believe it never can have; that only in Revelation, and in the Revelation
of our Lord Jesus Christ, can poor human beings find any gospel and good
news at all. And sure I am, that that is an awful thought, a dreary
thought, a crushing thought, which makes a man feel as small, and
worthless, and helpless, and hopeless, as a grain of dust, or a mote in
the sunbeam--that thought of God for ever contained in Himself, and
saying for ever to Himself, "I Am, and there is none beside Me."
But the Gospel, the good news of the Old Testament, the Gospel, the good
news of the New Testament, is the Revelation of God and God's ways, which
began on Christmas Day, and finished on Ascension Day: and what is that?
What but this? That God does not merely say to Himself in Majesty, "I
Am;" but that He goes out of Himself in Love, and says to men, "I Am."
That He is a God who has spoken to poor human beings, and told them who
He was; and that He, the I Am, the self-existent One, the Cause of life,
of all things, even the Maker and Ruler of the Universe, can stoop to
man--and not merely to perfect men, righteous men, holy men, wise men,
but to the enslaved, the sinful, the brutish--that He may deliver them,
and teach them, and raise them from the death of sin, to His own life of
righteousness.
Do you not see the difference, the infinite difference, and the good news
in that? Do you not see a whole heaven of new hope and new duty is
opened to mankind in that one fact--God has spoken to man. He, the I Am,
the Self-Existent, who needs no one, and no thing, has turned aside, as
it were, and stooped from the throne of heaven, again and again, during
thousands of years, to say to you, and me, and millions of mankind, I Am
your God. How do you prosper?--what do you need?--what are you doing?--
for if you are doing justice to yourself and your fellow-men, then fear
not that I shall be just to you.
And more. When that I Am, the self-existent God, could not set sinful
men right by saying this, then did He stoop once more from the throne of
the heavens to do that infinite deed of love, of which it is written,
that He who called Himself "I Am," the God of Abraham, was conceived of
the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate,
rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven,--that He might send
down the Spirit of the "I Am," the Holy Spirit who proceedeth from the
Father and the Son, upon all who ask Him; that they may be holy as God is
holy, and perfect as God is perfect. Yes, my dear friends, remember
that, and live in the light of that; the gospel of good news of the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ, very God of very God begotten. Know that
God has spoken to you as He spoke to Abraham, and said,--I am the
Almighty God, walk before Me, and be thou perfect. Know that He has
spoken to you as He spoke to Moses, saying,--I am the Lord thy God, who
have brought you, and your fathers before you, out of the spiritual Egypt
of heathendom, and ignorance, sin, and wickedness, into the knowledge of
the one, true, and righteous God. But know more, that He has spoken to
you by the mouth of Jesus Christ, saying,--I am He that died in the form
of mortal man upon the cross for you. And, behold, I am alive for
evermore; and to me all power is given in heaven and earth.
Yes, my friends, let us lay to heart, even upon this joyful day, the
awful warnings of the Epistle to the Hebrews,--God, the I Am, has spoken
to us; God, the I Am, is speaking to us now. See that you refuse not Him
that speaketh; for if they escaped not who refused Moses that spake on
earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that
speaketh from heaven; wherefore follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord, and have grace, whereby we may