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@READINGSPURGEON: JOHN 14:22 (NPSP1S29)

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@ReadingSpurgeon: John 14:22 – Christ Manifesting Himself to His People (NPSP1S29)

C. H. Spurgeon marvels at “What a blessed Master Jesus Christ was!” because of how familiar He allowed His disciples to make themselves with Him, as he begins his sermon on John 14:22 – “Judas said unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us and not unto the world?”

He brings out two things from this text.

I. An Important Fact

“Jesus Christ does reveal Himself to His people, but He does not unto the world.”

Who are the favoured people to whom Jesus Christ manifests Himself?  They are those who do not belong to the world.  “There are a certain number of people in this world who are not of it.”

Those who are favoured people do not always see Jesus Christ alike.  “There are special times when God is pleased to reveal Himself to His people.  And these seasons are generally of two kinds – times of duty and times of trial.” 

Though there are many manifestations of God to His children, the most wondrous display and most precious of all, is when Jesus Christ manifests Himself – when you have seen Jesus dying with the eye of faith, or in His gifts, or felt joy at His exaltation.

The effect of this spiritual manifestation will be humility and happiness and holiness.

II. An Interesting Inquiry

Why does Christ manifest Himself to some as He does not unto the world?

“The question was not answered, for it was unanswerable… He did not tell him why He would manifest Himself unto them and not unto the world.”

If He has manifested Himself to you, that is grace.

May “God give you grace to see Him on Calvary before you see Him on Sinai, to behold Him as the Saviour of sinners, before you see Him as the Judge of the quick and dead.”

@READINGSPURGEON: JOHN 14:26 (NPSP1S5)

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@ReadingSpurgeon: John 14:26 – The Comforter (NPSP1S5)

This is the second of two sermons C. H. Spurgeon preached on January 21, 1855 on the subject of the Holy Spirit.  He spoke on the role of the Holy Spirit has as the Comforter from John 14:26 – “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

See here the kindness of Jesus.  He will not leave His people without a Comforter.  “He would not leave those few poor sheep alone in the wilderness.  He would not desert His children and leave them fatherless.”  He will send His disciples another Comforter who would do what He would have done if He had remained with them, “who shall console you in your sorrows, remove your doubts, [and] comfort you in your afflictions.”

The word for Comforter has some other meanings.

Sometimes it means “Teacher.”  Jesus, the one authoritative teacher, sends another teacher and “He shall be the person who is to explain Scripture.”  It is true that “no man ever learns anything aright unless he is taught of the Spirit.”

Frequently it means “Advocate.”  Jesus send the Holy Spirit, to be an advocate.  He is an advocate on earth to plead against the enemies of the cross.  He is the advocate in men’s hearts “when He pleads in the soul – of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment to come.”  And “He advocates our cause with Christ, and then Christ advocates it with His Father. He is the advocate, who makes intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.”

But focusing on the meaning as “Comforter,” Spurgeon then draws three points from the text.

I. The Comforter

What is this Comforter like?  The Holy Spirit is a very loving Comforter, a faithful Comforter, an unwearied Comforter, a wise Comforter, a safe Comforter, an active Comforter, a successful Comforter, and an ever-present Comforter.

“He has loved you long, He has loved you well, He loved you ever, and He still shall love you. Surely He is the person to comfort you, because He loves.”

“He loved you when He foreknew your sin, He loved you with the knowledge of what the aggregate of your wickedness would be, and He does not love the less now.”

“Your God is always near you, and when you need comfort in your distress, behold, the word is nigh you, it is in your mouth, and in your heart.  He is an ever-present help in time of trouble.”

II. The Comfort

“The Holy Ghost does not reveal anything fresh now.  He brings old things to our remembrance… It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over again, He brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture.”

III. The Comforted

There are two groups of people.  Those who are comforted, and those who are comfortless.  Those who have received the consolation of the Holy Spirit, and those who have not.

Before the Spirit can be a Comforter to anyone, He must be a Convincer.  “Have you had conviction of sin? Have you ever felt your guilt before God? Have your souls been humbled at Jesus’ feet? And have you been made to look to Calvary alone for your refuge? If not, you have no right to consolation.”

