BONDAGE DEMONSTRATED.
1. By doing evil deeds (ver. 44;Genesis 3:13;Genesis 6:5; Matthew 13:38;
Mark 7:23; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:8).
2. By disbelieving the Lord (ver. 45; Isaiah53:1; Luke 22:67;John 4:48; 5:58;
6:36; 8:24).
3. By not hearing truth (ver. 47; Isaiah6:9; Matthew 13:15, Mark 4:9; John
3:12; John 5:47, 1 John 4:6).
III. DEATH VANQUISHED.
1. A dying race (ver. 53; Genesis 3:19;Psalm89:48; Ecclesiastes12:5;
Zechariah 1:5; Romans 5:12; Hebrews 9:27).
2. A life-giving obedience (ver. 51; Deuteronomy 11:27;Jeremiah7:23; Acts
5:29; Romans 6:16; Hebrews 5:9; 1 Peter1:22).
3. An ever-living Saviour (ver. 58; Psalm90:1; John 1:1; John 17:5;
Colossians 1:17;Hebrews 1:10; Revelation1:18).
(Sunday SchoolTimes.)
Bondage and freedom
I. PHYSICAL BONDAGE.
1. An ancient institution (Genesis 9:25, 26).
2. Calledbondmen (Genesis 43:18;Genesis 44:9).
3. Some born in bondage (Genesis 14:14;Psalm116:16).
4. Some captured in war (Deuteronomy 20:14;2 Kings 5:2).
5. Subject to sale (Genesis 17:27;Genesis 37:28-36).
6. Debtors soldinto bondage (2 Kings 4:1; Matthew 18:25).

7. Thieves soldinto bondage (Exodus 22:3).
8. Bondage ofIsraelites not perpetual (Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:10).
II. SPIRITUAL BONDAGE.
1. Is to the devil (1 Timothy 3:7; 2 Timothy 2:26).
2. Is to fear of death (Hebrews 2:14, 15).
3. Is to sin (John 8:34; Romans 6:16).
4. Is to corruption (2 Peter2:19; Romans 8:21).
5. Is to iniquity (Acts 8:23).
6. Is to the world (Galatians 4:8).
7. Is to spiritual death (Romans 7:24).
8. Is unknown by its subjects (John 8:83).
III. SPIRITUAL FREEDOM.
1. Promised(Isaiah 42:6, 7; Isaiah61:1).
2. Typified (Exodus 1:13, 14 with Deuteronomy4:20),
3. Through Christ (John 8:36; Romans 7:24, 25).
4. Profferedby the gospel(Luke 4:17-21).
5. Through the truth (John 8:32).
6. Testifiedby the Spirit (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5, 6).
7. Enjoyed by saints (Romans 6:18-22).
8. Saints should abide in it (Galatians 5:1).
(Sunday SchoolTimes.)
The Kingdom of the Truth
C. S. Robinson, D. D.
I. THOSE WHO ARE NOT ITS SUBJECTSTHOUGH THEY SAY THEY
ARE.
1. Accepting a mere dead orthodoxy does not constitute one a genuine subject
of the Kingdom of Truth (vers. 31-33). This declarationis levelled againstthe
traditional faiths and old maxims which those Jews were holding as their
birthright blessing.
2. Norbeing born of respectable and even believing lineage. Our Lord was
confronted with the dry statementthat they descendedfrom Abraham, and

that they were never slaves evenin morality. "Professing themselves wise,
they became fools." Christansweredwith directness that the plain reasonwhy
they did not believe in Him, was that they were not born of God. All there was
of goodin their boastedancestorwas due to his having by faith seenChrist's
day. And when this maddened them, He raised His word to an imperial
utterance, such as only the King of the Kingdom of Truth could make (ver.
58). There are two things in this:(1) He that is not in Christ's kingdom is in
Satan's.(2)He who is not a Christian cannotbe a true man in life, thought,
temper, etc.
3. Norfollowing mere blind formulas of performance. Educationhas value;
but the truest men in an age like ours must sometimes turn back upon their
training with a free judgment. Antiquity is no proof of soundness in the right.
The devil has all the force of the argument in that direction, and Jesus told
these Jews that Satanwas their first father.
4. Norinsisting on mere sincere convictions. One may have honest preferences
for an absolutely false standard. It is possible that the affections have grown
perverted. The later history of Turner canbe explained only on the
supposition of a disease in his eyes;this threw all his work out of drawing. He
was as honest and industrious as ever; his sense of colourwas as fine as in his
early days, but his eyes had become mechanicallyuntrustworthy. The men,
arguing here with our Lord, did not believe in Him, not because whatHe told
them was not true, but because they, in their innermost hearts, were not true;
there was a distorted image upon their souls.
II. THOSE WHO ARE ITS SUBJECTS.
1. A true man will accepttrue doctrines. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is
he." The two grand divisions of our race have always been ranged around
Christ and Anti-Christ (1 John 4:2-6).
2. A true man will cherish true principles. Josephsaid he must refuse sin
because he could not offend againstGod. Hazael had no more to offer in
objectionthan that he was afraid he might be thought only a dog. Expediency
is not enough, genuineness of principle is needed.
3. A true man will cultivate true tastes. He may not always getin love with
some forms and phases of religion. He may find that he has to gethimself into
a more amiable and trustful frame of mind before he is anything but the
artificial being that training for a bad lifetime has made him. If he does not
love gentleness,orhumility, or charity, or temperance, or godliness, whenhe
sees it, it is a task for him to set about to grow to love it as soonas he can. For
a critic who does not like a true painting is not himself true. If one prefers

Turkish jargon to a harmonious tune, he is not true. And when one turns
awayfrom a true child of God, it is because he is not true.
4. A true man will manifest true consistency. Christgave us the Word of God
as the standard of reference. The New Testamentis the book of manners in
the socialcircle ofthe Kingdom of Truth.
5. A true man will live a true life. There will be a fine, high unconsciousness
that anything else could be expected of him. He never will seek to pose;he
means to be. Pure and noble, he wishes only for a career"without fearand
without reproach." Cananyone tell why the old college song still thrills us
when we are quite on in life? There is a wonderful power in the famous
"IntegerVitae" of our early days. We would like to be reckonedas integers —
whole numbers — when the world adds up the columns of its remembered
worthies (Psalm 15:1-4).
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Jesus and Abraham
H. A. Edson, D. D.
I. THE RELIGION OF THESE JEWS.
1. It was a matter of blood and ancestry. There were, it is true, certain
ceremonies to be observed, but it was enough to be "Abraham's seed" to
secure the favour of Jehovah. Without that the most diligent piety could not
avail. Goodparentage no one will despise. If we have got our vigour from
virtuous ancestors,we may well be thankful. Even if prodigal of such an
inheritance, we shall still have an advantage in the battle of life. Aaron Burr
was a stoutersinner because his mother was JonathanEdward's daughter.
Robert Burns exhausted himself at thirty-eight, but what did he not owe to an
honest and frugal parentage? The first generation of sinners lasts longerthan
the second;much longerthan the third. But it will not do to trust blood as a
substitute for religion. "Who is your father?" may be the first question, but
"Who are you?" comes next. Many a boy disclosing his father's. name has
excited surprise in the police court, but the father's goodname does not keep
him out of prison. Absalom was David's son, and Judas Abraham's.
2. Christ told the Jews thatthis dead faith in our ancestorwas reallya
bondage to the devil (vers. 34-44). Theirancestors hadbeen slaves in Egypt
and Babylon, and now the Roman Eagle had them in its talons. Yet by some
legerdemainof logic they reasonedthat to be a Hebrew was to be a free man.
At once Jesus setthem on a deepersearch(ver. 44). What a hard masterthe

