DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 23, 1878,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the
corner. This is the Lord's doing; itis marvelous in our eyes. This is
the day which the Lordhas made; we willrejoice and be glad in it, Save
now, I beseech You, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech You, send now
prosperity." Psalm 118:22-25.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to fix with certainty the
occasion which first suggested this Psalm. It has even been thought to
be purely prophetic and rather foretelling history than narrating it. I
rather incline to the opinion that some Israelite hero, chosen of God
to high office in the midst of his people, had been rejected by the
rulers, had passed through many struggles–some of them of the most
violent kind–and at last, notwithstanding the rejection of his people
and their leaders, had attained to a prominent position, no, to a chief
place in the midst of the nation!
The Psalm is applicable to Christ and to Him it is referred in the New
Testament several times, but probably from the human point of view it
was at first intended to celebrate the victory of some chosen man of
God who, despite his Divine election, had been rejected by his
countrymen. Providence conducted him to a crowning success and he
magnified the Lord for it. In some way or other, a stone has come to be
connected with several persons whose history was of this character.
Remember Jacob. He flees from his father's house because Esau threatens
to kill him. He appears to be the rejected member of Isaac's family by
whom the house would never be built. At the end of a day's journey he
lies down with a stone for his pillow and, as he sweetly slumbers, he
sees Heaven open. He beholds the mystic ladder and rises, assured of
the love of the Almighty God! By faith thus infused into his soul, he
becomes strong for his future life and so lives that now the house of
Abraham and Isaac stands represented in the seed of Jacob, alone. And
Esau, with all his dukes, has utterly passed away.
The next occurrence of the stone happens in reference to Joseph, of
whom the dying Jacob said, "From thence is the shepherd the stone of
Israel." He was separated from his brothers by their envy and
grievously wounded by their malice. They said, "Behold, this dreamer
comes," and they sold him for a slave into the stranger's land. From
the dungeons of Egypt he climbed to the throne and became the
cornerstone of Israel's house! On his bosom his aged father could lay
his head and dream as he did at Bethel! And by his power and wisdom,
the shepherd family was happily built up. Then came David, whom his
elder brothers despised and even his father passed him over, until the
Prophet of God asked for him, that he might be anointed with oil!
Out of his hand went that stone of Israel which laid low the pride of
Philistia! Goliath must bite the ground when the stone of Israel flies
from the hand of Israel's shepherd who was destined to be her king! He
was rejected and hated by Saul so that he wandered about in the
wilderness, hiding in caves and rocks until the hour came when he was
called to the throne. Then the stone which the builders refused became
the headstone of the corner and he and his people confessed that it was
the Lord's doing and it was marvelous in their eyes! Be not afraid, O
you persecuted ones, for you shall fulfill your destiny!
It has happened again and again in history that those who have been
destined to do great things for the Lord have, first of all, been
compelled to pass through a trying ordeal of misunderstanding and
rejection! Such history repeats itself and it may do so in your
instance. The speckled bird of the family, the one least beloved, often
rises to take the most prominent place. Jephthah was driven out from
his father's family and yet in their distress his brethren were glad
enough to make him their champion and accept him as their head. Bow
your head in patience, young man, and bear whatever God or His enemies
may lay upon you, for assuredly as the Lord is in you and with you, He
will bring you forth and of
you, too, it shall be true in your own little way, "The stone which the
builders refused, the same is become the headstone of the corner."
At this time, however, we shall confine our application of these verses
to our blessed Lord, Himself, to whom they most evidently refer. Their
meaning is focused upon Him and, in reference to Him, each word is
emphatic. He applied them to Himself, for Matthew tells us in the 21st
chapter of his Gospel that our Lord said to the chief priests and
Pharisees, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?" You
remember, also, how Peter said in the face of the crucifiers of Christ,
"Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, even by Him does this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nothing of you builders, which is
become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other
for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved."
In his first Epistle, Peter refers again to this Psalm in the
well-remembered words, "Why also it is contained in the Scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that
believes on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which
believe He is precious: but unto them which are disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the
corner." Of our own exalted Lord we are going to speak at this time and
may the Spirit bear witness in our hearts to His honor!
