Revelation 1:13-20 And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot… I will tell you of the sorrow, the beauty, and the antiquity of Jesus. 1. There is nothing that so soon changes the colour of the hair as trouble. Well, surely, Jesus, my Lord, had enough suffering to whiten His hair. 2. My text sets forth the beauty of Christ. Whimsical fashion changes its mind very often as to which is the best colour for the hair. The Romans sprinkled theirs with silver and gold. Our ancestors powdered theirs white. Human custom decides this and declares that; but God declares that He likes frost colour best when He says: "The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness." 3. The antiquity of the Jesus. It is no new Christ that has come. He saw the first star beam on the darkness, the first wave swing to its place, and He heard the first rock jar down to its place in the mountain-socket. "His hair is white as the wool, as white as the snow" — an aged Christ. Ah, that gives me so much confidence! It is the same Jesus that heard David's prayer — the same Jesus on whose breast John laid. You cannot bring Him a new ease. He has had ten thousand cases just like it before. He is an aged Christ. There are times when we want chiefly the young and the gay about us; but when I am in deep trouble give me a fatherly old man or a motherly old woman. More than once in the black night of sorrow have I hailed the grey dawn of an old man's hair. When I want courage for life I love to think of Christ as young and ardent; but when I feel the need of sympathy and condolence I bring before me the picture of an old Jesus: "His hairs as white as the wool, as white as the snow." Is there not a balm in this for the aged? (T. De Witt Talmage.) Parallel Verses KJV: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. |
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