devil is! For Paradise Eve gets an apple. See this illustrated in the case of
Cain, Esau, Samson, Saul, Judas, Agrippa. The prodigal is sure to be set on
the lowesttasks,and left to crave even husks. Norhas the devil grownkinder
since.
3. Of course the bondsmen of Satan"cannotbear" the truth (vers. 43, 45, 47),
neither receive nor recognize it. Paul thought he was doing God service when
killing Christians, and perhaps these Jews were sincere, but with the
maladroitness of those who give themselves to the service of evil they reserve
their criticisms for that which was most fair, and direct their assaults when
the line was most secure. Our Lord's treatment of the woman was apparently
the cause oftheir hostility. The truth and goodness which angeredthem
angers sinners now.
II. CHRIST'S DISCIPLES.
1. They are those who abide in Christ's Word. The dead religion was a mere
name, an accidentof birth; the new religion laid hold of the soul and was light
and life (vers. 31, 32, 47). What the mind must have is truth. A man who
believes a lie warms a serpent in his bosom. Christ's heelhas crushed the head
of the serpent of falsehood, and for His disciples its charm is broken. Having
come to the light the real children of Abraham continue in it. Bartimaeus has
no wish to return to his blindness. The Christian's love of the truth is one that
lasts. And Christians obey the truth (ver. 31; cf. Peter1:22; Galatians 3:1, 5,
7). The truth not only touches their intellect, judgment, conscience, but
quickens, guides and establishes their will (ver. 39).
2. Yet they enjoy a real freedom — a further contrast(vers. 32, 36; cf.
Romans 6:14-22). Subjectionto Christ's word is not slavery. Freedomdoes
not destroylaw nor overturn authority. The best liberty finds its satisfaction
within the limits of a law which is loved. Note the Divine order; first a change
of heart, then morality and piety. To require these bloodthirsty children of
Abraham to do his works wouldbe to put an intolerable yoke upon them. The
Bible is a weary book to a bad man. Prayer to the worldly is a burden. For the
dissolute no shacklesso heavyas the rules of virtue. But change a man's mind,
and his world is changed. Obedience becomes a song. Besidesthis, there is the
liberty from the penalty of sin by Christ's Cross.
3. As a result of all comes an assurance ofendless life (ver. 51, etc.).
(H. A. Edson, D. D.)
The grace ofcontinuance

A. T. Pierson, D. D.
I. A PREPARATORYSTAGE OF DISCIPLESHIP. The mind, heart, will,
moved, but the soul not yet made new in Christ. The vestibule of salvation. All
depends on holding on. The seedis in the soil, but needs to getroot and grow.
Satanthen tries to check it.
II. THE RESULTS OF CONTINUANCE.
1. Confirmation of discipleship.
2. Revelationof truth.
3. Emancipationfrom sin.
III. OUR LORD GIVES HIS FOLLOWERS SOMETHING —
1. To do.
2. To prove.
3. To know.
4. To become.
(A. T. Pierson, D. D.)
Disciples indeed
T. G. Horton.
I. THE CHARACTER OF A DISCIPLE INDEED. Letus look at Christ's first
disciples.
1. They forsook allthey had. See the case ofPaul (Philippians 3:7, 8). Every
sin, idol, circumstance inconsistentwith Christ's claim must be renounced.
2. They were docile. Christ taught them as they were able to hear. They had
much ignorance and many prejudices, but they willingly satat Christ's feet.
This is requisite in all true disciples (Matthew 18:2, 3).
3. They had a spiritual knowledge ofChrist (John 17:6-8), although the world
knew Him not. So it is still (2 Corinthians 4:6).
4. They enjoyed the friendship of Christ (John 15:15). The secretofthe Lord
is with them that fear Him (1 John 1:3).
5. They were engagedin Christ's service (John 15:16). "None of us liveth to
himself."
II. THE PRIVILEGE PROMISED TO CHRIST'S DISCIPLES. "Ye shall
know the truth."

1. The truth referred to. Christ is the truth (John 14:6). We read (Ephesians
4:21) of the truth as in Jesus — the truth full of Christ's personalglory, love,
powerto save. There is truth in His holy character, in His sublime life, in His
vicarious death. He speaks here ofthe redemptive truth of which He Himself
was the sum and substance!
2. The knowledge spoken, of"Ye shall know," not as mere theory, but living
power, spiritually, experimentally. The inner eye is opened, the inner car is
unstopped, the heart is melted, the soul is subdued. Truth must be engrafted
in the soul (James 1:21).
3. The result predicated. The truth in Jesus emancipates the soul from the —
(1)Condemnation (Romans 8:1);
(2)the power and depravity of sin (Romans 6:23; Romans 8:30);
(3)harassing fearof the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:9, 101;
(4)the depressing anxieties of life;
(5)from the dark and gloomy forebodings of death (Hebrews 2:14, 15).
III. THE CROWNING EVIDENCETHAT ONE IS A DISCIPLE INDEED.
"If ye continue in My word." Many of Christ's professing disciples do not
continue in His word. See the parable of the sower. But all Christ's true
disciples do.
1. His word is engraftedin their souls. The gospelis a living shootthat
produces fruit of its own. That soul thus Divinely operated on continues in
Christ's word, and Christ's word continues in it.
2. They are joined to the Lord in an everlasting covenant. Every true disciple
has enteredinto a perpetual covenantto be Christ's, having found that he is
interestedin God's everlasting covenant, ratified and establishedforever by
the blood of the Surety! His motto is, "I am not My own!"
3. They are sealedby the Holy Spirit of promise. Without the indwelling, ever-
abiding Spirit, there is no spiritual life, power, worship or service;without
Him there is no safety. He comes as our life, and He seals us as God's forever
and ever.
4. They are kept by the power of God through faith unto final salvation(Peter
1:15; John 13:1, 2). His Almighty arms of unchanging love are placed
underneath, and round about (Deuteronomy 33:27; Isaiah27:3). God's true
people are kept not in mere safety, but in a life of holy love and devotedness;
not in sloth and indolence, but in holy activity and spiritual diligence.
(T. G. Horton.)

