Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
The dawn of a better day, celebrated in sacred song
There is a beautiful upward gradation indicated, a progression towards a glorious climax; there is the dawn of a better day seen by the wise man’s prophetic eye, and we will prayerfully consider the prophetic inquiry as foreshadowing the mission of Christ, and the nature of His glorious kingdom. “Who is she that looketh,” etc. Apply these words:
I. To the history of Christ. Christ looked “forth as the morning” in the first promise made to our first parents in Eden. The Mosaic dispensation may be considered as daybreak, dim and hazy, the prophetic age may be regarded as “fair as the moon,” it was brighter than the former, and it shone, as the moon shines with light borrowed from the unseen Sun. When the fulness of time came, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, then the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His wings, and throughout the whole of our Lord’s public ministry He marched forth “clear as the sun.” Christ went forth “terrible as an army with banners.” He vanquished Satan in the Temptation of the wilderness. He was a terror to evil-doers, and planted His standard in the centre of the kingdom of darkness. Especially was He “terrible as an army with banners” when He entered upon His Passion. And He shall be “terrible as an army with banners” when He shall come in His glory, and all His holy angels with Him, to gather all nations together, and separate the righteous from the wicked.
II. To the history of the Church. The Jewish Church was only the dawn of Gospel times, it looked “forth as the morning”--it was “fair as the moon,” but not clear as the sun. The day broke when the day of Pentecost came, and the Spirit rested upon the Apostles heads as tongues of flame. In that sunlight the Evangelists wrote their Gospels, and the Apostles their Epistles; and in the warmth and blessed life-giving influence of the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, the early preachers of the Cross went forth preaching Jesus and the Resurrection; they went forth “terrible as an army with banners,” and the world was won by them, for by the end of the third century the Gospel had been preached, and converts had been won in every part of the then known world. The Church is still going on from victory unto victory.
III. To the history of every Christian believer. The rise and progress of the soul in religion are gradual and progressive. Religious impression and conviction may be regarded as the looking “forth as the morning.” In the dawn of religious life there is much cloud, and the shadows of the night move but slowly away. We cannot tell just when the night ends and the morning breaks--and daybreak differs in different climes, so is it in the history of the regenerate: many rejoicing in the light of the Sun of Righteousness can only say, “One thing I know, whereas I was in the dark, now I am in the light--the day has dawned, and the shadows have fled away.” Light shines upon the soul “fair as the moon,” and, at first, often as cold. But soon the light shines brighter and warmer, the soul is filled with life and joy and glory, for, “clear as the sun, Jesus sheds His love abroad there.” (F. W. Brown.)
The glory of the Church
God, who has determined that everything shall be beautiful in its season, has not left the night without a charm. The moon rules the night. The stars are only set as gems in her tiara. Now, says my text, “Who is she, fair as the moon?” Our answer is, the Church. Like the moon, she is a borrowed light. She gathers up the glory of a Saviour’s sufferings, a Saviour’s death, a Saviour’s resurrection, a Saviour’s ascension, and pours that light on palace and dungeon, on squalid heathenism and elaborate scepticism, on widow’s tears and martyr’s robe of flame, on weeping penitence and loud-mouthed scorn. She is the only institution to-day that gives any light to our world. After a season of storm or fog how you are thrilled when the sun comes out at noonday! The same sun which in the morning kindled conflagrations among the castles of cloud, stoops down to paint the lily white and the buttercup yellow and the forget-me-not blue. What can resist the sun? Light for voyager on the deep. Light for shepherds guarding the flocks afield. Light for the poor who have no lights to burn. Light for the downcast and ,the weary. Now, says my text, “Who is she that looketh forth, clear as the sun?” Our answer is, the Church. You have been going along a road before daybreak, and on one side you thought you saw a lion, on the other side you thought you saw a goblin of the darkness; but when the sun came out you found these were harmless apparitions. And it is the great mission of the Church of Jesus Christ to come forth “clear as the sun,” to illuminate all earthly darkness, to explain as far as possible all mystery, and to make the world radiant in its brightness. O Sun of the Church, shine on until there is no sorrow to soothe, no tears to wipe away, no shackles to break, no more souls to be redeemed! I take one more step in this subject and say that if you were placed for the defence of a feeble town, and a great army were seen coming over the hills with flying ensigns, then you would be able to get some idea of the terror that will strike the hearts of the enemies of God when the Church at last marches on like “an army with banners.” You know there is nothing that excites a soldier’s enthusiasm so much as an old flag. Many a man almost dead, catching a glimpse of the national ensign, has sprung to his feet and started again into the battle. Now I don’t want you to think of the Church of Christ as a defeated institution--as the victim of infidel sarcasm, something to be kicked and trampled on through all the ages of the world. It is “an army with banners.” It has an inscription and colours such as never stirred the hearts of any earthly soldiery. We have our banner of recruit, and on it is inscribed, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” our banner of defiance, and on it is inscribed, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it”; our banner of triumph, and on it is inscribed, “Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” and we mean to plant that banner on every hill-top and wave it at the gate of heaven. Oh, what a shout of triumph when all the armies of earth and all the armies of heaven shall celebrate the victory of our King, all at once and all together: “Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth I Hallelujah, for the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!”(T. De Witt Talmage.)