The Glory Of God Received And Reflected

A Sermon Preached By Mr. Hazelton, At Mount Zion Chapel, Chadwell Street, Clerkenwell, On Lord’s-Day Evening, 31st January, 1875.

“And his glory shall be seen upon thee.”—Isaiah 60:2

The manifestations of the Lord Jesus Christ to his church have been various, progressive in clearness, and continual. In the first place, he manifested himself for the most part in connection with types and shadows: the sacrifices which Abel offered, the ark which Noah built, and the sacrifices which Abraham offered, were typical of the Lord Jesus; and in some respects also Isaac was a type of his father’s seed, Saviour, and Lord. David also was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as were also Aaron and the Jewish high priests; and thus under the Old Testament dispensation, Jesus Christ visited his people in connection with types. It is true he visited them sometimes in a visible form; but every day, and several times a day, his people saw him in connection with the types and shadows of the ceremonial law. In the fulness of time, he came in person and manifested him­self to the children of Israel as the great and glorious Mediator of his church. “Lo, I come,” he said, “to do thy will, O God” and he that was born of the Virgin Mary was to be called Emanuel, viz., God with us. Well, he came for a solemnly and an eternally important purpose; and that purpose he perfectly and triumphantly fulfilled and returned to heaven;“ and the heavens have received him, and will retain him until the times of the restitution of all things.” What then! are we strangers to his presence now? Are there now no manifestations of Jesus Christ? Is it a fact that he does not now visit his people and manifest himself to them as he does not unto the world? Blessed be his holy and saving name! Although, personally considered, he is in heaven, his Spirit, his word, and his hallowing, heavenly and helping influences are here, and he is pleased to manifest himself to his people very frequently in a spiritual manner. And when all his spiritual manifestation of himself shall have taken place, and all the objects of God’s love shall have been gathered together and saved, then we and the world shall see him again, for he will come the second time, without sin unto salvation; and then in a very glorious and perfect sense shall my text be fulfilled “The glory of the Lord shall be seen upon thee.”

The exhortations of the Word of God are inseparably connected with divine doctrines; and that form of grace which appears in exhortations always arises out of that which is doctrinal; and therefore the exhortations of the word of God are not thrown out indiscriminately. The Holy Spirit is perfectly discriminating, and particularly so in relation to spiritual things and persons; and it is the business of the ministers of the gospel to define character and position. As the promises of God belong exclusively to God’s people, so the exhortations of his word belong exclusively to particular characters; and hence in the first verse of this chapter we have “Arise, shine!” You call this an exhortation,—an order from heaven, an injunction from the throne of God; but then mark the connection,—“Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee;” and therefore a sinner dead in trespasses and sins is not exhorted to arise and shine. An individual upon whom the glory of God has not fallen is not here exhorted to shine as a light in the world; for the Son of God is here considered as having risen as the Sun of Righteousness, and as pouring the beams of his glory down upon the soul; and this is followed by the word proceeding from the throne of God, Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. “Darkness covers the earth, but light shall cover thee; and gross darkness shall cover the people, but the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon thee. The words express a contrast,—darkness upon the earth as in Egypt when Israel was there; but light upon the church as in the land of Goshen where Israel dwelt; gross darkness upon the earth, but a light which is visible, and a glory which is reflected upon a certain people. “But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

If you look at our text, you will, I think, see two things:—the Lord’s glory received by his church; secondly, the reflection of that glory which is thus received.—“His glory shall be seen in thee.”