Continuous piety is piety indeed
J. Trapp.
It is the evening that crowns the day, and the lastact that commends the
whole scene. Temporaryflashings are but like conducts running with wine at
the coronation, that will not hold, or like a land flood, that seems to be a great
sea, but comes to nothing.
(J. Trapp.)
Constancya severe testof piety
J. Spencer.
Many who have gone into the field, and liked the work of a soldier for a battle
or two, soonhave had enough, and come running home again; whereas few
can bear it as a constanttrade: waris a thing that they could willingly woo for
their pleasure, but are loath to wed upon what terms soever. Thus many are
easilypersuaded to take up a professionofreligion, and as easilypersuaded to
lay it down. Oh! this constancyand persevering is a hard word; this taking up
the cross daily; this praying always; this watching night and day, and never
laying aside our clothes and armour, indulging ourselves to remit and unbend
in our holy waiting upon God, and walking with God, this sends many
sorrowfulfrom Christ; yet this is the saint's duty, to make religion his every
day's work, without any vacationfrom one end of the year to the other.
(J. Spencer.)
The best service is constant
After a greatsnowstorma little fellow began to shovel a path through a large
snow bank before his grandmother's door. He had nothing but a small shovel
to work with. "How do you expectto get through that drift?" askeda man
passing along. "By keeping at it," said the boy, cheerfully. "That's how." That
is the secretofmastering almostevery difficulty under the sun. If a hard task
is set before you, stick to it. Do not keepthinking how large or how hard it is,
but go at it, and little by little it will grow smaller, until it is done. If a hard
lessonis to be learned, do not spend a moment in fretting; do not lose breath
in saying, "I can't," or "I don't see how;" but go at it, and keepat it — steady.
That is the only way to conquer it. If you have entered your Master's service
and are trying to be good, you will sometimes find hills of difficulty in the way.

Things will often look discouraging, andyou will not seemto make any
progress atall; but keepat it. Neverforget"that's how."
Evidence of discipleship
H. C. Trumbull.
A soldier's confidence in his commander is evidencedby the soldier obeying
his commander's orders. A patient's trust in his physician is shownby the
patient following the physician's directions. A disciple's sincerity in his
professions ofdiscipleship is proved by the disciple walking according to the
Master's teaching. It is not that there is any merit in the obedience itself;but
it is that there is no sincerity in a professionof faith where there is no
obedience.
(H. C. Trumbull.)
Truth and liberty
H. Bonar, D. D.
Faith cometh by hearing (ver. 30). It is in connectionwith the word of truth
that the Holy Spirit works in us.
I. THE RECEPTION OF CHRIST'S WORD BEGINSDISCIPLESHIP.
There may be alarm, disquietude, inquiry, before this, but these are not
discipleship. They are but inquiries after a schooland a teacherwhich will
meet the wants, capacities, and longings. All men are saying, "Who will show
us any good?" Discipleshipbegins, not with doing some greatthing, but with
receiving Christ's word as the scholarreceives the master's teaching. What
does He teach?
1. The Father.
2. Himself. From the moment that we acceptthis we become disciples —
taught not of man, but of God.
II. CONTINUANCE IN THAT WORD IS THE TEST OF TRUE
DISCIPLESHIP. This is not continuance in generaladherence to His cause;
but continuance in the word by which we become disciples. As it is by holding
the beginning of our confidence that we are made partakers of Christ, so by
continuing in the word we make good the genuineness of our discipleship.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" — in that word is everything we
need.

1. It is an expansive word: ever widening its dimensions; growing upon us;
never old, evernew; in which we make continual discoveries;the same tree,
but ever putting forth new branches and leaves;the same river, but ever
swelling and widening — loosing none of its old water, yet ever receiving
accessions.
2. It is a quickening word: maintaining old life, yet producing new — "Thy
word Lord hath quickened me."
3. It is a strengthening word: nerving and invigorating us; lifting us when
bowed down; imparting health, courage, resolution, persistency.
4. It is a sanctifying word: it detects the evil and purges it away, pouring
holiness into the soul. Let us continue in this word; not wearyof it, not losing
relish for it.
III. KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH IS THE RESULT OF DISCIPLESHIP.
All that enter Christ's schoolare taught of God. Consequently they know the
truth; not a truth or part of it, but the truth — not error — Him who is the
Truth. They shall know it; not guess at it, speculate onit, get a glimpse of it;
but make choice of it, realize it, appreciate it. Blessedpromise in a day of
doubt and error!
IV. THIS TRUTH IS LIBERTY. All truth is, so far, liberty, and all error
bondage;some truth is greaterliberty, some error greaterbondage. Bondage,
with many, is simply associatedwith tyranny, bad government, evil or
ecclesiasticaldespotism. Christ's words go deeper, to the root of the evil. The
real chains, prison, bondage are within — so true liberty. It springs from what
a man knows of God and of his Christ. Seldom do men realize this. Error,
bondage!How can that be if the error be the man's own voluntary doing —
the result of his intellectualeffort? But the Masteris very explicit. The truth
shall make you free. There is no other freedom worthy of the name. "He is a
free man whom the truth makes free;and all are slaves besides."
(H. Bonar, D. D.)
Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
True freedom
O. F. Gifford.
1. Three mighty thoughts — knowledge, truth, freedom.
2. Men claim to be free born or to attain freedom at a great price; yet he who
sins is a slave of sin.(1) Politicalfreedom is but the bark, intellectual freedom