I. First, I invite your thoughts to CHRIST REJECTED–"The Stone which
the builders refused." The Lord Jesus came into this world at the
fullness of time when the Messiah was expected by those devout men who
waited for salvation in Israel. He came born of parents descended from
that royal house from which Messiah was prophesied as coming and He was
born in the very city which had been pointed out by Seers of old! All
details of His life in His early days corresponded with prophetic
intimations and answered to the signs which the Lord had appointed.
There was nothing in which He did that did not exactly fit the symbols
of the sanctuary and the personal types of history! Everything which
could speak cried with one voice, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
He was clearly placed before the Jewish people as the Stone which God
would lay in Zion as the Foundation of their hopes, but they
persistently refused Him. It was not from lack of evidence, for John
came prophesying concerning Him and, as I have already said, John was
but the last of a long list of Prophets who had all pointed to Him as
the Anointed of the Lord–and yet Israel rejected Him! His own miracles
and teaching were more than sufficient evidence of His mission, but
Israel would have none of Him! He was a Stone evidently of God's
quarrying and preparing. His extraordinary birth marked Him out as
differing from all the rest of mankind! His surpassing excellence and
moral beauty declared Him to be destined to the highest position!
His Person displayed the marvelous love and wisdom of God and with half
an eye, if they had willed to see it, the Jews might have perceived
that He was anointed to be the Cornerstone of the spiritual Temple–but
yet they refused Him! "He came unto His own and His own received Him
not." He came to those who had the oracles, but in this thing they set
at nothing the oracles! He came to those who had the Law and the
Prophets, but they were deaf to all holy testimonies and disowned Him!
Alas, for the blindness of men's hearts! His rejection was rendered the
more remarkable and the more sorrowful because He was rejected by the
builders or leaders of the nation. "The Stone which the builders
refused."
If the common people, who were ignorant of the Law, had not perceived
Him to be the chosen Stone, we might not have wondered. But there were
men of learning and research among the people and these rejected Him!
They had builders who understood spiritual architecture, or professed
to do so–the scribes who studied the Law and the priests who taught
the people–these were the master builders whose business it was to
make the selection of the Cornerstone. But these rejected our Lord. It
was not only the mob of Jerusalem that rejected Christ, but the rulers
led the way! True, the many cried, "Crucify Him!" but not till they
were bribed by the priests, the clergy of the day, the Sadducees, the
skeptical men of science, the Pharisees and ritualistic
professors–these were they who sat in Moses' seat–in whom the people
had confidence! And by their evil, the people were led to reject the
Cornerstone which the Lord Himself had laid!
Concerning this rejection we must also remark that it was no common
one–it was a violent and indignant rejection! They were not content to
say, "He is not the Messiah," but they turned their hottest malice
against Him! They were furious at the sight of Him! This precious Stone
was kicked against and rolled about with violence and all manner
of ridicule was poured upon it. Nothing would content them but the
blood of the Man who had disturbed their consciences and questioned
their pretensions. "The Stone which the builders refused" is to be read
with a heavy stress upon the word REFUSED. Peter says, "He was set at
nothing of you builders." They slandered Him in life and mocked Him in
death! They spat their accusations against Him when He was free and
gave Him over to be defiled with the spit of the soldiers' mouths when
He was bound! They made Him live an outcast's life and then they hung
Him up to die a felon's
death!
This rejection was most unreasonable–they did violence to truth and
justice by their evil deed. For which of His works did they stone Him?
There was nothing in His Character which should have incensed them!
There was nothing about Him which ought to have excited their doubts,
much less their wrath. But yet they willfully and resolutely rejected
Him. They said, "We will not have this Man to reign over us." The
cause, in part, was blind prejudice. They expected a king surrounded
with earthly pomp and girt with physical force to break the Roman yoke
and create an Israelite empire more famous than that of Solomon.
But because He came as the Son of a lowly virgin, robed in a peasant's
dress and humbly dwelt among the sons of men in meekest fashion,
therefore they refused Him. There was no real reason why He should have
been refused because of His humiliation, for was not their Messiah so
to come? Did not Isaiah say, "He shall grow up before Him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He has no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we
should desire Him." He agreed with the prophecies, but not with their
prejudices and, therefore, they cried, "Away with Him! Away with Him."
Those prejudices were the result of sheer ignorance, for if they had
studied the Word of God they would have seen that the Christ of God was
not the Christ of their dreams! And had they searched the Scriptures
they might have known that Jesus of Nazareth was the Lord of Glory!