First, let us offer a few thoughts upon the glory of the Lord which his people are said to receive. “The Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” There is no doubt allusion in my text to the visible symbol of the Divine presence and glory which was connected with the Jewish dispensation. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt a peculiar cloud went before them, and when the Egyptians pursued and threatened to overtake them that cloud went and placed itself between the Israelites and the Egyptians. That cloud was a visible symbol of the Divine presence, and a type of the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. That could conducted the children of Israel from place to place, during forty years in the wilderness; and when the tabernacle was made and set up, the glory of the Lord “filled it and covered the tent of the congregation,” and subsequently dwelt between the cherubims. This was the divine Shekinah, the symbol of God’s presence, the glory of God among and upon his people Israel; and hence it is said in the word of God—“The Lord shall be seen upon you,” and “Thy God is thy glory,” and “There the glorious Lord will be unto them a place of broad rivers and streams;” and thus the glory of the Lord was seen upon his people. That, however, which appeared only in type to the children of Israel, has appeared in reality and as an actuality in connection with the gospel dispensation; for “Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise,”—not a luminous cloud, not a bright symbol of the Sun of Righteousness; but the Sun of Righteousness himself shall arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall.” Jesus Christ is the glory of the Lord, for all the glory of God in which we are interested, and which we shall ever receive, and be capable of beholding, is in the person of the Son of God’s love. Christ is the great embodiment of God’s glory. All the glory of God is in him, and hence we behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; and we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord—that is the Lord Jesus Christ—are changed into the same image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And thus Christ is the great embodiment of God’s glory. He is the great medium or Mediator of glory; for God’s communicable glory comes from God, through the Mediator to his church: and hence, “The glory which thou has given me, I have given them;” therefore that grace, that salvation, those riches, and that glory by which we, as the saints of God, are distinguished, and which come form the heart of Deity, flow from our Father to us through the person and mediation of God’s dear Son; and Jesus Christ is the great, glorious and everlasting dispenser of the communicable glory of God. Now, the church of God is here considered as having received glory from Christ, and I hope we may apply this to ourselves; for we have received a measure of glorious grace from Jesus Christ, and through infinite favour not only received it, but imbibed it; and we trust that in some humble degree we as spiritual mirrors reflect the glory of the Lord. A rock receives the showers of heaven, but it does not drink them in; but the thirsty earth drinketh in the rain of heaven: so God’s people receive, imbibe, and reflect the saving light of Christ; and therefore we trust we know something of the meaning of the text—The glory of the Lord has been received by thee, and is seen upon thee.

Now let me particularise for a few minutes. Our subject is perhaps a some­what difficult one, and somewhat unusual for the pulpit in this place. I notice in the first place—that if we are what we profess to be, we have received from Christ the glorious grace of relationship. I will quote a scripture or two presently in support of this position, but here I will just say that different forms or expressions of the divine glory fall upon God’s creatures according to the relation­ship in which they stand to God. In the first place, the natural sun is the most glorious creature of God in our system; we say nothing about the whole universe; and when he rises in the morning, if the day is bright and cloudless, he pours floods, aud continues during all the hours of the day, to pour floods of glorious light down everywhere upon the face of the earth, and thus the glory of God falls upon the earth when God’s glorious creature the sun rises. But that expresses, if I may use the word “inferior,” an inferior relationship of God,—that expresses the fact that the world and the sun are God’s creatures, and that God is good to all, and causes his sun to shine upon the evil and the good. The sun shines upon nature, but he produces no moral change. He shines upon men, but no spiritual advantage or benefit is derived therefrom. Then turn for a moment to look at the Shekinah again. As the natural sun shines upon nature, and this indicates the relation in which nature stands to its God, so the divine Shekinah was in and upon the tabernacle to denote the kind of relation in which the children of Israel stood to that God whose presence was symbolically with them. They were not all spiritual people, but they were nationally the people of God, and he avowed and expressed that fact by granting them visible tokens of his presence, and the glory of Israel’s God, as such, rose upon the children of Israel.

