You must have noticed some great and memorable sayings in
the New Testament which were spoken unwittingly.
'This man receiveth
sinners' (Luke 15:2); 'It is expedient that one man should die for the people'
(John 11:50); 'He saved others, Himself He cannot save' (Matt. 27:42); 'This is
the King of the Jews' (Luke 23:38).
So here we have a saying of a
Samaritan woman, and a very important saying. They expected a Prophet (Deut.
18:5); for they did not acknowledge these passages in Isaiah, etc., where
Messiah is depicted as suffering and dying.
We this day have been thinking
of His office as Priest, and of His Sacrifice, and often we think of Him as
King and Giver of gifts. But let us at present think of Him as Prophet, and
take up the woman's true saying,—only let us apply it to His Second Coming
to-day, and let us see how Christ will then 'execute His office as Prophet.'
He will come in glory; we shall be with Him in His Kingdom.
New Jerusalem is described as at once a City and a Paradise. We shall have many
walks with Him, for He 'shall dwell among them;' and then it is we shall find
John 13:7 and 11:40 fully fulfilled. He will open out the meaning of
providences that seemed dark, personal, and public. 'He will tell us all things
about Himself.' It will be as when on the Transfiguration hill they 'talked
with Him,' and as Moses when up in the Mount for forty days and forty nights.
Christ is the Prophet who 'by His Word and Spirit' reveals God's will. In
that day we shall know the Word in all its meaning. He will open out to us its
darkest places. He will explain to us Ezekiel's Temple, the genealogies of 1
Chron. etc., and show us the divine purpose in all. He will show us 'the
mystery of God finished,' and as, in 2 Pet. 1:19, the 'Word of prophecy' was to
be 'till the Daystar rise,' so now He Himself shall be our Bible.
O
then, even because of this hope, hasten on to that day! He will clear up all
difficulties about texts, doctrines, trying providences in our lot, and we
shall say like Job (42:3), 'I have opened my mouth without knowledge. I have
uttered . . . . things too wonderful for me.'
Hasten on, for even this Feast we keep to-day with elements
of bread and wine only till the better come, namely Himself. So we study
the Word and Ordinances and are changed thereby (2 Cor. 3:18) only till He
Himself come, when at once (1 John 3:2) 'we shall be like Him.'
On that
day shall Isa.29:18 be accomplished: 'The deaf shall hear the words of the
book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity,' for the fulness of
the Holy Ghost shall be in us from Him.
Hasten on, for then will (Rev. 7:17) these 'fountains of living waters' be ours; discoveries of God's name and heart; verses like John 3:16 shall be opened up to us. There is much in Rev. 3:12 to excite expectation.
Hasten on. The day is near. Keep in mind the signs of the times: the ending of the twelve hundred and sixty days at hand, 'distress of nations with perplexity,' the three unclean spirits, the running to and fro of many, knowledge increased, the Gospel preached to all nations. The time of the end is near.
O workers,—elders, teachers, missionaries,—He will tell you the fruit of your labours then, though now you often say, 'I have laboured in vain.'
O sinner, quickly come to Him, whose death we have shown
to-day. There is 'no salvation' otherwise. He will receive you, and your soul
will be enlarged and taught by our Prophet in the 'ages to come.' If you do
not, you will be degraded in the scale of being when your former friends are
above angels; all because you would not take the key that opens the door,
Christ Himself. 'If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.'
Satan's great aim is to blind you to this till it is too late.
Transcribed from Reminiscences of Andrew A.Bonar D.D.
first published
LONDON, HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
27 Paternoster
Row
1895
HTML transcription files copyright © 2001-2006.
Jane Newble
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This sermon added 16 July 2001