Glorying in the Lord

DELIVERED BY

C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31.

THERE is an irresistible tendency in us to glory in something or other.
All classes of men glory–the highest and the lowest, the richest and
the poorest, the best educated and the most illiterate. Solomon glories
and so does the fool. Goliath glories and so does David. Pharaoh
glories and so does his slave. Even in the most modest, the tendency to
boast is present–only its nakedness is daintily concealed. Good men
glory, yes, and in hours of weakness they have gloried in objects very
unworthy of their boasts. You remember how, when the ambassadors came
out of Babylon, Hezekiah showed them all his riches and his stores–and
no doubt he gloried while he took them from treasure house to treasure
house– and opened his caskets and showed all his precious things.

But it was an evil thing, and the Lord was angry with him for that
glorying, and bade the Prophet foretell that all his choice vessels
should be carried away as plunder by the very people whose ambassadors
he had so delighted with the sight. The very first person who was born
into this world was the subject of glorying and his mother, as she
gazed upon him with rapture, said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord."
Perhaps she even said, as the original has been construed, "I have
gotten a man–the Lord," thinking that surely he might be the promised
seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent's head and would prove
to be both a man and the Lord. Alas, it was Cain, who slew his brother,
and was a child of the serpent rather than the bruiser of his head. The
thing we glory in, though it is a dear child, may turn out to be a
scourge for our backs–a Cain and not a consolation. Jacob glories in
Joseph's princely coat, but he wept, indeed, when he saw its many
colors all turned to a blood-red hue.

I say good people have the tendency to glory and sometimes they glory
in unworthy objects. Therefore it is that God has prepared a cure for
it–not by repressing the instinct to glory–but by giving a worthy
Subject for glorying–which finds in it a wider range and full liberty,
but only in a licensed field. It may not wander there, nor there, nor
there, for it is ill to glory in worldly things, but it may fly away up
yonder to God Himself, and stretch its wings, and plume itself as much
as it will in Heaven. The cure for vainglory is true glory! Somewhat
upon the homeopathic principle, the cure for boasting is to boast in
the Lord all the day long.

The prevention of glorying in men, glorying in riches and glorying in
self, is glorying in the Lord. "He that glories, let him glory in the
Lord." On that text we shall now speak. And we shall have these four
points. First, let us, dear Brothers and Sisters, as many of us as know
the Lord, glory only in the Lord. Then, secondly, let us glory heartily
in the Lord. Thirdly, let us glory growingly in the Lord. And, lastly,
let us glory practically in the Lord.

I. First, then, LET US GLORY ONLY IN THE LORD. And we should do this
because the theme of glorying is too great to admit of another. It was
a good argument of a simple-minded man that there could not be two
gods, because the first God filled Heaven and earth and all places, and
therefore there was not room for another. If God is everywhere and
fills all in all, there can be no other God. And if the glory of God is
infinite, then there can be no second glory. And if the theme is
boundless, then there is not room for a second. As all other gods but
Jehovah must be idols, so all other glory except that which is in the
Lord must be foolish and sinful.

Those men who really know the Lord feel that such is the greatness of
His Glory, that it takes up all our faculties, absorbs all our powers,
demands, indeed, our whole energy–and we cannot spare time, or love,
or skill, or power, or thought for any other topic. Let the Lord be
gloried in, and Him alone, because the Lord, alone, is worthy to be
gloried in. He, only, is great! He is the blessed and only Potentate!
From Him, only, comes our salvation! He is God alone! Therefore in one
rolling flood let all our glorying cheerfully flow at His feet. All
glory should be given unto God, because any other object of glory
highly provokes the Most High. He has said, "My glory will I not give
to another, nor My praise to graven images."

It is written concerning Israel, "They moved Him to jealousy with their
graven images. When God heard this, He was angry and greatly abhorred
Israel" (Psa. 78:58, 59). The moment we begin trusting in a created
arm, God is highly provoked with us. "Cursed is he that trusts in man,
and makes flesh his arm." And if we begin glorying in anything else,
either the Lord will send the worm at the root to make the gourd
wither, or He will stamp our idol into pieces and make us drink of the
bitter water with which it is mixed–or else He will inflict upon us
some other severe chastisement, for He cannot bear a rival. Where the
ark of the Lord is, Dagon must come down. God will be all, or nothing.
He cannot accept divided homage. Let us not provoke Him, then,
especially when He tells us, "The Lord your God is a jealous God."