but the fibre, of the tree spiritual: freedom is the sap. Men contend for bark
and fibre, Christ gives the sap. Sometimes we have political freedom, but
formal, sapless, as deadas telegraph poles strung with the wires of politicians.
3. Circumstances cannotfetterfreedom or conferit. Josephwas as free in the
dungeon as on the throne. "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a
cage."The Israelites in the desertwere a nation of slaves despite their liberty.
It matters not where I place my watch, so I wind it, it is really free; if I
interfere with the works, whereverit may be, it is in bondage. So of man —
bind, chain, imprison; if the soul be in sympathy with God, sustained by truth,
you have a free man; if the reverse, you have a slave. John, though in prison,
was free; Herod, though on the throne, was a slave — Christ and Pilate.
Freedom, like the kingdom of heaven, is within. The text teaches a threefold
lesson— man may know;truth is: the knowledge ofthe truth brings freedom.
I. The word KNOW carries us back to the dawn of history.
1. Two possibilities are placed before man — life or knowledge. Full of life, he
choosesknowledgeatthe risk of life.
2. The race is true to its head — exploration, geographical, scientific,
philosophical.
3. Yet men were then setting up altars to the unknown God: men now to God
unknowable. The greatTeachersays:"Ye shall know."
4. The promise implies that man can trust himself and the results of his
researchand experiences.
II. THE SUBJECT OF KNOWLEDGE IS TRUTH. Truth stands in contrast
—
1. With a lie. Christ accusesHis hearers of being children of the devil. Today
as then men lie; wilfully misrepresentin business, political, and sociallife.
Truth is consistencybetweenwhat we
2. With veracity, think and say and what is. Veracity is consistencybetween
what we sayand think; but we may think wrongly.
3. Truth is reality as opposedto a lie and to appearance. Christ, as Son of God
and Son of Man, sets forth certain realities regarding both, and the relation
betweenthe two. That God is, what God is, and what man is: alienationand
possible reconciliation;regenerationby the Spirit; the results of separation
from and reconciliationwith God. These facts, relations, results, are truth,
and may be known,
III. THE RESULTS OF SUCH KNOWLEDGE IS FREEDOM.

1. Freedomfrom the past, "Son, remember;" but the knowledge ofGod's
reconciliationblots out the sin-stained past as a cloud.
2. Freedomfrom fears for the future basedupon the past.
IV. THE ONE CONDITION OF ALL THIS IS BELIEF IN CHRIST. Faith as
a grain of mustard seedgrows into knowledge,etc.
(O. F. Gifford.)
Freedomby the truth
F. W. Robertson, M. A.
Observe —
1. The greatness ofChrist's aim — to make all men free. He saw around Him
man in slavery to man, race to race;men trembling before priestcraft, and
those who were politically and ecclesiasticallyfree, in worse bondage to their
own passions. Conscious ofHis Deity and His Father's intentions, He, without
the excitementof an earthly liberator, calmly said: "Ye shall be free."
2. The wisdom of the means. The craving for liberty was not new, nor the
promise of satisfying it; but the promise had been vain. Men had tried —(1)
Force:and force in the cause of freedom is to be honoured, and those who
have used it have been esteemedas the world's benefactors — Judas
Maccabaeus,etc. Had Christ willed so to come, successwas certain. Menwere
ripe for revolt, and at a word, thrice three hundred thousand swords would
have started from their scabbards;but in that case one nation only would
have gained independence, and that merely from foreign oppression.(2)
Legislative enactments. By this England could and did emancipate her slaves;
but she could not fit them for freedom, nor make it lasting. The stroke of a
monarch's pen will do the one — the discipline of ages is needed for the other.
Give a constitution tomorrow to some feeble Easternnation, and in half a
century they will be subjectedagain. Therefore Christ did not come to free the
world in this way.(3) Civilization. Every stepof civilization is a victory over
some lowerinstinct; but it contains elements of fresh servitude. Man conquers
the powers of nature, and becomes in turn their slave. The workman is in
bondage to his machinery, which determines hours, wages, habits. The rich
man acquires luxuries, and then cannot do without them. Members of a highly
civilized community are slaves to dress, hours, etiquette. Therefore Christ did
not talk of the progress of the species;he freed the inner man that so the outer
might become free. Note —

I. THE TRUTH THAT LIBERATES. — The truth Christ taught was chiefly
about:
1. God. Blot out that thought and existence becomes unmeaning, resolve is left
without a stay, aspiration and duty without a support. Christ exhibited God as
—(1) Love; and so that fearful bondage to fate was broken.(2)A Spirit,
requiring spiritual worship; and thus the chain of superstition was rent
asunder.
2. Man. We are a mystery to ourselves. So where nations exhibit their wealth
and inventions, before the victories of mind you stand in reverence. Thenlook
at those who have attained that civilization, their low aims and mean lives,
and you are humbled. And so of individuals. How noble a given man's
thoughts at one moment, how base at another I Christ solved this riddle. He
regardedman as fallen, but magnificent in his ruin. Beneaththe vilest He saw
a soul capable of endless growth; hence He treated with respectall who
approachedHim, because they were men. Here was a germ for freedom. It is
not the shackle that constitutes the slave, but the loss of self-respect— to be
treated as degradedtill he feels degraded. Liberty is to suspectand yet
reverence self.
3. Immortality. If there be an idea that cramps and enslaves the soul it is that
this life is all. If there be one which expands and elevates it it is that of
immortality. This was the martyrs' strength. In the hope and knowledge of
that truth they were free from the fear of pain of death.
II. THE LIBERTY WHICH TRUTH GIVES.
1. Politicalfreedom. Christianity does not directly interfere with political
questions, but mediately it must influence them. Christ did not promise this
freedom, but He gave it more surely than conqueror, reformer, or patriot.
And this not by theories or constitutions, but by truths. God a Spirit, man His
redeemedchild; before that spiritual equality all distinctions vanish.
2. Mentalindependence. Slavery is that which cramps powers, and the worst
is that which cramps the noblestpowers. Worse therefore than he who
manacles the body is he who puts fetters on the mind, and demands that men
shall think and believe as others have done. In Judaea life was a setof forms
and religion — a congeries oftraditions. One living word from Christ, and the
mind of the world was free. Later a mountain mass of superstition had
gatheredround the Church. Men said that the soul was to be savedonly by
doing what the priesthood taught. Then the heroes ofthe Reformationsaid the
soul is savedby the grace of God; and once more the mind of the world was
setflee by truth. There is a tendency to think, not what is true, but what is

