Bible Dictionaries

Charles Spurgeon's Illustration Collection

Kingdom of Christ: Its Glories

The palace of Versailles with its countless representations of battles, sieges, stormings, surprises, and all other forms of wholesale and retail murder, is dedicated, according to an inscription on its front, To all the glories of France. Bah! As well consecrate a shambles to all the glories of a butcher. But what a glorious spiritual palace is the church, and how truly is it dedicated to all the glories of the Lord Jesus! Within its walls hang the memorials of battles far more worthy of the historianìs quill than those of Austerlitz or Wagram; victories are there commemorated which put to the blush all the achievements of Charlemagnes or Napoleon; for the contests are with evil principles, and the conquests are triumphs over iniquity and rebellion; there are no garments rolled in blood; fire and vapour of smoke are not there, but the efficacy of atonement, the energy of grace, the Omnipotence of the Holy Ghost, the puissance of eternal love, all these are there, and happy are the eyes that see them. May the life of each one of us contribute a new work of celestial art to those which already represent to angels and heavenly intelligences, the glories of Christ.