PRESSING QUESTIONS OF AN AWAKENED MIND – Charles Spurgeon

Pressing Questions of an Awakened Mind

“Who are You, Lord?…What will You have me to do?” Acts 9:5, 6.

Introduction: A Turning Point in Saul’s Life

Paul fell to the ground, overcome by the brightness of the light which outshone the midday sun, and as he lay there, he cried, “Who are You, Lord?” After receiving an answer to his first question, he humbly asked another, “Lord, what will You have me to do?” This morning, I spent all my strength, and I scarcely have any remaining for this evening, but the subject was well worthy of the greatest exhaustion. I tried to show that we must receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children, or else we could not in any way enter into it. I wanted, if I could, to add a sort of practical tailpiece to that subject—something that would enable me to more fully explain the childlike spirit which comes at conversion and which is absolutely necessary as one of the first marks and consequences of the work of the Spirit of God upon the heart. I cannot find a better illustration of the childlike spirit than this which is now before us. Paul was a great man, and on the way to Damascus, I have no doubt he rode a very high horse. He verily thought that he was doing God’s service. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees and had a very high estimate of his own character, and now that he had letters from the High Priest upon his person, he felt himself to be armed with great power and to be no mean man. He would let those poor Christians in Damascus know! He would worry them out of their fanaticism. He would take care to let them see that Saul of Tarsus was greater than Jesus of Nazareth. But a few seconds sufficed for the Lord to alter the man! How soon He brought Paul down! The manifestation of Jesus Christ, Himself, from Heaven soon subdued the great man into a little child, for the two questions which are now before us are exceedingly childlike. He enquires with sacred curiosity, “Who are You, Lord?” and then he surrenders at discretion, crying, “What will You have me to do?” He seems to cry, “I give up my weapons! I submit, receiving the kingdom of God as a little child to be Your servant! I only ask to be taught what I am to do, and I am ready to do it. You have conquered me. Behold, at Your feet I lie—only raise me up and give me something to do in Your service, for I will gladly undertake it.” To this spirit, we must all come if we are to be saved! We must come to think of Jesus so as to desire to know Him. And then we must reverence Jesus so as to be willing to obey His will in all things. Upon these two points, I am going to speak with a measure of brevity tonight. Our first object of thought will be the earnest enquirer seeking to know his Lord. The second will be the obedient disciple requesting directions.

I. An Earnest Enquirer After the Knowledge of Christ

First, then, if any one of us would be saved, he must be brought, by Divine Grace, to be AN EARNEST ENQUIRER AFTER THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST. He must ask the question, “Who are You, Lord?” Notice that he is willing to be taught. He lies there with the Christ above him, and he asks Him a question. He is not only willing to learn, but he is eager to be taught. “Who are You, Lord?” is the utterance of his inmost soul. He wants to know. And do not you want to know, my Hearer? There is but one name given under Heaven whereby you must be saved! Do you not wish to know something about Him whose name it is? Are you indifferent to your soul’s affairs, careless about what shall become of your immortal soul? Did Jesus die, and is it nothing to you? Do you pass by His Cross as though it were the market cross of a village? Do you hear of His death as though it were some commonplace event in history to be once read and then forgotten? I pray it may not be so with you. But since you must either be lost or saved eternally, come and ask with deep anxiety, “Who are You, Lord? Who are You by whom I am to be saved? What right—what power have You to save? What claim have You upon my faith? Oh, tell me, for I long to know.” Lack of thought ruins half of mankind! If men were but anxious to understand the Truth of God, they would soon learn it and receive it. If like the Bereans they would search the Scriptures to find the Truth, or if like Lydia their hearts were opened to receive it, they would soon know the Lord! Like Paul, we must be willing to learn. And next, observe the subject that he wished to be instructed upon. “Who are You, Lord?” You have heard that Christ is the Savior—let your ambition be to know all about Him. I will tell you one thing—saints on earth and even saints in Heaven are always wanting to have this question more fully answered to them—“Who are You, Lord?” Those who know Him best will tell you that there is a something about Him which still surpasses all their knowledge! And I suppose that even when we see Him face to face, there will remain a mystery in His matchless love and a depth unsearchable in His Divine Person into which even then we shall not be able to dive. “Who are You, Lord?” may well be the question of a soul that is seeking salvation, since it is still the question of those who have found it. “Who are You, Lord?” What is Your Person? What is Your Nature? How is it that You are able to save? Learn well that He is Divine, yet human—the Son of Mary and yet the Son of God. He is Man, your Brother, touched with the feeling of your infirmities, yet He is God eternal, infinite, full of all power and majesty, assuredly Divine! Learn this if you would be saved and regard the Lord Jesus as God over all, blessed forever, yet clothed in the form of a Servant and made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Learn that. “Who are You, Lord?” What are Your offices? If my eyes could see You I would ask You, what titles do You bear? What offices do You sustain? He is a Prophet—you must be instructed by Him and believe His teaching. He is a Priest—you must be washed by His blood and He must offer sacrifice for you, no, rather, He has offered it and you must accept it as being for you and on your behalf! He is a King, too, and if you will be saved by Him, you must let Him govern you. You must yield yourself to Him and be His subject and take up His Cross and bear His easy yoke which is no burden to the neck. Prophet, Priest, King, and a thousand other offices does He sustain! Ask, you craving sinner, ask, “Who are You, Lord?” till you shall discover something about Him that exactly suits you and then your faith shall light upon it and your heart shall cry, “He is all my salvation and all my desire!” “Who are You, Lord?” It is a question you may ask about His relationships. Who is He? The Son of the Highest and yet the Brother of the lowest! Who is He? King of angels and King of kings and yet the Friend of sinners and the Helper of the humblest that will come to Him! He stands as the Head over all things to the Church—He is His Church’s Husband and the world’s Ruler—Master of Providence, Sovereign of Heaven, Conqueror of Hell itself! All power is in His hands. The Father has committed it unto Him and now He stands in such relationship to us that if we believe in Him, He gives us eternal life and guards us from all ill, for He has said, “I give unto My sheep eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hands.” O beloved Hearer, if you would be saved, study deeply that question, “Who are You, Lord?” and be not satisfied till you know Christ and are known of Him—till there is a mutual knowledge between you and Himself—for it is only so that you can be saved. An unknown Christ is no Christ to you! A Savior whom you do not know is a Savior who will not know you in the day of His appearing! “Who are You, Lord?”

