Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

by John Brown

May not this be a strong motive to induce strangers to give up themselves to him, who will sweetly take occasion, at their failings and shortcomings, to help them forward in the way? And what excuse can they have who sit the call of the gospel, and say, in effect, they will not go to Christ because their case is not good. And O that believers were not sometimes led away with this error of scaring at Christ, because of infirmities seen and discovered!

V. It is remarkable, that, as the disciples did ofttimes vent much of their carnal conceptions of the kingdom of Christ, as apprehending it to be some carnal, outward, pompous, stately, and, upon that account, desirable condition; so there might be much of this carnal apprehension lurking under this acknowledgment and question of Thomas; and the Lord, who knew their thoughts, doth here wisely draw them off those notions, and sets them about another study, to tell us, that it is best and most useful and profitable for us, to be much taken up in the study and search of necessary fundamental truths, and, particularly, of the way to the Father. For, 1. Here is the substantial food of the soul; other notions are but vain, and oftentimes they make the case of the soul worse; but the study of this is always edifying. 2. The right understanding of this and other fundamental truths will not puff up, but keep the soul humble, and will make the soul active and diligent in duty. 3. The fruit of this study is profitable and lasting. 4. And the right uptaking of these truths will discover the vanity of other sciences, falsely so called, and the folly of spending our time about other things. 5. The right understanding of this fundamental will help us to understand other truths the better. 6. A mistake in this, and such like fundamentals, or the ignorance of them, is more dangerous than the ignorance of or mistake in other things.

Oh! if this were teaching us all, in humility, to be much in the study of such fundamental necessary truths as this is; and to guard against a piece of vanity in affecting knowledge, the effect of which is nothing but a puffing of us up with pride and conceit!

VI. We may here take notice of what may serve to discover Thomas his mistake, and what is the ground of Christ's assertion, verse 4, which Thomas doth little less than contradict, verse 5, viz. that such as had any acquaintance with Christ did, according to the measure of their knowledge of him, both know heaven and the way to it; whence we see these truths,

1. Persons may have some real acquaintance with Christ, and yet be, for a time, very indistinct in their notions about him, and apprehensions of him. They may know Christ in some measure, and yet look upon themselves as great strangers to the knowledge of heaven, and be oft complaining of their ignorance of the right way to heaven.

2. Where there is the least measure of true acquaintance with Christ, with love to him, and a desire to know more of him, Christ will take notice thereof, though it be covered over with a heap of mistakes, and accompanied with much ignorance, weakness, and indistinctness. He seeth not as man seeth, which is good news to some that are weak in knowledge, and unable to give any good account of any knowledge they have; yet one thing they can say, that he who knoweth all things, knoweth that they love him.

3. Various are the dispensations of God's grace unto his own. To some he giveth a greater, to others a lesser measure of knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; and to one and the same person, more at one time than at another. Various are his manifestations and out-lettings of grace and love. Small beginnings may come to much at length. Thomas, and the rest of the disciples, had but little clear and distinct apprehensions of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ; and yet, ere all was done, they attained to such a measure of understanding in the mysteries of God, as that we are said to be "built upon the foundation of the apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone," Eph. ii. 20. This should teach the best much sobriety, and not to judge of all by themselves; or to think, that God's way with them must be a standard or a rule whereby to judge of all the rest; as if his way of dealing were one and the same with all.

4. The knowledge of Christ is all. Know him, and we know heaven and the way to it; for upon this ground doth Christ make good what he said, touching their knowing whither he went, and the way; and answereth the objection that Thomas did propose, viz. because he was the way, &c., and they being acquaint with him, (which here is presupposed,) were not ignorant of the place whither he was going, nor of the way leading thither. The knowledge then of Jesus Christ is a true and full compend of all saving knowledge. Hence it "is life eternal to know him," John xvii. 3. "They that know him, know the Father," John xiv. 9. and viii. 19. "They that see him, see the Father also," John xiv. 9. "He is in the Father, and the Father in him," John xiv. 10, 11. and x. 38. and xvii. 21. And so knowing him they know heaven; for what is heaven else but the presence and glorious manifestations of the Father; for when Christ speaks of his going to heaven, he saith, "He was going to the Father." So knowing him, they know the way, both how Christ was to go to heaven as our cautioner, head, and attorney, and how we must follow.

Let then a man have never so much knowledge, and be acquainted with the mysteries of all arts and sciences, and with the depths of nature, and intrigues of states, and all the theory of religion; if he be unacquainted with Jesus, he knoweth nothing as he ought to know.

And upon the other hand, let a poor soul that is honest, and hath some knowledge of, and acquaintance with him, be satisfied, though it cannot discourse nor dispute, nor speak to cases of conscience, as some others; if we know him, it matters not though we be ignorant of many things, and thereby become less esteemed of by others. Here is the true test, by which we may take a right estimate of our own, or of others' knowledge. The true rule to try knowledge by, is not fine notions, clear and distinct expressions, but heart-acquaintance with him; "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3.