The Gospel of the Glory of Christ

The Gospel of the Glory of Christ

DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, MARCH 31, 1889,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"The light of the glorious Gospel of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:4

SHINING in the center of the verse, like a pearl in its setting, you
find these words. Literally and accurately translated, they run
thus–"The light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ." This is the
form given to my text in the Revised Version and I shall follow it
because, word for word, it follows the original.

Paul was a man of one idea. The Gospel of Christ had saturated his soul
as the dew saturated Gideon's fleece. He could think of nothing else
and speak of nothing else but the glory of Christ Crucified. Important
events in politics transpired in the Apostle's day but I cannot
remember an allusion to them. Great social problems were to be solved,
but his one and only solution was the preaching of that great Savior
who is to cleanse the Augean stables of the world. For Paul there was
but one thing worth living for and that one thing was worth dying for.
He did not count even his life dear unto him that he might win Christ
and be found in Him.

Therefore his spirits rose or sank according to the prosperity or
decline of the kingdom of Christ. When he writes an Epistle his mood
varies according to the spiritual condition of the people to whom he
writes. If their faith grows exceedingly and if from them sounds forth
the Word of God, then he is jubilant in his tone. But if they are
declining in Divine Grace Divine Grace, if there are divisions among
them, if false doctrine is ravaging them like a wolf in the sheepfold–
then he is solemn in spirit and he writes with a heavy hand. In this
case Paul laments the condition of those who could not see what was so
plain to himself–namely, the Gospel of the glory of Christ.

He saw most clearly the glory of his Lord and that precious Gospel
which is built up thereon and he marveled that others could not see it
also. Considering their case with care he sorrowfully perceived that
they must first have shut their eyes by willful unbelief. Therefore he
felt Satan had exercised his evil power and had utterly blinded them.
The blaze of the Gospel is so bright, that even with their eyes
averted, some measure of light must have entered their minds–unless
some especial evil power had operated to hold them in darkness. The
devil himself, Paul perceived, must have blinded them, but even Satan
found it a great task to shut out the glorious light. To accomplish it
he had to amass all his power as "the god of this world."

It required a great amount of cunning to close the perceptive faculties
of men against the clear and forcible light of the Truth of the Gospel.
The light of the glorious Gospel, like that of the morning dawn, would
have been seen even by dim eyes had not the infernal prince blindfolded
the thoughts of men and made their minds as dark as his own. The light
of the Gospel is intense, and by a faithful ministry it is flashed in
the very faces of men. Therefore, in fear of losing his subjects, the
Prince of Darkness hastens to blind their eyes. Jesus comes to give
sight, but Satan comes to destroy it. They each know the value of those
eyes by which men look and live. The battle rages at the mental Eye
Gate. The conflict between the two champions is raised upon the
question–shall men behold the light–or shall they abide in darkness?

I wonder whether there are any here at this time who have long been
willing unbelievers and have at last come to be quite unable to
perceive any glory in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. When they hear it
faithfully preached they flippantly criticize the style of the speaker.
But the matter of which he speaks appears to them to be of small
consequence. They pass by the Cross itself and the sorrow of the Lord
is nothing to them. These may be very intelligent men and women in
other matters and yet have no perception of the spiritual Truth of God.
They can perceive a thousand beauties in nature but none in Divine
Grace. They have drunk of the Castilian fountain but have never sipped
of "the waters of Shiloh that go

softly."

They can discuss at large upon the sublime and beautiful. But they see
neither beauty nor sublimity in Him who is all that is lovely and all
that is heavenly. I pray that while I am speaking of the light of the
Gospel of the glory of Christ that

light may penetrate their minds. May God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness speak again the almighty fiat, saying, "Let there
be light." And there shall be light. May the miracle of the old
creation be repeated in the new creation to the praise of the glory of
Divine Grace.

First, this morning I shall ask you to think upon Paul's words and
consider his name for the Gospel–it is "the Gospel of the glory of
Christ." Secondly, let us consider the light which streams from that
Gospel of the glory of Christ. When we have thought of these two
things, let us consider what to do with this light, this marvelous
light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ.

