February 25
Preaching Jesus
The Christian's Daily Treasury" Preaching the Lord Jesus." - Acts 11:20.
How true is it, that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church! The history of the cause of our Redeemer presents many instances in proof of this. We have one in the context. A persecution arose on account of Stephen, the first who suffered martyrdom after Christ's death. Those who were scattered abroad at that time went forth with their lives in their hand, "preaching the Lord Jesus." Observe
THE SUBJECT THEY PREACHED. But what is included in it? It is to proclaim Christ,
In the glory of his Person. Who does not feel his own utter unworthiness, in the contemplation of such a subject as this? The sacred writers have employed various images in order to set forth the glories of the only Begotten of the Father. They have brought the loveliest objects in nature to their aid, but
"All are too mean to speak his worth, Too mean to set the Saviour forth."
The perfection of his work. He came to take away sin, and bring salvation. He came that the storm of Divine wrath, which was long gathering, and threatened to burst on our guilty heads, might be hushed, and pass away from us; that our sky might be bright and serene; that, instead of the thunderbolts of his anger, we might have the still small voice of his love, and instead of the flashing of his vengeance, we might have the light of his countenance.
The loveliness of his example. Thus, as his death is our substitution, his life is our pattern. In him we have the only perfect standard of moral excellence for our imitation. "The conduct of Christ," says Harris, "is a copy, a living map of the immense expanse of the Divine perfections, reduced from its infinite dimensions, and subdued to a scale studiously adapted to the feeble vision of man."
The triumphs of his cross. The very circumstance which his enemies thought would extinguish his fame, and exterminate his cause, established them more securely. Already its conquests are great and glorious, multitudes have been attracted to the sacred spot, and found countless blessings; ere long all nations shall flow to it, recline under its shadow, and eat of its fruits. Am I one of its trophies?