But now we pass from the natural sun, and the Shekinah, to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness; and I quote again Malachi’s beautiful words—“Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” And if Christ shines upon a spirit, what does that indicate? If a soul receives anything from Christ, any light from the Sun of Righteousness, what may be inferred from the fact? Why, that that soul is his; that that mind belongs to God; that that poor sinner, though ever so poor as a creature, as a sinner, is a son or a daughter of the Lord God Almighty. I said a few minutes ago that I would quote a text or two of scripture in support of this position. The Apostle Paul tells us that the Spirit of glory and of God, rests upon God’s church. But how does the Spirit come down upon the heart? From whom does the Spirit descend upon the Israel of God? From Jesus Christ the risen Sun of Righteousness. And in what character does he come down upon the hearts of sinners? Why, as the Spirit of adoption; and here we have the glory of relation­ship. He comes down upon the hearts of sinners as the Spirit of adoption. He hath given us the Spirit of adoption, to bear witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. “Stop!” one says; “you have advanced too far. You are rising too high. If I have received the Holy Spirit in any measure from Jesus Christ, I have not yet received the Spirit of adoption.” I fear, my friend, if you will permit me thus to address you, you are not a good reasoner by any means in the things that pertain to eternal life. Have you received the Spirit of Christ and yet not received the Spirit of adoption? Why, the Spirit that comes in regeneration from the Lord Jesus Christ upon the soul of a poor sinner, always comes as the Spirit of adoption; and because that soul was adopted by God into the family, and he comes for the purpose of revealing that fact to the mind, and bringing the grace of relationship into the heart. “But, I do not know,” one says; “even now, that I am an adopted child of God.” You should distinguish, my dear friends, between the person of the Spirit, and the voice of the Spirit—between the presence of the Holy Ghost, and his operations in the mind. If you have received the Spirit of God from Christ, you have the Spirit of adoption. This indwelling attests your holy sonship, though he may not yet have made you confident that you are the children of God. That blessing is to come; you are not a good reasoner in the things of God. If you separate the grace of adoption from the Holy Spirit. If you have received the Spirit of adoption, you have the Spirit of glory, and sooner or later—may it be sooner, rather than later, if it be the will of God, you shall hear the voice of the heavenly turtle dove, the voice of this blessed witness of the covenant bearing witness with your spirits that you are the children of God. Still, you say, “I am not satisfied.” Perhaps you are not; and it is not my business to satisfy you. It is my business to preach Him that can satisfy, and to proclaim that power which does inspire the soul with confidence in God. I will tarry here a minute just to observe—“The glory of the Lord shall be seen upon thee.” It does not say that they that receive it shall see it. My dear friends, when Moses came down from the mount, after having held fellowship and communion with God for forty day and forty nights, his face shone with a supernatural brightness, which was so great that the children of Israel could not look at him. Do you think he knew it? Did he see it himself? Was he conscious of it? Doubtless Moses was ignorant of the fact that his face shone—he did not think there was an extraordinary brightness on his countenance; but when he came into the presence of others, they at once discovered it, and the glory of God was seen upon him. He did not see it himself. He did not, it may be, realise the fact; but such was the glory of God upon him that the people withdrew from him, shaded their eyes and could not steadfastly look at him until he had covered his face with a veil. And if you have received the Spirit of glory, others can see God’s glory upon you. Angels can see it, and so can devils, whether you see it yourself or not; but the glory of God is upon you, for it is infinitely glorious to be manifestly a son or a daughter of the Lord God Almighty. See a little lower in this chapter it is said—“And thy God shall be thy glory, (the 9th verse.) “And the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” And how is God you’re glory? He is your internal glory. That cannot be seen by others, only as its fruits and effects appear. He is your external glory. We shall have a word to say upon that point presently. And he is your eternal glory. But thy God is thy glory, in relation to the fact that you have such a God that you are privileged to be interested in the love of such a God. To be destitute of God is ruin, wretchedness, and woe. It is grandeur, glory, greatness, and dignity to have an interest in the mighty and everlasting Jehovah! I tarry a minute longer here, for the purpose of enquiring what glory consists in. Does glory consist in rank, in respectable, high, or royal connections? Is that glory? Well, if glory consists in rank, what shall we say about the people of God? Who are they? They are the Royal family of heaven, the Royal children of God. They are descended from Jehovah himself; and if glory consists in rank, the people of God are of all people the most glorious people. Does glory consist in riches and wealth? Well, what shall we say about the people of God? They are poor and despised in this world; but what is said about them in conncection with the covenant of grace? “All things are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” Does glory consist in a perfect character? What is the character of saints? “This people have I formed for myself, and they shall show forth my praise.” Does glory consist in usefulness? The world could not stand without the church. The utility of the church in connection with the preservation of the world is obvious, almost to one who is spiritually blind, for the people of God are in a subordinate sense, the pillars of the earth, and God has set the world upon them, and when all these pillars shall have been removed and placed as pillars in God’s temple above, then the earth shall fall and become a total wreck. And therefore look at the people of God as you please—look at them in their associations, in their connections in their wealth and riches, in their character;—look at the manner in which they are attended here, for angels are their ministers and convoy, and you will see the glory ot God upon them. When Royal personages travel portions of military power attend them; but God is with his people, and his angels are “all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation?” Therefore, the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, if you have received the Spirit in saving forms from the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the result of this? Separation from the world, and that is glorious. It is to be lifted from the dunghill, and raised from the dust, and brought from wretchedness, misery, and woe, into a position of honour and dignitv. “The people shall live alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations, that, is glorious! To receive the Spirit of God from Christ results in a glorious transfor­mation; such a transformation as God and God’s glorious grace only can accomplish—a vital transformation, a revolution within. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A vital and a practical transformation; and in the practical transformation of an individual thus blest by God, the glory of God is seen. Is it a glory to possess a meetness for heaven? You possess that. Is it a glory to be heirs of mansions on high? Your title is good. Therefore, contemplating the child of God, you will see, looking at him in connection with the Bible, that the glory of the Lord has risen upon him.