Since He is so tender of His own name, let us be tender of it, too. If
He would bear it, even then it would be wrong of us to test and try
Him. But since He will not bear it, but is jealous, and His fury goes
forth like flames of fire, let us take heed what we do. Think of
Nebuchadnezzar and how his proud speech led to his loss of his reason
and herding with cattle. Remember Belshazzar and how he was found
wanting, because it was said of him, "The God in whose hand your breath
is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified, but you have
praised the gods of silver and gold, and wood, and stone, and iron,
which see not, nor hear, nor know." Remember how the Lord smote Herod
so that he was eaten of worms, because he received divine honors and
gave not God the glory–"Give glory to the Lord your God before He
cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains."
Glory in the Lord alone, for He will not endure to have it otherwise.

There is, indeed, my dear Brothers and Sisters, no other fit ground for
glorying in all the world except the Lord. For what would there be in
this world if God were to withdraw His power? If there were some other
object in which we thought we could glory, yet since it came from Him,
it would be idle to glory in the streams–we had better boast in the
Fountainhead from which the stream descends! All things that are, exist
only by the will and sovereign good pleasure of the Lord of All! Let us
not glory, then, in that which depends upon Him, but in God Himself,
the Wellhead of all! Glory not in the sunbeams but in the sun which
scatters them, not in the drops but in the Heaven from which they
distil, not in the goods but in the Supreme Good who bestows them!

Moreover, all things in this world are fleeting, so why should we glory
in that which is today and tomorrow will pass away? "All flesh is
grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of grass." Who will
dare to rejoice in it? The grass withers–though today it is in its
prime, tomorrow it is cast into the oven–it is a poor thing upon which
to boast. The drunks of Ephraim chose for their crown of pride and
glorious beauty a fading flower–but we who are sober reject so
fleeting a diadem. Only very benighted heathens could worship a god of
snow, melting at every glance of the sun! Shall an immortal spirit
delight in dying joys? Shall the heirs of eternal bliss glory in a
momentary treasure? Glory not, therefore, in the things that so soon
depart!

Let your glory be in that which will last as long as your own being.
Heir of Immortality, take care that you have something to glory in
which will never wither or decay! Set your love upon that which rust
cannot canker, nor moth devour. Besides, there is nothing in this world
that has in it qualities worthy of our glorying in comparison with God.
He is the sun! The stars must hide their heads when He appears. He is
the ocean! All these ponds and pools are of small account. Let us bless
the eternal ocean of all-sufficient Glory and Goodness and not turn
aside to magnify our little Abanas and Pharpars. Sin is stamped upon
almost everything–and even the unfallen angels, in comparison with
God, are of little worth–the purity that excels eclipses all. "The
heavens are not pure in His sight, and He charged His angels with
folly." Foolish is he, therefore, who shall boast in these inferior
things while the thrice Holy God presents Himself as the true and
legitimate subject of our glorying–

"Praise the God of all creation, Praise the Father's boundless love!
Praise the Lamb, our expiation, Priest and King enthroned above! Praise
the Fountain of salvation, Him by whom our spirits live! Undivided
adoration To the One Jeho vah give!"

Dear Friends, we ought to glory in the Lord because when we do so we
shall be in accord with the true order of the universe. Look abroad and
mark the works of God in Creation–what do they glory in? "The heavens
are telling the

glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." The great pulses
of the universe will keep time and tune to your heart if you glory in
the Lord. "All Your works praise You, O God." Creation is a temple in
which everyone speaks of the glory of Jehovah. Turn to Providence and
faith's eye perceives that Providence is always displaying the glory of
the Lord. All things work not only for the good of the elect, but for
the glory of the Most High–"For of Him and through Him and to Him are
all things, to whom be the glory forever." The ponderous wheels, as
they revolve in all their solemn grandeur, are full of eyes–and those
eyes look to the glory of God!

