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THE KING’S BUSINESS
pedestal, or printed page, or even saintly face, but Christ “in you,” in me, that dis covers Him. We see His beauty only as we reflect it, for we reflect only as it ir radiates us. When we “see Him we shall be like Him,” and we shall “see Him as He is” only when we are as He is, “like Him.” III. The Beauty of His State. Not only “In the beauty of the lilies,” but in His royal robes. More glorious than Solomon. Royal textures, hues ; brocades, chains and crowns of gold; purest pearls, and Kohinoors decking the majesties of earth are, and are Divinely meant to be, for all their resplendance, but shadows of the beauteous K ing ’ s array (Luke 9:29; Rev. 1:13; Ps. 45:1-3, 8; 1 Kings 10:4-9). IV. His B'eauty Enhanced by the Mem ory of His Mercies. Beautiful fingers that touched the sight less eyeball; beautiful ears that heard the leper’s call for mercy; beautiful arms that took the lambs to His bosom; beautiful eyes that wept'for human sorrow; beautiful lips •that said, “Neither do I condemn thee”-; beautiful feet that climbed “the mountains cold and bare” seeking the lost one; beauti ful knees that bent in midnight prayer for His own; beautiful hands that broke the memorial bread; beautiful brow that wore the crown of thorns; beautiful wrists once bound with thongs; beautiful shoulders that took the sinner’s stripes; beautiful palms bearing the print of the nails; beautiful Jesus fairer than the children of men! “Worthy thou Lamb that was slain to re ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and Strength, and honor, and glory, and bless ing.” “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beajuty”—thou shalt “be like him,” for thou shalt “see him as he is.”
(3)
Confession of the Saviour (Rom.
10:9; Acts 8:37). V.
It Pledges More than Reasonable Re
sults. (1) Complete justification (Acts 13:39; Isa. 1:18). (2) Final triumphant glory (Rev. 7 :14- 17).— S. BEHOLDING THE KING "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.”- —Isa. 33:17. The reference is Messianic. The king is King Jesus. There is no K ing but He. We shall have personal audience with Him. “Thine eyes” shall see Him. I. His Physical Beauty. (1) An erroneous inference. To con clude from Isaiah 53:2 His want of phy sical beauty. He is God’s crowning work. He “is fairer than the sons of men” (Ps. 45:2). He is “altogether lovely” (Songs 5:16). It must be so. He is God’s crown ing work. “Majestic sweetness sits enthroned Upon the Saviour’s brow.” (2) The cause of the error. Defective vision. Men are beauty blind. The Lord’s heavenliness that had no attraction for their worldliness, II, His Moral Beauty. (1) We see not now. No canvas, no marble Christ pleases us. We feel its un reality. Do we feel that our mental image is as faulty? (2) But we “see in part.” We have some conception of this “express image” of the Father. Enough to make “our hearts burn within us” if He joined us in our journey, yet, perhaps, not enough to know Him from “a stranger” (Luke 24:18). . (3) But “we shall know as we are known.” It is not Christ on canvas, or
Illustrative and Suggestive A PSALM IN THE NIGHT
r T'HE night is long, but long Thy mercies aré; The night is dark; but oh, Thy face is bright!
Through heavy clouds Thy love breaks like a star, And lays a benediction on the night.
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