Let us now pass on to another point—The righteousness of Jesus Christ! You have not only the Spirit of adoption, and of glory, hut the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You do not realise—neither do I realize, the sweet fact which I am about to introduce, as I wish we could realize it. I think I should be the happiest man on earth, if I could realize this fact in all its sweetness and fulness every days—that the glorious obedience of my Lord has been imputed to me, and that I am glorious in that glory,—that I am perfect in that perfecting robe,—that I am complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will tell you a fact. It is not a secret. I have no secrets in connection with this glory to tell you. All in the Lord Jesus that is transferable,—that can be imputed to another, that can be given to another, has been, or shall be, transferred and given to you. All the communicable and imputable excellencies of the dear Redeemer are exist over his dear people.

“And lest the shadow of a spot,
Should on my soul be found;
He took the robe the Saviour wrought,
And cast it all around.”

What is in that robe? All the excellencies of him that wrought it out and brought it in. It is eternal, pure, true, holy, and divine, and therefore glorious. All the excellencies of humanity and divinity are in the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is said of the person upon whom this glory is cast, or to whom this glory is imputed? “He is comely in the comeliness which the Lord has put upon thee.” The Lord beautifies the meek with salvation; and when the Lord resolves to make one beautiful, most certainly the beauty is divine. The result of the imputation of this righteousness is perfection and completeness. or as the text expresses it, the glory of the Lord, poor sinner, has risen upon thee, or is imputed to thee. Now, this glory is variously illustrated—it is as “fine linen.” She was clothed with fine linen, white and clean. Fine linen, not such as slaves wear, but the very best—white, denoting divine purity and holiness; clean, so that the piercing eye of God discovers no stain, no fault what­ ever in it. It is called the robe of righteousness. The priestly robe, the excellency, beauty, and glory of which were great; a marriage robe, to indicate the dignity of the spouse, the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ; a robe that covers the whole person, and conceals every defect and deformity, and by nature there are many in us, this thrown over the whole person, covers all the imperfections, and reflects the honor and glory of the dear Redeemer, for it is God’s best robe. That is not all. “She shall be brought to the King in raiment of needlework:” and again, “Upon the right hand did stand the queen, in gold of Ophir.” Dressed in gold! And in God’s gold, for God made the costly golden dress. The glory of the Lord is upon thee. More than that, it is added by the Spirit, as illustrative of the greatness and brightness of this glory, that a woman was seen in heaven clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. There is the glory of the Lord upon her! The ever-changing moon under the feet of Christ’s bride—the ceremonial dispensation in all probability. Clothed with the sun—Christ, her husband, enveloping her in his glories, hence clothed with the sun, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head, the glorious truths and doctrines of the gospel as propounded and explained by the twelve apostles of her Lord. Here is the church, living in light, in righteousness, and in the glory of God, crowned with new covenant truth, and reflecting its harmony and purity. Oh that we could realize the fulness, the sweetness, and the glory of our privileges! For the glory of the Lord is risen upon us, and shall be seen upon us. I will just mention, and only mention, one or two other points. The presence of the Lord with his people is their glory. It is our glory that the Lord of Hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge. The children of Israel, you know, lived under a conditional covenant. When they forsook their God, their God forsook them; for his presence with them was conditional: and when God had departed from them, Ichabod might have been written over the doors of all the people. The glory of Israel is departed—they glory of the country. God’s presence was the glory of the country, of Israel, and the glory of the people. They presence of God with his saints in their glory. If our God is absent, we hang our heads, and are dull, and dark, and dreary. If God leaves a chapel—very solemn thought!—if he leaves a chapel or a church, or a congregation,—there may be a grand organ behind the pulpit, a most accomplished and skillful organist, and the matchless chop of singers; and there may be also a surpliced and an eloquent man in the pulpit, a considerable congregation, and large contributions of money: indeed there may be all that earth calls good and great; but if the Lord is not there, there is no glory; for the presence of God is the glory of the church. Churches decay through the suspension of the blessing of God, and the absence of the operations of God’s Spirit. Friends, let all that belong to this place pray that the glory of God may ever fall and be seen upon us here. We may be said to be a small congregation in comparison with others, and the place a comparatively small one, nevertheless, we shall be glorious and useful, and do good to one another—to our fellow-men, if the Lord of Hosts is with us. I can do all things, or can bear all sufferings, if my Lord is there. How glorious to be able to do all things, and to bear all sufferings! It is glorious; but it can be done if the Lord is with us. “Thou shalt thrash the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff.”