And if you do not know the Holy Spirit as your Comforter, “you shall know the Condemner in the next world, who shall cry, ‘Depart you cursed into everlasting fire in hell.'”

Spurgeon closes the sermon with a powerful appeal:

“If tonight you fell down dead in your pews, or where you are standing in the gallery, where would you be? In heaven or in hell? …

Weary sinner, hellish sinner, you who are the devil’s castaway, reprobate, profligate, harlot, robber, thief, adulterer, fornicator, drunkard, swearer, Sabbath breaker — listen! …

‘Whosoever believes in the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved.’  Sin is no barrier, your guilt is no obstacle.  Whosoever — though he were as black as Satan, though he were filthy as a fiend — whosoever this night believes, shall have every sin forgiven, shall have every crime effaced, shall have every iniquity blotted out, shall be saved in the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall stand in heaven safe and secure.  That is the glorious Gospel. May God apply it home to your hearts and give you faith in Jesus!”

@READINGSPURGEON: JOHN 14:16-17 (NPSP1S4)

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@ReadingSpurgeon: John 14:16-17 – The Personality of the Holy Spirit (NPSP1S4)

This is the first of two sermons C. H. Spurgeon preached on January 21, 1855 on the subject of the Holy Spirit.  From the text John 14:16-17 – “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever: even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.” – he gave four points of instruction.

I. The personality of the Holy Spirit

“The Holy Spirit is truly and actually a person.”  What proof is there that He is?

First, when we baptise disciples, we do so in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  When we close a worship service with the benediction, on behalf is invoked the love of Jesus Christ, the grace of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  When “we make a manifest distinction between the persons,” we show “that we believe the Father to be a person, the Son to be a person, and the Holy Ghost to be a person.”

Second, the Holy Spirit has actually made different appearances on earth, manifesting Himself in a visible shape.

Third, personal qualities are ascribed to Him.  He said to have understanding, a will, power.  He performs acts and deeds such as, moving men to write down Scripture, or regenerating the soul and convincing us of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment to come.

Finally, there are certain feelings the Holy Spirit is described as having.  He is grieved, vexed, or resisted.

II. The united agency of the Three Persons in the work of our salvation

In John 14:16-17, each of the three persons of the Godhead “is spoken of as performing a separate office.”  All of them are doing something for our salvation. “I will pray,” says the Son.  “I will send,” says the Father.  “I will comfort,” says the Holy Spirit.”

We see the Son crying out to His Father, making mention of our sorrows, and telling Him about our griefs on our behalf.  We see the Father with attentive ears listening to every word of Jesus, and granting every petition.  And the Spirit? “He is floating over the earth, and when He sees a weary soul, He says, “Come to Jesus, He will give you rest.”  When He beholds an eye filled with tears, He wipes away the tears, and bids the mourner look for comfort on the cross. When He sees the tempest tossed believer, He takes the helm of his soul and speaks the word of consolation, He helps the broken in heart and binds up their wounds and ever on His mission of mercy, He flies around the world, being everywhere present.”

III. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers

The text tells us that “Jesus would send the Comforter, who would abide in the saints forever, who would dwell with them and be in them.”  The believer should experience the presence of the Spirit in their lives.  “If I have God the Holy Ghost resting in my heart, and making a temple of my body, do you think I shall not know it?”

IV. Why the world rejects the Holy Spirit

The world rejects the Holy Spirit because those in a carnal state “cannot receive the Spirit”; they despise Him because they see Him not; and “they laugh at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit because they do not know it.”

Saints, therefore, “Pray to the Holy Spirit and pray for the Holy Spirit.”

And to the ungodly, “Always be careful how you speak of the Holy Ghost… You may blaspheme the Father, and you shall be damned for it, unless you repent, you may blaspheme the Son, and hell shall be your portion, unless you are forgiven, but blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and thus says the Lord, “There is no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world which is to come.”