They had eyes, but would not see! The Light was around them, but they
comprehended Him not. The pride of their hearts kept them in
ignorance–they did not want to know! The proud philosophic Sadducee
felt sure of his ground, for he was a thinker and despised the
vulgar–he did not wish for evidence as to the existence of angel or
spirit, or of the resurrection of the dead–therefore he scornfully
rejected the Man who brought life and immortality to light! The
Pharisee, supremely righteous in himself, did not want to know a Man
who taught him that he was lost and came to be the Savior of sinners.
He felt too safe, already, to need saving! Thus the Ever-Blessed was
chased out of the world by the pride which scorns all excellence except
its own!
Men flung away God's dearest Jewel because He outshone their own
counterfeit jewelry! Nor was it pride, alone, for that mother sin was
surrounded with all other evils. They wanted to devour widows' houses
in secret and He exposed them! They wanted to go on saying their long
prayers and yet to persecute the righteous–and Jesus unmasked them!
Certain of them wanted to be free-thinkers and yet to be thought
orthodox–and He denounced them as hypocrites! They denied the
essential principles of Revelation, but He came forth from the Father
to bear witness of God and, therefore, they utterly abhorred Him! Their
sin, as it could not associate with His holiness, raised a clamor
against Him and with cunning and malice they denounced, condemned and
utterly rejected the Stone which God had appointed to be the Foundation
and Cornerstone of His New Jerusalem!
Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, you know what came of it. They threw that
chosen Stone away and when they had removed it away from their
Babel-building they thought their troubles at an end when, indeed, they
had just begun! That Stone was removed out of the way and yet they
stumbled upon Him–they stumbled to their own confusion–yes, they
stumbled to their own destruction! How broken were they by that Stone
at the awful siege of Jerusalem when they and their city perished! Now,
also, that Stone has been lifted up into Heaven by the mighty power of
God and in the fullness of time it will descend upon these foolish
builders with terrible effect–for upon whomever it shall fall it will
grind him to powder!
Even while that Stone was here, they fell upon Him and were broken! But
when He comes a second time, He will fall upon them and woe unto them
in that Day! Let us not be among the company of the rejecters! Let us
not consort with those who cast doubts upon the Gospel of Jesus! Rather
let our hearts joyfully bless God for appointing Him to be the
Headstone of the corner! Let us accept Him in that Character and at
once build upon Him–
"Chosen of God, to sinners dear, And saints adore the name!
We trust our whole salvation here, Nor shall we suffer shame."
God forbid that we should reject the testimony of God concerning His
Son and so make God a liar and bring down eternal wrath upon our own
heads! Our safety lies in reception, not in rejection, for to "as many
as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name."
As for those who reject Him, we hear with trembling these words from
the lips of the loving Jesus–"But those, My enemies, which would not
that I should reign over them, bring here and slay them before Me."
II. With great delight I now pass to the second topic which is CHRIST
EXALTED–"The Stone which the builders refused is become the Headstone
of the corner"–that is to say, at this moment Christ has the chief
place of honor in the building of God! He is the Headstone, for He is
higher than the kings of the earth! He is higher than all the opposing
powers of wisdom or of superstition and He is the Head over all things
to His Church! Glory be to His name–in the midst of His people He is
above all and over all–we worship Him with rapture!
He is King of kings and Lord of lords, "for by Him were all things
created that are in Heaven and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him," There is none
like He among the sons of men! In all things He has the preeminence. He
that was crucified is now enthroned! He that lay in the grave now
reigns in Glory! Nor is He only eminent for His position of honor, but
for His surpassing usefulness! He is the Headstone of the corner, that
Stone which joins two walls together and is the bond of the
building–Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ Jesus!
It is true He is a Stone in Israel's wall, but He is also a Stone in
the Gentile's wall. In Him is neither Jew nor Gentile distinctively,
for they are both there inclusively. He has made both one! The
Pharisees would have it that the wall should finish within the line of
Judah's race, but not so thought our Master! His heart went forth to
the other sheep which He had that were not yet of the fold. This made
them wrathful, but their wrath did not prevent His accomplishing His
design and now He is the Bond of the building, holding Jew and Gentile
in firm unity! This precious Cornerstone binds God and man together in
wondrous amity, for He is both in one! He joins earth and Heaven
together, for He participates in each! He joins time and eternity
together, for He was a man of few years and yet He is the Ancient of
Days!