It in the fourth place, a word or two may be said on heavenly fruitfulness. The glory of the Lord is seen upon his people when they are fruitful. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” “They shall be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” “From me is thy fruit found.” Hence, spiritual fruit constitutes a part of that glory of which we are trying to speak. A tree of righteousness bears righteous fruit, just as an apple tree bears apples, and a pear tree bears pears, so a tree of righteousness bears righteous fruit, or “the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ.” The tree, or the saint, bearing fruits of righteousness, is himself right, and righteousness is glorious; he is rooted in good soil, even in everlasting love. The influences which operate upon him, and under which he is fruitful, are righteous influences, and it glorifies a believer to be visited with fertilizing influences from the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ; and further, all that such a tree bears is, as the result of divine influence, pleasing to heaven and God. There are three degrees of fruitfulness. Some of these trees are covered with blossoms, others are covered with fruit, unripe, but full, or filling up, while others are laden with fruit, ripe, and ready to be gathered. Some are covered with blossoms. Speak kindly and affectionately about the young believer. There is no sweeter, no lovelier, no richer, no more attractive sight, that an orchard in the spring, when its trees are covered with thousands and thousands of beautiful and fragrant blossoms. They may not all fulfill the promises they give, half of them may fall; but the rule is, there will be some fruit. And if there is beauty in the apple when it is red, rose and ripe, there is also a beauty peculiarly its own when it appears only in the form of a blossom. Here is the young believer, covered with blossoms and spiritual hope and promise. It is the glory of God in him. Is the believer more matured, full, unripe, but ripening? Well, that is the glory of God seen upon him. Does one “bear fruit in old age” in the courts of the Lord’s house? It shows that the Lord is a rock, that he is upright, and that there is no unfaithfulness in him. Which do you think is the best of the three? The blossom, the fruit filling up, or the fruit that is mature and ripe? I do not know,—I cannot tell which is the best of the three. God produces them all. It is pleasing to see the blossom, encouraging to see the fruit when growing, and it rejoices us to see it when it is ripe. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciple.”

Passing over an idea or two, we notice, finally, the church triumphing over all her enemies. I read sometimes, with wonder,—I think I may say with wonder, the Book of the Revelation, and it has occurred to me that one cannot see much of the holy glory of this book, unless he sits down and reads the whole of it at once; it is only like a small tract or pamphlet compared with many works that we read through at once. Read from the first chapter so the end of the 22nd chapter, and you will see, I cannot say, how many, objects in it, but you will see one. I mention only one now, prominent figure, and that is the church. She goes down into the greatest depths, and becomes invisible, so to speak, as if she were drowned. She seems to be gone. In the next chapter she comes up again, wounded, bleeding, torn; but there she is. She is not dead. The next chapter shows her going down again, and she scarcely appears for a chapter or two. Further on she reappears; and thus we have her described, until we reach the 19th chapter, where we read: “I heard the voice of many people in heaven saying, Alleluia! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. He has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication.” Babylon is fallen! Behold the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. She has made herself ready.” “And I looked,” says John, “and saw the city of God, the new Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband.” There she is after all! She has survived every danger, every death, every devil, and every pope! The glory of the Lord is seen upon her. By-and-by, the bodies of his dear people shall be raised. They are sown in dishonour, but raised in glory!—sown in corruption, but raised in in­ corruption! These vile bodies when they come forth out of the grave, shall catch, imbibe, and reflect the beams of Immanuel’s glory, and become like his glorious body. We shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be for ever with the Lord: and then the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon us.

