A Precious Promise for a Pure People
(No. 3542)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1916.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Your eyes will see the King in His beauty." Isaiah 33:17.
No doubt these words originally had a timely and strictly literal
meaning for the people of Jerusalem. When the city was besieged by
Sennacherib, the inhabitants saw Hezekiah in garb of mourning. How had
he torn his clothes in sorrow! But the day would come, according to
prophecy, when Sennacherib must fall. Those who counted the resources
and estimated the strength or the weakness of the city would be far
away–and then there would be times of liberty. The people would be
able to travel to the utmost ends of Palestine, so they would see the
land that is very far off. Hezekiah, himself, would come out in his
robes of excellence and majesty on a joyful occasion to praise the
Lord, and thus would the people's eyes see the king in his beauty. The
passage, however, has been frequently used with quite another import,
and that properly enough if it is thoroughly understood that it is by
way of accommodation we take it, and that it is typically we trace it
out. Have we not by faith seen our King in His robes of mourning? Have
we not seen Jesus in the sorrowful weeds of affliction and humiliation
while here below? Our faith has gazed upon Him in the torn garments of
His Passion. We have beheld Him in His agony and bloody sweat, in His
Crucifixion and His death. Well, now, another and a brighter view
awaits us! Our eves will one day see the King in a more glorious array!
We will behold Him as John saw Him on Patmos. We will behold the King
in His beauty and then we shall enter and enjoy the land which is at
present very far off.
I think it meet and right to take such a word as this, tonight, when
there are so many in our midst who are seeking and finding the Savior,
because it is very certain that not long after their conversion, they
will have to encounter some of the difficulties of the way. Sometimes
within a few hours of their starting on pilgrimage, they are met by
some of the dragons, or they fall into some Slough of Despond, or they
are surprised by some Hill Difficulty! Therefore, they ought to be
stimulated with encouragements–they need to be cheered and consoled by
the prospect which lies before them. You will recollect how Christian
is represented by Bunyan in his famous allegory to be reading in his
book, as he went along, concerning the blessed country, the celestial
land where their eyes should behold the King in His beauty–this
beguiled the roughness of the road and made the pilgrim hasten on with
more alacrity and less weariness. Now I am going to turn over one of
the elementary pages of this Book. I want to show the young convert a
vision pleasing and profitable for all Christians, young or old, the
Glory that awaits him, the rest which is secured by the promise of God
to every pilgrim who continues in the blessed road, and holds on, and
holds out to the end! Your eyes, Beloved, you who have lately been
converted to God–if by Divine Grace your conversion proves
genuine–your eyes shall one day behold the King in His beauty! This
may well inspire you with courage and encourage you to endure with
patience all the difficulties of the way. When God brought His servant,
Abraham, into the separated position of a stranger in a strange land,
it was not long before He said to him, "Lift up, now, your eyes, and
look to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and to the west,
for all this land will I give to you and to your seed forever," as if
to solace and cheer him in the place of his sojourn by the picture and
the promise that greeted him. In like manner, you children of faithful
Abraham, you who have left all for Christ's sake, look upon your future
heritage from the spot of your present exile–and your hearts will
exceedingly rejoice!
We shall notice, first, the object to be seen–the King in His beauty!
Then, secondly, the nature of this vision, for our eyes shall see the
admirable spectacle. And, thirdly, we shall draw your attention to
those to whom this favor will be granted. The context will help us to
discover of whom it is the Lord speaks when He says, "Your eyes will
see the King in
His beauty." Not all eyes, but your eyes shall see the King in His
beauty. What is this vision which is here promised to God's people?
They are to see the King. They are to see– I. THE KING IN HIS BEAUTY.
THE KING–a sweet title which belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ as His
exclusive prerogative, crowned with the crown of thorns once, but now
wearing the diadem of universal monarchy! Other kings there are, but
theirs is only a temporary title to temporal precedence among the sons
of men. I had almost said theirs was a mimic sovereignty. He is the
real King–the King of Kings–the King that reigns forever and forever!