You are in accord both with Providence and Creation when you glory only
in the Lord. Lift up, now, your eyes and behold the angels, those
bright spirits who watch over us and rejoice when we repent. What do
you think is their song? "Glory to God in the highest." Truly they
sing, "Peace, good will towards men," but first of all they cry to one
another, "Glory to God." This is their ancient song and they have not
ceased to sing it! You are in accord, therefore, with the blessed
spirits who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word,
when you glory only in Him. Yes, and you are in accord with the Divine
Trinity, for what does the Father do but glorify the Son? What does the
Son aim at when He says, "Father, glorify Your Son"? It is, "that Your
Son, also, may glorify You."

What does the Holy Spirit do when He takes of the things of Christ and
shows them to us? Has not Jesus said of Him, "He shall glorify Me"?
There is a mutual delight in each Other in the Persons of the blessed
Trinity, so that each Divine Person delights to glorify the rest. God
thus glorifies Himself! All His works praise Him! All His decrees
praise Him. All things which are, or shall be, show forth His sole
Glory. Well, dear Brothers and Sisters, as we do not wish to be out of
gear with the works of God, or opposed to His nearest attendants, or in
rebellion against the sacred Trinity, let us stand to it that our souls
shall glory only in the Lord as long as we live! So much upon that
first head, let us glory only in the Lord.

II. Now, secondly, may the Spirit of God help us to GLORY HEARTILY IN
THE LORD with the whole force of our nature renewed by Divine
Grace–not as a matter of form–but in deed and in truth! Let us make
our boast in the Lord heartily, doing it so that the humble may hear of
it and be glad, since there is good cause for heartily glorying in the
Lord, first, because of His love. "God is love." O you that have tasted
of that love, glory in it! Glory that it is eternal, that it never had
a beginning, that He fixed His love upon the objects of His choice
before the mountains lifted their hoary heads above the clouds! Glory
in it! It is no passion of yesterday, but the deep-seated, fixed
resolve of all eternity– the purpose of the Ancient of Days when as
yet days had not begun their little round. Speak they of antiquity? Lo,
it is here! "I have loved you with an everlasting love!"

Shall we not glory in this? I am resolved that none shall stop me of
this glorying while my tongue can speak! Glory in the Divine Love in
its wonderful benefactions, inasmuch as having loved His people He gave
His only begotten Son that they might be redeemed from wrath through
Him. God commends His love towards us in that while we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. The Only Begotten is
God's unspeakable gift, including and securing every good gift. What
manner of love is this? We can never measure it, nor fully declare
it–let us resolve forever to glory in it! There was never such love as
this, love so ancient, love so disinterested, so boundless–love which
brought the Darling of Heaven down to be despised and rejected of men.

Oh, mighty Love that could hold the Son of God, Himself, in fetters of
affection, lead Him into a lifelong captivity to its power and at last
fasten Him to the deadly tree! That love of God to us was free,
unpurchased, unsought. He loved us because He would love us–not
because we were lovely, but because He is love. He must love, for love
is His Nature. There was no other constraint upon Him. Oh, blessed,
blessed be the love of God, to think it should come to us unsought,
unbought, undeserved–spontaneously leaping up like a living fountain
with none to dig the well, but springing up in the midst of the Sahara
of our barren nature and then blessing us with unspeakable blessings as
it overflowed! Glory in the love of God!

Here is sea-room for you. Beloved, there is no love comparable to it!
If all the loves that ever burned in the hearts of mothers, brothers,
wives and husbands could all be heaped up, they would be but a mole
hill compared with the love of God in Christ Jesus! And if all the
loves that ever were among men or angels could be gathered together
they would be as a spark–and God's love to us like a mighty furnace
flame. Glory in it, therefore, all the day long, for well you may. "He
loved me and gave Himself for me." You need not give up glorying when
you have reached the center of your Subject, for you can glory, next,
in the Lord's faithfulness. Glory in the fact that He never yet changed
the objects of His love. Whom

once He loves He never leaves, but loves them to the end. No fickle
lover is He! He is no husband who sues out a divorce against his errant
spouse. "Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement that I put
away? To which of My creditors have I sold you?" No, we can challenge
all mankind and say, "The Lord, the God of Israel, says that He hates
putting away."

You may glory in the faithfulness of God as to all His promises. He has
newer broken His Covenant, nor neglected to fulfill His Word. To no
child of His has He acted unkindly. In no hour of need has He deserted
one that trusted in Him. Under no peril and under no provocation has He
cast away His people whom He did foreknow, so that this day the whole
Church is persuaded that, "Neither life, nor death, nor things present,
nor things to come shall separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord." Go and glory that His mercy endures forever!
Tell it everywhere that man can lie, but God cannot. That man can
forget his promise and can utterly forsake his dearest friend, but that
the faithful God has never yet run back from His Covenant nor forfeited
the oath of His Divine Grace.

