The Loveliness of Christ
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
98-100; 30
There is no love so great and so wonderful as that which is in the heart of Christ. He is one that delights in mercy; he is ready to pity those that are in suffering and sorrowful circumstances; one that delights in the happiness of his creatures. The love and grace that Christ has manifested does as much exceed all that which is in this world as the sun is brighter than a candle.
The Loveliness of Christ Considered
The Loveliness of Christ Considered
Any possible loveliness is in Jesus, because “he is the holiest, meekest, most humble, and every way the most excellent man that ever was.” This language of Christ’s meekness and humility are the very way Christ himself describes his own heart in Matthew 11:29. In other words, it is Christ’s gentle heart that adorns him with beauty; or put the other way, what most deeply attracts us to Christ is his gentle, tender, humble heart.
In our churches today we often refer to the glory of God and the glory of Christ. But what is it about God’s glory that draws us in and causes us to conquer our sins and makes us radiant people? Is it the sheer size of God, a consideration of the immensity of the universe and thus of the Creator, a sense of God’s transcendent greatness, that pulls us toward him? No, it is the loveliness of his heart.
It is a “sight of the divine beauty of Christ, that bows the wills, and draws the hearts of men. A sight of the greatness of God in his attributes, may overwhelm men.”
But seeing God’s greatness is not our deepest need, but seeing his goodness. Seeing only his greatness, “the enmity and opposition of the heart, may remain in its full strength, and the will remain inflexible; whereas, one glimpse of the moral and spiritual glory of God, and supreme loveliness of Jesus Christ, shining into the heart, overcomes and abolishes this opposition, and inclines the soul to Christ, as it were, by an omnipotent power.
We are drawn to God by the beauty of the heart of Jesus. When sinners and sufferers come to Christ, “the person that they find is exceeding excellent and lovely.” For they come to one who is not only “of excellent majesty and of perfect purity and brightness,” but also one in whom this majesty is “conjoined with the sweetest grace, one that clothes himself with mildness and meekness and love.”
Jesus is “exceeding ready to receive them.” Given their sinfulness, they are shocked to find that their sins cause him to be all the more ready to plunge them into his heart. “They unexpectedly find him with open arms to embrace them, ready forever to forget all their sins as though they had never been.” In other words, when we come to Christ, we are startled by the beauty of his welcoming heart. The surprise is itself what draws us in.”
This love to Christ supposes the goodness of the object, as all love does; for nothing can be loved, but what is really good, or at least appears so unto the lover.
This holy love therefore being the greatest, chief love — supposes Christ to be the greatest, and the chief good.
That he is a good Savior, a good Redeemer, a good Lord and Master; a good excelling, transcending all inferior, sublunary good; good! not only good, but best — best in himself, and best for us!
And because he must be loved with such a love, as that we are willing at his call to part with all other good for his sake — therefore he is looked upon, and loved as a universal good.
Whereas riches, honours, friends, and all things of this world are but particular good — no one thing is good for all things. Food and drink are good to satisfy your hunger and thirst — but not to clothe you. Clothes are good to cover you, but not to feed you, etc.
But the soul whose love is fixed upon Christ, sees and says:
In poverty, Christ will be my riches,
in disgrace, Christ will be my honor,
in bonds and imprisonment, Christ will be my liberty,
in pain, Christ will be my comfort,
in death, Christ will be my life,
in the loss of all things, Christ will be better to me than the enjoyment of all these things!
He who does not love Christ as an incomparable object does not love him as he ought.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
The spouse in Song of Songs saw such goodness in Christ, that she was lovesick for him:
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick!
So much so that others wonder what a gracious soul sees in Christ, that it is so inflamed with love unto him.
What is your beloved More than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved More than another beloved, That you so charge us?
What is he? In a large description of his excellencies she answers to this question:
My beloved is white and ruddy, Chief among ten thousand.
And in the 16th concludes,
His mouth is most sweet, Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!
What then? Does the transcendent goodness of Christ, thus displayed, draw the heart, allure the affections? Yes, truly, for it immediately follows,
Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, That we may seek him with you?
1. Christ as GOD is incomparably good — for so he is . . .
originally good;
infinitely good;
eternally good;
immutably good;
incomprehensibly good.
2. Christ as MAN, is the most excellent of all men
Adam in innocence, the prophets and apostles in all their greatest dignity, and the saints in Heaven in perfect glory — are not comparable to the man Christ Jesus!