respectable, authorized. It comes partly from cowardice, partly from habit.
Now truth frees us from this by warning of individual responsibility which
cannot be delegatedto another, and thrown off on a church. Do not confound
mental independence with mental pride. It ought to co-existwith the deepest
humility. Forthat mind alone is free which, consciousofits liability to err,
and, turning thankfully to any light, refuses to surrender the Divinely given
right and responsibility of judging for itself and having an opinion of its own.
3. Superiority to temptation. It is not enough to say that Christ promises
freedom from sin. Childhood, paralysis, impotence of old age, may remove the
desire of transgressions.Therefore we must add that ode whom Christ
liberates is free by his own will. It is not that he would and cannot; but that he
can and will not. Christian liberty is right wellsustained by love, and made
firm by faith in Christ. This may be seenby considering moral bondage. Go to
the intemperate man in the morning, when his head aches and his whole
frame unstrung: he is ashamed, hates his sin, and would not do it. Go to him
at night when the power of habit is upon him, and he obeys the mastery of his
craving. Every more refined instance of slavery is just as real. Wherever a
man would and cannot, there is servitude.
4. Superiority to fear. Fearenslaves, courageliberates. The apprehensionof
pain, fearof death, dread of the world's laugh at poverty, or loss of
reputation, enslave alike. From all such Christ frees. He who lives in the
habitual contemplation of immortality, cannot be in bondage to time; he who
feels his soul's dignity cannot cringe.
(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Spiritual and scientific truth
Aubrey L. Moore, M. A.
There is a well-knownpicture by Retzsch, in which Satanis representedas
playing at chess with a man for his soul. The pieces on the board seemto
representthe virtues and the deadly sins. The man is evidently losing the
game, while in the backgroundstands an angelsad and helpless, and statue-
like. We need not stayto criticize the false theologyimplied in that picture,
because our immediate concernis with a meaning which has been read into
that picture by a greatscientific teacherof our day. We have been told by
ProfessorHuxley, that if we "substitute for the mocking fiend in that picture a
calm, strong angelwho is playing, as we say, for love, and would rather lose
than win," we shall have a true picture of the relation of man to nature. "The
chessboardis the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the

rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other
side is hidden from us, We know that his play is always fair, and just, and
patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or
makes the smallestallowance forignorance." Suchis the modern reading of
the picture. And here there is a greattruth, or at leastone side of a great
truth, expressed. It puts before us in a very real and concrete form the fact
that, in our mere physical life, we are engagedin a greatstruggle. We must
learn to adapt ourselves truly to the physical conditions of our life, or we must
perish in a fruitless oppositionto natural laws. But that physical life which we
live is not our whole life, nor are what we call the laws of external nature the
only laws which we need to know. We are surrounded by spiritual forces in
which our moral life is lived. In that more real life we have relations with
spiritual beings, some like ourselves and some above us, and One whom we
love to call our Father, which is in heaven. Are there no laws in that spiritual
world? No truths there, the knowledge ofwhich will make us free? If the
violation of physical law is death, is there no death in the moral and spiritual
sphere? Is the life of the soul less real, its death less terrible than that of the
body? And if not, what do we know of the greatspiritual realities which
environ life?
1. All truth gives freedom. To know nature is to gain freedom in regard to
her; to know her fully is to conform ourselves to her. And to know God is to
ceaseto be afraid of Him, to know Him fully is to love Him perfectly, and to
conform ourselves to His likeness.
2. Why, then, is there such fear and jealousyof dogma amongstmen who
gladly welcome every new truth about their physical life? If all truth is from
God, and every truth sets us free, why is it that men hesitate to allow these
characteristicsto that which, above all, claims to be from God, and to give us
perfect freedom? It is here that we touch the characteristic difference which
exists betweenthe laws of the spiritual and the laws of the material world. The
laws of nature are discoveries;the laws of the spiritual world are revelations.
The former are found out; the latter are given. The former are confessedly
imperfect, added to continually as years go by; the latter are complete, the
same yesterday, to day, and forever. The former lay claim to no finality; they
may be challenged, put upon their trial, calledupon to justify themselves. The
latter, if they are from God, claim our reverence, our obedience, our willing
submission.
(Aubrey L. Moore, M. A.)

Freedomonly to be found in God
R. S. Barrett.
Last summer the goodship Wieland brought over a large number of caged
birds. When we were about mid-ocean one restless bird escapedfrom his cage.
In ecstasyhe swept through the air, away and away from his prison. How he
bounded with outspread wings!Freedom! How sweethe thought it! Across the
pathless waste ha entirely disappeared. But after hours had passed, to our
amazement, he appearedagain, struggling towards the ship with heavy wing.
Panting and breathless, he settled upon the deck. Far, far over the boundless
deep, how eagerly, how painfully had he sought the ship again, now no longer
a prison, but his dear home. As I watchedhim nestle down on the deck, I
thought of the restless human heart that breaks awayfrom the restraints of
religion. With buoyant wing he bounds awayfrom Church the prison, and
God the prison. But if he is not loston the remorseless deep, he comes back
againwith panting, eagerheart, to Church the home, and God the home. The
Church is not a prison to any man. It gives the most perfectfreedom in all
that is goodand all that is safe. It gives him liberty to do what is right, and to
do what is wrong, there is no rightful place to any man in all the boundless
universe.
(R. S. Barrett.)
Freedomby the truth
W. Birch.
The truth shall setus free from —
I. PHYSICAL SUFFERING.The laws of nature are the laws of God, and to
know and obey them will liberate us from every sickness exceptthat of death.
There is —
1. The law of heredity, This is a Bible law; for it states that the sins of the
fathers shall be carried down to the third and fourth generation, Know that,
and care for the health of your bodies, and your posterity will be free from the
taint of hereditary disease.
2. The law of sanitation. Know that, and obey it, and you free your cities from
fevers and infectious diseases. Muchsuffering is entailed by ignorance,
apathy, or wilful negligence aboutthis truth.
3. The law of temperance; that obeyed will make you free from the suffering
of bodily anguish and the sense ofdegradation.

II. SOCIAL DISARRANGEMENT.This is one of our most rampant evils.
Contrastthe suburbs with their villas and the slums with their hovels. These
extremes should not exist in a Christian country. What is the cure? The truth
that humanity is one.
1. The strong should help the weak. The rich, who enjoy their libraries,
drawing rooms, gardens, should not be satisfiedthat the poor should have to
tramp long distances to see a tree or read a book. Parks, museums, baths,
libraries, should be within reach; and by recognising the truth on this matter,
the wealthyshould lend a helping hand.
2. The weak should help themselves. Too much help would pauperize. The
poor must be taught and encouragedto raise them. selves. Muchcan be
affectedby cooperation. If the money spent in beer were utilized for this
purpose, the millennium would be hastened.
III. CHRISTIAN ANTAGONISM. Whata pity it is to see the strife of sects
over nice doctrinal or ceremonialpoints. Christ wants His Church to be one,
and so do good men. But the truth only will unify; and there is enoughtruth
held in common by all churches, which, if recognized, would soonbring
Christian unity. All are agreedthat Christ's life should be lived by His
followers. Surelythis is a goodworking truth; and as all hold it, all should act
upon it, and be one.
IV. ALIENATION FROM GOD. What a slave was the prodigal, and all his
degradationarose from his distance from God. But when the vision of his
father arose before his mind, he arose and went back. What sinful men want
to know is, the truth about God as revealedby Christ; how He loves the
sinner, and would save him from his sins.
(W. Birch.)
Freedomby the truth
J Todd.
It is no strange thing for truth to setpeople free. What delivers men from
terror — e.g., overprodigies, etc. — but the truth about them? In the
darkness, whichinvests harmless objects with weird appearances,the
imaginative man is as timid as a child. But let the day dawn, and the truth of
things be revealed, and fear vanishes. The truth sets us free from —
I. THE DREADS OF LIFE.