He is King, for He is God. Jehovah reigns. The Maker of the earth must
be her King. He in whose hands are the deep places of the earth and the
strength of the hills–He by whom all things exist and all things
consist–He must of necessity reign! The government shall be upon His
shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty
God. From the very fact that He is the Son of God, the express Image of
His Father's Glory, He must be King! Because He condescended to veil
Himself in our flesh, He derives a second title to the Kingdom–He is
King now by His merits. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and
given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth! For the suffering of death, He was made, for a
little while, lower than the angels, but now, seeing He has been
obedient even unto death, even the death of the Cross, He has obtained
a more excellent name than the angels and He is crowned with glory and
honor. He is Head over all things now. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. We rejoice to reflect upon Him as King by nature
and then as King by due desert over a Kingdom which He has inherited by
Divine right. He is King at this time by virtue of the conquests He has
made, having spoiled the principalities and powers of darkness. In this
world He fought the battle and so bravely did He fight it out that He
could say, "It is finished." He made an end of sin! He made
reconciliation for iniquity! He trampled death and Hell beneath His
feet, and now He is King by force of arms. He entered into the strong
man's house, wrestled with him and vanquished him, for He is stronger
than he. He has led captivity captive and He has ascended upon
high–King of kings and Lord of lords. Moreover He reigns supremely in
some of our hearts. We have yielded to the sway of His love. We rejoice
to crown Him. We never feel happier than when our hearts and tongues
are singing–
"Bring forth the royal diadem And crown Him Lord of All." I trust there
are many more among you who have not yet yielded, who will yet yield
your hearts to His power. Fresh provinces shall be added to His empire.
New cities of Mansoul will open their gates that the Prince Emanuel may
ride in and may sit in triumph there. Oh, that it may be so, for a
multitude that no man can number shall cheerfully, joyfully acknowledge
His sway and kiss the Son lest He be angry. But mark, the limit of His
power is not according to the will of man, for where He does not reign
by the joyful consent of His people and the mighty conquest of His
love, He still exercises absolute dominion! Even the wicked are His
servants! They shall be made in some way or other to subserve His
glory, for He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The King
is anointed upon God's holy hill of Zion. King He is. He has a bit in
the mouth of His most violent adversaries and He turns them about
according to His own will. What though with mingled cruelty and rage
men attack the Gospel of Christ, they strive in vain to thwart the
Divine Decree! In ways mysterious and unknown to us, the Lord asserts
His own supremacy. He reigns even where the rulers conspire and the
people rebel against Him!
Beloved, the Sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ, to which He is
entitled by inheritance, is due to Him for His merits and in the
equitable claim of His conquests–this reign of Christ extends over all
things. He is the universal Lord. In this world He is Regent
everywhere. By Him all things exist and consist. When I think of Him,
it seems to me that the sea roars to His praise and the trees of the
forests rejoice in His Presence. There is not a dewdrop that twinkles
on the flower at sunrise but reflects His bounty. There is not an
avalanche that falls from its Alp with thundering crash but resounds
with tokens of His Power. The Great Shepherd reigns! The Lord is King!
As Joseph was made ruler over all the land of Egypt, even so, according
unto the word of Jesus, all the people are ruled. He has all things put
under His feet, for it was of Him the Prophet sang of old, "You have
made Him a little"–(or as the margin has it, a little while–"lower
than the angels, and have crowned Him with glory and honor. You have
put all things under His feet, all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts
of the field, the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea and whatever
passes through the paths of the seas." Though we see not yet all things
put under man, yet we see Jesus, who, for the suffering of death was
made, for a little
while, lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor. At this
hour He rules on earth. Death and Hell are under His scepter. Satan,
and the spirits that have followed his leadership, bite their iron
bonds while they confess the power of the Divine Lord to be paramount.
He can crush His enemies and break them with a rod of iron as a
potter's vessel. His mighty power is felt and feared. But, oh, up
yonder in Heaven, where the full beams of His Glory are unveiled, He
reigns in matchless splendor! The angels worshipped Him when He was
brought forth as the Only-Begotten into the world. So spoke the oracle,
"Let all the angels of God worship Him." Seraphim and cherubim, are
they not His messengers? He makes them like flames of fire. The
redeemed by blood, what could they do? What is their joy, their
occupation, their delight, but to sing forever, "Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive honor, and glory and dominion, and power"?
Oh, tell us not of emperors–there is but One Imperial brow! Tell us
not of monarchs, for the crown belongs to the blessed and only
Potentate! He alone is King. As such, we think of Him and long for His
appearing, when we shall hail Him the King in His beauty! I love to see
His courtiers. That is a happy hour in which I can talk with one who
has my Master's ear. I love to see the skirts of His garment as I come
in fellowship with Him to His Table. I love to tread His courts. I love
to hear His voice, even though I cannot yet see the face of Him that
speaks with me! But to see the King– to see the King, Himself! Oh, joy
unspeakable! It is worth worlds, even, to have a good hope of beholding
a sight so resplendent with the Glory of God!