I. At the outset LET US CONSIDER PAUL'S NAME FOR THE GOSPEL–"the
Gospel of the glory of Christ."

It is very evident that the Apostle felt that the Gospel was solely and
altogether of Christ. The Anointed was, in his view, the one subject of
the glad tidings from beginning to end. When He was born the angels
proclaimed good tidings of great joy to the sons of men. And after His
death His human messengers went forth to all nations with messages of
love. His death is the birth of our hope–His resurrection is the
rising of our buried joy. His session at the right hand of God is the
prophecy of our eternal bliss. Christ is the Author of the Gospel, the
Subject of the Gospel and the end of the Gospel. His hand is seen in
every letter of that wonderful Epistle of Divine love called the New
Testament, or New Covenant.

He Himself is glad tidings to us in every point and the Gospel is from
Him in every sense. That is not Gospel which does not relate to Jesus.
If there is no mark of blood upon it, the roll of tidings may be
rejected as a forgery. As Christ is the Subject, so is He the Object of
the Gospel–His Glory is promoted by the Gospel. It is the Gospel of
His Glory among the sons of men in all ages and it will be so
throughout eternity. The Gospel, and the sinners saved by it, will
glorify the Son of God forever.

To Paul the Gospel was always a glorious Gospel. He never had dim views
of its excellence. He never spoke of it as though it stood in doubtful
competition with Judaism, or heathenism, or the philosophies of the
Stoics and the Epicureans. These things were but dross to him in
comparison with the "much fine gold" of the Gospel. He spoke of it in
glowing terms–he felt it to be a great privilege and responsibility to
be put in trust with it and to be allowed to preach it. It was the joy
of his heart to live upon it himself and it was his one aim to proclaim
it to others. "The glorious Gospel of the blessed God" was his one
absorbing science and he determined to know nothing else.

O you that are beginning to think lightly of the old Gospel and dream
that it is becoming powerless–may the Spirit that rested upon the
Apostle rest upon you till you, also, shall perceive the glory of the
method of Divine Grace and shall speak of it fervently as "the glorious
Gospel of Christ"!

Returning to the literal translation, we remark that the Apostle saw
that the excellence of the Gospel lay in the glory of Christ. I shall
try to show you this. The glorious Savior is the Substance of the
glorious Gospel. In speaking of this theme I can only repeat what you
know already, and in that repetition I shall not strive after elaborate
expressions but tell the story simply, after the manner of the Apostle
who says, "Seeing, then, that we have such hope, we use great plainness
of speech." The glory of Christ would be insulted by attempts to set it
forth with finery of words. Let it be seen in its own light.

The glory of the Gospel, then, lies very much in the glory of our
Lord's Person. He who is the Savior of men is God–"God over all,
blessed forever." Is it not written, "When He brings in the first
begotten into the world, He says, And let all the angels of God worship
Him"? With the angels of God we worship Jesus Christ as God. Our
Redeemer is also man–man like ourselves with this exception–that in
Him there is no taint of natural depravity and no act of sin has ever
stained His Character. Behold the glory of Him who is God and Man
mysteriously united in one Person! He is unique–He is the brightness
of the Father's glory and the Brother born for adversity.

This is the Gospel–that the Son of God, Himself, gloriously undertook
the salvation of men and therefore was made flesh and dwelt among us
and we beheld His Glory. If we had here a vast hospital full of sick
people it would be the best of news for those languishing there. If I
could tell them that a great Physician had devoted Himself to their
heal-ing–the more I extolled the Physician who had come to visit
them–the more would there be good news for them. If I could say to
them, "The Physician who is coming to succor you is possessed of
infallible wisdom and unerring skill and in Him are united loving
tenderness and infinite power"–how they would smile upon their beds!

Why, the very news would half restore them! Should it not be much more
so with desponding and despairing souls when they hear that He who has
come to save is none other than the glorious Christ of God? The
mysteriously majestic

Person of Christ is the mainstay of the Gospel. He who is able to save
is no angel and no mere man–He is "Emmanuel, God with us." Infinite
are His resources, boundless is His Grace. O, you guilty ones who lie
upon beds of remorse, ready to die of grief, here is a Savior such as
you need. When you think of what you are and despair–think also of
what He is–and take heart.

If I made you doubt the Deity of the Savior I should cut away the
foundation of your only hope. But while you see Him to be God, you
remember that nothing is too hard for Him. If I caused you to doubt His
proper Manhood I should also rob you of comfort, since you would not
recognize in Him the tender sympathy which grows out of kinship.
Beloved, the Lord Jesus stands before you commissioned by the eternal
God with the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him without measure. And
thus, being in Nature and Person the first and the best, His message of
salvation is to you most full and sure and His Glory is Gospel to you.