DAILY READ – JOHN [COMPLETE]

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A resource for The Big Read are these devotional notes covering the whole of John’s Gospel adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Download Daily Read – John as a pdf

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – JOHN 20-21

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 20-21

John 20

v1-10: Providing clear evidence for the resurrection of Jesus was a key concern of the apostles, and John records here the first proof for this: the tomb was found to be empty.  The reason why substantial proof that Christ had been raised from the dead was needed was because this is “the last and most powerful proof that he was the Messiah,” and his death was “accepted as a satisfactory offering” to redeem us. “If he gave his life as a ransom and did not take it back” or “if he was imprisoned for our debt and remained in prison,” we would remain in our sin and under God’s wrath.

v11-18: Christ makes Himself known to His people by His Word.  His sheep know His voice.  “The word of Christ does us good when we put our names into the commands and promises” so that through them, “Christ is calling me and is speaking to me.”

v19-25: On the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, the disciples had gathered together, when Christ came to them.  Even in this private meeting, the doors could not shut out Christ’s presence from them because when two or three gather together in His name, He will be with them.  Thomas, however, was missing. “Perhaps it was Thomas’s misfortune that he was absent: either he was not well or did not know they were meeting. Or perhaps it was his sin and foolishness: either he was distracted by business or company that he preferred to this opportunity.” Don’t be careless about attending the meetings of the church, because you don’t know what you might miss happening.

v26-31: John wanted those who read his Gospel to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, so that they might have spiritual life (fellowship with God) and eternal life (enjoyment of him in heaven).  Spiritual life and eternal life “are absolutely certain for all true believers.”  To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that God has anointed him “to be a ruler and a Saviour.”  To believe that Jesus is the Son of God is to believe that He is “a divine person, endowed with the power of Gd and entitled to the glory of God,” otherwise He would not be qualified to “fulfil the Redeemer’s work or to wear the Redeemer’s crown.”

John 21

v1-14: It is good when those who follow Jesus spend time together outside the Sunday gathering in ordinary conversation and ordinary business.  These are opportunities to build one another up by both words and example.  Thomas appear to be “more conscientious in being present at the meetings of the apostles.”  We can learn from this that “it is good if losses we suffer through neglect make us more careful later not to let opportunities slip by.”

v15-19: Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him.  Jesus loves His people so much that “he will not trust [them] to any except those who love him and who will therefore love all who are his for his sake.”  A key question to ask of your pastor is, “Do they love Christ?”  If they do not love their Master, they will never truly love people and care for them as they should; they will never love their work; and they will not “cheerfully go through all the difficulties and discouragements they have to face in their work.”

v20-25: There were many other things that Christ said and did that have not been written down “because there was no need for them to be written.”  What has been written “is both a sufficient revelation of the message of Christ and the proof of that message.”  Even if it was possible to write everything down, it would then be too much and all our time would be “spent in reading, and other duties would have been crowded out.”  We should be thankful for what has been written and be diligent in our “use of what God has thought fit to reveal,” since it can make us wise for salvation.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – JOHN 19

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 19

John 19

v1-15: The Jews cried out “Take him away!  Away with him!”  This is what we deserve to hear from God because of our sin for His eyes are too pure to look upon us.  We are deserving of God’s justice and for the sentence of the law to be executed on us. “If Christ had not intervened and been so rejected by people, we would have been rejected forever by God.”  It is also true that how the Jews treated Jesus and how we deserve to be treated by God is how we should treat our sin.  “True penitents throw their transgressions away from them: ‘Away with them, away with them, crucify them, crucify them. It is not right that they live in my soul.’”

v16-18: Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter, offering no resistance in fulfilment of Scripture. “We deserved to be led forth with the workers of iniquity as criminals to execution, but he was led out for us, so that we could escape.”

v19-30:  Jesus’ cry of “It is finished” is  a comprehensive word. Jesus has fulfilled “the purpose and command of his Father concerning his sufferings” and “all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, which pointed to the sufferings of the Messiah.”  He has abolished the ceremonial law, and “an end was put to its obligations.” It is finished means that “his sufferings were now finished, both those of his soul and those of his body,” and “he was ready to breathe his last,” because “the work of human redemption and salvation had now been completed” and “full satisfaction had been made to the justice of God, a fatal blow given to the power of Satan, [and] a foundation of peace and happiness laid that will never fail.”