1. Those whichbelong to our physical life — dreads of want, disease,poisoned
air, accidents. Christ frees us from these by revealing the providence of God
(Matthew 6:26-28).
2. Socialfears — fears of what men cando unto us. Christ says, "Fearnot
them which kill the body," etc. Their wrath is restrainedby our Father; and
at their worst they can only drive man closerto God, and bring him nearer
home.
3. Spiritual fears — about God. Christ frees from this by His truth — "Our
Father."
II. THE SINS OF LIFE. These make the real bondage. Our fears weakenus,
but our sins corrupt, and lead to death. They bind in two ways.
1. By spreading their shame through our soul (Ezra 9:6). Christ frees us by
His declaration(John 3:17), and His own treatment of a sinner in shame (vers.
3-11).
2. By weakening our will, so that when we would do goodwe cannot. Christ
brings not only pardon to banish shame, but powerto put awaysin (1
Timothy 1:13).
III. DWARFED CONDITIONS OF LIFE.
1. In church life — from the tyranny of forms and places (John4:21-23).
2. In individual life. The truth of Jesus liberates the highest faculties — faith,
hope, love, conscience.
(J Todd.)
Freedomby the truth
P. N. Zabriskie, D. D.
Christ, by His truth, delivers man —
I. From the bondage of IGNORANCE. Thattruth enlightens, invigorates,
instructs.
II. From the bondage of ERROR.
1. Intellectual — scepticismor superstition.
2. Practical;for with it He gives His example and His guiding spirit.
III. From the bondage of ream
1. The fear of death and judgment.
2. Of God's conscience-searching word.

3. Of the supernatural.
IV. From the bondage of sin.
1. As a fitter.
2. As a service.
V. From the bondage of the LAW.
1. The ritual, which is abolished.
2. The moral, which by grace becomes perfectfreedom.
(P. N. Zabriskie, D. D.)
Truth and liberty
H. G. Trumbull, D. D.
God's grace reveals itselfin endless diverse forms. The thousand changing
colours which play upon sea, land, and sky, in the high day of summer, are
but variations of the one clearand transparent light which comes down from
above; and the same waterof the sea is the same water of the sea, whetherit is
calledocean, gulf, or strait. A recognitionof this truth is essentialto the
understanding of what Christian liberty is. It is the liberty of the light which,
always opposedto darkness, yetreveals itself in constantly new tints and
shades of colour; it is the liberty of the water, ever cleansing and ever essential
to life, which yet takes its shape from the vesselinto which it is poured. It is
the liberty of the tree to be green, of the sea to be blue, of the sunset to be
crimson, of the sand to be yellow — eachobtaining its own tint from God's
clearlight, and no one quarrelling with the beauty of the other. So God's
grace reveals itselfin the lives of God's true children. In eachit is the same
grace, yetin eachit takes a specialform and colour — that of the individuality
in which it reveals itself. And the liberty for which Christ has made us free, is
the liberty for eachof us to grow into that specialmanifestationof grace for
which his nature is most fitted. It is freedom for us to grow in our own way,
without conforming at all points to the growthof another; and (what we are
more likely to forget)it is liberty for others to grow in their waywithout
conforming at all points to our way of growth. If we compare the Church to
"a garden shut up," we ought to remember that the wise cultivator does not
expectthe tender vine to grow in the same way as the sturdy oak, nor does he
expectthe apple or the pear tree to bring forth grapes or figs.
(H. G. Trumbull, D. D.)

Spiritual liberty
Canon Stowell.
Liberty is a matter which interests everyone. But it is sadly limited. By it men
mean political, intellectual, physical, and some, alas!sinful freedom. Christ
proclaims realliberty — that of the soul. Secure this, and all that is worth the
name of liberty will follow. Christ effects this emancipationby the truth. We
must acceptthe truth, not as theory in our minds, or sentiment in our hearts,
but by experience and practice;then we shall be free. The truth thus received
liberates from —
I. THE FETTERS OF IGNORANCE, SUPERSTITION,AND PREJUDICE
— three links in a mighty chain.
1. We have but to pass the line of Christendom to behold a world ignorant of
God and Divine truth. What follows? The most debasing superstition,
idolatry, witchcraft, etc. Hence the almost invincible prejudice there is at first
againstthe reception of the gospel.
2. But within Christendom and in its most cultivated circles, how many men
learned in this world's wisdom are utterly ignorant of the things of God? And
what can result here but superstition, the worship of the idols of the mind, and
putting light for darkness, bitter for sweet? The consequenceis sceptical
prejudice.
3. The same holds goodin regard to Popery. The Bible-prohibited people are
in gross darkness;believe what they are told to believe, however irrational;
bow to images, and worship the creature above the Creator;and therefore
bitterly oppose, and, where they can, persecute the gospel.
4. From all this Christ's truth sets us free.(1)By throwing light on the
darkness of ignorance, andbringing knowledge to mind and heart.(2)This
knowledge removes the grounds of superstition and prejudice.
II. THE THRALDOM OF SATAN. Howevermanifold the links bound round
the soulled captive by the devil, the last link is in his hand. Men are either
slaves of Satanor free men of Christ. Christ comes as a strong man armed to
break the links of the chain, which are mainly three.
1. Guilt, and the consequentcurse of God. Forthis Christ provides pardon,
and secures God's blessing.
2. Corruption, and consequentmoral impotence. Forthis Christ provides the
grace ofthe Holy Spirit.