Wondrous Cornerstone! You bind all of us together who are in You, so
that by love of You we are built together for a temple of the Holy
Spirit! You are the perfect Bond, the eternal Holdfast, the Divine
Cement which holds the universe in one! Is it not written, "By Him all
things consist"? Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, is brought up from all
rejection and shame to which His enemies put Him. He is, by usefulness
and by honor, the grandest Person upon the face of the earth! And all
this, none the less, but all the more, because He was rejected! He lost
nothing by His enemies. They scourged His back, but they did not rob
Him of that imperial purple which now adorns Him! They crowned Him with
thorns, but those thorns have increased the brilliance of His diadem of
light!
They pierced His hands and thereby prepared them to sway an
irresistible scepter of love over men's hearts! They nailed His feet,
but those feet stand firm forever upon the Throne of Sovereignty! They
crucified Him, but His crucifixion led Him to His greater honor, since
He therein finished the work which was given Him to do and now, also,
God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name! As it has been, so is it, and so shall it be–man's opposition to
the Gospel will not interfere with it one single whit–but the eternal
purposes of Jehovah shall be fulfilled! Our adversaries may mine and
undermine. They may openly oppose and secretly assail. But upon this
Rock, even upon Christ, shall the Truth and the Church forever rest and
no harm shall come to it! The Lord will lift the Stone which the
builders refused and make it to become the Headstone of the
corner–therefore let us not fail nor be discouraged!
Already our text has been fulfilled! Our Lord Christ was dead and
buried, but His foes were desperately afraid that He would rise again
and so they rolled a stone to the tomb's mouth and sealed it. But He
rose, for all that, and became the first fruits of them that slept, the
Headstone of the Resurrection! His Resurrection utterly defeated those
who reckoned upon destroying His power! What could they do against One
whom Death itself could not silence? When His Resurrection attested His
mission, what could they say against Him? Nor was this all, for to add
to His honor, He was received up into Heaven! Beyond the eternal hills
He rose, the gates of Heaven opening at His coming! And amidst the
acclamation of angels and redeemed spirits, He ascended to the highest
place that Heaven affords!
What a change from Gabbatha and all the maltreatment of the Pavement to
the sea of glass mingled with fire and to the seat of infinite Majesty!
Jesus has gone from the bar to the Throne, and there He sits in
majesty! His adversaries may grind their teeth at Him, but the King is
set upon the holy hill of Zion beyond their wrath. "Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" Jehovah Jesus is King and
none can challenge His sovereignty! At Pentecost, too, this was
fulfilled, for when His few and humble disciples were inspired by the
Holy Spirit and began to speak with tongues of fire, all Jerusalem rang
with the wonder–and then, again, the despised and rejected Stone was
made the Headstone of the corner!
Very speedily throughout the known world the testimony of His name was
made to sound forth till His Word had gone forth as far as the sun's
utmost track and all nations beheld the light thereof. Then the gods of
the heathen tottered and colossal systems of idolatry were ground to
powder. Glory be unto You, O Christ! You did triumph gloriously in
those first ages of Your Church! That triumph is still proceeding. It
will be consummated by-and-by. What confusion will take hold upon the
hearts of His adversaries when He shall be revealed! He is hidden now
and His people with Him, but the day draws near when He shall come a
second time to be admired in all them that believe! What astonishment
will then take hold upon those who refused His righteous claims! Then
will they know that this is the Lord's doing though it will be terrible
in their eyes! All intelligent beings, even down to the blackest devil
of Hell, shall, at the Second Advent of our Lord be obliged to confess
that the Stone which the builders refused has become the Headstone of
the corner!
The Man of Nazareth shall be Lord of all before the eyes of all
mankind! We look forward to that Day! I call upon you, dear Brothers
and Sisters, this morning, to greatly rejoice in the fact which we have
thus brought before you! It is a grand Truth of God that Christ Jesus
is now enthroned beyond the reach of those who rejected and despised
Him–
"Honor immortal must be paid, Instead of scandal and of scorn While
glory shines around His head, And a bright crown without a thorn."
III. Thirdly, I ask your attention to the next point, which is
introduced to us by the 23rd verse. THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST IS DUE TO
GOD ALONE–"This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes."
