1 DECEMBER (PREACHED 2 DECEMBER 1877)
The evidence of our Lord’s wounds
‘Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.’ John 20:27
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: John 19:17–37
If you would have your faith made vivid and strong, study much the story of your Saviour’s death. ‘Take it: read it’, said the voice to Augustine. So say I. Take the four evangelists; take the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah; take the twenty-second psalm; take all other parts of Scripture that relate to our suffering Substitute, and read them by day and night, till you familiarize yourself with the whole story of his griefs and sin-bearing. Keep your mind intently fixed upon it, not sometimes but continually. The cross is light. You shall see it by its own light.
The study of the narrative, if you ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you, will beget faith in you, and by its means you will be very greatly helped, till at last you will say, ‘I cannot doubt. The truth of the atonement is impressed upon my memory, heart and understanding. The record has convinced me.’ If this suffice not, frequently contemplate the sufferings of Jesus. When you have read the story, sit down and try to picture it. Let your mind conceive it as passing before you. Put yourself into the position of the apostles who saw him die. No employment will so greatly strengthen faith, and certainly none will be more enjoyable!
‘Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, which before the cross I spend,
Life and health and peace possessing from the sinner’s dying Friend.’
An hour would be grandly spent if occupied in turning over each little detail, item and incident in the marvellous death by which you are redeemed from death and hell. You will be surprised to find how this familiarizing of yourself with it, by the help of the Holy Spirit, will make it as vivid to you as if you saw it.
FOR MEDITATION: (Our Own Hymn Book no.282 v.1—Isaac Watts, 1709)
‘When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.’
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 346.
1 DECEMBER (PREACHED 2 DECEMBER 1877)
The evidence of our Lord’s wounds
‘Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.’ John 20:27
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: John 19:17–37
If you would have your faith made vivid and strong, study much the story of your Saviour’s death. ‘Take it: read it’, said the voice to Augustine. So say I. Take the four evangelists; take the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah; take the twenty-second psalm; take all other parts of Scripture that relate to our suffering Substitute, and read them by day and night, till you familiarize yourself with the whole story of his griefs and sin-bearing. Keep your mind intently fixed upon it, not sometimes but continually. The cross is light. You shall see it by its own light.
The study of the narrative, if you ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you, will beget faith in you, and by its means you will be very greatly helped, till at last you will say, ‘I cannot doubt. The truth of the atonement is impressed upon my memory, heart and understanding. The record has convinced me.’ If this suffice not, frequently contemplate the sufferings of Jesus. When you have read the story, sit down and try to picture it. Let your mind conceive it as passing before you. Put yourself into the position of the apostles who saw him die. No employment will so greatly strengthen faith, and certainly none will be more enjoyable!
‘Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, which before the cross I spend,
Life and health and peace possessing from the sinner’s dying Friend.’
An hour would be grandly spent if occupied in turning over each little detail, item and incident in the marvellous death by which you are redeemed from death and hell. You will be surprised to find how this familiarizing of yourself with it, by the help of the Holy Spirit, will make it as vivid to you as if you saw it.
FOR MEDITATION: (Our Own Hymn Book no.282 v.1—Isaac Watts, 1709)
‘When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.’
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 346.
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