Note well the promise, "Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty."
Does not this suggest to us that the King has been seen, though not in
His beauty? He was seen on earth as the Prophet foretold, "despised and
rejected of men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief." And as
seen then, we are told there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
There was a time when many were astonished at Him. His visage was more
marred than any man, and His form more than the sons of men–that was
in the day of His humiliation.
But we are yet to see the King in His beauty, and I know, Beloved, that
in part that vision does beam, even now, upon spirits before the Throne
of God. I would not exactly say that they have eyes, for they have left
these organs of sense behind them. They have not received the fullness
of this promise–yet in a measure they see the beauty of the King, that
beauty which His Father has put upon Him, now that He has ascended up
on high and returned to the Father, having obeyed all His precepts and
fulfilled all His will. His Father has already rewarded Him. He sits
enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty on high–He is adored and
worshipped! It is no small sight for our spirits to behold Him and
adore. But remember the spirits in Heaven, without us, cannot be made
perfect, so says the Apostle. They are waiting for the adoption–to
wit, the redemption of the body–waiting for the trumpet of
Resurrection. It is then, I think, that this blessed hope will be fully
verified, "Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty." As Job puts it,
"I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth; and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my
eyes will behold, and not another." Our bodies shall be raised from the
dead–
"These eyes shall see Him in that day, The God that died for me– And
all my rising bones shall say– Lord, who is like to Thee?"
From the dark chambers of the grave we shall come forth with all the
blood-bought company of the faithful. Then we shall see the King in His
beauty! What beauty that will be! We steadfastly look for His appearing
when He shall come the second time! This personal manifestation must be
welcome to the saints. To see Him thenmust be to see His beauty! Our
senses, relieved of infirmity, will be endowed with full capacity! Our
Graces, being increased, our spirits will be lively and vigorous to
appreciate His wonderful Person! As God and Man we do now believe in
Him, but how little can our faith anticipate the vision! We acknowledge
the mystery which is as yet unveiled. How little are we affected by the
wonderful information which must astonish angels–that the Infinite can
be joined with the finite, that the Godhead can be in perfect union
with the manhood–the bush of the manhood burning with the glow of the
Godhead, yet not thereby consumed! 'Tis matchless that the Eternal
should link Himself with finite flesh! That He should hang upon His
mother's breast who bears up the columns of the universe! Strange
conjunction! Till we wake up in His likeness, we shall never thoroughly
understand it. Oh, how amazement will resolve itself into admiration as
we gaze upon Him who has a Nature that we have been familiar with and
yet the proper Divinity which no man has seen or can see! What grandeur
to behold! What rapture to experience when our eyes see the King in His
beauty! The sight will overwhelm us. But in other respects
than that which is essential to His Kingly dignity, the spectacle will
be illustrious. In the hour of conquest He will take possession of a
Throne which no rival dare dispute. Judas will be there, but he will
not think of betraying Him. Pilate will be there, but he will not think
of questioning Him. The Jews will be there, but they will not cry,
"Crucify Him." The Romans will be there, but they will not think of
hauling Him away to execution. His enemies in that day shall lick the
dust! They shall be like chaff before the whirlwind in the day of His
coming! And what will be the splendor of His Glory when He shall be
proclaimed King of Kings in His beauty, with all the insignia of His
royal power!
He will have the beauty of state pageant, too, for He will assume
office as Judge of the quick and the dead. Then will the trumpet sound
and all the solemn pomp of the Great Assize will encircle Him round
about. The vivid lightning will flash through the universe and the roar
of His thunder shall awake the dead, while an irresistible summons
shall compel them to appear before His dread tribunal! From His
searching gaze no creature shall be hid, and every eye shall see Him.
They, also, who pierced Him, and all the kindreds of the earth, shall
weep and wail because of Him. But to us, that awful pomp will not be
appalling, but a fit accessory on which His royal beauty is displayed!