Thus much for the reception.

II. I can only say a word or two on the reflection of this glory. It shall be seen upon thee. This is natural and inevitable. It shall be seen upon thee, without any effort on the part of the people themselves. Put a lighted candle into a lantern, and let the lantern stand abroad. Everyone that has an eye will see that there is a light in that lantern, and need not be told that the lantern contains a light. And it is rather remarkable that the results of the grace of God in the heart of a sinner are frequently called fruits. They are sometimes called works; but for the most part, they are called fruit. There is a very great difference as to the manner in which fruit and works are produced. How natural is it for a good tree to bear fruit, and that without noise! It is done naturally, inevitably; and so by the fruits of the Spirit, Paul says, “The works of the flesh,” but the “fruits of the Spirit,” and they are “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,” and so on; so that the glory of God is seen on the church without any extraordinary effort on their part. Only stand as Christian and as believers behind the counter, at the desk, in your house, in the market, only carry your religion with you. You need not tell the world that you a religious person,—that you are a saint of God, or that the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. You need not tell them that. Let a Christian go with his Christianity with him, and the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon him. When the sun shines, it must be light; and if there is a beautiful gem lying on the ground while the sun in shining, it will reflect the light, unless it be covered. And so the child of God, having received the glory of God, naturally and necessarily reflects the same, and then it is seen. The glory of the Lord shall be seen. Who shall see it? Well, the world will see it, and shall acknowledge that that is “the seed which the Lord hath blessed.” Then shall the enemy say, “God hath done great things for them.” They gaze and admire, yet hate the change. Who will see it? The devil; and hence he will try in a thousand ways to damage the character and obscure the brightness of the child of God. He knowns the man that the glory of God has fallen upon, and he is on e of the first that can see the glory that has been received by a poor sinner. The church will see it, and say, “Come in, ye blessed of the Lord;” and every angel of God in heaven will see it, and delight to guard and protect these reflectors of the glory of God. Where will it appear? Well, in different circumstances. In trail, it will keep your head above the water. In temptation, it will sustain you and carry you through. On the bed of affliction, if the glory of God is poured upon the heart, there will be singing:—Sweet affliction! God to the dying bed of a saint; hear him say he has no fear! He is on the rock! All is well! Heaven, with its glory, is in view, and the earth, with all its affairs, are now behind him. They glory of God is seen upon him. Here is variety also; and many other things might be noticed, but time is gone. But here are variety and unity,—variety in the fact that the people of God are numerous, and unity in the fact that God only is reflected in every one that the glory of the Lord is seen upon. If there are a thousand mirrors, and the sun is shining, the whole thousand will reflect the same sun; and if a thousand gems and jewels were on the ground, they all would reflect the same sun; and in a pool of clear water here, and in a similar pool in India, thousands of miles off, the same sun is reflected. And so it is with Jesus Christ and his receivers. The Indian, the African, the Greenlander, those that live beneath the burning rays of a vertical sun, and those that live in almost everlasting ice and snow, if the glory of God falls upon them, they all alike reflect that glory, and our dear Christ is glorified in his people.

The church borrows nothing from the world; her light and glory are from her Lord; her life and character, and experience and emanations from Christ, and in her godly practice, the world and others see the saving glory of her only Head. The world can neither destroy nor conceal God’s people; for this glory shall be seen. Who can prevent the shining of the sun, or the world from being irradiated thereby? And who can prevent the grace of God from falling on a sinner’s heart? Or the natural and visible results thereof? I leave the subject. Time is gone. May the Lord command his blessing. Amen.