Sermons Preached at Brighton: Third SeriesRobertson, Frederick William
Religion
Sermons Preached at Brighton: Third Series
Robertson, Frederick William
Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
There is a third light in which God's holiness is shown to us, and
that is in the sternness with which He recoils from guilt. When Christ
died for man, I know what God's love means; and when Jesus wept human
tears over Jerusalem, I know what God's compassion means; and when the
stern denunciations of Jesus rung in the Pharisees' ears, I can
comprehend what God's indignation is; and when Jesus stood calm before
His murderers, I have a conception of what serenity is. Brethren,
revelation opens to us a scene beyond the grave, when this shall be
exhibited in full operation. There will be an everlasting banishment
from God's presence of that impurity on which the last efforts have
been tried in vain. It will be a carrying out of this sentence by a
law that cannot be reversed--"Depart from me, ye cursed." But it is
quite a mistake to suppose that this is only a matter of revelation.
Traces of it we have now on this side the sepulchre. Human life is
full of God's recoil from sin. In the writhings of a heart which has
been made to possess its own iniquities--in the dark spot which guilt
leaves upon the conscience, rising up at times in a man's gayest
moments, as if it will not come out--in the restlessness and the
feverishness which follow the efforts of the man who has indulged
habits of sin too long,--in all these there is a law repelling
wickedness from the presence of the Most High,--which proclaims that
God is holy.
Brethren, it is in these that the greatness of God consists--Eternal
in Time--Unlimited in Space--Unchangeable--Pure in character--His
serenity and His vastness arise from His own perfections.
We are to consider, in the second place, the greatness of man.
1. The nature of that greatness.
2. The persons who are great.
Now, this is brought before us in the text in this one fact, that man
has been made a habitation of the Deity--"I dwell with him that is of
a contrite and humble spirit." There is in the very outset this
distinction between what is great in God and what is great in man. To
be independent of everything in the universe is God's glory, and to be
independent is man's shame. All that God has, He has from Himself--all
that man has, He has from God. And the moment man cuts himself off
from God, that moment he cuts himself off from all true grandeur.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account