Christs Glory

 Christ's presence, and his people's beholding of his glory, go still together. So it is on earth, so it is in heaven. When is it that a man begins to see any of Christ's glory, but when he is drawn to Christ? when Christ draws near to him, and manifests himself to him? Time was when Paul saw nothing of Christ's glory; he heard of him, and hated him, and persecuted him: but all this was from his ignorance and unbelief, I Tim. i. 13. When he was first charged by 'Christ for his evil way, Acts ix. 4, 5. no wonder that his first word was, Who art thou, Lord? "I do not know thee, "I never knew that I did thee any wrong." But when once Christ reveals himself unto him, immediately he saw Christ's glory, and made it his all. So it is with all natural men, till Christ draw near to them, and bring them near to him saving: Christ hath no form nor comeliness; and when they see (or hear of) him, there is no beauty that they should desire him} Isa. l iii. 2. This is as true of them that hear of, and see Christ crucified in the gospel-light, Gal. iii. 1. as of the Jews that saw his humbled state on earth. They wonder what men see in Jesus' Christ; what glory in him they behold by faith; -what believers mean, when they say, as Cant. v. 16 His mouth is most sweet; yea,- he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 0 daughters of Jerusalem. If you had ever heard his voice, or seen his face, you would know him from all the men on earth, or gods in heaven, (if I may say so). But, alas! there are many that bear the name of Christians, (and God knows well, and men may know pretty well also, how little they deserve that name), that never saw so much glory and desirableness in Jesus Christ, as they see in a heap of the white and yellow dust of the earth. Robert Traill