The Lord Must Grant You Inward Sight

^
To behold Jesus, to adore him, and to rejoice in his praises are not means to higher ends. Fixing the eyes of our souls upon the Lamb of God, and bowing before him in joyful, loving worship is the highest end of our existence, the only fully satisfying expense of the human heart, the chief ingredient of human blessedness. "That I may know him . . ." (Philippians 3:10) and enjoy him forever is the end for which every saint lives.

Perhaps some will read [this] who have never detected any glory in Christ Jesus. "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in him that we should desire him". (Isaiah 53:2) is your testimony. You look at the fullest objective revelation of the Son of God in the New Testament, but you say, 'Ichabod',- where is the glory? You think there is nothing special about Christ. You are not drawn to him.

If you find no loveliness in Christ, that fact should alarm you. Paul commented about those who, in the full light of the revealed glory of God, saw no beauty: "If our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). When you stand beneath the unclouded noonday sun but can see no light, it is a shocking exposure of yourself. You are blind. You cannot see the obvious light. If you detect no wondrous majesty and captivating loveliness in Christ, you are spiritually blind. You are perishing!
"We have seen Jesus' glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him" (john 1:10). For the blind and undiscerning, more is required than full, plain, objective revelation of the glory of god in the person of Jesus Christ. Along with the divinely given light in Christ before your eyes, the Lord must grant you inward sight to receive the light.

We who are Christians can recall when we heard so much about the Son of God but saw no radiant nobility in him. But "God who said 'Let light shine out of darkness', made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). The truth of Christ was given to the angry Saul of Tarsus as he dragged Christians off to prison. The splendor of Christ was set before Saul. But this man talks about another day "when God was pleased to reveal his Son in me". (Galatians 1:15-16).

If any who see no glory in Christ Jesus read [this] about him, my prayer is that He who commanded light to shine out of darkness in the first creation will, in connection with the objective revelations of Scripture, shine in your heart to give you, in a new creation work, the knowledge of the glory of God. This glory is the face of Jesus Christ. May you see it. May God who has revealed his Son to you be pleased to reveal his Son in you.

Quoting Walter Chantry .