We shall admire the hand that holds the scepter, for we shall recognize
it as the same hand that was once pierced for us. We shall admire the
voice that condemns the wicked, and bids them, "Depart!" for that voice
shall pronounce our welcome, saying, "Come, you blessed." We shall
admire the Shepherd's crook with which He shall separate the sheep and
the goats, for it will apportion us to eternal bliss, though it shall
dismiss the goats to their eternal doom! Thrice happy and most blessed
shall we be in that day! Terror and trouble shall be the lot of the
world–trust and triumph shall then be the portion of the saints! He
shall be admired in all them that believed! And when that final
judgment shall have fulfilled its destined purpose, He shall be in His
beauty seen as the Conqueror of all evil, the Conqueror of sin, of
death and Hell. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. How
shall we see Him in His beauty when Death, itself, shall die! I cannot
attempt to describe that beauty. It is far too dazzling for me to
picture. I have dreamed of it sometimes in sacred soliloquies. My faith
has tried to realize the facts which are revealed unto us by His
Spirit. Still, the tongue cannot tell so much as the heart has
conceived. There are unspeakable words which greet us in seasons of
rapture which it is not lawful to utter. Whenever we are caught up to
the third Heaven in rapturous meditation, we have but small news to
tell men. But how inconceivable to us, now, is the Glory of Christ as
it shall be when all His people are present with Him in Heaven!
I have not touched upon the millennial age or the latter-day Glory.
Your thoughts can fill up the vacancy. But what will be the beauty of
Christ in Heaven in that day "when He shall make up His jewels"? What
are the jewels of our King but His redeemed people? What will be the
ornaments of His state but those for whom He shed His blood? And when
they are all there, then we shall see the King in His beauty with all
His jewels. Beauty! A shepherd's beauty lies much in his simple garb. A
mother's beauty–very much of it is to be seen as she appears in the
center of a happy and lovely family. So, beyond all doubt, the beauty
of Christ will be most conspicuous when all His saints are with Him! I
was in company with some good people lately, who were discussing the
question whether we should see the saints in Heaven. I do not know
whether they settled the question to their satisfaction, but I settled
it very well to mine. I expect to see and know all the saints, to
recognize them and rejoice with them–and that without the slightest
prejudice to my being wholly absorbed in the sight of my Lord! Let me
explain to you how this can be. When I went, the other day, into a
friend's drawing room, I observed that on all sides there were mirrors.
The whole of the walls were covered with glass–and everywhere I looked
I kept seeing my friend. It was not necessary that I should fix my eyes
upon him, for all the mirrors reflected him. Thus, Brothers and
Sisters, it seems to me that every saint in Heaven will be a mirror of
Christ, and that as we look upon all the loved ones, gazing round upon
them all, we shall see Christ in everyone of them, so we shall still be
seeing the Master in the servants, seeing the Head in all the members!
It is I in them, and they in me. Is it not so? It will be all the
Master. This is the sum total of Heaven–"Your eyes shall see the King
in His beauty"–and they shall see the beauty of the King in all His
people! Nor does it appear that the manifestation shall be ever
withdrawn, or that we shall ever leave off seeing the beauty of our
King. There is the mercy. "Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty,"
on and on, and on still, and on, forever on, discerning more and more
of the beauty, the inexhaustible beauty and splendor of the Sun of
Righteousness, world without end! The theme grows upon us. We must curb
ourselves. We can but skim the surface as the swallow does the brook.
Now, as to–
II. THE NATURE OF THIS VISION, we know it is in the future. "Your eyes
shall see the King in His beauty." You poor sinners must be content
with seeing the King in His majesty. Happy souls who come to see Jesus
on the Cross! Oh, it
is joy for them to look unto Him and be saved! Behold the Lamb of God!
Behold the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! Poor sin-sick
Soul, are you looking to Jesus to be saved? If it is so in the present,
then in the future you shall see Him in His beauty! It will be a vision
for all. Their natural sense shall discern the real Savior, "Your eyes
shall see the King in His beauty." It is not merely your spiritual
perception, but your natural eyes. Does not Job express this conviction
"whom my eyes shall see"? Oh, yes, not as it now is with this flesh and
blood, but still with this body! I call you a vile body sometimes, my
poor flesh and blood, and so you are. Yet in your origin there was
something good and in your destiny there is something better, "Bone of
your bone, and flesh of your flesh." Born of a woman as you were, and
fed on bread as you must be, and though the worms devour you, yet shall
you rise again! Oh, body, you are even now the temple of God! Know you
not that your bodiesare the members of Christ? Know you not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? These eyes shall see Him! They
may be weeping eyes, aching eyes, weary eyes and sleepy eyes, yes, or
even blind eyes, or your failing eyes on which the curtain is being
drawn about you–your eyes shall see the King! When Heaven is in sight
there will be no need for glasses to assist your vision. Your eyes, all
strengthened to bear the light, as the eagle's eyes when the sun shines
in its strength–"Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty." It will
be a personal vision. "Whom my eyes shall see, and not another." It
shall not be somebody else repeating another's testimony, "Yes, I see
Him." I like to hear what John saw, but I like better to have John's
privilege! We shall be like John and shall, ourselves, behold Him. Can
you realize it? You recollect in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress how Mercy
laughed in her sleep, and Christiana asked her what made her laugh so.