The glory of Christ lies not only in His Person but in His love.
Remember this, and see the Gospel which lies in it. From all eternity
the Son of God has loved His people–even from of old, "His delights
were with the sons of men." Long before He came on earth He so loved
the men whom His Father gave Him that He determined to be one with them
and for their redemption to pay the dreadful price of life for life. He
saw the whole company of His chosen in the glass of His foreknowledge
and loved them with an everlasting love. The love which glowed in the
heart of our Redeemer "in the beginning"–that same love will never
know an end!

Here, to us, is His Glory. He loved us so that Heaven could not hold
Him. He loved us so that He descended to redeem us. And having come
among us amid our sin and shame, He loves us still. "Having loved His
own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Love, you
have reached your utmost glory in the heart of the Divine Savior! And
the glory of this love which is without beginning, boundary, change, or
close, is the very lifeblood of the Gospel. The love of Jesus is the
glad tidings of great joy. Our great Physician loves the sick and
delights to heal them. He comes into the wards among the palsied and
the plague-stricken with an intense longing to bless them. Jesus is the
sinner's Friend. How rapturously does my soul sing of Him as "Jesus,
lover of my soul"! A gracious Gospel lies in the glory of the love of

Christ!

This being so, Beloved, we next see the glory of His incarnation. To us
it was the glory of Christ that He was born at Bethlehem and dwelt at
Nazareth. It looks like dishonor that He should be the carpenter's son.
But throughout all ages this shall be the glory of the Mediator–that
He deigned to be partaker of our flesh and blood. There is glory in His
poverty and shame–glory in His having nowhere to lay His head. Glory
in His weariness and hunger. Surpassing glory springs from Gethsemane
and the bloody sweat, from Calvary and the death of the Cross. All
Heaven could not yield Him such renown as that which comes from the
spitting and the scourging, the nailing and the piercing.

A glory of Divine Grace and tenderness surrounds the incarnate God. And
this, to those convicted of sin, is the Gospel. When we see God in
human flesh we expect reconciliation. When we see that He took our
infirmities and bore our sicknesses we hope for pardon and healing.
Born of a virgin, our Lord has come among us and has lived on earth a
life of service and of suffering–there must be hope for us. He came
not into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him
might be saved. I pray you can see the glory of His life of doing good,
of working miracles of mercy, of tender care for the fallen. Then ask
yourselves whether there is not in His life among men good news for all
sad hearts.

Did God Himself cover His Glory with a veil of our inferior clay? Then
He means well to men. Humanity thus honored by union with the Godhead
is not utterly abhorred. In the Word made flesh we see the Glory of
God, and noting how love predominates, how condescending pity reigns,
we see in this a Gospel of Divine Grace for all believing men.

The glory of Christ is further seen in His atoning sacrifice. But you
stop me and say, "That was His humiliation and His shame." Yes, it is
true, and therefore it is His Glory. Is not the Christ to every loving
heart most of all glorious in the death of the Cross? What garment does
so well become our Beloved as the vesture dipped in His own blood? He
is altogether lovely. Let Him be arrayed as He may. But when our
believing hearts behold Him covered with bloody sweat we gaze upon Him
with adoring amazement and rapturous love. His flowing crimson bedecks
Him with a robe more glorious than the imperial purple. We fall at His
feet with sevenfold reverence when we behold the marks of His passion.

Is He not most of all illustrious as our dying Substitute? Beloved,
here lies the marrow of the Gospel. Jesus Christ suffered in our place.
"He His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree." That glory
of His Cross which we again declare to be greater glory than any other,
is Gospel to us. On His Cross He bore the whole weight of Divine
justice

in our place. The iron rod of Jehovah which would have broken us into
pieces like potters' vessels fell on Him. He "became obedient to death,
even the death of the Cross," and in that act He slew death and
overcame him that had the power of death, that is, the devil–

"His Cross a sure foundation laid For glory and renown,

When through the regions of the dead He passed to reach the crown."

Beloved, the glory of His sacrificial death by which He blotted out our
sin and magnified the Law is the Gospel of our salvation.

