| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 6 |
Page 3 |
When we turn to the Scriptures we see that it is the characteristic of all true piety to honor Christ and not to think of personal honor. John the Baptist was an ideal preacher, and one of the finest things in his life was his self obliteration. The people were ready to accept him as the Messiah, but he quickly repelled the suggestion, saying, “I am not the Christ. I am not that Light. I am only a witness to testify of that Light. I am only a voice crying in the wilderness, telling men of the Christ to come, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.”
Thus John turned the people’s eyes away from himself and fixed them upon Christ, while he remained unhonored. He said he must decrease while Jesus increased. He said he was the bridegroom’s friend, and therefore rejoiced in the bridegroom’s honor, even when his own brightness was eclipsed by it. When Jesus came at last to the Jordan and was baptized, John at once began to point the people to him, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God.” He would have them leave him now, for his work as forerunner was done, and go after the Christ. Nothing in all the story of human life is more beautiful than John’s cheerful dropping out of sight and consenting to be overlooked, forgotten, set aside, in the splendor of the Master’s increasing glory.
We have a still higher example. The Holy Spirit, in his work in the world, we are told, does not call attention to himself, but turns every eye to Christ. “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” He pours forth the light of his own divine shining, but as men look, they think not of the streaming light, but of the blessed face of the Saviour which appears in all its beauty, revealed in the midst of the brightness. The Spirit works silently, caring not to be noticed or honored himself, desiring only to get men to see Christ, and to look at him in the glory of his person and the greatness of his redeeming love.
Page 3