1 Peter 1:8

Whom having not seen, you love, etc. And Paul says: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him (I Cor. II).

By these words the apostle indicates the reason why the righteous suffer evil here, and partly consoles them by the fact that through afflictions they become more glorious, partly encourages them by the addition "at the revelation of Jesus Christ," meaning that it is precisely …

I have seen a truth in this scripture, Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.

Whom having not seen, ye love,....

(3.) Where there are true faith and love to Christ there is, or may be, joy unspeakable and full of glory. This joy is inexpressible, it cannot be described by words; the best discovery is by an experimental taste of it; it is full of glory, full of heaven.

Whom having not seen, ye love - Those to whom the apostle wrote had never seen Christ in the flesh; and yet, such is the realizing nature of faith, they loved him as strongly as any of his disciples could, to whom he was personally known. For faith in the Lord Jesus brings him into the heart; and by his indwelling all his virtues are proved, and an excellence discovered beyond even that which his disciples beheld, when conversant with him upon earth.

The "glory" is partly in present possession, through the presence of Christ, "the Lord of glory," in the soul; partly in assured anticipation. "The Christian's joy is bound up with love to Jesus: its ground is faith; it is not therefore either self-seeking or self-sufficient" [STEIGER].

A VERY formidable difficulty frequently besets earnest but uninstructed minds who are seeking the Savior. They do not find it difficult to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is a Savior, that He is mighty to save—their difficulty lies in getting at Him. They believe that the medicine will cure, but their question is, how shall they drink it? They are convinced that a touch of the hem of the Savior's garment would heal their diseases, but their question is how to touch.

A VERY formidable difficulty frequently besets earnest but uninstructed minds who are seeking the Savior. They do not find it difficult to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is a Savior, that He is mighty to save—their difficulty lies in getting at Him. They believe that the medicine will cure, but their question is, how shall they drink it? They are convinced that a touch of the hem of the Savior's garment would heal their diseases, but their question is how to touch. By what means shall they be brought into contact with Christ and a Savior become the Savior of their souls? The constant aim of the Gospel ministry should be to remove such difficulties as these out of the way of coming souls, and we shall try this morning, as God shall help us, to lift out that stone and fill up that miry place in the king's highway that some may today be enabled to come to Jesus—understanding what that coming means—and exercising it before they leave this house. It is very common to meet with persons who say, "I wish that I had heard the Savior—actually heard Him speak. If I could have listened to that matchless eloquence of which it is written, 'Never man spoke like this Man,' I should have been convinced, melted, led to penitence and inspired with faith. I wish I could have heard Him pronounce those words, 'Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' I would have leaped from among the crowd, and I would have cried, 'Master, I come! Your invitation draws me! Here I am, a heavy-laden sinner, give me rest.' " You have also wished that you had been able literally to touch Him—to have put your finger into the print of the nails—and to have thrust your hand into His side. It seems to you that then you could have believed.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same text is #698, Volume 12—SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING, BUT BELIEVING IS SEEING.] We usually speak of the greater benefits of salvation as being in the future. We desire that we may be found in Christ in the day of His appearing and that we may have a share in His eternal Glory. But, Beloved, salvation is not altogether a thing of the future—it is very decidedly a present matter, a blessing to be possessed now and to be enjoyed now—and our text brings out that idea very clearly!

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same text is #698, Volume 12—SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING, BUT BELIEVING IS SEEING.] We usually speak of the greater benefits of salvation as being in the future. We desire that we may be found in Christ in the day of His appearing and that we may have a share in His eternal Glory. But, Beloved, salvation is not altogether a thing of the future—it is very decidedly a present matter, a blessing to be possessed now and to be enjoyed now—and our text brings out that idea very clearly! Peter does not write about the elect strangers hoping to receive salvation, by-and-by, but putting it all in the present tense, he says, "Whom having not seen, you love. Though now...you rejoice... receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." The perfection of salvation is reserved for the Second Coming of the Lord, for at present the body is mortal because of sin—it is subject to pain and it will die unless the Lord should first come and it will, for a while, lie in the grave. But at His appearing shall be a resurrection of the body and then body and soul reunited shall experience the fullness of salvation! In that respect, therefore, salvation still remains in part a matter for the future, yet with the true child of God, the essence of salvation is a thing of today. Even now we rejoice with unspeakable joy and full of glory, receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls! I am going to speak upon this matter in the following way. First, we will enquire, what part of salvation do we receive here and now? Secondly, how do we now receive salvationl And then, thirdly we will make the solemn enquiry for all here, Have we received salvation, and if so, how far have we gone in the reception of it? I.

Whom having not seen, ye love - This Epistle was addressed to those who were “strangers scattered abroad,” (See the notes at 1Pe 1:1) and it is evident that they had not personally seen the Lord Jesus. Yet they had heard of his character, his preaching, his sacrifice for sin, and his resurrection and ascension, and they had learned to love him: (1) It is possible to love one whom we have not seen. Thus, we may love God, whom no “eye hath seen,” (compare 1Jn 4:20) and thus we may love a benefactor, from whom we have received important benefits, whom we have never beheld. (2) We may love the character of one whom we have never seen, and from whom we may never have received any particular favors. We may love his uprightness, his patriotism, his benignity, as represented to us. We might love him the more if we should become personally acquainted with him, and if we should receive important favors from him; but it is possible to feel a sense of strong admiration for such a character in itself. (3) That may be a very pure love which we have for one whom we have never seen. It may be based on simple excellence of character; and in such a case there is the least chance for any intermingling of selfishness, or any improper emotion of any kind. (4) We may love a friend as really and as strongly when he is absent, as when he is with us. The wide ocean that rolls between us and a child, does not diminish the ardour of our affection for him; and the Christian friend that has gone to heaven, we may love no less than when he sat with us at the fireside. (5) Millions, even hundreds of millions, have been led to love the Saviour, who have never seen him. […]