Jesus Christ, The Object Of Faith, Of Love, And Joy

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

(1 Peter 1:8 ESV)

Our text this morning, in this sermon by George Burder, is 1 Peter 1:8: Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

The title of the sermon is: Jesus Christ, The Object Of Faith, Of Love, And Joy.

It is a great thing to be a Christian! So thought the apostles, who, writing to the churches, always congratulate them on their having become Christians, and on the privileges to which, as such, they are entitled. "Blessed be God," said holy Peter, "according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!"(1 Peter 1:3) and having mentioned their faith and hope in him, commends these graces the more, because they had not enjoyed, as many others had, the advantage of seeing Christ in the flesh; for they did not dwell in Judea, but in various distant countries; yet, though they never saw his person, they loved him, and rejoiced in him, having first believed in him, to the saving of their souls.

That which was the character of these primitive believers, is also the character of all true Christians, in every place, and in every age of the world. And so, let us now contemplate how,

Jesus Christ, though at present invisible, is the object of the Christian's faith, and love, and joy.

I. Jesus Christ, though at present unseen, is the object of the Christian's faith.

We must take faith as the first in order; for the apostle accounts for their loving him, and for their rejoicing in him, by their having first believed in him.

Jesus Christ is now unseen by us. He was once seen on earth; and seen by very different eyes: by some he was seen with delight others beheld him with indifference or contempt---they "saw no beauty in him that they should desire him;"(Isaiah 53:2) indeed, they turned away their faces from him(Isaiah 53:3) with hatred and disgust. A happy few, however, beheld "his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."(John 1:14) Indeed, so taken with the sight was the pious and aged prophet Simeon, that when once he had clasped the holy infant Jesus in his arms, he wished to see no other object, but exclaimed, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word."(Luke 2:29)

To have seen Christ in the flesh, some have thought, would have been the highest of all gratifications; but the sight would have both its advantages and disadvantages. Doubtless, there was something inexpressibly charming in his public discourses and private instructions. Grace flowed from his lips; his hearers wondered at the gracious words which dropped from them; and even his adversaries admitted that never man spoke like him.(John 7:46) Doubtless, there must have been something surprisingly grand and moving in the performance of his miracles. How must the spectators have been affected when they saw him cast out demons, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and life to a dead corpse. How striking, how convincing, how astonishing must these spectacles have been!

And yet many of those who saw Christ in the flesh, were subject to some disadvantages too. The poverty and the occupation of his supposed father; his own poverty; with the poverty and meanness of his chosen associates---the apostles; the general contempt of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests and the rulers; with the ill names, and suspicions, and base imputations under which he lay, proved a dangerous stumbling block to many. Above all, when he had been betrayed by one of his disciples, denied by another, and forsaken by all---when he had been arrested and bound like a criminal, arraigned at the bar, accused of blasphemy and rebellion, condemned, scourged, spit upon, crowned with thorns, and actually crucified as a malefactor, dead and buried---how did the hearts, even of his friends, sink and fail them, and they could only sigh, and say, "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel;"(Luke 24:21) but now our hopes are buried in his grave! Such were the prejudices of some, and the fears of others, who beheld him on earth.

But faith is a thing totally distinct from sight, or the evidence of any of our senses. Believing, is giving credit to a report, or testimony, or promise, concerning what we have not seen. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."(Hebrews 11:1) And so it was, that when Christ reproved Thomas, who would not believe the testimony of credible witnesses concerning his resurrection, until he had personally seen him, he said, "Thomas---have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed!"(John 20:29)

Perhaps Peter, in our text, alludes to that saying of Christ. The persons to whom he wrote this epistle were "exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia;"(1 Peter 1:1) consequently they could not have seen Jesus in the flesh, who confined his travels to the Holy Land, and his ministry to the children of Israel; he therefore commends their faith, for they had believed in him, without seeing him.

In like manner, we must believe in him; we must believe on the testimony of God in the Gospel---"there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree;" and this is the substance of the Divine testimony---that "God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."(1 John 5:7, 11) Now this testimony is received, and credited as divinely true; and thus, "whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true."(John 3:33) He believes that eternal life may be obtained, even by miserable sinners, through the atonement of the Son of God; and he believes the promise, that whosoever comes to God, by him, will be accepted; and therefore holds on to a humble hope and expectation that he will be "saved from wrath,"(Romans 5:9) and "reign in life, through Jesus Christ."(Romans 5:17)

With this blessed hope in Jesus, will he not feel his obligations to the Savior? Will he not say---Indeed, "he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend!"(Song of Solomon 5:16) Yes; this is the genuine language of every believer. And this leads us to the second head of our discourse, which is, that,