II. The Obedient Disciple Requesting Direction

Now, that question, as I have said, concerning Christ should be asked by all of us, but it is not at all a speculative question. It is a question of the utmost practical importance to every man, woman, and child, and in proportion as a man knows the answer to that question, he will receive its practical result. Listen and understand this. “Who are You, Lord?” What will be the first result of having this question answered? Why, when Paul knew that He whose face had shone upon Him brighter than the sun was Jesus of Nazareth, He was seized with the deepest possible contrition. “What?” he seemed to say, “Have I persecuted the Lord? When I was hunting down those poor people, was I hunting down the Messiah? Was I fighting against the Christ of God?” He had not known that before, but when he knew who the Lord was, then his heart was broken within him with a deep sense of sin. Now, come here, some of you! You have been living for years refusing true religion and despising it, but have you ever thought that you were refusing Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and despising the Beloved of God who condescended to come into the world to suffer for love’s sake? When they put Jesus to death He was, as our sweet poet puts it—“Found guilty of excess of love.” It was all that could be laid to His dear charge and for excess of love He died. And you have refused Him! You have now, these 20 years and more, refused that thorn-crowned head, that brow so marred, those wounded hands, that gashed and wounded side! You have refused the matchless Savior without whom you are undone forever! Have you known this? Have you done it willfully? I hope you can reply, “But I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” Therefore He winks at your ill manners and He bids you, now, come to Him and He will gladly receive you! He will in no wise cast you out!

III. The Importance of Immediate Obedience to Christ

To know Christ, then, is a practical knowledge, because it leads to repentance. When Christ is unknown, we can go on refusing and even persecuting Him. But when we clearly perceive that it is the Son of God and the bleeding Lamb whom we have refused and persecuted, then our hearts melt—we beg His forgiveness and cast ourselves at His feet. A second practical result is that then our hope is encouraged, for though Paul, at the sight of the Lord Jesus must have been full of bitter anguish, it was by that same sight that he was afterward cheered and comforted. What? Are You in Heaven brighter than the sun? Are You the Man of Nazareth whom I have persecuted? Are You He who was rejected and despised? O You bright and shining One, are You that same Christ to whom the publicans and harlots drew near? Are You He who came to seek and to save that which was lost? Are You exalted on high to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins? Then there is hope for me! It is the sinner’s Christ that is in Heaven, the same that took the little children and said, “Suffer them to come to Me.” Oh, then, I will trust Him! I feel I may, I can, I must! I yield myself to Him because I now know Him. I did not before. How practical is this knowledge! And it had another effect upon Paul. It led him to complete submission. He said, “Is this Christ whom I have rejected, Lord of All? Then it is, indeed, hard for me to kick against the pricks. I will not do so any longer. Resist Him? That I dare not do! If all power is in His hands, then to oppose Him is as hopeless as it is wicked! Behold, I surrender at discretion. O Lord Jesus, be my king. Accept me as Your subject. I oppose You no longer!”

IV. A Call to Obedient Service

How I wish that Jesus would make some here know Him who have never known Him before—that they may at this very hour yield to Him because if once they knew Him it would fire them with ardor in His service! There was never a man yet that did really know Christ whom Christ did not fill with an inward flame so that he felt he could live or die for Him! Some human military leaders have had such extraordinary influence over their soldiers that they have commanded and have been cheerfully obeyed, even at the cost of life. The Christ of God has a superlative power over all hearts that know Him. See how Paul felt His influence and scoured the world to win Christ’s lost ones! Perils of robbers; perils of rivers—the deep sea itself; scourging, stoning—all these were nothing to the Apostle from the day when he knew Christ! He had been exceedingly hot against Him, but now he burns and blazes with zeal for Christ. And so will it be with all who know Jesus! Right practical, then, is the question, “Who are You, Lord?” Oh that the Spirit of God would lead everyone to ask that question for himself!

Charles Spurgeon