He that believeth on the Son, &c.— "This," says the Baptist, "is the substance, and this is the end of my whole testimony; that he who has a lively faith in this only Son of God, hath everlasting life; hath a title to it, and the beginning of it already wrought in his soul; but he who disobeys the Son (for so the Greek should be rendered) shall not see life." It is of great importance to preserve a difference in the translation corresponding to that in the original, because the latter phrase explains the former, and shews that the faith to which the promise of life is annexed, is an effectual principle of sincere and unreserved obedience; and it is impossible to make one part of scripture consistent with another, unless this be taken into our idea of saving faith. "He who believes on the Son, is opposed to him who disobeys the Son," says Dr. Heylin: "the sense of the word faith, which was familiarly used among the Jews when Christ and his disciples first taught, began to be perverted when St. John wrote his gospel; and therefore he guards the primitive sense by the antithesis." The Baptist adds, But the wrath of God abideth on him. In scripture the word abide has a particularsignification, denoting the adhesion and permanency of the thing which is said to abide. Of this signification we have an example here; for there is a momentary wrath of God, which quickly passeth; but his abiding wrath torments, and does not kill; and being once inflicted, never draws to an end. Thus the Baptist bare testimony to Jesus anew, setting forth his dignity in the plenitude of his commission, the excellencyof his gifts, the nearness of his relation to God the Father as his only Son, and the greatness of his power as universal Judge.
Inferences.—How could any one do such miracles as Christ did, unless he and his doctrines were owned of God! and how plain and important were the doctrines of regeneration and faith in him, which he preached as necessary to salvation! And yet how natural is it for carnal minds to misjudge of spiritual things, to disbelieve them, and to be prejudiced against them, because, after all, there will be something incomprehensible in them! For who can, here below at least, fully explain the manner of the Holy Spirit's operations in and upon the souls of believers? Or who can tell how the divine and human natures are personally united in God manifested in the flesh, who, as the Son of God, always was in heaven, whilst, as the Son of man, he was only upon earth! And O how surprising is the thought of the Lord of glory's being lifted up on the cross, that he might be proposed in the gospel as a proper object for a sinner's faith; and that we, under a sense of guilt and danger, as wounded by sin, might look to him, and be as effectually healed of our soul's diseases, as the Israelites were of their desperate wounds, by looking to the brazen serpent in the wilderness! And how inexpressibly rich and free is that love which is the original cause of salvation, and has displayed itself in the gift of Christ to our world, to Gentiles as well as Jews, that whoever believes in him may have everlasting life! With what esteem, and preference to all others, should we think of the dear and only Saviour, who is originally from above, and was anointed with the Holy Ghost without measure for office-performances on earth, who is the object of the Father's highest love, and who is the great Lord and Husband of the church, and is Head over all things for its welfare; and what an honour and delight is it to be instrumental in espousing souls to him! What his servants do in holy ministrations, by his authority, is as valid as if it were done personally by himself; and they should go on in his work, according to the ability and opportunity that he gives them for it, without envying others who excel them in gifts and graces and success; as knowing that no man can receive any good thing for the service of others, or the benefit of his own soul, except it be given him from heaven; for that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. But, alas! how much more concerned are formalists in religion about an external baptism and purification, than about being baptized with the Holy Spirit, and having an experience in themselves of a real work of heart-changing grace!—How great is the sin of unbelief! It rejects the testimony of God concerning his Son, and is envious at Christ's glory; and it proceeds from unreasonable prejudices against him, from a love of evil ways, and unwillingness to be reformed, and from a hatred of the pure light of God's word, lest it should disturb the soul's peace and pleasure in an indulgence of beloved lusts! And how dreadful are its effects, as it binds all a man's other sins upon him, refuses his only remedy, and subjects him to condemnation and wrath with the highest aggravations of guilt! But O the excellence of true faith! It receives the Lord Jesus, sets to its seal that God is true, and depends upon his faithfulness for the performance of all that he has said about his Son, and said to us in a way of grace and mercy through him; it rejoices in the prosperity of his interest, in the espousal of souls to him, and in every thought of his being exalted; it proceeds from a desire of coming to the light of God's word, and from the discovery that is thereby made of the sinner's own vileness, and of the relief there is in Christ for him, and from a willingness to be saved from sin, as well as from the curse of the law, and the wrath of God; and by means of this faith the sentence of condemnation is reversed, and the soul receives a title to eternal life. Which of these states is mine? and in which of them am I likely to be found at death and judgment?
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have a singular instance of a great man who submitted to be saved by grace.