Mercy replied that she had seen a beautiful vision. Is it not enough to
make us laugh in our sleep, to think that "your eyes shall see the King
in His beauty"? To think that this head shall wear a crown! That these
hands shall grasp the palms. That these feet shall stand on the
transfigured globe. That these ears shall hear the symphonies of
eternity and that this tongue shall help to swell the everlasting
chorus! Oh, who would not rejoice? This is the wine which, as it goes
down, makes the lips of him who drinks to speak. Oh, that we may all
have a personal sight of the King in His beauty!
And it will be a near sight, because it will be clear and distinct.
"Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty." This does not imply a
distant view of a remote object–a dim vision of the dazzling
splendor–but you will behold Him in such close proximity that you can
discern every feature of His Person, every phase of His comeliness! You
shall discern all the insignia of His offices, His conquests, His
titles, His dominion and His Glory! Now you only see a picture of Him
reflected as in a glass, darkly–then you shall see Him face to face!
Oh, that the curtain might be drawn up, the veil rent, the vision
unfolded! It will be a delightful sight. When He shall appear in His
beauty, we cannot wear the vestments of our mourning and sorrow. As He
is, so are we in this world. As He shall be revealed, so shall we be,
also, in that world! "It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we
know that when He shall appear, we shall be like He, for we shall see
Him as He is." Thus we shall be beautiful when we shall see Him in His
beauty! He shall say to us, "You are all fair, My love; there is not a
spot in you." Oh, the delight, the pure unclouded joy, reflective as
the light of Heaven! What an introduction to eternal happiness this
will be when your eyes shall see the King in His beauty! There is no
period, no finale, no end put to it. This is no transient spectacle.
His beauty never fades. Our festival can never terminate. As long as He
appears in His beauty we shall see Him and be enamored of His
loveliness! Is it not written, "Because I live, you shall live also"?
Without His people, without the complement of His saints with Him, He
would not be a full Christ at any time. "Know you not that the Church
is the fullness of Him who fills all in all?" So all His disciples must
be forever with Him, and they must forever see His face, and be
partakers of His Glory!
III. TO WHOM IS THIS VISION GIVEN?
We find a remarkably full description of these people. Read the 15th
verse. Their ordinary gait distinguishes them. "He who walks
righteously." "The pure in heart shall see God." But if your deportment
disgraces you, how deep will be your dishonor? Unholy creatures will
never see a holy God! It is not possible! Oh, Sinners, what do you
think of this? You must be changed! You must be cleansed! You must be
converted! The Holy Spirit must regenerate you! You must be born-again!
Otherwise you cannot walk uprightly or stand in the Presence of the
King in His beauty!
Next to this they are known by their tongues, "and speaks uprightly."
No liar shall enter into Heaven. Those who talk lasciviously, those who
swear profanely, the singers of idle songs, those who lend their lips
to slander, backbite their neighbors and circulate evil reports in
malice–these and such as these can have no inheritance in the Kingdom
of God! Oh, may the Lord wash your tongues, rinse your mouths and make
them sweet and clean–otherwise you will never sing
the songs of Heaven. "He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly" is
so far approved. But let him take heed to his commercial character, for
it is further said, "He that despises the gain of oppressions," or, as
the margin has it, of deceit. A man that gets money by squeezing
others, by oppressing the poor by hard bargains, shall not enjoy the
Beatific Vision. If you buy and sell, and get gain by lying, by false
pretences, by tricks of the trade–yes, even by the customs that are
commonly allowed, though they would look fraudulent if thoroughly
exposed–you shall have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God! How can
you be gracious when you are not honest? He that is not able to hold
the scales lightly, measure out an even yard, or make out a bill
equitably, may well tremble at being poised in the balances of the
sanctuary! When such as these are weighed, they will be found wanting.
Thorough integrity must stand the test of disinterestedness. "He that
shakes his hands from holding of bribes" Some men cannot help
preferring coin to conscience. This is the way of bribery. Palm oil was
largely used when Isaiah wrote. It is still much in vogue–perhaps not
so much in this country as in others–but there are plenty of ways of
receiving bribes besides selling one's vote at the polling booth. How
many men are bribed by a smile or a crown–bribed to
Sabbath-breaking–bribed to the follies of the world–bribed to I know
not what of error! But drop a shilling into a conscientious man's hand
and he shakes it from his hand! He does not like the feel of it. He is
like Paul, who shook off the viper into the fire. So the man who is to
see the King in His beauty shakes his hand from holding bribes.