II. Jesus Christ is the Object of the Christian's Love.

The apostle notices it, in our text, as something somewhat remarkable, that a unseen person should thus be loved; for in the usual course of human affairs, love is excited, or promoted, by a sight of its subject. To love an unseen person is, therefore, more remarkable than to believe in a unseen person; for faith supposes the absence of the thing, or person, concerning whom the testimony is made. But Jesus Christ, of whom we speak, is beloved, though absent, on the testimony of the Holy Spirit, in and by the word; by which word, he is "publicly portrayed as crucified"(Galatians 3:1) (as the apostle speaks to the believing Galatians:) he is exhibited, not before the eyes of our bodies, but those of our mind. He is "put forward," by God himself, as "a propitiation by his blood."(Romans 3:25)

Few, comparatively, of those who saw our Lord on earth, loved him, or recognized his amiable character. A few, however, there were, who, like the family of Lazarus and his pious sisters, thought it their honor to receive him into their houses; while some pious women also supported him in material things; and others, having had much forgiven them, loved him much.(Luke 7:47) And consider, could the great number who had been blind, and deaf, and dumb, and paralytic, and feverish, and possessed, and who had received from his hands a sudden, perfect, and free cure, surrounded him at the same moment, how would they jointly have testified their gratitude and their love!

A few tenderhearted persons sympathized with him under his sufferings, and beat their breasts, in agonies of grief and sorrow:---but, sadly! the greater part of the Jewish people despised and hated him, and "threw him out of the vineyard."(Luke 20:15) Unhappy nation! Their posterity approve their sayings, and the modern Jews reject and hate him to this day.

Nevertheless, it is the universal, the never-failing character of genuine Christians---that they "love the Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible;"(Ephesians 6:24) and an inspired apostle could say---"If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed."(1 Corinthians 16:22) And is it not with very good reason that believers love him? Can they not give as good a reason for their love to him, as for their hope in him? Let us recall to mind:

1. The Divine Perfections that he possesses, blended with all the mild and gentle properties of humanity, in its most perfect state. He is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature;"(Hebrews 1:3) and "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily."(Colossians 2:9) He is "the Almighty;"(Revelation 1:8) "all authority in heaven and on earth"(Matthew 28:18) is in his hands; "he is Head over all things;"(Ephesians 1:22) "principalities and powers"(Colossians 2:15) are all subjected to him. He possesses infinite wisdom---"all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."(Colossians 2:3) The whole creation is the work of his hands, and every part of it displays to our admiring eyes wonders of skill and design, which proclaim the infinite understanding of their Maker.

Behold also his unspotted purity and holiness: "He knew no sin;"(2 Corinthians 5:21) there was none in his nature; none in his practice. His keen-eyed enemies could find no blemish in his character; for he was "holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners."(Hebrews 7:26)

Behold his goodness; he was all goodness---goodness incarnate. "He went about doing good;"(Acts 10:38) it was his object, his business, his delight, his constant employment. What kindness did he show to the poor and needy, the sick and sorrowful! He was touched with the feeling of human infirmities; and none ever applied to him for relief and were rejected. We admire and praise the charitable man, who feeds the hungry, and clothes the naked, and releives the poor; but who, of all the sons of men, ever denied himself, as did the Lord of all? He was rich, eternally and infinitely rich; but for our sakes he became poor---a man so poor, that he had not a place where to lay his head; and this for the purpose of raising us from the dunghill, and setting us among princes.

Admire his matchless condescension, who left the brightness heaven, and humbled himself to become a man, and dwelt for more than thirty years in this moral dungeon---this sink of sin and pollution, where he "endured from sinners such hostility against himself;"(Hebrews 12:3) and where he must have been shocked every day, far more than was righteous Lot in Sodom, with the filthy deeds of the wicked; with the ignorance, the profaneness, the hypocrisy, and the hardness of heart of the Jews in that day.

2. Think of his ministerial labors; his travels on foot from village to village, and from town to town; exerting himself to be heard by congregations of many thousands at the temple, the sea-side, and on the mountains; and then exposed at midnight to the chilling air, while engaged in his devotions

3. Above all, follow him from the guest-chamber, where he kept the last Passover with his disciples, instituted the Lord's Table, and poured forth the friendship of his heart in affectionate advice and fervent prayer; follow him to the lonely garden, often the scene of his sacred rest; and behold him prostrate on the cold ground, enduring an agony of soul which no words can describe, which no heart can fully conceive; and which forced from his suffering soul, long used to sorrow and grief, but not to complaint, the mysterious cry, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!"(Matthew 26:39)

While yet covered with the blood pressed from every pore, by the terrible agony of his spirit, behold him surrounded by a band of thugs, headed by the traitor, one of his own family---seized, bound, hurried to the unjust tribunal, crowned with thorns, severely beaten, falsely accused, unjustly condemned, barbarously insulted, and at length, nailed to the cross, lifted up, and for hours suspended by his wounded hands, a spectacle to angels and to men! Behold, how he loved us!

But this is not all. Behold "the Lamb in the midst of the throne!"(Revelation 7:17) Highly exalted as he is---"King of kings, and Lord of lords,"(Revelation 19:16) he has taken a man's heart with him to Heaven! He is still the brother of our nature, "bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh!"(Genesis 2:23)

"And in his measure feels afresh

What every member bears."