3. The world and the fear of man, that bringeth a snare. But "this is the
victory that overcomeththe world, even our faith."
III. THE BONDAGE OF THE FEAR OF DEATH. Spite of his boasting, no
man is so hardy but he shrinks from death. Why? Because"afterdeath the
judgment." This is seenin the mad recklessness ofthe profligate, and the
unspiritual service of the moralist, the religious inventions of the devotee.
Momentary oblivion of the dread spectre is all that these can produce. But he
who receives the truth of Christ triumphs over death. Conclusion: This liberty
includes a service, but it is perfect freedom.
(Canon Stowell.)
Spiritual emancipation
J. M. King, D. D.
These words suggest —
I. THAT A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH MAY BE SECURED.
II. THAT THIS KNOWLEDGE IS MENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL.
III. THAT EXPERIMENTALKNOWLEDGE IS ALONE SAVING.
IV. WHAT IS THE ESSENTIALTRUTH, THE EXPERIMENTAL
KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH MAKES FREE.
1. We may know the truth as we know language, science, etc.;as a mass of
doctrines; Christ a historicalcharacterlike Pilate. All this knowledge may
have no effect on the heart or life.
2. The new man obtains his knowledge by a different process. He experiments,
verifies, proves. Truth becomes the prevailing principle of action, and
enthrones itself. To be sure a man must become possessedofChristian facts
and doctrines. These are the bones for the body of holiness.
3. An experimental knowledge ofthe truth frees man morally, and from the
bondage of merely human views, and introduces man into the broad province
of ideas world wide in their graspand extending back to the Creation.
4. The condition of the freedom promised by Christ is belief in His Divine
sonship, "as many as receivedHim," etc. The emancipating power of this
truth is made to us —
(1)Wisdom, by enlightening us and thus freeing the mind;
(2)Righteousness, by justifying us and thus freeing us from the law;

(3)Sanctification, by purifying us and thus freeing our hearts:
(4)Redemption by the union of them all, thus purchasing us into blessed
immortality.
(J. M. King, D. D.)
The hour of emancipation
Heroes of Britain.
August 1, 1834, was the day on which 700,000 ofour colonialslaves were
made free. Throughout the colonies the churches and chapels were thrown
open, and the slaves crowdedinto them on the evening of the 31stof July. As
the hour of midnight approachedthey fell upon their knees and awaitedthe
solemn moment, all hushed in silent prayer. When 12 o'clock sounded, they
sprang upon their feet, and through every island rang the glad sound of
thanksgiving to the Father of all, for the chains were brokenand the slaves
were free.
(Heroes of Britain.)
The freedom which Christ gives
John Howe.
It is a freedom from the servitude of sin, from the seduction of a misguided
judgment, and the allurement of any ensnaring forbidden object: consisting in
an unbounded amplitude and enlarged. ness of soul towards God, and
indetermination to any inferior good;resulting from an entire subjection to
the Divine will, a submissionto the order of God, and steady adherence to
Him.
(John Howe.)
Spiritual freedom
C. H. Spurgeon.
They make a great fuss when they give a man the freedom of the City of
London. There is a fine gold casketto put it in. You have got the liberty of the
New Jerusalem, and your faith, like a golden box, holds the deeds of your
freemanship. Take care ofthem and rejoice in them tonight.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)

We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man.
Moralbondage
D. Thomas, D. D.
Note that its subjects —
I. ARE UNCONSCIOUS OF IT (ver. 33). This was an interruption of Christ's
discourse on freedom. As much as to say"Why talk of freedom to us? We are
free men." But in the eye of Christ they were in the most miserable captivity.
It is common here in England to hear men —
1. Boastofreligious liberty who have no religion. Some of its most strenuous
advocates are destitute of reverence to God, and charity to men. These will
repeatthe boastwhile they are in bondage to their ownprejudices,
exclusiveness,love of fame or gain.
2. Boastofcivil freedom who are moral slaves. Menwho are under the
tyranny of their own lusts and greed, who are even governed, as Carlyle says,
"by a pot of heavy wet" and a clay pipe, peal out in thunderous chorus
"Britons never shall be slaves." The worstpart of this bondage is that men are
unconscious ofit. Hence they are mere creatures of circumstances.It is the
more sad because it precludes any aspiration for self-manumission; and it is
only self-effortthat can liberate. Other men may deliver the prisoner from his
dungeon, or the slave from his tyrant, or the serf from his despot;but no one
can deliver him from bondage but himself, "He who would be free, himself
must strike the blow."
II. ARE THE AUTHORS OF IT (ver. 34). It is not the sin of another man that
makes me a slave, but my own. Solomonsays, "His own iniquities shall take
the wicked." Paulsays, "To whomye yield yourselves to obey his servants ye
are," etc. Shakespearesays, Vice is imprisonment. Every sin a man commits
forges a new link in the chain that manacles his soul. The longer a man
pursues a certain course ofconduct the mere wedded he becomes to it, and the
less powerhe has to abandon it. Habit is a cord strengthenedwith every
action, at first it is as fine as silk, and can be easilybroken. As it proceeds it
becomes a cable. Habit is a momentum, increasing with motion. At first a
child's hand canobstruct the progress, by and by an army of giants cannot
arrestit. Habit is a river, at its spring you can divert its course with ease, as it
approaches the oceanit defies opposition.
III. CAN BE DELIVERED FROM IT (ver. 36). How does Christ make the
soul free? By generating in the heart supreme love to the supremely good. It is

a law of mind to have some permanent object of affection, and that object
limits its field of operation. The man who loves money most will have all his
faculties confined to that region. The same with him who loves fame, or
pleasure, etc. But all these objects are limited; hence the soul is hemmed in as
in a cage. In order to have freedom the heart should be centred on an infinite
object, and this Christ does. And with God as the centre of the heart all the
faculties have unbounded scope. Conclusion:All souls not made free by Christ
are in slavery. Even the heathen consideredthe virtues essentialto true
freedom. said "The wise man alone is free." represents the lusts as the hardest
tyrants. Seneca speaksofthe passions as the worst thraldom. said "Liberty is
the name of virtue." And this virtue is obtained only through Christ.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
The vain boastof the Jews
Abp. Trench.
The whole past history of their nation was the recordof one bondage
following hard on another, they for their sins having come at one time or
another under the yoke of almost every people round about them. They have
been, by turns, in bondage to the Canaanites, in bondage to the Philistines, in
bondage to the Syrians, in bondage to the Chaldaeans;then againto the
Greece-Syriankings;and now, even at the very moment when this indignant
disclaimer is uttered, the signs of a foreign rule, of the domination of the
stranger, everywhere met their eye. They bought and sold with Roman
money; they paid tribute to a Romanemperor; a Romangovernor satin their
judgement hall; a Roman garrisonoccupiedthe fortress of their city. And yet,
with all this plain before their eyes, brought home to their daily, hourly
experience, they angrily put back the promise of Christ, "The truth shall
make you free," as though it conveyedan insult: "How sayestthou, ye shall be
made free? We were never in bondage to any man."
(Abp. Trench.)
Whosoevercommitteth sin is the servant of sin
Sin is spiritual slavery
Prof. Shedd.
Sin is the suicidal action of the human will. It destroys the power to do right,
which is man's true freedom. The effectof vicious habit in diminishing a

