66 "If ye had known me," said Jesus to the Jews, "ye should have known my Father also." And again, "No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." (John viii. 19.; Matt. xi. See also John i. 14; and 2 Cor. iv. 6.) It is in Christ Jesus, and in him alone, that the Name and the Nature, the Glory and the Perfections of the Most High, are made known to His creatures. 2ndly, Without this knowledge, there is no way of access to the Father. 'No man cometh to the Father but by Him." He is the one way; the new and living way, by which we are exhorted to draw near to God: by Him, and Him alone, we have access with confidence, yea, with boldness, by the faith of Him; "through him by one Spirit to the Father." (John xiv. 6.; Eph. ii. 18. and iii. 12. See also Heb. x. 20, &c.) 3rdly, This knowledge is life and salvation. "This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John xvii. 3.) 4thly, This knowledge is the medium of every spiritual blessing: "Grace and peace are multiplied to us through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord;"grace, mercy, and peace below, and glory in the heavens. (2 Pet. 1, 2, 3.) 5thly, It is the knowledge of the greatest and most glorious of Beings; with whom it brings the soul into the closest union, communion, and fellowship, and this for ever! (1 John i. 3.) Reader! think on these things; ponder them with attention and seriousness; and say, whether the excellency of such a knowledge can be estimated too highly! It is not speculative and fruitless; it is not merely theoretical. It is an appropriating knowledge, for it secures what it apprehends. It is an experimental acquaintance with Him, in whom are hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge." (Col. ii. 3.) Also, according to the degree and measure in which it is attained, it will prove transforming, and introductory to the beatific vision; for "with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. iii. 18.) Couldst thou the universe explore, And call earth's treasures all thine own; But, if the Lord thy portion be, To Him; and in His grace to thee FOURTH DAY. "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM, AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION."-Phil. iii. 10. When Paul was preaching at Athens, this was the great theme of his discourse-" Jesus and the resurrection :" from which some of his hearers inferred that he was "a setter 66 forth of strange gods." The doctrine was novel and foreign to their ears, that One who had been crucified as a malefactor, at Jerusalem, had, by His own almighty power, broken through the barriers of the grave, the first-fruits of them that slept," the sure and certain pledge of a future resurrection of all men, some unto life, some unto condemnation, He being their appointed and righteous Judge; and not only so, but who was now, in the energy of that same Almighty Power, going forth in the ministration of His Gospel, making it effectual to the quickening of souls dead in trespasses and sins; and raising to newness of life those who had previously been buried in ignorance, superstition and idolatry. The apostle knew this Gospel to be the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; and therefore he declares to his Philippian converts, that to know Christ and "the power of His resurrection," was all that he desired, for himself, to know. "That I may know Him,"-in the mystery of His person,-"God manifest in the flesh;' in the glory of His righteousness, as having magnified the law, and made it honourable; in the perfection of His obedience, as the Head and Surety of His believing people. O! to know Him as my head and surety! to know Him in the completeness of His atonement; the prevalence of His intercession; the plenitude of His mercy; the sufficiency of His grace; to know Him as having" died for my sins, and risen again for my justification." Reader! dost thou thus know Him?-hast thou received these things into thine heart? -received them, not merely as a creed of words into thy memory, but into thy heart? Has Christ arisen there? and made thee to know the power of His resurrection? Has the knowledge of Christ given life to thy soul? rest to thy conscience? confidence and rejoicing to thy hope? and purity to thy affections? Has the omnipotent word |