We will now travel a little further to His resurrection–wherein His
Glory is more palpable to us. He could not be held by the bonds of
death. He was dead–His holy body could die but it could not see
corruption. Having slept a little while within the chamber of the tomb,
He arose and came forth to light and liberty–the living Christ
glorified by His resurrection. Who shall tell the glory of the risen
Lord?–

"Rising, He brought our Heaven to light, And took possession of the
joy." Rising, He sealed our justification. Rising, He rifled the
sepulcher and released the captives of death. He was "declared to be
the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead."

Let us rejoice that He is not dead, but ever lives to make intercession
for us. This is the Gospel to us–because He lives we shall live also.
"He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them." Oh the glory of
our risen Lord! Consider it deeply, meditate upon it earnestly. And as
you do so, hear the clear sound of glad tidings of great joy. For our
greatest consolation we do not look to this precept or to that promise
so much as to Jesus Himself. It is He who has by His rising from the
dead given us the surest pledge and guarantee of our deliverance from
the prison of guilt, the dungeon of despair and the sepulcher of death.

Once more–lift up your eyes a little higher and note the glory of our
Lord's enthronement and of His second coming. He sits at the right hand
of God. He that once was hung upon the tree of shame now sits on the
Throne of universal dominion. Instead of the nail, behold the scepter
of all worlds in His most blessed hand. All things are put under His
feet. Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, is now crowned with glory and honor and this is the
Gospel to us. For it is plain that He has conquered all our enemies and
has all power in Heaven and in earth on our behalf. His acceptance with
God is the acceptance of all whom He loves. And He loves all who trust
Him.

His sitting in glory is a pledge that the whole of the redeemed by
blood shall sit there in due time. His second coming, for which we
daily look, is our most Divine hope. Perhaps before we fall asleep the
Lord shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the trump of the
archangel and the voice of God. And then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Then will our weary
days be ended–the strife of tongues, the struggle against sin, the
stratagems of error–all will be finished and truth and holiness shall
reign supreme!

O my Brethren–if I could but break loose from the impediments of mouth
and tongue and speak my heart without these cumbrous organs–then would
I make you rejoice in the glory of my Divine Master upon His Throne
today and in His glorious appearing at the appointed hour. If we could
see Him as John did in Patmos we might swoon at His feet. But it would
be with the rapture of hope and not with the chill of despair. Mark
this–the less you make of Christ, the less Gospel you have to trust
in. If you get rid of Christ from your creed you have at the same time
destroyed all its good news.

The more Gospel we would preach, the more of Christ we must proclaim.
If you lift up Christ, you lift up the Gospel. If you dream of
preaching the Gospel without exalting Christ in it you will give the
people husks instead of true bread. In proportion as the Lord Jesus is
set up on a glorious high throne He becomes salvation to the sons of
men. A little Christ means a little Gospel. But the true Gospel is the
Gospel of the glory of Christ.

II. Secondly, LET US CONSIDER THE LIGHT OF THIS GOSPEL. Our Apostle
speaks of "the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ."

That light is, first of all, unveiled. Whatever light there was in the
Law–and there was much–it was latent light. The veil on the face of
Moses was typical of the way in which the ceremonies of the Law were
hidden from the sight of men. We forget that a great majority of those
things we read in the Law were never seen by the Israelites as a
people. Do

not suppose that any Israelite ever looked within the veil–none but
the high priest ever entered there. Even the Holy Place outside the
veil was reserved for the priests. The most of the sacrificial types
were as much matters of faith to the Israelites as the meaning is a
matter of faith to us.

They did not even see the patterns of the heavenly things–they had to
be told of them. And in the hearing they had to exercise faith as we
also do. But, my Brethren, our Gospel is not of the veil which hides,
but of the lamp which shines. We use no reserve among you. I solemnly
declare before God that I believe nothing which I do not preach among
you openly and I give no sense to the words which I use but that which
is natural to them. "For we are not as many, which corrupt the Word of
God: but as of sincerity but as from God, in the sight of God speak we
in Christ."

We have heard of preachers who believe very differently from what they
openly say. The deed of trust requires some little consonance with
evangelical doctrine, but they loathe it in their souls and tell their
Brethren so in private. But as for us, "we have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word
of God deceitfully." We dare preach everything that we believe and
preach it as plainly as possible. The more you know us through and
through, the more glad we shall be. Our Gospel is one which may be
advertised everywhere–we have nothing to conceal.

