“I want to know the man who thus gave himself for me.”
Christ is precious. And, as Charles Spurgeon said, knowing Christ “is the desire of the one who has been saved.” In Spurgeon’s view, the knowledge of Christ was the great “object” for which the Apostle Paul sacrificed “country, kindred, honour, comfort, liberty,” and ultimately, “life.” Since Christians had been delivered from the burning flood by the flowing blood of Christ, Spurgeon thought that “a desire to know your deliverer” was to be expected. Speaking from his own experience he starkly stated “I must know him; I cannot live without knowing him.” This was because the “goodness” of Christ made Spurgeon “thirst,” “pant,” “faint,” and even “die,” from longing to know “Him.”
In the first section of his sermon, Spurgeon exhorted his congregation to observe, but “pass by that crow of outer-court worshippers who are content to live without knowing Christ.”
Here Spurgeon spoke of “believers,” “visible saints,” who nonetheless were “strangers to this panting to know him.” He first addressed those who were “content to know Christ’s historic life,” those “charmed” by history, who may “know all the incidents of his life,” and yet, “they do not know Him.” They knew the “life of Christ” but not the “Christ of life.” They admired Jesus’s way but did not see him “as the way.”
However, there were others who loved “Christ’s doctrine,” and yet, “they know not Him.” They might “burn at Smithfield” for the sake of orthodoxy, but seemed empty of desire to know Christ. Others still were “delighted with Christ’s example.” In their esteem Christ’s character was perfect, and while they might emulate ethical perfection there was a lack of personal affection. However, Spurgeon said that “I love his precepts, but I love Him more.” Just as “as the source is ever more valuable than the stream,” so too “is Christ ever better” than his best words or deeds.
Finally, there were some of a different kind who rested at ease knowing “Christ’s sacrifice” but could still press in deeper to “know Him” more. Of this group Spurgeon affirmed that, “By faith they know that all their sin is taken away by precious blood,” but also cautioned them against “second-hand spirituality,” a “rotten soul-deceiving deception.”
In the second section of his sermon, Spurgeon called his congregation to “Draw curtain after curtain which shall admit us to know more of Christ.” Here Spurgeon noted that while there are many ways of “knowing a person,” so too there are “different ways of knowing Christ.”
First, Spurgeon said, that “We know a person when we recognize him.” Second, the Christian could know Christ in a “higher degree” by “practical experimental acquaintance with all the he does.” Further still, personal knowledge of Christ could grow through prayer, that is, by being on “speaking terms with him.”
In the third section of his sermon, Spurgeon invited his congregation to “Sit down a few minutes and consider what sort of knowledge this knowledge of Christ is.” First, such knowledge had to be “affectionate” as Spurgeon asserted “I must love him.” Second, Spurgeon believed that this would be a “satisfying knowledge.” When the mind is full of Christ it will be “full to the brim.”
At the same time, such knowledge would be “exciting.” The more one knew of Christ the more one would “want to know.” Such knowledge was also “happy,” inasmuch as it could “bear me up above all trials, and doubts, and sorrows.” Indeed, according to Spurgeon knowing Christ was “refreshing” and “sanctifying.” Such a knowledge of Jesus caused Spurgeon to cry, “Oh! it is Christ, it is Christ who cures all.” Even though one may have the heart of an “iceberg,” when Jesus came it would “flame like Vesuvius.”
In his fourth and final section, Spurgeon exhorted his congregation to take this desire and “make it your own.” Here the Apostle Paul was a helpful example. If he would “renounce all” then the reward must be “worthy of sacrifice.” Such a “sight of Christ” showed sin’s “true colours,” produced repentance, and would “keep you from despondency, and doubts, and despair.” Indeed, Spurgeon’s final command was simple but profound: know Christ, look to Christ, and savour Christ.
Why you should take up and read:
Do you know “Him?” If so, how well do you know “Him?” These were the questions which drove Spurgeon’s impassioned preaching. In this sermon Spurgeon draws attention to the urgent need to both know Christ as saviour, but also to grow in knowing Christ more intimately afterwards. For those seeking to know Jesus Christ please take up and read.
Here is the link to the Sermon of the Week: https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/do-you-know-him#flipbook/
Phillip Ort serves at the Director of The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City where he is also pursuing a Master of Divinity degree.