Moreover, "He stops his ears from hearing of blood" He does not like to
hear of cruelty, of outrage, or wantonly causing pain. He stops his
ears–he will not listen to any proposal either to gratify a resentment
or to seek a personal advantage whereby his neighbor would be injured.
In this wicked world it is often wise to stop one's ears. A deaf ear is
a great blessing when there is base conversation in the neighborhood.
The good man who thus keeps guard over his hands and his feet, his
tongue and his ears, is likewise known by his eyes. "He shuts his eyes
from seeing evil." He shuns the temptations to which a vain curiosity
would expose him. Oh, if only our mother Eve had shut her eyes when the
serpent pointed out yon rosy apple on the tree! Oh, that she had shut
her eyes to it! Oh, that she had said, "No, I will not even look at
it." Looking leads to longing and longing leads to sin. Do you say,
"There can be no harm in looking, just to see for yourself–are we not
told to prove all things?" "Just come here, young man," says the
tempter, "you do not know what life is! One evening will suffice to
show you a little gaiety and let you see how the frolic is carried on.
You need not share in it, you know. You may learn a thing or two you
never dreamed of before. Surely a man is not to go through the world a
baby–just come for an hour or two and look on!" "Ah, no," says the man
whose eyes are to see the King in His beauty–"the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil never brought any man good, yet, so please leave me
alone! I shut my eyes from the sight of it. I do not want to
participate, even as a spectator. I do not care to look upon that which
God will not look upon without abhorrence! I know that His love has put
my sins behind His back–what, then, He puts behind His back, shall I
put before my face? That were ingratitude, indeed!" Perhaps you say,
"Well, if this is the character of such as shall see the King in His
beauty, I shall never come up to the standard." "No, but you must,
otherwise you will never enjoy the Beatific Vision." "But I cannot
convert myself after this fashion." I know you cannot, but there is One
who can! Has not Jesus Christ come into the world to make us new
creatures? It is His objective and intent–"Behold, I make all things
new." He changes a man, gives him new desires, new longings and new
hopes.
And He can change you! Let me ask you, have you ever seen, by faith,
the King? Have you ever looked to Jesus on the Cross and did you ever
recognize that Jesus Christ, if He is to be your Savior, must be your
King? You say you have believed in Jesus. Yes, but did you take Him to
be your King? Did you mean to obeyHim as well as to trust Him? Did you
intend to serveHim as well as to lean upon Him? Remember, you cannot
have a half of Christ. You cannot have Him as your Redeemer, but not as
your Ruler! You must take Him as He is. He is a Savior, but He saves
His people from their sins. Now, if you have ever seen Christ as your
Savior, you have seen beauty in Him. He is lovely in your eyes, for the
loveliest sight in the world to a sinner is His Savior! "What is the
latest news," said a certain squire to a companion, accustomed to hunt
with him, who had come up to the Metropolis–"what is the latest news
you have heard in London?" "The latest news, and the best news I have
ever heard," was the quick reply, "is that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners." "Tom," he said, "I do think you are mad!"
"William," said Tom, "I know you are. I only wish you were cured of
your insanity as, by the Grace of God, I have been!"
Oh, that we did but all of us know Jesus Christ in His beauty and
could, every one of us, rejoice in Him as those do who are charmed by
the sight! If you have not your eyes opened, you cannot see the King in
His beauty. But if they are
opened, now, so that you greet Jesus as your King and see beauty in
Him, then, whatever your former life may have been, its sins are
forgiven–they are blotted out! Your Savior's Sacrifice that offered
such satisfaction to God for your sins shall give sweet solace to your
conscience. By the gracious help of the Holy Spirit, you shall start a
fresh career and begin a new life! Be it so and you will henceforth
shut your eyes from seeing, stop your ears from hearing, shake your
hands from all iniquity, and turn aside your feet from it to live the
life you live in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God, to His honor
and Glory! So shall your eyes, poor Sinner–weeping, sorrowing,
mournful eyes as they may now be–your eyes shall see the King in His
beauty! The Lord grant that we, all of us, may have a present earnest
and a future fruition of this delightful promise, for His name's sake.
Amen.