The character of Jesus has commanded respect even from those who have abhorred his teaching. It has been a stumbling-stone to all objectors who have preserved a shade of candour. Jesus’ doctrine they could refute, they say; his precepts they could improve, so they boast; his system is narrow and outworn, so they assert: but himself - what can they do with him? They must admire him even if they will not adore him; and having done so they have admired a personage who must be divine, or else he wilfully left his disciples to believe a lie. How they surmount this difficulty? They cannot do so by railing at him, for they have no material for accusation. Jesus Christ himself silences their cavillings. This is a file at which these asps do bite, but break their teeth. Beyond all argument or miracle, Jesus Christ himself is the proof of his own gospel.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Jesus Christ Himself," delivered December 9, 1877. Image by Florin Gorgan on Flickr under Creative Commons License.
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