First, no man can see God’s face as a sinner. There comes a wretch before the throne of God. God has spread his books, and set his seat of judgment. There comes a man before the throne of God. Look at him! He is wearing a robe of his own righteousness. “Wretch, how comest thou in hither?” And the creature tries to look at God; he cries that he may live! But, no! God saith, “he cannot see my face and live.” Thus saith the Judge. “Executioners of my vengeance, come forth!” Angels come with crowns on their brows; they grasp their swords and stand ready—”Bind him hand and foot; cast him into the lake that burneth.” The wretch is cast away into the fire of hell. He sees written in letters of fire—”No man can see my face and live.” Clothed in his own righteousness, he must perish.
Then, again, it is true that no man, even as a saint, can see God’s face and live; not because of moral disability, but because of physical inability. The body is not strong enough to bear the sight or vision of God. I cannot tell whether even the saints in heaven see God. God dwells among them; but I do not know whether they ever behold him. That is a speculation. We can leave that till we get there. We will decide it when we get to heaven. I hardly know whether finite beings when immortalized would be capable of seeing God. This much is certain—that on earth, no man, however holy, can ever see God’s face, and yet live. Why, Manoah, when he saw an angel, thought he should die. He said—”I have seen an angel of the Lord; I shall die.” If you and I were to meet an angel, or a troop of angels, as Jacob did at Mahanaim, we should say—”We shall die.” The blaze of splendor would overwhelm us. We could not endure it. We “cannot see God and live.” All that we can ever see of God, is what Moses called his “back parts.” The words, I think, signify “regal train.” You have seen kings have trains hanging behind them; and all that we can ever see of God is his train that floats behind. Yon sun that burns in the heavens with all his effulgence, you think he is bright; you look upon him, and he dazzles you; but all his splendor is but a single thread in the regal skirts of the robe of Deity. You have seen night wrapped in her sable mantle woven with gems and stars—there they shine as ornaments worked by the needle of God in that brilliant piece of tapestry which is spread over our heads, like a tent for the inhabitants of the earth to dwell in: you have said, “O! how majestic! That star, that comet, that silver moon, How splendid!” They are nothing, but just a tiny portion of the skirts of God that drag in the dust. But what are the shoulders—what the girdle of divinity—what the bracelets of Godhead—what the crown that girdles his lofty brow, man cannot conceive; I could imagine that all the stars and constellations of stars might be put together and threaded into a string—made into a bracelet for the arm, or a ring for the finger of Jehovah—but I cannot conceive what God is himself. All I can ever learn—all that the thunder ever spake—all that the boistrous ocean ever could teach me—all that the heaven above, or the earth beneath can ever open to my mind, is nothing but the “back parts” of God. I can never see; nor can I understand what he is.
III. Now, beloved, we go to the third point; and that is THE GRACIOUS SHIELDING.
Moses had to be put in the cleft of a rock before he could see God. There was a rock in the wilderness once; Moses smote it, and water gushed out. The apostle tells us “that Rock was Christ.” Very well, Paul, I believe it was. There is another thing I believe—I believe this rock was Christ. I know it was not Christ literally; but Moses stood on a literal rock. Moses stood on the top of a high mountain, hidden in the cleft of a real rock. But, O, my soul, what is the cleft of the rock where thou must stand; if thou wouldst ever see God’s face and live. O, it is the “Rock of ages cleft for me,” where I must hide my head! O, what a cleaving that was when Jesus died! O, my soul, enter into the hole in Jesus’ side. That is the cleft of the rock where thou must abide and see God.
“Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find;
The holy, just, and sacred Three,
Are terrors to my mind.”
But when I get into the cleft of that rock, O, my soul, when I get into that cleft whose massive roof is the well ordered everlasting covenant, whose solid golden floor is made of the solemn decrees of the predestination of the Most High; and whose sides are called Jachin and Boaz, that is establishment and strength, a cleft in a rock which is so enduring that time can never dissolve it. Precious Christ! may I be found in thee amid the concussion of the elements when the world shall melt away, and the heavens shall be dissolved! O, may I stand in thee, thou precious cleft of the Rock; thou art all-in-all to my soul.
Some of you, I know, are in that cleft of the Rock. But let me ask others, where are you? Let it be a personal question. I have preached a long while about God; I have tried to mount the height of this great argument and speak of the wondrous things of God. I may have failed, but let me say to each of you—Are you in that cleft of the rock? Can you sing this—
“Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
‘Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.”
In closing, I want one practical inference, and what shall it be? Draw it yourselves. Let it be this—there is an hour coming, when we must all, in a certain sense, see God. We must see him as a Judge. It becomes us, then, to think seriously whether we shall stand in the cleft of the Rock when he comes. There is a passage we would mention before closing—”I saw death on a pale horse, and hell followed him.” There was death on the pale horse; and the original says—”hades followed him.” You know the word hades comprises both heaven and hell. It means the state of spirits. Yes, death is after me and thee. Ah, run! run! run! but run as thou wilt, the rider on the white horse shall overtake thee. If thou canst escape him seventy years, he will overtake thee at last. Death is riding! Here his horse comes—I hear his snortings, I feel his hot breath; he comes! he comes! and thou must die! BUT, WICKED MAN, WHAT COMES AFTERWARDS? Will it be heaven or hell? O, if it be hell that is after thee, where art thou when thou art cast away from God? Ah, I pray God deliver you from hell; he is coming after you, sure enough; and if you have no hiding-place. woe unto you. See you that cleft in the rock, see that cross, see that blood. There is security, and only there. Thy works are but a useless incumbrance; cast them away, and with all thy might flee to the mountain with
“Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.”
Yea, more than this, you will need divine aid, even in coming to Christ—
“O, for this no strength have I,
My strength is at thy feet to lie.”
But, poor helpless one, if thou art but hidden in Christ. all is secure. Storms may arise, but you cannot be overwhelmed; old Boreas may blow until his cheeks do burst, but not a breath of wind can injure you; for in the cleft of the Rock you shall be hidden until the vengeance is overpast.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