man's ability to resisttemptation is proverbial. But what is habit but a
constantrepetition of wrong decisions. The will cannotbe forcedor ruined
from outside. But if we watchthe influence upon the will of its own yielding to
temptation, we shall discoverthat the voluntary faculty may be ruined from
within. Whatever springs from will we are responsible for. The drunkard's
powerlessnessissuesfrom his owninclination and therefore is no excuse. "If
weakness mayexcuse, what murderer, what traitor, parricide, incestuous,
sacrilegious, may not plead it? All wickedness is weakness."Sin is spiritual
slavery, if viewed in reference —
I. TO MAN'S SENSE OF OBLIGATION TO BE PERFECTLYHOLY.
1. The obligation to be holy as God is rests upon every rational being, and he
is a debtor to this obligationuntil he has fully met it. Hence even the holiest
are consciousofsin, because they are not completely up to this high calling.
This sense is as "exceeding broad" as the commandment, and will not let us
off with the performance of a part of our duty. It is also exceeding deep, for it
outlives all others. In the hour of death it grows more vivid and painful as all
else grows dimmer. A man forgets then whether he has been prosperous or
unsuccessfuland remembers only that he has been a sinner. It might seem
that this sense wouldbe sufficient to overcome sin, and bring man up to the
discharge of duty; but experience shows thatin proportion as a man hears the
voice of conscience, in this particular does be become aware ofthe bondage of
his will.
2. In our carelessunawakenedstate we sin on, just as we live on without being
distinctly aware of it. A healthy man does not go about holding his fingers on
his wrist, neither does a sinner as he goes abouthis business think of his
transgressions. Yetthe pulse beats, and the will transgressesnone the less.
Though the chains are actually about us they do not gall us. "We are alive
without the law." But as the Spirit of God awakens the conscience, thatsense
of the obligationto be perfectly holy starts up and man begins to form an
estimate of what has been done in reference to it. Now the commandment
comes, shows us what we ought to be and what we are, and we die (Romans
7:9-11). The muscle has been cut by the swordof truth, and the limb drops
helpless, and we learn in a most affecting manner that "whosoever
committeth sin is the slave of sin." But suppose after this discovery we
endeavour to comply with the obligation: this only renders us more painfully
sensible of the truth of the text.
II. TO THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL. All those serious impressions
and painful anxieties concerning salvation, which require to be followedup by
a mighty powerfrom God to prevent their being suppressedagainby the love

of sin and the world. For though man has fallen into a state of death in sins,
yet through the common influences of the Spirit of Grace, and the workings of
rational nature, he is at times the subjectof aspirations which indicate the
heights from which he fell The minds of the greatestofthe ancient pagans
were the subjects of these aspirations, and they confess their utter inability to
realize them. The journals of the missionary disclose the same in modern
heathenism. All these phenomena show the rigid bondage of sin. The
drunkard in his sober moments longs to be free and resolves neverto drink
again. But the sin is strong and the appetite that feeds it is in his blood.
Temptation comes before the enslavedwill. He aspires to resist but will not;
and never is he more consciousofbeing a slave to himself than when he thus
ineffectually aspires to be delivered from himself. This applies to all sin. There
is no independent and self-realizing powerin mere aspiration, and when,
under the influence of God's common grace, a man endeavours to extirpate
the inveterate depravity of his heart, he feels his bondage more thoroughly
than ever.
III. TO THE FEARS OF THE SOUL.
1. The sinful spirit fears the death of the body, and therefore we are all our
lifetime subject to bondage. We know that bodily dissolution canhave no
effecton the imperishable essence,yet we shrink back from it.
2. The spirit fears that "fearful something after death" — eternal judgment.
We tremble having to give an accountof our own actions, and to reap the
harvest, the seedof which we have sown.
3. The spirit has an awful dread of eternity. Though this invisible realm is the
proper home of the soul, never is the soul stirred to so greatdepths as when it
feels the power of an endless life. Men will labour convulsively day and night
for money, power, fame, pleasure;but what is the paroxysm of this activity
compared with those throes, when the startledsinner sees the eternal world
looming into view.
4. If, now, we view sin in relation to these three greatfears we see that it is
spiritual slavery. Our terror is no more able to deliver us than our aspirations.
The dread that goes downto hell can no more save us than the aspiration that
goes up to heaven.Conclusion:
1. This bondage is self-inflicted, and therefore the way of release is not to
throw the burden of it upon God.
2. The way out of it is to acceptthe method of deliverance afforded by Christ.
(Prof. Shedd.)

The progress ofthe lostsoul to destruction
Bp. Samuel Wilberforce.
I. Note OF WHOM OUR LORD SPEAKS. "He that committeth sin" — i.e.,
he who has become a doer of sin; the habitual, conscious,wilful sinner. He is
the bondslave, the absolute thrall, the hopeless subjectof an overmastering
tyranny. It will help us to obtain a completerview of what this implies if we
trace the steps by which the end is reached.
1. We must begin by having a clearidea of what temptation is. It is the
suggestionto our mind of the pleasure or goodto be gotby doing or allowing
something which is againstthe will of God, and so againstthe perfectness of
our own true nature. Such suggestions are innumerable and take their
peculiar colour from the temperament of our ownmental and bodily
constitution. Foras there is a specialexcellenceto which we may attain, so
there must be, in the perversion of that excellence,a specialcharacterofevil
to which we are most prone. In the mere entrance of this suggestionthere is
nothing sinful. Such were eastinto the mind of our Lord. Sin begins when the
mind rests with pleasure upon the evil suggestion, but if this is resistedthere is
no sin. But when the sweetmorselis rolled under the tongue, the acting of sin
has begun, and the next step is near the consentof the will to the suggestion.
2. How the bond is wound around the soul, the contemplationof the progress
of sin suggeststo us. One impure thought cherished, still more one impure act
allowed, is the certain cause ofafter suggestions ofimpurity: and so it is of
every other sin. The harbouring of angeropens the mind to new suggestionsof
wrath; the allowance ofone wandering thought in prayer, invites the
disturbing presence ofa crowd of others:the nursing one doubt multiplies
after its kind.
3. He who has allowedhis spirit to reston the conscious sweetnessofsin has
made that indulgence a necessityto him: and then, as this, like all other
sweetness,soonpalls upon the taste, he has made it needful in order to obtain
the same gratification, to yield himself more completely to it, and to seek it in
its larger measures and fiercerqualities. And so his taste becomes degraded
and his gratifications coarser;until the power of relishing purer pleasures is
rapidly becoming extinguished; they seemused up and insipid; and thus he is
led to the one step further of consenting to the evil which has miserably
become his good. Then indeed the chain is bound about him. For though every
indulgence lessens the pleasure of indulging, yet the growing powerof habit
more than supplies the place of the energyof enjoyment, nay, the pleasure of

Jesus was making many jewish disciples

Jesus was making many jewish disciples

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (16)

Similar to Jesus was making many jewish disciples

Similar to Jesus was making many jewish disciples (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was making many jewish disciples