And if you should need a change of subject, I would recommend you glory
in the Lord as to His holiness. This is an attribute which has charm to
Christians, but to none besides. "Bless the Lord, O my Soul," says
David, and he adds, "And all that is within me, bless"–His gracious
name, is it? No! Bless His loving name? No! It runs thus, "Bless His
holy name," because the whole includes all the parts and the holiness,
or the wholeness of God is a grander thing than any one of the distinct
attributes which make up the whole, or the holiness of His Character.
Go and glory in the holiness of God, for there is none as holy as the
Lord, neither is there any god like our God. It is this which angels
glory in, for as they veil their faces, they say, "Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of Hosts." It is a grand attribute of God. "The Lord is great
in Zion, and He is high above all the people. Let them praise Your
great and terrible name, for it is holy."

Bless His name that even to show His love He would not be unholy–and
even to forgive sins He would not be unjust. He never blunted the edge
of the sword of justice in order to stretch out His hand of mercy. He
is as sternly and inflexibly just towards sin as if He never forgave
iniquity. And yet He forgives sinners through Christ Jesus as freely
and fully as if He never punished a transgression! All His attributes
are full-orbed–no one encroaches upon the other so as to diminish its
luster. "The Lord our God is holy," while at the same time, "God is
love." Let us therefore glory in His Divine perfection and in the
wondrous Atonement for sin which was required in consequence. An unholy
God could have dispensed with an expiation, but then we should have had
no ground for confidence, since He who can set aside justice in one
direction might do it in the opposite. He who pardons without atonement
might also punish without fault.

For my part, I always glory in the old-fashioned doctrine of
Substitution. I do not know anything about the Atonement which has been
invented by the cultured gentlemen of modern times–though their theory
is so often cried up–it contains so little worth the crying. They call
ours a commercial atonement, and truly we cannot call theirs by the
same name, for it is worth nothing and none would care to commerce with
it! It is a hazy kind of atonement which did something or other, I do
not know what it was, in so intangible and mysterious a manner that it
is but remotely connected with our getting to Heaven! What it was
nobody knows, but each Divine has a theory for his own private use.

I believe Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that, "the
chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and that with His stripes we
are healed." I believe that there was a literal and actual expiation
made by Christ, and that–

"He bore, that we might never bear, His Father's righteous ire."

And this I glory in because it shows the Justice and the Mercy of God
walking hand in hand–Righteousness and Peace kissing each other and
entering into a solemn compact for the salvation of the sons of men.
Surely in the Lord Jehovah we have righteousness and strength, and
therefore will we glory in Him forever–

"Holy, Holy, Holy!

All Hea ven's triumphant choir shall sing

When the ransomed nations fall At the footstool of their King!

Then shall saints and seraphim, Harps and voices, swell one hymn Round
the Throne with full accord, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord."

And if you feel you would like to alter the subject, then glory in the
all-sufficiency of your God, and in the liberality with which He
distributes His mercies among His chosen. Notice the verse that
precedes the text–"But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption." In Christ Jesus is not one good thing given to us, but
every good thing!

He does not give us part of salvation, but the whole of salvation. Do
we need to be instructed? Christ is our wisdom. Do we need to be
clothed in the sight of God with a righteousness that shall render us
acceptable? Christ is our righteousness. Do we need to be purified and
cleansed? Christ is our sanctification. And do we need to be set free
and delivered from all bondage? Christ is our redemption. In God the
Christian finds sufficiency–let us improve the word– all-sufficiency!
There are riches of Divine Grace in Christ Jesus, all that you can ever
need, all that the myriads of God's chosen can need–so much that after
all the saints have taken immense draughts, there is as much left as
before!