I have heard that William Gadsby of Manchester, traveling on a coach
one day, asked two heretical Divines to tell him how a sinner is
justified in the sight of God. "No," said they, "you won't catch us in
that fashion. Whatever answer we gave you would be repeated all over
Manchester within a week." "Oh," said he, "then I will tell you. A
sinner is justified in the sight of God by faith in the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ. Go and tell that all over Manchester and
all over England as quickly as you like. For I believe nothing that I
am ashamed of."

Light rejoices to proclaim itself. The Gospel is a light and lights are
not meant to be hidden under bushels or beds. If they are buried in
that way, they will burn their way to resurrection and the bushels and
the beds will be consumed and make all the greater light. The Gospel of
the blessed God is intended to be conspicuous as the lighthouse on the
rock which is seen afar. It is so illuminating that everyone in the
house may see by it. The Gospel which is not known is of no value–the
true Gospel is as much intended to be understood as light is meant to
be seen.

This light, in the next place, is all its own. You cannot illuminate
the Gospel–it is itself an illumination. Would I not be an idiot if I
were to say to my deacon behind me, "Dear Friend, kindly get me a
candle–I want to show these people the sun. I do not see the sun just
now but I will lead them into the street and by the help of this candle
we will search the sky till we find it"? I think I hear you say, "Our
pastor is out of his mind." Such conduct might well justify the
suspicion. It is not by human light that we can show the Gospel of God.
Not by rhetoric and reasoning do men perceive the light of the Gospel.
There is a self-manifesting and a self-evidencing power in the Gospel.
It runs on its own feet and needs no crutches.

If men would read their Bibles they would, as a rule, believe their
Bibles. But they will not read them. If men would hear the Gospel
attentively, they would, as a general rule, believe the Gospel. But
they will not give it the attention it deserves. It needs no effort to
see a bright light. If men would only open their eyes to the light of
the Gospel they would see it. If they would only think upon the glory
of the Gospel of Christ, its light would find its way into their souls.
Where the Gospel shines in all its brilliance, men have to put up their
shutters to keep out its light. But they do even worse– they call in
the devil to gouge out their eyes that they may not be forced to see.

In itself the Gospel has such a wonderful power of making itself felt,
that if men did not resist its influence it would reveal Divine things
to them. I wish I could induce unbelievers here to read the story of
the crucifixion every morning and to keep on reading it and studying
it. For I am persuaded that the light which streams from the Cross
would, by the blessing of God, open their eyes and enter their souls
savingly. For, mark you–the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ
is Divine light.

Paul tells us this when he says, "For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of
the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The
Gospel is either Divine or it is a lie–it has a supernatural power
about it or else it is an impostor. The true power of the Gospel of
Christ lies not in its natural reasonableness, in its adaptation to
human need, in its moral beauty, but in the attendant power of the
Spirit of God. God is in the Gospel and therefore it is mighty.

We may preach to you for a thousand years altogether and never a soul
of you would receive Christ unless the same Spirit that spoke light
into the primeval dark should say, "Let there be light." Salvation is a
supernatural process. God Himself must come upon the scene before the
eyes of a man born blind will see. How this Truth exalts God and lowers
man! Yes. And the lower we are brought, the better. When we get to feel
our utter helplessness, then will our extremity prove to be the
opportunity of the Grace of God. O heavenly light, shine now into the
soul of all who hear or read this sermon!

This light is a revealing light. Whenever the light of the glory of
Christ comes streaming into the heart it reveals the hidden things of
darkness. When the glory of Christ is seen, then we see our own shame
and sinfulness. Did it need God Himself to redeem us? Then we must have
been in dire bondage. Did it need the incarnate God should die? Then
sin must be exceeding sinful! That is a deep pit which needs that God
should come from Heaven to lift us out of it. We never see the
impotence and depravity of human nature as well as in the light of the
glory of Christ.

When He is seen as undertaking this tremendous work and as putting His
almighty shoulder to it, then we clearly perceive what help man needed
and how great was his fall. What a revelation it is when the light
shines into the secret chambers of imagery and the idol gods are made
manifest in all their hideousness! May God send this light to many,
that their ruin, their doom, their remedy, and their way of obtaining
it may be plainly perceived.

