The Glory of the Redeemer in His Ascension co

cont'd But the ungodly, the impenitent, and the unbelieving! Ah! they, too, shall see His glory. But it will be the glory of His justice, in burning wrath, in quenchless flames. Unconverted reader! You do see no glory in Jesus, no beauty that you should desire Him. You see an imaginary glory in the world, a fancied beauty in self; and this blinds your eye to the real glory and true beauty that are in Christ. Oh, in what a dream do you live! What madness do you cherish! What phantoms do you pursue! What a vain show in which you live! You can see beauty in your estate, and loveliness in your family, and attraction in the world, and glory in yourself, and yet see no beauty, no loveliness, no attraction, no glory in Jesus! Oh, what a dark veil is over your mind, and what thick scales are upon your eyes! And thus darkened and blinded, your feet are stumbling over the mountains of death. Soon, the beauty that now delights, and the glory that now attracts you, will have passed away. Fickle and fleeting is it! The ploughshare of ruin will raze its foundation; the flood of desolation will sweep it into nothingness. A fleeting ship- a floating vapor- a passing cloud- a broken cistern- a failing spring- a withering flower- these are its just emblems. Not more unstable the sand of the desert, nor more uncertain the wind of heaven, nor more helpless before the storm, the chaff of the threshing-floor, than the glory with which you have linked your eternal destiny. Death has marked you for its own, and the Judge stands at the door. What will rank, and beauty, and estate, and friends, and money, and this poor world, avail you now? See! how they vanish away, all like a gorgeous day-dream, their glory departing like the setting sun at even, and you are encircled by the dark spirits, and the gloomy scenes, and the appalling solemnities, and the dread realities of Eternity! Eternity! Eternity!
And now you find yourself without God, and without Christ, and without hope. You have pampered the body, but have neglected the soul. You have unheeded warnings, and despised providences, and stifled convictions, and neglected sermons, and have desecrated sabbaths, and have blasphemed God, and have hated the saints, and have despised and rejected Jesus. God, in the plenitude of His patience and patience, has "called, and you have refused: He has stretched out His hand, you have not regarded, but have set at nothing all His counsel, and would none of His reproof: now, He laughs at your calamity, and mocks at your fear; your fear which has come as a desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind; now that distress and anguish are upon you."
But yet there is hope. The bow of covenant mercy is round about the throne. The cross still stands! The fountain is still open! The ark has not left the shore! The city of refuge is accessible! In a word, Jesus died upon the cross to save the vilest sinners. And now He lives upon the throne, "exalted a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins." Then, haste to Him, haste! From a sinful, polluting, and doomed world, on which the fire of God is so soon to descend, "escape for your life; look not behind you, nor stay in all the plain, lest you be consumed." Beseech the Holy Spirit to discover you your pollution, and Christ's blood; your sinfulness, and His atonement; your deformity, and His righteousness; your poverty and emptiness, and His sufficiency and grace. And let this be your prayer- urged with agonizing and ceaseless wrestling, until, in the personal and happy experience of the blessing, the prayer is answered- "Lord, show me Your glory!" For, oh, be it known unto you, that if you see not the Redeemer's glory by faith on earth, you will never see it in its unveiled effulgence by sight in heaven. But Balaam's mournful prophecy and fearful doom will find its fulfilment in you: "I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not near." Far in the dim distance, curtained within the beams of His own majesty, the Redeemer will be seen upon the throne of His glory, surrounded by His Church- the white-robed and palm-bearing saints, now fully redeemed from all sorrow and sin, beholding the glory and entering into the joy of their Lord. A great and impassable gulf separates you from their companionship; and while you are torn from their view- the gloom and the darkness of hell gathering and deepening around you as you recede- exclaiming, "Lost! lost! eternally lost!" they will be striking their harps, and waving their palms, and casting down their crowns at, Jesus' feet, uttering their ascription in strains of overpowering sweetness, gratitude, and love-
"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!"