v31-37: The opening of the side of Jesus was significant.  It was not just to make sure He was dead that a wound was delivered to the vital organs which is impossible for a human body to survive. “When Christ, the second Adam, had fallen into a deep sleep on the cross, then his side was opened, and out of it his church was taken, whom he took in marriage to himself.”

v38-42: “The One who was born from a virgin’s womb must rise from a virgin tomb.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – JOHN 18

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 18

John 18

v1-12: Jesus was bound and this was significant.  “Isaac was bound so that he could be sacrificed; Joseph was bound… so that he might be brought from prison to reign. Samson was bound so that he could kill more Philistines at his death than he had done in his life,” and Christ was bound when He was made sin, so that He could free us from being bound to God’s judgment because of our guilt and to the power of Satan because of our corruption.

v13-27: Bad company is dangerous.  Peter associated himself with evildoers and kept company with them so that “he would not be suspected of being a disciple of Christ.”  This was foolish because he put himself in a place of temptation and this led to him growing “cold toward good people and good things.”  We “commonly seek to approve ourselves to those whom we choose to associate with; we pride ourselves on their good word and seek to stand in their good opinion,” therefore, we should be careful about associating closely “with those whom we cannot please without displeasing God.” 

v28-40: The kingdom of Christ is not of this world.  Its origin is not from this world.  It is a kingdom within human beings, “set up in their hearts and consciences.”  It did not advance by worldly force.  Its subjects, though in the world, are not of the world, “they are called and chosen out of the world, are born from and bound for another world.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – JOHN 17

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 17

John 17

v1-5: Christ came into the world to give eternal life to His people.  Eternal life is the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.  It is to know God “as our Creator, and to love him, obey him, submit to him, and trust in him as our owner, ruler, and benefactor, to devote ourselves to him as our sovereign Lord, to depend on him as our chief good, and to direct everything to his praises as our highest aim.” It is to know Christ “as our Redeemer, since it is through him alone that we can now have access to God.”

v6-10: Jesus prayed for those who had been given to Him.  He is praying for those that were given given to Him to be redeemed.  He knows who they are by name.  If you are trusting in Christ for salvation, He knows your name and He is praying for you.

v11-16: Christ is praying to His Father for His people’s protection and preservation, “that they would be kept from sin, have the resources for their duty, and be brought safely to heaven.” He is praying that we would be kept from the corruption that is in the world. “The wonderful preservation of the Gospel ministry and the Gospel church in the world to this day is owing to this prayer.”

v17-19: After praying for His people to be protected from evil, He prays that they also would be made good, “to be made holy.”  In His intercession for us, Christ is praying for our sanctification.

v20-23: Christ both died and prayed to gather all His people together in one body.  He prays that they would “all be inspired by one Spirit” and “bound together in love”. This prayer, however, will not be completely fulfilled “until all believers come to heaven, for then, and not until then, will they be perfect in one.”

v24-26: A final petition of Jesus is that all His people would be with Him in heaven.  Heaven is “to be where Christ is.. in the paradise to which His soul and body went at his ascension.”  It is “to be with him where he is… The very heaven of heaven is to be with Christ, to enjoy his company there and delight in fellowship with him.”  It is “to be behold his glory… God shows his glory there through Christ, just as he shows his grace here through him.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

SERMON: JOHN 1:14-18

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Sermon I preached on John 1:14-18 at Banstead Community Church on 20th December 2020.

Download MP3

1. It was the Word who became flesh

2. It was flesh who the Word became

More sermons can be found HERE

(Photo: jannoon028)

DAILY READ – JOHN 16

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 16

John 16

v1-6: “The Devil’s work has often been done by people wearing God’s uniform.”  Hostility can come by those “with a veneer of duty to God and service to his church.” 

v7-15: The Spirit takes away and silences the objections of the world against the gospel, and then “effectively and savingly convict many people in the world, some in every age, in every place, in order to bring about their conversion to the faith of Christ.” The Spirit convicts people “of the fact of sin, that we have done such and such; of the fault of sin, that we have done wrong in that action; of the foolishness of sin, that we have acted against right reason and our true interests; of the filth of sin, that by it we have become repugnant to God; of the fountain of sin, the corrupt nature; and of the fruit of sin, that its end is death.”  The Spirit convicts people “that Jesus of Nazareth was Christ the Righteous One” and how by believing they can be accepted as righteous in God’s sight.