The light of the Gospel also enlivens. No other light will give life to
the dead. You may make the strongest light in the world flash
frequently upon a corpse but there will be neither breath nor pulse.
But the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ brings life with it.
"The life was the light of men." "Awake, you that sleep, and arise from
the dead and Christ shall give you light." Darkness is death, but the
light of God is life. Let but this Sun of Righteousness arise and He
not only brings healing but life. Shine, glorious Lord–let Your glory
shine forth! And as it pours its brilliance into the minds of men their
dead hearts shall beat with the life of hope and holiness and they will
see the Lord!

This light is photographic–you get that in the neighborhood of the
text–in the last verse of the third chapter. See the Revised
Version–"But we all, with unveiled face, reflecting as a mirror, the
glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." The light of the Gospel of
the glory of Christ imprints Christ's image upon the character of
Believers. We see Him, and seeing His love we learn to love. Seeing His
life we learn to live. Seeing His full atonement, we hate evil–seeing
His resurrection, we rise to newness of life. By the power of the
Spirit working from day to day we are quietly transformed from our old
likeness and conformed to the likeness of Christ till our deformity is
lost in a blessed comeliness of conformity to Him.

If we saw Him more clearly and more constantly we should grow into His
likeness more rapidly. No sanctification is worth having but that which
comes of communion with the holy Lord through the power of the Holy
Spirit. You may read the biographies of good men and you may copy them
in all simplicity. But in the end you may become a caricature of
perfection and not the very image itself. The perfect character of
Jesus is yet the most easy to imitate. It is safe to copy Jesus. For in
Him is no excess or defect. And strange to say, that character which is
in some aspects inimitable is in others the most imitable of all.

I have often been depressed in view of the high character of certain
saints whom I honor because I have felt that I could never be like they
are under any circumstances. I know one who is full of faith and
goodness. But he is always solemn and constantly absorbed "in high
meditations." I never could grow exactly like he is, for there are
certain mirthful elements in my constitution. And if they were taken
away I should not be the same man. When I look at my Lord I see much in
Him that is supernatural but nothing that is unnatural. We see in Him
humanity in perfection. But the perfection never conceals the humanity.
He is so holy as to be a perfect model–so human as to be a model
available for poor creatures such as we are. Beloved, the light of the
Gospel of the glory of Christ is photographic.

Yet further–it creates peace and joy. This light brings delight. I
cannot imagine a man unhappy who clearly perceives the light of the
glory of Christ. Is Christ glorious? Then it does not much matter what
becomes of me. Have you ever heard of the dying and wounded soldiers in
Napoleon's wars who still clung to their emperor with an idolatrous
love in the hour of death? Lifting himself upon his elbow, the soldier
of the Old Guard gave one more cheer for the great captain. If the
dying warrior saw Napoleon riding over the field he would with his last
gasp cry, "Vive l'Empereur!" and then expire.

We read of one that when the surgeons were trying to extract a bullet
from his chest said, "Go a little deeper and you will find the
Emperor." He had him on his heart. Infinitely more commendable is the
loyalty of the Believer to the Lord Christ. Though we die in a ditch,
what does it matter so long as "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. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father"?

It makes the sick saint well to think of the triumphs of his Lord. Have
you ever, when you have been sitting here heavy in heart, been borne
aloft on wings of delight when we have been singing–

"Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all"?

Surely there is a Gospel in the glory of Christ to our sad hearts. That
Gospel lifts us out of the dumps of doubt and fear into the clear blue
sky of heavenly fellowship. God grant that we may feel this uplifting
more and more! Thus have I tried to describe the qualities of this
light. But you must see it for yourselves.

III. And now I close by saying, LET US CONSIDER WHAT WE SHALL DO WITH
THIS LIGHT.

Do with it? Look towards it. Let us first indulge ourselves with a long
and steady gaze upon it. No man can look long at the sun for it would
blind him. But you may look at Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, as long
as you please and your eyes will grow stronger the longer you gaze on
His perfections. I beseech you, Beloved in the Lord, to get alone and
give yourself to meditate upon the glory of the once-despised Jesus.
Track Him from the cradle to the Cross, from the Cross to the crown. I
cannot suggest to you any subject more instructive, more comforting,
more ennobling than this. Look at this light–or it is a pleasant thing
to behold–this sun.