I felt, when I was coming up to preach tonight, as if I had been down,
like a little child, to the sea, and I had stooped to the wave and
filled my palms as well as I could with the sparkling water. But as I
have been coming to bring it to you, it has nearly all trickled away,
for I am not able to hold it by reason of my leaking hands. Yet, for
all that, the little I can bring will make you, I hope, rejoice in the
great eternal ocean from which it was taken, for you will never drain
God's love, mercy and Truth dry, though you should draw from it
forever! You need never think you will exhaust Infinity! When a child
of God thinks he has exhausted the patience and mercy of God he is
something like a little fish in the sea which said, "Oh, I am so
thirsty, I am afraid I shall drink up the Atlantic." O little fish, you
have no idea how mighty the ocean is! Countless myriads such as you are
may swim in it and the ocean will be none the less.

O beloved Believer, yours is no stinted store! Joseph said to his
brothers, "The good of all the land of Egypt is yours," and it was a
great promise. But the Lord Jesus says to you tonight, "All things are
yours, whether things present, or things to come, life or death, all
are yours." We have not gone to the full length when we have quoted
that, for there is another word that tops it all, "I am your God." And
to have God to be ours is more than to have Heaven and earth, and
things present and things to come! No one living on earth, or even in
Heaven, can tell how vast are the possessions of a Believer who can
say, "The Lord is my portion." Go and glory in God's all-sufficiency
and the freeness with which He gives it out!

There is one point every child of God may glory in, but he will
scarcely care to do so unless, when he is alone by himself, or with
Brethren who can sympathize. We glory in the nearness and dearness of
the relationship which God holds to us. The man who can bow his knee
and say from his heart, "Our Father," has more to glory in than the
Czar of all the Russias, or the Emperor of the grandest nations of
antiquity! Is Christ my Brother? I am ennobled by that relationship! Is
He married to my soul? Is it, indeed, true that your Maker is your
Husband? Is God so very near that He cannot be nearer? And am I so very
dear to Him that I cannot be dearer, because in the Person of His Son I
am as dear as He? Then ought I not to glory in this? And while some
will say, "We are rich, and our riches are the main thing," and others
will say, "We have followed after wisdom, and we rejoice in what we
have discovered." And a third party will say, "We are famous and great,
and we glory in our honors," we will sit down in some quiet corner,
where none shall hear us but the Lord, and we will say, "I am my
Beloved's, and He is mine–this is my glory, and I will boast in it
both in life and in

death."

So then, Beloved, I have shown that you have good cause to glory in the
Lord heartily, but I cannot make you do it. I pray the Holy Spirit to
stir the hearts of all God's people to make them glory in the Lord, and
exult in the God of their salvation–

"My God, I'll praise You while I live, And praise You when I die, And
praise You when I rise again, And to eternity."

Neither till death, nor in death, nor after death will we cease
glorying in the Lord!

III. Now we come to the third point, and that is, we ought to GLORY IN
THE LORD GROWINGLY. That is to

say, Beloved, we should glory in God in proportion as we learn more of
Him and receive more from Him. Many Believers only know the
elements–they are at a preparatory school and sit among the babes in
Christ–therefore their songs are children's hymns and not the grand
old Psalms of heroes and sages. It should be our desire to grow in the
knowledge of

our Lord. Beyond the rudiments of the faith there are deeper, higher
and fuller Truths of God which invite our consideration and will
abundantly repay it.

Perhaps you learned justification by faith a long while ago, but you
have not learned the doctrine of election, yet, nor the doctrine of the
unchangeable love of God. Labor to know them, for ignorance of them is
neither bliss nor strength. As a faithful disciple, go on to learn more
and more, and when you have learned the more mysterious doctrines,
glory in God more. As you know more, be sure you return more praise to
Him, for, if anything which you believe concerning the Lord does not
cause you to praise Him more, it cannot be the Truth of God or else
your heart is in a wrong condition. Every genuine Revelation of God has
this mark upon it–that it makes Him appear more glorious! The wisdom
which derogates from the honor of God comes from beneath and is founded
in a lie–true wisdom exalts the name of the Lord and bows the heart in
adoration.

Beloved, glory growingly in the Lord as you know more of Him by
Revelation. Moses said, "I beseech You show me Your Glory," and surely,
after he had been put in the cleft of the rock, and seen his God, he
gloried more in Him than ever! Isaiah was a man of stammering lips and
was afraid to speak in God's name, until one day which he never
forgot– for he tells us the year, "In the year that King Uzziah died,"
he remembered it well enough–he saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne
high and lifted up, and His train filled the Temple, while the Glory of
His Presence made the posts of the doors to move. Then Isaiah became
very bold for his Lord and said, "Here am I, send me." Paul was, also,
all the more resolved to know nothing but Christ crucified after he had
been caught up into the third Heaven, and there had seen and heard the
Glory of the Lord!