1. There was a man, of great note and eminence, of the Pharisees, the sect which ever expressed the bitterest enmity against our Lord, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrim; the same came to Jesus by night, solicitous to have some particular discourse with him concerning the things that he had heard him preach; and he chose this time, as some suppose, out of shame and cowardice, as not daring to appear publicly with him, for fear of the Jews; or because this was the season when Christ would be more at leisure, being engaged all the day in public; and when he might more freely and at large talk over with him the important point concerning which he desired to be resolved. With great respect he addressed him, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. These were such credentials of his divine mission, and wrought with such notorious evidence, that the more they were examined, the more forcibly they proved the author of them sent from God. Note; (1.) The grace of Jesus can reach those whose condition in life is most dangerous, if they will but come to him. (2.) When the profession of the true religion is reproachful and unfashionable, some, who dare not openly avow their sentiments, approve in secret the truths which others despise, and will slip in among the faithful, if they cannot be seen, as Nicodemus, by night. (3.) Christ is come to be a teacher of babes, to lead a dark world to the light of life, and guide the erring feet of sinners into the paths of everlasting peace. May we then be humble scholars, and learn of him!
2. In consequence of the application of Nicodemus, Christ addresses him in the following instructive discourse:
[1.] On the nature and necessity of regeneration. Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, like the rest of his countrymen, tinctured with the common prejudices concerning the Messiah's kingdom, supposed that the seed of Abraham would be all admitted to an honourable place in it. But Christ strikes at that radical mistake; assuring him, that no man's external privileges, religious profession, or moral attainments, availed any thing, if his heart and life were not effectually wrought upon by the regenerating influences of the Spirit of God. For, as we are born by nature corrupt and polluted with sin, and spiritually dead in trespasses, we must receive another, a new, a divine nature, the work of God. And unless this supernatural change passes upon us, we can neither understand the nature of the Messiah's kingdom, nor receive any of the blessings and benefits which it was designed to convey to us. Nicodemus, mistaking Christ's meaning, and understanding the words in a literal sense, expresses his surprise at the assertion, not comprehending how it was possible for a man, old as he was, to pass a second time through his mother's womb. In answer to his objection, Christ enforces and explains his declarations, Verily, verily I say unto thee, a truth which is a most infallible certainty, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God: Christ's word, however strange and unintelligible to the natural man, cannot change. There can be no entrance into glory, without that new birth which gives a meetness for it. The soul, by the powerful agency of the Spirit of God, must be cleansed from its natural pollution, as water purifies the body from any filth which it has contracted. And the necessity of such a spiritual change is evident, because that which is born of the flesh, is flesh: could a man a thousand times pass through the womb, he would still come forth with the same corrupted nature, unfit for the kingdom of God; man's nature being utterly sensual in his mere fallen state, and all his appetites, delights, and pursuits being after the flesh, and the things which gratify his bestial part: so that the soul in this condition is utterly enslaved, and the whole man flesh, and not spirit. Whilst, on the contrary, that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit: when the Holy Ghost works effectually on the believing heart, it is refined from the dregs of sensuality, the soul is restored to spiritual understanding, and the whole man, now brought under the influence of a new, divine, implanted principle of grace, becomes spiritual, in his affections, pursuits, and designs, delivered from the bondage of base lusts and vile corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, and restored to a capacity of enjoying him. Marvel not, therefore, adds our Lord, that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again; nor, though we are ignorant of the manner in which this divine change is wrought, is that any objection to the thing: for, in the world around us, we see effects, of the immediate causes of which we are ignorant. As for instance, The wind bloweth where it listeth, without controul from any creature, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: the effects produced by it are sensibly felt: but why it blows at one time stronger than at another, why from one point rather than another, where it begins and where it ends, these are secrets known only to him who bringeth the winds out of his treasuries. So is every one that is born of the Spirit: so mysterious are the operations of the Divine Spirit in his first movements and operations on the believing heart, when he bears down every obstruction, quickening, comforting, sanctifying the believer's soul, and giving him a blessed experience of his divine power and influence; though he works mysteriously, and leaves the manner of his operations still a secret to us.
