SOME travelers, passing through a desert, discovered a boulder, which had been buried, perhaps for ages, in that sandy wilderness, and had now been partially uncovered by a furious storm of wind. The stone, upon close examination, appeared to be a fragment of some great sculpture or monument.
On searching further they found other pieces of stone, with distinct traces of human workmanship upon them, though some of them were worn smooth by long exposure to the elements and the ceaseless friction of the desert sands.
At last they uncovered what seemed to be the base or pedestal of a mighty statue. Upon it was an inscription, which they carefully copied. The copy was submitted to some eminent scholars, who all declared that the language in which it was written was quite an unknown one.
But after much labor these learned men succeeded in finding the key to this strange tongue, and deciphered the inscription. The words on the huge stone were these:
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings!
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair !
Commenting upon this discovery, a well-known American journal asks:
“Who was Ozymandias? Over what vast realm and multitudinous peoples did this great monarch rule? Where was his capital? Where his court? What were his palaces, his temples, his cities, and the records of his illustrious achievements? Where the works which were to be the despair of coming generations? Alas! The desert, with its sea of sand dunes, and its dreary solitudes, keeps its secret well. Tithe and the elements have blotted him out as completely as though he had never been. His dream of imperishable fame was a vain one.”
As I write these words a contrast forms itself in my mind; a contrast between the forgotten Ozymandias, and Another, mightier than he, who will never be forgotten. For this Other to style himself "King of Kings" is no vain boast. He is that, in very deed.
And what of His works? You may see them on every hand. Creation's wonders are all the work of JESUS. But I speak now of a work more beneficent, more stupendous, more absolutely beyond the power of human strength and wisdom to accomplish than even the work of Creation.
I refer to: The Redemption Work of the Cross.
To call the world into being needed a Creator; to save our guilty souls a Redeemer.
To bathe the universe with light He had but to speak; to bring the joys of heaven to hearts like ours He had to suffer and to die. To hang the stars in space, to spread the sky like a curtain of blue above our heads was an exhibition of marvelous power; to leave His home in the realms of light, and to bear shame and woe for our sakes, was a display of infinite love.
No selfish, vain-glorious work was His, like the works of Ozymandias. He wrought in order that salvation might be made possible for sinners. His work was atoning, vicarious, substitutionary, redemptive. He died instead of us.
That glorious redemptive work accomplished upon Calvary is the only ground upon which we can build a sure and certain hope of eternal glory. If that work is nothing to you, reader, you have no foundation beneath your feet, no anchorage for your soul, no refuge from your sins.
The mighty host of the ransomed, who shall tread the golden streets of glory will, every one of them, be there because of that work.
Happy is the man who, distrusting himself and his own works, turns to the Lord and puts all his confidence in the efficacy of His work.
“Wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever,... they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not.... When he dieth, he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him." (Psa. 49:10-1710For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. 12Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. 13This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. 14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. 15But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. 16Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. (Psalm 49:10‑17).)
The "mighty" of the earth were invited by the inscription on the stone to regard the works of Ozymandias in order that they might despair of ever being able to rival them.
Not the mighty, not the noble, not the righteous are invited to regard the work of the Savior the feeble, the poor, the sinful, the hopeless may plead that work as the means of their everlasting salvation. Not despair, but comfort, peace, assurance, will be the result.
Change the words of the vain-glorious Ozymandias. Make the inscription refer to Calvary. Read the message thus:
My Name is JESUS, King of kings!
Look on My works, ye sinners, and rejoice!
Reader, is the Lord Jesus anything to you? Are your hopes for eternity founded on His work?
H. P. B.