But he tells us moreover—­Oh gospel, and good news for blind and weak humanity!—­that The Word’s glory is full of grace; gracious; ready to condescend; ready to teach us, and give us light to see our way through this world which He has made.

He tells us that The Word’s glory is full of truth; that He is truthful, accurate, and to be depended on; and will tell us nothing but what is true.  That He is a true Word of God, and when He speaks to us of His Father and of our Father, He tells the truth.

And so do St John and the Psalmist agree in the same gospel, and good news, of the mystery of Christ The Word.

There is an eternal Being in heaven, who is called The Word of God; because He speaks of, and reveals—­that is, unveils and shews—­to men, and angels, and archangels, and all created beings, that God whom no man hath seen, or can see; a Word who dwells for ever in the bosom of The Father, in the light which no man can approach unto:  but who for ever comes forth from thence to proclaim to all created beings—­There is a God, and The Word is His likeness; the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person.  None hath seen the Father at any time:  but the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.  None cometh to the Father, but through Him.  But he who hath seen Him, hath seen the Father; and He is none other than Jesus Christ our Lord.

He is The Word of God, who speaks to men God’s words, because He speaks not His own words but His Father’s, and does not His own will but His Father’s who sends Him.

He speaks to us and to all men, in many ways; and to each according to his needs.  To all men, Christ speaks through their consciences, shewing them what is good, and warning them of what is evil; for He is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.  To Christians Christ speaks in many ways—­to which, alas, too few give heed—­through the Bible, through the sacraments, through sermons, through the thoughts and words of all wise and holy men.  To the good He speaks with gracious encouragement; to the wicked with awful severity.  To the hypocrites He says at times, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” To the self-satisfied and bigoted He says, “If ye had been blind, ye had had no sin:  but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.”  To the careless and worldly He says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.  Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, I have need of nothing:  and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

To those who are ruining themselves by their own folly He says, “Why will ye die?  I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord:  but rather that he should be converted, and live.”  To those who are tormented by their own passions He says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”  To those who are wearied with the burden of their own sins He says, “Come unto Me, all ye that are weary, and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”