[2.] When yet Nicodemus appeared ignorant, and questioned how these things could be; for to the natural man the things of the Spirit of God are foolishness: Christ proceeds to reprove his dulness, and to enlarge on the certainty and sublimity of those glorious truths which he had advanced: Art thou a master of Israel, a famed teacher, and professor of divinity, and knowest not these things? Note; It is a shame for those who undertake to instruct others, to be ignorant themselves, and, while they affect to pass for men of deep learning and erudition, to be unacquainted with the most important truths that pertain unto salvation. Verily, verily I say unto thee, We speak that we do know: the truths that Christ taught, were of infallible certainty; he spoke as commissioned by his Father, and in correspondence with what all the prophets and John had before declared: and testify that we have seen: not speaking on hearsay, but on the most undoubted evidence, and with the clearest assurance: and ye receive not our witness: such was the blindness, such the prejudices, that had spread over the Jews in general, and the Pharisees and rulers in particular, that they refused to receive and embrace the doctrines of salvation taught by the Son of God, though so infallibly true, so plainly delivered, and attested by such miracles: so that they were without excuse,—as all infidels are, who refuse to submit to the evidence of revelation. If therefore I have told you earthly things, illustrating, with the familiar instances of water and the wind, the necessity of a spiritual change in the hearts of sinners here below, and ye believe not, comprehend not the meaning, nor give credit to the truths advanced, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? of the more sublime doctrines of the gospel, the amazing union of the divine and human natures, the design of the incarnation of the Son of God; his sufferings, death, and exaltation; the nature of his spiritual kingdom, and of the beatific vision? how much more must these be mysterious, when delivered in language suitable to the vast subject, if the plainer truths appear so difficult to be understood? For instance, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven: the prophets of God indeed had spoken under a divine inspiration, and what they said came from heaven; but none of them ever spoke of their own knowledge, nor had been with God in glory, acquainted with all the secrets of his will; this was the distinguished privilege of the Son of man, the Messiah, who from eternity lay in the bosom of the Father, and was now come down from heaven, as a teacher eminently sent from God; and who, though upon earth, was even then the Son of man which is in heaven; though in his human nature he stood and talked with Nicodemus, his divine nature filled heaven and earth, was every where present, and, in virtue of that communication of properties which subsists between the two natures, the Son of man, though on earth, was, as God, in heaven; that which was done by him in one nature being ascribed to him in the other. Note; (1.) There are mysteries above our comprehension, which are to be received on the evidence of God's word. Where reason fails, faith must be exercised. (2.) In all the humiliations of the Son of man, we must never forget that he is unchangeably the same, God over all, blessed for ever.
[3.] As the great prophet, he proceeds to describe the end of his incarnation, and the eternal blessedness of those who truly and perseveringly believe in him. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, to heal our mortal wounds, and to recover our perishing souls.
(1.) He came to heal our mortal wounds, as the antitype of the brazen serpent which Moses in the wilderness lifted up, that those who were stung by the fiery serpents might look and live. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. (1.) We are mortally stung by the old fiery serpent Satan, and the deadly poison of sin has been diffused through our nature; the wound is incurable, the torment intolerable and eternal, unless more than human help and healing be vouchsafed to us. (2.) Christ is the only hope of the desperate, the brazen serpent lifted up, for the healing of the nations, on the pole of the everlasting gospel, as crucified on a tree, but now exalted to the throne, bright-shining with the beams of grace on every miserable soul that turns the eye of faith towards him. (3.) It is looking to him alone which performs the wondrous cure. The soul that seeks to any other physician, or refuses this simple method of cure, Look unto me, and be ye saved, Isaiah 45:22 perishes without remedy; while faith infallibly brings health and healing: for, (4.) However obnoxious we are by sin to the wrath of God, however deep our guilt, or aggravated our iniquities, he is a Saviour to the uttermost: whoever looks to him, shall live, though, like the dying thief, reduced to the last gasp; not only the chief of sinners shall be rescued from the eternal ruin which he justly apprehends and fears, but, if he persevere in cleaving to Christ, shall have eternal life, all the bliss and blessedness of glory, through the salvation which is in Jesus Christ.
