14 OCTOBER (1877)
The righteous Father known and loved
‘O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ John 17:25–26
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 John 2:23–3:1
In verse 25 there is a testing name given to God, by which we may decide whether we know the name of the Lord or not. It is this: ‘righteous Father’. I do not know that in any other portion of Scripture God is called by that name. In this prayer Jesus had not addressed the Father by that title before. He had spoken of him as ‘Father’ and also as ‘Holy Father’, but here alone it is—‘righteous Father’. I say that the knowledge of this name may serve as a test as to whether you do truly and spiritually know God, or have only a notional and outward idea of him. If you know him aright you know and understand what is comprehended under those two simple words, which are so remarkable when found in combination—‘righteous Father’.
He is ‘righteous’, having the attributes of a judge and ruler, just and impartial, by no means sparing the guilty. He is ‘Father’, near of kin, loving, tender and forgiving. In his character and in his dealings with his people he blends the two as they were never combined before. How can a judge and a father be found in one? Where guilty men are concerned, how can both characters be carried out to the full? How is it possible? There is only one answer and that is found in the sacrifice of Jesus which has joined the two in one. In the atonement of our Lord Jesus ‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’ In the sacred substitution we see declared how God is ‘righteous’ and yet ‘Father’: in the sublime transactions of Calvary he manifests all the love of a tender father’s heart and all the justice of an impartial ruler’s sword.
FOR MEDITATION: Rejoice in some of the other combined attributes of ‘our Father in heaven’. He is ‘a just God and a Saviour’ (Isaiah 45:21), ‘just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26) and ‘faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9), if we confess to him our ungodliness and sinfulness.
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 298.
The righteous Father known and loved
‘O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ John 17:25–26
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 John 2:23–3:1
In verse 25 there is a testing name given to God, by which we may decide whether we know the name of the Lord or not. It is this: ‘righteous Father’. I do not know that in any other portion of Scripture God is called by that name. In this prayer Jesus had not addressed the Father by that title before. He had spoken of him as ‘Father’ and also as ‘Holy Father’, but here alone it is—‘righteous Father’. I say that the knowledge of this name may serve as a test as to whether you do truly and spiritually know God, or have only a notional and outward idea of him. If you know him aright you know and understand what is comprehended under those two simple words, which are so remarkable when found in combination—‘righteous Father’.
He is ‘righteous’, having the attributes of a judge and ruler, just and impartial, by no means sparing the guilty. He is ‘Father’, near of kin, loving, tender and forgiving. In his character and in his dealings with his people he blends the two as they were never combined before. How can a judge and a father be found in one? Where guilty men are concerned, how can both characters be carried out to the full? How is it possible? There is only one answer and that is found in the sacrifice of Jesus which has joined the two in one. In the atonement of our Lord Jesus ‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’ In the sacred substitution we see declared how God is ‘righteous’ and yet ‘Father’: in the sublime transactions of Calvary he manifests all the love of a tender father’s heart and all the justice of an impartial ruler’s sword.
FOR MEDITATION: Rejoice in some of the other combined attributes of ‘our Father in heaven’. He is ‘a just God and a Saviour’ (Isaiah 45:21), ‘just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26) and ‘faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9), if we confess to him our ungodliness and sinfulness.
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 298.
14 OCTOBER (1877)
The righteous Father known and loved
‘O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ John 17:25–26
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 John 2:23–3:1
In verse 25 there is a testing name given to God, by which we may decide whether we know the name of the Lord or not. It is this: ‘righteous Father’. I do not know that in any other portion of Scripture God is called by that name. In this prayer Jesus had not addressed the Father by that title before. He had spoken of him as ‘Father’ and also as ‘Holy Father’, but here alone it is—‘righteous Father’. I say that the knowledge of this name may serve as a test as to whether you do truly and spiritually know God, or have only a notional and outward idea of him. If you know him aright you know and understand what is comprehended under those two simple words, which are so remarkable when found in combination—‘righteous Father’.
He is ‘righteous’, having the attributes of a judge and ruler, just and impartial, by no means sparing the guilty. He is ‘Father’, near of kin, loving, tender and forgiving. In his character and in his dealings with his people he blends the two as they were never combined before. How can a judge and a father be found in one? Where guilty men are concerned, how can both characters be carried out to the full? How is it possible? There is only one answer and that is found in the sacrifice of Jesus which has joined the two in one. In the atonement of our Lord Jesus ‘Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’ In the sacred substitution we see declared how God is ‘righteous’ and yet ‘Father’: in the sublime transactions of Calvary he manifests all the love of a tender father’s heart and all the justice of an impartial ruler’s sword.
FOR MEDITATION: Rejoice in some of the other combined attributes of ‘our Father in heaven’. He is ‘a just God and a Saviour’ (Isaiah 45:21), ‘just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26) and ‘faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9), if we confess to him our ungodliness and sinfulness.
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 298.
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