The Christ of
Experience
In the fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians, that resurrection classic, Paul declares the Gospel. It was the Gospel which he preached, which they had believed, wherein they stood and whereby they were saved. He presents The Christ of History, ''Christ died''; The Christ of Doctrine, ''Christ died for our sins''; The Christ of the Scriptures, ''According to the Scriptures.''
Then he sets forth The Christ of Experience. First, The Experience of Others: Christ was seen after His resurrection by Cephas, by the twelve, by above five hundred, by James, and all the apostles. Finally, he declares The Christ of His Own Experience: ''He was seen of me also.''
It is possible to know Christ as a fact of history and doctrine and Scripture, as a fact in the experience of others, but not as a reality in one's own life. Our Lord Himself said that some would come to Him one day having prophesied and cast out demons and done many wonderful works in His Name only to hear Him say, ''I never knew you.''
Thank God for The Christ of History: Christ came, Christ lived, Christ taught, Christ died, Christ rose. That is the historic faith. A popular writer of some
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years ago said he would be a Christian even it it were proven that Jesus never lived. But most of us would find no satisfaction in a mere Christ of tradition, of imagination and fiction. There is a fad today for reading popular novels about Jesus the Galilean teacher, then trying to pull up oneself by the bootstraps to emulate His example, but the true believer rejoices in fact, not in fancy—the Christ of history.
Thank God for The Christ of Doctrine. Christ died for our sins and rose for our justification. But one may come as close to Him as doctrine and still miss Him. Jesus said to Martha, ''I am the resurrection and the life.'' Martha believed in the resurrection as a doctrine, but Jesus would have her see, not a doctrine, but a Person. Much of our fundamentalism needs to move from the doctrinal to the personal and warm its heart in His love. The church at Ephesus was orthodox enough and went after false doctrine with a vengeance. Jesus commended their fidelity to the faith, but, for all that, they had left their first love. They were hot about the doctrinal but cold about the personal!
Thank God for The Christ of the Scriptures. How He warmed the hearts of the Emmaus disciples as He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself! But He said, ''Ye search the Scriptures. . . And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.'' One may come as close as the Scriptures and miss Him! The Scriptures indeed present Him, and faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. But Christ is also the key to the Scriptures. Studying the Bible without personal love for Him may be as dry as dust.
Thank God for the Christ of other people's experience,
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not only of Cephas and the twelve and the five hundred who saw Him after He rose, but also of the witnesses through the centuries who have not seen but yet have believed, and, though now they see Him not, yet believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
But it is possible to know Christ as a fact in history and doctrine and the Scriptures and the experience of others and yet not be able to say, ''He was seen of me.'' It was said of Thomas Chalmers that he had ''an original experience of Jesus Christ.'' Paul's desire was, ''that I may know him.'' He wanted no second-hand, by proxy faith, he couldn't live on the experience of Peter or of the twelve or the five hundred.
One thinks of Thomas as ''more sinned against than sinning.'' He heard the experience of others: ''We have seen the Lord.'' But he said, ''Except I shall see. . .'' He wanted an experience of his own. Our Lord said to him, ''Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.'' That's where you and I come in! And it reminds us of that other verse, ''Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.'' We walk by faith not by sight.
The early Christians had seen Jesus, but they did not live on memories. There came a day when they saw Him not, but they went on believing. Eye experience had given way to heart experience.
When Philip witnessed to Nathanael, he said, ''We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write.'' ''We have found him''—that is experience. ''Of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write''—that is Scripture. Then he invited
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Nathanael to know the Christ of Scripture and experience for himself: ''Come and see.''
Andrew said to Peter, ''We have found the Messiah.'' Philip said to Nathanael, ''We have found him.'' The disciples said to Thomas, ''We have seen the Lord.'' Some are saying that our greatest need today is more apologists to defend the truth and make a good case for the Christ of history, doctrine and the Scriptures. But we are awfully short on apostles who have seen the Lord and out of a warm heart know how to tell others.
We make a lot of other people's experience and often try to live on the momentum of the past. We commemorate Wesley and Finney and Moody, but, alas, we do not duplicate. Elisha did not ask, ''Where is Elijah?'' There is no use asking, ''What would Moody do today?'' We are not to go around like Saul, trying to resurrect dead Samuels. Nor need we ask, ''Where are the days of Elijah?'' Sighing for the good old days is wasted time. The Lord God of Elijah lives, and Jesus is a present reality. He is not a memory like the fragrance of faded roses. He lives today.
After we have presented the Christ of history, of doctrine, of the Scriptures, and of the experience of others, let us be sure that we can add, ''And He was seen of me.''
It takes time to know Christ intimately. He has no favorites, but He does have intimates. It is easier to read history, doctrine, the Scriptures, the experiences of others, than to cultivate a deep fellowship ourselves. The mood of the age is against it and does not lend itself to the pursuit of an original experience of Jesus Christ. In our churches we are out to win banners and raise quotas, not to know God!
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We are busy these days with union and unification, trying to get the saints together, but what is needed is unity, and that we find only in heart-fellowship with Jesus Christ. Tuning one piano to another is a tedious procedure, but tune each to the pitch of the tuning fork, and when they are in tune with that they will be in tune with each other. Attuned to Christ we have harmony with each other.
In our text Paul is setting forth the Gospel, and, strictly speaking, the Gospel is not that Christ came, lived and taught, but that He died, was buried and rose again. One may believe that He came and lived and taught, but if he does not believe that Christ died for our sins and rose for our justification, he is still in his sins and his faith is vain. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ are facts of history, of doctrine and of Scripture. But they may also be facts of actual, personal experience: ''We are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.'' We may know Him and the power of His resurrection. It is not imagination or mere inspiration, it is identification!
There is an imitation Christianity that talks of the quest of the historic Christ. It says little of either doctrine or the Scriptures, for it has little use for either. It never faces the heart of the matter, that Christ came, not just to live and teach, but to die for our sins and rise for our justification. That is the Gospel! Paul said, ''Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel,'' and he not only meant, ''Woe is unto me if I do not preach it, but ''Woe is unto me if I preach anything else!''
The Gospel is verifiable not only in history, doctrine,
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the Scriptures and the experience of others. You can prove it for yourself. You don't have to stop with the testimony of Andrew or Philip. ''Come and see'' for yourself, and you will say, like the Samaritans of old, ''Now we believe, not because of thy sayings: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.''