3. Christ, as GOD-MAN and Mediator, surpasses in goodness all the holy ones on earth, and all the angels in Heaven:
which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
And though he calls his people, his brethren, and his companions,
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
Is Christ thus incomparable in your eyes — and to your hearts? He should
For who he is for what he has done and for what he is doing
Our need to Love Christ analysed
Our need to Love Christ analysed
Have we considered the loveliness of the heart of Christ? Perhaps beauty is not a category that comes naturally to mind when we think about Christ. Maybe we think of God and Christ in terms of truth, not beauty. But the whole reason we care about sound doctrine is for the sake of preserving God’s beauty, just as the whole reason we care about effective focal lenses on a camera is to capture with precision the beauty we photograph. Let Jesus draw you in through the loveliness of his heart.
Love to Christ is grounded on the soul discerning the suitableness of Christ unto him.
He says, "Food is not more suitable to a hungry man, nor medicine to a sick man, nor clothing to a naked man — than Christ is to me, a poor, sinful, and lost man — an undone, perishing, and damned man!
For . . . I am naked — and He will give clothe me with His perfect righteousness,
I am blind — and He will restore my sight,
I am enslaved to sin and Satan — and He will give me liberty,
I am lost — and He will save me,
I am guilty — and He will pardon me,
I am polluted — and He will cleanse me,
I am an enemy to God — and He will reconcile me,
I am ignorant — and He will teach me,
I am indebted — and He will be my Surety,
I am poor — and He will make me wealthy to all eternity,
I am a stranger to God — and He bring me into acquaintance with Him,
I am unfit for Heaven — and He will make me fit to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light.
What shall I say?
Though I have riches — then I might be damned. But if I have Christ — then I shall be saved!
Though men admire me — yet God might loathe me. But if I have Christ — then the Lord will love me!
Though I prosper in the world, in all my pomp — I might be walking in the way to everlasting misery! But if I have Christ — He will lead me in the paths unto eternal glory
When you look at the glorious older saints in your church, how do you think they got there? Sound doctrine, yes. Resolute obedience, without a doubt. Suffering without becoming cynical, for sure. But maybe another reason, maybe the deepest reason, is that they have, over time, been won over in their deepest affections to a gentle Savior. Perhaps they have simply tasted, over many years, the surprise of a Christ for whom their very sins draw him in rather than push him away. Maybe they have not only known that Jesus loved them but felt it.
This love consists in the prevailing and predominant degrees of affection unto Christ.
If Jesus is not loved above all — He is not sincerely loved at all.
There might be love of other things subordinate to the love of Christ, but not equal with it, much less superior to it.
You might love your friends, and love your enjoyments, and love the comforts of your life — but you must love Christ above all. The love of these must be swallowed up in the love of Christ, and be subordinate unto it. "Simon, son of Jonah--do you love me more than these?"
Degrees of love might be considered in respect of the things loved, or the object of our love. That the word more means that you love Christ more than the world, sin, self — or do you love these more than Christ?
I judge it is of great concernment, and necessary for every man who has a soul that must be damned or saved, to know and understand this. For I do not fear to say, that where a man's love is less to Christ than to the world, and sin, and carnal self — God will surely damn him.
Does this grate upon any ears — that a man who does not love Christ more than sin, and more than pleasures and profits — has no sincere love to Christ, nor shall be saved by him?
Surely such a man would judge in another case, if he had a wife that loves him — yet loves another man more than himself, she had not sincere marital love to him.
The plainest, fullest, and, I hope, no offensive answer, shall be the words of Christ himself, showing wherein sincerity of love to him consists. "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it!" Matthew 10:37-39
All the love to all inferior things, in comparison of the degrees of love we should have to Christ, more than unto these, is rather hatred than love:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
What interpretation can these words bear? That no real disciple of Christ may or ought to have true love to father or mother, brother or sister, wife and children, or to his own life? This is an absurd and irreligious sense — being contrary to the law of nature, and Christ's constant doctrine in his word. What then? This — that a true disciple of Christ must and ought to love these things less than Christ — and Christ with prevailing degrees of love. True love in the heart to Christ makes it incline more to Christ, than to all other things!
The Necessity to Love to escape the wrath to come
The Necessity to Love to escape the wrath to come
If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
This brings us to a charge and an accusation against you, for not loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Some openly declare by their actions and manner of conduct — that they do not love him.
Some openly pretend love to Christ, but really have no love unto him.
So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.
Love to Christ is in their mouth — but love to the world is in their heart. Some say they love him — but God knows they do not:
But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.
