Spiritual Admiration

“When we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” — Isa. liii. 2.

The boundary between spiritual death and spiritual life is admiration. Between seeing the beauty without desiring it and seeing the beauty with desire there seems but a thin line, but it is the line of infinitude; it is the difference between the almost and the altogether. Admiration of Christ’s beauty is the lowest step of the ladder, but it {5 a step. It may exist where the deeds of life are not yet in harmony with its ideal, but it is the prophecy of the future perfection, the pledge of good things to come. My soul, bethink thee, that which thou admirest must be allied to thyself. Thou couldst not possibly admire if it had nothing in common with thee. Like can only be known by like; love cannot be recognised by selfishness, nor can the face of purity be beheld by moral debasement. Therefore it is i-ji MOMENTS ON THE MOUNT.

that the words are written, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” It is not a threat; it is the statement of a divine law which is also a human law. Thou canst not see anything which is not already in thee. Thou canst not see beauty if thou hast not the sense of beauty, thou canst not hear music if thou hast not the thrill of harmony, thou canst not love virtue if thou hast not the germ of goodness. If, when Jesus of Nazareth passeth by, thou hast felt a glow of admiration, a longing to be like Him and a thirsting to be near Him — by that admiring glow thou knowest that already He has been with thee. Thou couldst not kindle at His presence if His presence were alien to thine, thou couldst not imitate His likeness if conformity to His image had not even now begun. All imitation is the fruit of some likeness; it does not precede but follow the conformity of nature. That to which thou aspirest is the shadow of something already hidden in thy heart, and it is this that makes thine aspiration precious. In the longing of thy heart for Him the Son of Man beholds Himself in thee; in the approach of thy spirit to Him He learns that His Spirit has drawn near to thee. The beauty by which thou seest Him is His own beauty, the love with which thou longest for Him is His own love, the light by which thou seekest Him is His own light. Thy longing is the measure of thee, thy conscious want is the test of thy possibilities, thine aspiration is the prophecy of thy stature; the beauty of the Lord is in thee when thou hast seen and desired His beauty.