(2.) He came to save our lost souls by the sacrifice of himself. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. (1.) Christ is the universal Saviour, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also; and, as his free salvation is preached to all, whoever will is invited to come to him. They who reject his calls, sin against their own mercies. (2.) He is the only-begotten Son of God, which bespeaks his infinite dignity and all-sufficiency to save. (3.) The love of God in thinking upon us in our ruined state, and sending his Son to be a propitiation for our sins, is the astonishment of angels, and should be matter of our increasing wonder, praise, and adoration. (4.) All who by faith receive the Lord Jesus, as the Son of God and the Redeemer of lost souls, placing their whole dependence on his infinite merit and intercession, are sure to obtain the remission of all their sins. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, as the Jews supposed their Messiah would destroy the Gentile nations, and exalt their own; but that the world through him might be saved. Even the vilest and most guilty, who believe in him, whether Jew or Gentile, may now through him obtain salvation; while out of him, ruin and despair must seize the whole fallen race. He that believeth on him is not condemned: there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus; no charge lies against those whom God justifieth through faith in the Blood of his Son. But, (5.) Destruction inevitable and eternal must be the portion of those who neglect or despise so great a salvation; he that believeth not the gospel-word preached unto them, whether Jew or Gentile, is condemned already; lies at present under the curse which is the wages of sin, and without repentance will as assuredly be lost, as when the sentence shall be executed in the great day, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. Unbelief is the great damning sin: there can be no cure for those who reject the only remedy; and when God hath been so rich in grace, as to give his only-begotten Son, the baseness of the ingratitude in rejecting him cannot but bring aggravated guilt and perdition on the sinner's soul. And this is the greatest and most fatal cause of their condemnation, that light is come into the world, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, in which he shines as the sun of righteousness arisen to guide our feet into the ways of peace: and men, notwithstanding, loved darkness rather than light. The Jews held fast their corrupt traditions; the Gentiles, their idolatrous superstitions; and both shunned the light of truth, which made manifest and condemned their works of darkness, because their deeds were evil; therefore do they lie under the divine wrath; and such wilful ignorance, and obstinate rejection of the truth, must needs fill up the measure of their iniquities. (6.) This then will be the test between the wilfully impenitent and the sincere inquirer after truth. For every one that doeth evil, makes it his practice and his delight, and is wedded to his sins, hateth the light, his carnal mind is at enmity with Christ and his gospel; neither cometh to the light, but shuns the means of grace, the ministrations of the faithful, and the company and converse of such whose words and works would be a rebuke to his darkness; lest his deeds should be reproved; lest his darling corruptions should be held up to him in their own hideous form, his danger faithfully set before him, and his conscience wounded with remorse. But he that doeth truth, in simplicity following the mind of God, as far as it is revealed to him, open to conviction, and willing to be searched, cometh to the light of God's word, desirous to know, and disposed to follow it, however contrary to his own natural inclinations or worldly interests; that his deeds may be made manifest, his heart examined, his principles brought to the test, his mind enlightened, and his conduct regulated; so that it may appear he is now under the influence of a regenerate spirit, designing in all his works the divine glory, and evidencing that they are wrought in God, by his gracious influence, according to his holy will, and in a state of union and communion with him. Blessed and happy are the people who are in such a case!
2nd, When our Lord had finished his discourse with Nicodemus, we are told,
1. Whither he went, and what he did. He left Jerusalem, and travelled into the country of Judea, where he continued some time, preaching the gospel of the kingdom; and by the ordinance of baptism, which his apostles administered, admitted those who professed their faith in him into the number of his avowed disciples.
2. John continued his ministry in another part of the country with success. He did not join with Jesus, lest their enemies should pretend that there was a combination between them; nor did he desist from his labours, though he knew his Superior was now gone forth to minister, but continued to preach and baptize all who came to him; having fixed himself at a place where were many streams of water, which rendered it convenient to administer baptism to the multitudes which resorted to him; for as yet he was not cast into prison, as he shortly afterwards was, and a period put to his farther usefulness. Note; The work of the ministry is wide; there is room for the exercise of all our several talents, nor must any be discouraged by their own comparative inferiority: they are suited for their place, and may hope to see their labours successful.
3. A contest arose between some of John's disciples and the Jews, concerning purifying. [See the Annotations.] Puzzled with the difficulty which embarrassed them, John's disciples carry the case to their master, and, jealous for his honour, and their own who were connected with him, report with concern what they had lately heard, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, and, among others, received baptism; to whom thou barest witness, pointing him out with peculiar distinction; behold, the same baptizeth, setting up himself as a rival to thee; and all men come to him. They look upon it as a piece of presumption in Jesus to assume the Baptist's office, and ungrateful to make use of the testimony which John had borne, in prejudice to him: nor could they, without envy, behold their master eclipsed by him whom they regarded as lately his disciple, and as one of themselves. So ready are good men to be under the temptation of a party-spirit, and to feel unbecoming jealousies and risings of envy against superior excellence, which seems to eclipse their own.
4. John's answer shewed what spirit he was of. Far from envying Jesus as his rival, he rejoices in his success; and, confirming the testimony that he had before borne to him, cheerfully turns over to him all his interest in Israel.
[1.] John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. God gives gifts to his ministers severally as he will. If he is pleased to bestow more on one than another, there is no room for complaint: whatever our measure is, it is a matter of favour to us, and we have reason to be thankful, nor ought to envy the superior honours or usefulness of others: and this consideration should, in every case, silence every murmur of discontent or envy.
