p. 191 | Preaching Christ

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 4, 1858

Preaching Christ.

"The whole church," says Augustine, "preacheth Christ." So does nature. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. The deep uttereth his voice and lifteth up his hands on high. All thy works praise thee, O Lord." And as the creator of all things is God, the Son, "without whom was not anything made that was made," this silent discourse, this voiceless anthem, which continually ascends from all nature, as well as from the church universal, is a perpetual commendation of Christ—of his power, his love, his beauty, his goodness.

O how eloquently nature preaches Christ! Everything on which the eye falls is his handiwork. Whatever of power, beauty, or vastness, it has, is from him. The sea commends him by its immensity. "For he made it." The sun by its brightness and its vivifying warmth. For he made "the greater light to rule the day." The moon by its sweet light and placid beauty. For he made "the lesser light to rule the night." The stars by their boundless number and mysterious combinations and indications of regions and of seasons. For he made "the stars also."

And each object in nature not only commends him by showing forth the power and skill of its Creator, but illustrates some special excellency of his character. The sun, by the light and influence which it dispenses, is an image of him from whom flows inexhaustibly, "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." The sea by its vastness helps us to think worthily of him "in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead."

The rose, the lily, the rock, the fountain, the running stream, the green pastures, the pearls, the gems, the fine gold, all bear some significance of Christ. Though there is "no speech, no language, no voice heard," yet all nature "preacheth Christ;" utters its silent but sublime response to the acts of adoration whereby the church in every part of the world doth acknowledge him "God over all, blessed forever."—Sel