Have you ever heard how the Laplanders climb the hills when the sun is
at last about to appear after the weary winter months? How they rejoice
in the first beams of the rising sun! So let us rise to lofty
meditation and look to our Lord and Master till we perceive His
mediatorial glory and are blessed thereby. Have you no time? Give up
your newspaper for a week that you may sanctify the time to the noble
end of considering the glory of your Lord. If you will, I will warrant
that you shall get a thousand times more out of such thought than from
skimming the daily journal. Look unto Jesus and the light within will
grow like the glory of Heaven.

If you say that a man cannot always stand looking at the sun, I admit
it, and change my advice to you. See all things by this light. How
differently things look in sunlight to what they do by gaslight or
candlelight! Let us regard all things by their appearance in the light
of the glory of Christ. Then if you hear a sermon which does not
glorify Christ it will be a lost discourse to you. Do not endure to see
your Lord set in a low place. Hear no more of that talk which makes
little of His blood and of His Substitution. You read a book–a very
clever book–but instead of honoring Christ it glorifies human nature
and you have soon had enough of it. Only that which is a good Gospel
glorifies Christ–in this light you see things truly.

Many of the wise men of the period ought to be treated as Diogenes
treated Alexander. The conqueror of the world said to the man in the
tub, "What can I do for you?" He thought he could do everything for the
poor philosopher. Diogenes only replied, "Get out of the sunlight."
These wise people cannot do us a greater favor than to remove their
learned selves from standing between us and the sunlight of the
ever-blessed Gospel of the glory of Christ. These Alexanders may go on
ruling the Christian world, and the infidel world, but they have not
conquered us. Our faith and joy lie outside the world–in yonder Sun of
Righteousness whose light is the rejoicing of our eyes!

Beloved, when asked what we should do with this light, I answer
again–value it. Esteem the glorious Gospel of Christ more than all
besides. See at what rate the devil reckons it! He takes the trouble
himself, to come up from the bottomless pit to blind men's eyes for
fear they should see it. When he perceives the blaze of the Gospel of
the Glory of God, he says to himself, "Ah, they will be seeing the
Truth of God and so they will escape from me. I must go myself and
blind them." So the "god of this age," as he esteems himself, comes to
unbelievers and blindfolds them in one way or another. He thrusts the
hot iron of fatal unbelief upon men's inward eyes and seals them in
blackest night lest they should see "the light of the Gospel of the
glory of Christ." Since, then, the devil thinks so much of this light,
let us spread it with all diligence. If Satan hates it, let us love it.
If this is the great gun which he dreads–let us wheel it to the front
and keep up a constant cannonade from it.

The Gospel is our Mons Meg, the biggest gun in the castle. But it is
not out of date–it will carry a ball far enough to reach the heart of
the sinner who is furthest from God. Satan trembles when he hears the
roar of the Gospel gun. Let it never be silent.

Let us also hold it out with the greatest confidence. This light must
win in the long run. If you came to this building in the middle of the
night somebody might say to you, "How can we get the darkness out of
this building?" It would be a hopeless task. How could it be done? You
cannot pump out the darkness. But if you fill the house with light the
darkness will vanish of itself. Preach Christ and away goes the god of
this world. Exalt Christ and down goes the devil. Beloved, let us
persuade men to let this light shine around them. They cannot see it
because of unbelief. But if it shines around them, it may bring them
eyes. God the Holy Spirit blessing it, light will beget sight. Induce
your friends to hear the Gospel and read the Word of God and who can
tell but they will be saved?

And, lastly, let all who try to preach and teach keep Christ always in
the front. The Gospel must have Christ as its center and its
circumference. In fact, as its All in All. The Gospel is not the Gospel
without Christ. The Gospel will have no dominant idea in it but Christ.
It is a noble steed but it will bear no rider but He whose vesture is
dipped in blood. I have read of the famous horse Bucephalus, that when
he was brought out with his royal trappings upon him he would not allow
one even of the highest nobles of the court to mount him. He would
carry no one but Alexander, the king.

The Gospel is glorious in its going when it bears Jesus in the saddle.
But if you preach yourself or human philosophy the Gospel will fling
you over its head. Let us sing with the blessed virgin, "My soul does
magnify the Lord and my spirit does rejoice in God my Savior." This is
a Gospel sonnet–this is a song which our Well-Beloved deserves of us.
O you preachers and teachers, lift up Christ! He is as the serpent on
the pole and all who look to Him shall live forever.

Look to Him all you that are dying of serpent bites–for looking you
shall LIVE. God bless these words in which I have desired to glorify my
Lord! Amen.