[2.] He appeals to what he had uniformly advanced from the beginning. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. All the honour that he had ever assumed, was that of being his harbinger, and going before the face of the Lord to prepare his way: if therefore he was now arrived, his forerunner, far from being grieved, must rejoice in it. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; Christ hath alone the right over his church, and to him must the gathering of the people be. He is come from heaven to espouse it to himself, the heavenly bridegroom. There can be no reason therefore for murmurs or jealousy; but, far otherwise, the friend of the bridegroom, as he was, which standeth and heareth him, waiting upon him as his attendant, helping forward his interests, and desiring to advance his honour, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice, when he comes to take his bride, and issues his orders and institutions to those who wait in his train. This my joy therefore is fulfilled, to hear that Christ appears publicly, inviting sinners to come to him; and that multitudes flock to him, embracing the offers of his grace. And thus does every faithful minister stand before the great Bridegroom of souls, to receive his commands, and deliver his messages of love to his church; delighted to behold the happy effects produced by them; and rejoicing greatly in every soul converted to Jesus, and brought by faith and love to cleave to him alone.
[3.] Far from envying the rising glory of his Lord, John beholds with pleasure the fulfilment of the divine will, He must increase, but I must decrease; his fame must spread, his glory be manifested, his disciples multiply; and to him does John gladly turn over all his interest, content to fade before his superior brightness, as the morning star disappears before the rising sun; and well pleased to see that kingdom of the Messiah established and increasing, which must spread from pole to pole, and endure to the end of time. And to behold this, cannot but give the most singular delight to every faithful minister. The glory of his person, and the surpassing excellence of his office, cannot but give him this superiority. He that cometh from above, is above all: his nature and original being divine, he must needs have the undisputed precedency, and supreme authority, over all other messengers sent from God, who speak only in his name, and by his commission. He that is of the earth, and such are the greatest saints and prophets, is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: as he is sprung from the dust, and must return to the dust, he is naturally attached to earthly things; his conceptions low and groveling; and, when even under divine inspiration, unable adequately to express the sublime mysteries of infinite wisdom; while he that cometh from heaven is above all. Contrasted with the teachings of Jesus, in whom from eternity dwelt all the treasures of wisdom, as being one of the sacred self-existent Godhead, the wisdom of the wisest is weakness, and their speech not to be compared with his preaching. And the reason is evident, because what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth, from the most intimate knowledge of the divine nature and councils, both as God incarnate, and in the human nature possessing the Spirit without measure. But such was the blindness and obstinacy of those to whom he spoke, that, though he was greatly attended, and John's disciples apprehended that all who followed him believed in him, he lets them know the case was far otherwise: no man receiveth his testimony; none, comparatively speaking; so few of the multitudes who came to him would be found his real disciples. Blessed and happy, however, are those who receive his gospel in the light and love of it; for he that hath received his testimony, hath set his seal that God is true. He subscribes to the faithfulness and veracity of God, in having fulfilled all the prophesies concerning the Messiah; and embraces, with full confidence of their completion, the gracious promises of his gospel, as being Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus. And herein God is glorified, when we trust our everlasting hopes upon the word that he has delivered to us by his Son; for he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God; all his language spoke the Divinity resident in him; and no word of human infirmity ever dropped from his lips; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. All the other prophets, who were sent of God, possessed but a measure of the Spirit, and only spoke under his immediate inspiration on some particular occasions, being at other times left to speak their own words; but he in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily, ever spoke the words of God. The Father loveth the Son with a peculiar and transcendant regard, as being possessed with the same nature and perfections. He delights in his Son's undertaking as Mediator, and hath given all things into his hand; investing him in his human nature with all power and authority in heaven and in earth. All the great affairs of the kingdom of providence, grace, and glory, are committed to his management, that his enemies may feel his vengeance; that his faithful ones may experience his blessing, protection, and care; and all at last appear before him as their eternal judge. He that believeth therefore on the Son, receives him as manifest in the flesh, and rests his hopes on the rich grace revealed in the gospel alone, hath everlasting life; he shall not only hereafter, if faithful unto death, be put in possession of it, but has already in himself the beginning and foretastes of it: and, on the contrary, he that believeth not the Son rejecteth his divine authority and mission, incredulous of his word, and disobedient to his will, shall not see life: while he remains under the power of unbelief, he is dead in trespasses and sins, and nothing but misery inconceivable and eternal awaits him, because the wrath of God, which is for ever wrath to come, abideth on him. How terrible is the end of all who believe not God, and obey not the gospel of his dear Son!