Now I pray the Lord to reveal Himself to you, dear Friends, more and
more, that you, also, may behold His Glory and receive a sacred bias
thereby. May you see Jesus in your meditations and see Him by communion
and fellowship with Him. And as you see more of Him, go and tell abroad
more of Him, and let others know what a glorious God you serve! His
angels behold Him and then He makes them messengers–may yours be the
vision and then the errand. What we have seen and heard–that must we
testify unto men. You will, as you live, see more of the Glory of God
in His gracious dealings with you, for that is one of the methods by
which that Glory is revealed. Christ said to Mary and Martha, "Said I
not unto you, if you would believe you should see the Glory of God?"
And as we get our prayers answered–as we are delivered in times of
trouble and as all things are made to work for our good–we see the
Glory of God! Never let a special season of mercy pass without praising
Him. Never let an answer to prayer be unrecognized, but magnify the
Lord, who in His abundant mercy has had such compassion upon you.
Glorify Him, then, growingly.

As answers to prayer increase, glorify God more. As Grace is given to
you in times of need, time after time, glorify Him more. As you find
yourself helped, Providentially, in hours of trouble, and so see the
wonderful work of the hand of the Lord on behalf of His people, glorify
Him more! And I will tell you what will help you to glorify Him
more–it will be the sight of conversion-work going on in other people.
I do not think Christian people glorify God at any time so heartily and
thoroughly as when they see others saved! The sight of a young convert
warms up old blood–and whereas we had doubts, troubles and inward
fighting while we were wrapped up in ourselves–when we get to hear
little children in Christ cry to their Father and hear them rejoice as
the Lord puts away their sins, our confidence comes back, all our
sacred passions begin to glow, and we say–"This is the place for me,
for here I see the Glory of God."

"His Glory is great in your salvation." Where Christ works savingly,
there the Glory of God is mightily revealed. And when the Lord builds
up Zion, He appears in His Glory, and His servants rejoice to behold
Him. How can they do otherwise? The stones would rebuke them if they
were not to do so! They must glory in God more than they have ever done
before. By-and-by, dear Brothers and Sisters, as time rolls on, we
shall know more of the Lord, and get to be more like He and approach
nearer to Glory itself. Beholding that Glory, as in a glass, we are
changed from glory to glory, as by the image of the Lord. As we come
nearer to the approaching hour of our full redemption, the pins of our
tent are taken up and the curtains of our tabernacle begin to be
removed–and we look forward to the "house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens," in which our one employment shall be to behold the
Glory of our Lord forever! Let us even now wholly glory in the Lord.

I have known some old Christians who were just one mass of glorying in
the Lord. Their very faces shone with the brightness of His Presence!
They did neither talk to you in private, nor join in the public prayer,
nor give forth any utterance but what you had to say of it, "Surely
they have seen the Glory and their hearts are burning with it! And

therefore their tongues speak marvelous things and they talk as men
whose lips have been touched with a live coal from off the altar." When
these hairs grow gray, may we be such old men and old women–may we be
continually praising and glorying in the Lord all the day long! We had
better begin at once, for time is precious, and a good work cannot be
commenced too promptly–

"I would begin the music here, And so my soul should rise, O for some
heavenly notes to bear My passions to the skies."

IV. Now I come to the last point, which is, let us GLORY IN THE LORD
PRACTICALLY. And how can we do

that? Every Christian ought to glory in the Lord practically by
admitting that he belongs to his redeeming Lord. Are you a Christian
and are you ashamed of it? How can you be said to glory in the Lord? A
man does not hide away that which he glories in! If he glories in it he
does not object to its being seen. Why, if he glories in anything, if
others accuse him that he has something to do with it, he admits the
accusation and he says, "It is even so. And I am not ashamed of it. I
glory in it."