No! You might be able to fake your way in this life but there will come a day where there will be no more faking
Do you know how great a sin this is? Why then do you make so light of it? Why then are you no more ashamed, that you lack this love? This is the worst of sins! Would you not be ashamed if a report was circulated about you — that you did not love your wife and your children?
And is it not an incomparably greater sin and shame, that you do not love the Lord Jesus — the only Son of God, the only Savior of lost sinners!
How is it that you do so seldom or never bewail the lack of love to Christ, in your prayers; or scarcely put it in among the confession of your sins?
What! Do you love your money — and not your God?
Or do you make your money your God — and then love your money, instead of loving the true God?
Can you love your gold — and not the precious Savior?
You are bound to love your very enemies — and yet you have no love to Him who would be your surest, greatest, and most faithful Friend! What shall I say? Good Lord, I am ashamed, and blush to say, which yet is true of too many men — that they love their very beasts, their dog, their horse, and all their cattle — and yet will not be prevailed upon to love your Son, your only Son, your beloved Son!
Nay, what shall I say? You love your heinous lusts and filthy sins, which will destroy and damn you forever — and yet no love for the Lord Jesus, who would save you from your sins, and from Hell forever.
What can I say? You do not love Christ — because you love your sin so much!
What! Not love Christ! How can you then excuse all the love you have to other things, from being sinful love? So that the more you love other things — the more you sin — because your love to others is not subordinate to the love of Christ.
To love other things and people in subordination to the love of Christ — is a duty.
To love other things and people, and not Christ, or more than Christ — is a sin.
Thus, the love of your estates, is sinful love. And the love of husband, wife, children, and of yourselves — is therefore sinful love, because it is above the love of Christ, for these should be loved in Christ and for Christ — but you love them without Christ, and more than Christ! Therefore all your love, without love to Christ, though materially good, is sinful love.
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me!" Matthew 10:37
The martyrs loved Christ, when they went to prison for him, and to the stake, and were burned into ashes for him. I think it is a true saying — a martyr is either actually so, or intentionally so.
It is the purpose and resolution of the heart, to die for Christ's sake — if called to it. A Christian is one who dies for Christ, or is ready, willing, and by the help of grace is resolved — to lose his life, rather than leave Christ. It is safe to say, that he who loves his life more than Christ, and will part with Christ rather than his life — has no sincere love to Christ. "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37-38 And this was the resolution and disposition of Paul's heart, before he was actually put to death. "Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus!" Acts 21:13
Conclusion
Conclusion
No divided devotion:—
1. The audacity of the claim—seemingly opposed to natural affection.
2. Its naturalness on the lips of Christ—all of a piece with His other words and deeds.
3. Either, then, Jesus is God and deserves all He claims, or else an impostor and blasphemer.
4. The dilemma—we must either crucify Him or acknowledge His pretensions.
A striking illustration of the love to Christ, that proves so ardent as to supersede that felt for parent or child, is furnished by the history of Vivia Perpetua, the martyr of Carthage. This lady, who was a matron of high position, young (not being more than twenty-two at her death) beautiful, and with everything to make life desirable and attractive to her, met death with dauntless heroism. We are not told whether her husband was a Pagan or a Christian; but her aged, and still heathen, father, obtaining entrance into her prison, endeavoured by every possible argument to shake her constancy, and, as a last appeal, brought her infant son, and conjured her, by her love for himself and for her child, to abjure Christianity and live. But to all these entreaties Perpetua turned a deaf ear; Christ was dearer to her than either her parent or her son, and she bravely met death by being exposed to an infuriated animal in the arena. She suffered about A.D. 205
Matthew Ver. 37
Leclerc, says D’Aubigné, was led to the place of execution. The executioner prepared the fire, heated the iron which was to sear the flesh of the minister of the gospel, and, approaching him, branded him as a heretic on the forehead. Just then a shriek was uttered—but it came not from the martyr. His mother, a witness of the dreadful sight, wrung with anguish, endured a violent struggle between the enthusiasm of faith and maternal feelings; but her faith overcame, and she exclaimed, in a voice that made the adversaries tremble, “Glory be to Jesus Christ, and His witnesses!” Thus did this French woman of the sixteenth century have respect to the word of the Son of God: “He that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” So daring a courage at such a moment might have seemed to demand instant punishment, but that Christian mother had struck powerless the hearts of priests and soldiers. Their fury was restrained by a mightier arm than theirs. The crowd falling back and making way for her, allowed the mother to regain, with faltering step, her humble dwelling. Monks, and even the town sergeants themselves, gazed on her without moving. “Not one of her enemies,” says Beza, “dared put forth his hand against her.”