And now stop, and think; and say---Is he not a proper object of our love? Does he not deserve your highest esteem---your warmest affections? Is he not "altogether desirable?"(Song of Solomon 5:16) Yes; and let us join the beloved disciple, and say with him, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood---to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."(Revelation 1:5, 6)

We now move on to the last part of our sermon, and say, that

III. Jesus Christ is the object of a believer's joy---"you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory."

Joy is a passion produced by love; it is the triumph of pleasure in the possession, or in the anticipation, of some promised good. This joy arises both from a salvation already in part received, and a salvation ready to be revealed, and to be perfectly possessed in the future.

What excites the passion of joy among unbelievers? Study that; and you will find something like it, but much superior to it, in the salvation of which we speak.

A man is just delivered from extreme and imminent danger. The ship in which he sailed was wrecked, and driven to pieces on the shore; but he escaped the threatening destruction, and is landed in safety, beyond the reach of harm. Another was asleep in his house, which was all in flames. He is alarmed; death, in the most horrible form, threatens him with instant ruin; but happily he reaches a window, and safely descends to the street. He is saved. Imagine what joy possesses his soul!

A criminal is arraigned, and charged with a capital offense. The witnesses give evidence against him. He trembles for the result. The jury retires to consider to verdict, they return to deliver it. All is attention; every eye is fixed on the foreman; and no eye so anxious as that of the prisoner. The welcome sound---"Not guilty," salutes his ear---Who can describe his joy?

Another prisoner is declared to be guilty. He is shut up in his lonely cell; the death-warrant is signed, and the fatal morning approaches. It is come. The prison guards arrive; and the dreadful sentence is about to be executed. But, just at the awful moment, an unexpected buzz is heard; the agitation increases; and behold! "a pardon! a pardon !" is announced---Imagine what would be the prisoner's joy!

Or, to refer to a case closer to home. Let us state it in the words of the psalmist. "Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."(Psalm 107:17-20) How great is their joy on the return of ease, and health, and appetite, and strength and pleasure!

These are the joys of men, even of "men of the world whose portion is in this life."(Psalm 17:14) Far greater, surely, are the joys of the redeemed. They are delivered from going down to an eternal hell; they are as brands plucked out of the fire; they are justified, freely, and fully, by the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them: and blessed indeed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered! and against whom "the Lord counts no iniquity."(Psalms 32:1) Jesus Christ has preached deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who were bound. The great Physician has healed all their diseases, and soon he will introduce them into that happier place, were no inhabitant will ever say, I am sick.

These are the joys which are called "inexpressible and filled with glory." No words can describe them: no language can express them; they are too great, too glorious to be described; they are infinite, because they are eternal. Therefore they are "filled with glory"---They relate to the future and everlasting state of complete purity, exaltation, and bliss. Indeed, "what we will be has not yet appeared;"(1 John 3:2) but it is our joy to know that we will be near and like our Savior.

In closing,

We have been contemplating a summary of real Christianity; including Faith, and Hope, and Joy. In these, unquestionably, true and genuine religion consists: and if so, it behooves each one to seriously consider---Do I have this Faith? Do I have this Hope? Do I have this Joy? Jesus, it is true, is yet unseen; but the true Christian may say, "I rely upon him alone for salvation. I do not see him; but in my esteem he is altogether lovely. He is my beloved, and he is my friend. I do not see him, but I rejoice in him; and God forbid that I should glory in anything but him." Profoundly happy is anyone who can thus speak sincerely!

What has been said may serve to recommend religion, and counteract the prejudices of a carnal world. They tell us that religion is, at best, but a gloomy business, and strongly tends, if strictly followed, to destroy the pleasures of life, and lead to sadness. But how can this be, when I find that "the kingdom of God," into which I wish to press, is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!"(Romans 14:17)---when I learn, from this text, that the Christian is one who believes, and loves, and rejoices! I will believe the Scriptures, and the people of God, and my own experience. I will not believe the world.

The world has its joys---such as they are. I do not envy them: they are polluted; they are transient; they end in sorrow. But the joys of religion are substantial, and permanent; they are such as were promised by the prophet Isaiah, when he foretold the blessings of the Messiah's reign, "You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."(Isaiah 12:1-3)

And may we not reason like this?

If an unseen Savior is such an object and source of unutterable joy, what will that Savior be when he will be seen! He will not always be unseen. Even now, by faith we see; but it is "in a mirror dimly."(1 Corinthians 13:12) We can see the Sun of Righteousness only as we see the natural sun when we observe an eclipse, through a colored and darkened filter: our present views of Christ are weak, and transient, and partial, and imperfect; but soon, when delivered from the burden of the flesh, they will be real, substantial, immediate, direct.

At present, we could not endure such a flood of light and glory as overwhelmed the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, or John in Patmos; but our spirits will be strengthened, and freed from all the clouds that obscure them; and our mortal bodies too, having put on immortality, will clearly behold "the Lamb in the midst of the throne:"(Revelation 7:17) and then will be fulfilled the saying that is written;---"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness."(Psalm 17:15)