Charge a veteran with having been at Waterloo and he will glory in it!
Accuse an artist of being a Royal Academician and he will not deny the
charge. Accuse me of loving my wife and children, and I smile at you.
Why, then, blush to be called a follower of Jesus? You that love the
Lord, I beseech you, come forward and say that you glory in Him! The
Lord deserves that His people should confess with their mouth that
which they feel in their hearts. It is the least thing we can do, if He
has saved us, to be willing to acknowledge that he is our Savior and
that we rejoice in Him. Then, Brethren, after we have thus confessed
His Glory, let us continue to glory in Him by talking about it on all
fit occasions. Do you not think that we are a great deal too silent in
our piety?

We love the Lord, but we seem as if we do not want to tell anybody we
do–and our common conversation does not betray us as it ought to do.
It ought to be so full of Divine Grace and the Truths of God that men
would find us out at once! Even as the rose betrays itself by its
perfume, and even the glowworm by its shining, so should our glorying
in the Lord reveal us to all observers! I have heard talk of a
professed Christian of whom his servant said, "I am glad my master goes
to the Lord's Table, for if he had not done so, I would not have known
he was a Christian." I should think the chances were he was not a
Christian at all–for we ought, in our common conversation, so glorify
God that others would at once take knowledge of us–that we truly know
and love His name!

A foreigner may speak English well, but he is known by his accent–and
the accent of Divine Grace is quite as marked as that of Nature. Speak
to all around you about the Savior! I do not know a better way of
getting rid of troublesome people than often to talk of Jesus. There
are certain ones who vex you with their evil discourses–bring in the
Lord Jesus Christ and they will soon go away–for they will not like
such weighty discourse. And at the same time better friends will be
attached to you who will love to join you in holy glorying. Glory in
the Lord by standing up for Him when He is opposed. If you hear the
proud ones ridicule His Gospel and despise His people, put in a word
for Jesus! Stand out and say, "I am one of His disciples. Despise me! I
hold those opinions! Ridicule me! That way which you call heresy is the
same way I worship the Lord God of my fathers."

This is a practical way of glorifying Him, but many who have grown rich
and respectable are much too mean-spirited to practice it. I am ashamed
of the cowardly spirit of many in these days who give up their
Non-conformity because they cannot otherwise get into what they call,
"good society." The Lord have mercy on them! Glorify Him, again, by
being calm under your troubles. When others are fretting and worrying,
possess your soul in patience, and say, "No, I do not serve a
fair-weather God, and I am not to be cowed and put down, for the
eternal God is my refuge and underneath me are the everlasting arms. It
does not become a man to tremble who has the God of Jacob for his help.
I will bear trouble joyfully, if He wills to send it."

Glory in the Lord, Brothers and Sisters, practically, by having a
contempt for those things which others value so much. Do not be greedy
after the world. Love God too much to care for earthly treasures. If
God gives you wealth, thank Him for it and use it. If He does not, do
not worry about it. Feel that you are rich enough without the heaps of
yellow metal. You have your God and that is the best wealth! You have a
Heaven to go to, and a little Heaven below. Rejoice in that which you
find in your God. Live above the world. Pray that God's Spirit will
help you. "Let your conversation be in Heaven." Thus glorify God and
when men look at you, compel them to feel that there is something in
you and about

you which they cannot understand, for you have been with Jesus and you
have learned of Him. In all these ways, "he that glories let him glory
in the Lord."

I am sorry, in closing, to feel compelled to say that I am afraid many
do not understand this. Perhaps you have gloried in your priests and
thought they were great. Very possibly some of you glory in your
minister–you think he is very eminent. And some of you, it may be,
glory in your purses and your possessions. Some of you glory in your
broad acres and large houses. Some of you glory in the skill you have
in your trade, or your quickness in business. It may be many of you
glory in the fact that you are not as other men are. All these
gloryings are evil! God help you to put them down! Even to glory in
your Church, and glory in your sect, and glory in your creed is wrong!

To glory in the Lord is the work of His Spirit–and to live to make Him
glorious in the esteem of men is the only thing worthy of an immortal
mind. You will never glory in God till, first of all, God has killed
your glorying in yourself. May He be pleased, in His infinite mercy, to
show you unconverted sinners that there is nothing about you which you
can justly glory in, but everything for which you ought to be ashamed
and to loathe yourselves. May He make you fly to Jesus. I pray you
trust Him and be saved! The Lord bless you in this matter, for Jesus'
sake. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–1 Corinthians 1. HYMNS FROM
"OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–242, 174, 420.
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