The Art of IllustrationSpurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon)
Religion
The Art of Illustration
Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon)
Homiletical illustrations; Preaching
Sometimes the sun suffers eclipse, as you know. The moon intrudes
between us and the sun, and then we cannot see the great orb of day. I
suppose we have all seen one total eclipse, and we may see another. It
is a very interesting sight; but it appears to me that people take a
great deal more notice of the sun when he is eclipsed than they do when
he is shining clearly. They do not stand looking at him, day after day,
when he is pouring forth his bright beams in unclouded glory; but as
soon as ever he is eclipsed, then they are out in their thousands, with
their glasses, and every little boy in the street has a fragment of
smoked glass through which he watches the eclipse of the sun.
Thus, brethren, I do not believe that our Lord Jesus Christ ever
receives so much attention from men as when he is set forth as the
suffering Saviour, evidently crucified among them. When the great
eclipse passed over the Sun of Righteousness, then all eyes were fixed
upon him, and well they might be. Do not fail to tell your hearers
continually about that awful eclipse on Calvary; but mind that you also
tell them all the effects of that eclipse, and that there will be no
repetition of that stupendous event.
Lo! the sun's eclipse is o'er;
Lo! he sets in blood no more.
Speaking of eclipses reminds me that there is, in the book I have
mentioned, a striking description of one given by a correspondent who
wrote to the astronomer Halley. He took his stand at Haradow Hill, close
to the east end of the avenue of Stonehenge, a very capital place for
observation, and there he watched the eclipse. He says of it: "We were
now enveloped in a total and palpable darkness, if I may be allowed the
expression. It came on rapidly, but I watched so attentively that I
could perceive its progress. It came upon us like a great black cloak
thrown over us, or like a curtain drawn from that side. The horses we
held by the bridle seemed deeply struck by it, and pressed closely to us
with marks of extreme surprise. As well as I could perceive, the
countenances of my friends wore a horrible aspect. It was not without an
involuntary exclamation of wonder that I looked around me at this
moment. It was the most awful sight I had ever beheld in my life."
So, I suppose, it must be in the spiritual realm. When the Sun of this
great world suffered eclipse, then were all men in darkness; and when
any dishonor comes upon the cross of Christ, or upon Christ himself,
then is each Christian himself in darkness of a horrible kind. He
cannot be in the light if his Lord and Master is in the shade.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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