v16-22: When the disciples were unsure about what Christ’s words meant, they discussed them with each other.  “Mutual conversation about divine things provides light from others so that we can improve our own understanding” even if we cannot fully solve every difficulty we find in Scripture.

v23-27: When we pray we ask the Father in the name of Christ.  “We must look to God as a Father and come to him as children; we must look to Christ as Mediator, to be helped by him.”  We approach the Father with the belief and confidence that He is ready and able to help us.  We ask in Jesus’ name because we know we are unworthy of any favour from God, yet that it is now possible because of what Christ has done, so we come in complete dependence upon Him who has made us righteous in God’s sight.

v28-33: Whatever troubles we might encounter in this world, we can have peace because of Christ’s victory over the world. “Through him we have peace with God, and so in him we have peace in our own minds.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – JOHN 15

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 15

John 15

v1-8: Believers in Christ are to bear fruit. This fruit “is a Christian attitude, a Christian way of living, Christian devotions, and Christian purposes.” To be fruitful, we must remain in Him by keeping up our “dependence on Christ and fellowship with him, always remaining faithful to him and actively deriving [our] vital resources from him.”

v9-17: How do we know that Christ loves us? First, He has laid down His life for us. Second, He has made us His friends and is pleased to call us this. Third, He has told us the revealed will of God, the great truths about our redemption. Fourth, He has chosen us and will use us to serve His cause in the world and bring glory to His name.

v18-25: We should not be surprised that the world hates us. “The world curses those whom Christ blesses.” The hatred of the world will lead to a rejection of the message of good news about Jesus, and the persecution of those who are trusting in Him. “It is the common fate of those who want to lead a godly life in Christ Jesus that they suffer persecution.”

v26-27: The Holy Spirit testified to Christ by instructing the apostles and enabling them to perform miracles, and by inspiring them to write the Scriptures that constantly testify of Christ, and which continue to do so from one generation to the next.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – JOHN 14

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read John 14

John 14

v1-3: We are to trust in God and trust in Christ. What are we to trust God and Christ for? We are to “trust them for a future happiness when this body and this world would no longer be in existence,” and for a happiness which will last forever. This happiness is that there is particular place for us in heaven which Christ is now making ready for us. There are many of these places, “because there are many sons and daughters to be brought to glory, and Christ knows their number exactly.”

v4-11: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. “As the truth, he is the guide of our way; as the life, he is the end of it. He is the true and living way; there are truth and life along the way as well as at its destination and end. He is the true way to life, the only true way; other ways may seem right, but the end of them is the way of death.”

v12-14: We can ask for anything in Christ’s name. “If we ask in our own name, we cannot expect success, for, being strangers, we have no name in heaven; being sinners, we have a bad name there.” To ask in Christ’s name is to ask on the basis of Christ’s name which is “well known and very precious in heaven” and for whatever would bring glory to Him.

v15-17: “The One who gave the Son to be our Saviour would give his Spirit to be our Comforter.” The Spirit’s role is to encourage and stir up Christ’s followers to do their duty, and He will do that work just as effectively as Christ would, if He was with them in person.

v18-24: Those who keep Christ’s commandments will be looked on and loved by Him. “It is not those who have the greatest knowledge and who know how to speak for him, or who have the greatest wealth to spend for him” that He loves, “but those who keep his commandments.” Our love for Christ shows itself in obedience, in “conformity to the sovereign’s will, and agreement with sovereign’s wisdom.”

v25-27: The Holy Spirit came as a Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He taught the disciples all that they either needed to learn themselves or to teach others. He brought to their minds what they had been taught by Christ so they could record it accurately, and He enabled them to understand this teaching. The Spirit continues to teach God’s people by granting understanding of what Christ’s already said and by bringing to mind what they have already heard and know.

v28-31: When we forget that Christ will come again, we will be in danger of being overwhelmed by suffering, grief, fear, or worry. We need to be reminded again and again about His second coming.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)