Now, this was so as a matter of history. Jesus Christ's name and work
were, at length, had in honor in the world, but this was due to no
man's wisdom, eloquence, or power, but entirely to the Lord, who is
wonderful in counsel and great in might! Look, my Brothers and Sisters,
if the Scribes and Pharisees had endorsed the claims of our Lord, it
might have been said that Christianity was grafted upon the old stock
of Judaism and, therefore, grew with vigor.
And if Pilate, or Herod, or any of the great ones, especially if the
Caesar of the day had accepted it, then the following ages would have
said, "Oh yes, He derived His power and was lifted to His place through
the prestige of empire and the prowess of arms." But it was not so! All
the establishments on earth were against Him–rank and station despised
the carpenter's Son–superstition abhorred His simplicity and
spirituality! Ceremonialism would have nothing to do with Him who said
that the Temple was to be destroyed! Skepticism could not endure Him,
for He gave not a jot of ground for its doubts, or food for its
speculations!
And the kings of the earth and the statesmen utterly derided Him, for
He spoke of a kingdom which was not of this world! And yet He
triumphed, and now His name is the most famous among the sons of men!
This was not because poets sat waiting upon Parnassus to pour forth
their loftiest lays, or because minstrels, with their fingers on their
harp strings, stood prepared to draw forth matchless music to celebrate
His advent. No, the hymns which were composed in His honor had a lowly
virgin and an equally humble matron as their authors. And the music
which saluted Him was the noise of children in the streets, shouting,
"Hosanna to the Son of David." The Son of Man owes nothing of His glory
to man– His elevation to the throne is the Lord's doing and marvelous
in our eyes!
And while this is true as to the past, it remains true at this day, for
the Gospel of Christ, whenever it spreads in the earth, owes its
triumphs entirely to Divine interposition. When I consider how hostile
is human nature to the Gospel, the very existence of a True Church in
the world is, to me, a miracle! Nor to me, alone, does it appear so,
for it really is a superhuman work and is worked by the Lord alone!
Just think of it. Why, at this very day, we have all the wisdom and
power and eloquence and skill of the superstition of the world arrayed
against the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. Though they are agreed in
nothing else, they all unite against Christ!
He of the Seven Hills has nothing but maledictions for the pure Gospel
of Jesus and with him stand a hierarchy clothed with terrible power and
a troop of Jesuits who stop at nothing! Completely organized, numerous,
subtle, all-pervading–the warriors of Rome are a great host and not to
be lightly thought upon! See how superstition multiplies in this land!
See how the builders, appointed by the State to build up a Protestant
Church, are pulling it down with both hands! These are priests,
clergy–God's heritage! And what are they doing? Lifting up an
idolatrous crucifix in the place of the doctrine of the Cross! They are
setting sacraments in the place of the precious blood and preaching
salvation by their own priestcraft instead of salvation by the Grace of
God through Jesus Christ!
The builders are rejecting Him and yet His cause lives on! The wise men
on the other side of the house, the builders who claim to be scientific
scholars and persons of advanced thought and thorough culture–these,
also, have their fling against the Gospel. For anything I can see of
their pretended depth of learning, I would recommend them to attend to
their science and obtain a little more culture before they set up for
teachers or they may expose their own shallowness. These boastfully
wise men, these self-styled thinking men are all against the Gospel of
Jesus Christ! When I see the power which, at the present time, is
enlisted on the side of doubt and skepticism, I, for my part, am
astonished that anybody believes the Gospel at all–and I feel that it
is the Lord's doing and marvelous in my eyes!
True faith is supernatural–it stands not in the wisdom of man, but in
Divine power! Wherever Christ is exalted, as, blessed be His name, He
is in many Churches, it is not because of any wit or skill or power on
the part of the minister, but because the Holy Spirit is at work among
the people bringing them to Christ! Do not, then, dear Brothers and
Sisters, despond on behalf of Christ's cause. The real progress of
Christianity must be supernatural! Whenever we fight with the wooden
sword of reason, we may expect to be defeated–not because the Gospel
is against reason or contrary to it–but because it is so much above
reason that we cannot comprehend it and, therefore, lose power by
hearing Gospel Truth as if it were a human discovery!
If there is not working with Christianity a Divine agency altogether
above its reasonableness. If there is not, in fact, the Spirit of God
working with it to convert men, then it will come to nothing and vanish
like other systems. Our reliance must be, therefore, not upon evidences
which we can bring to prove the Truth of the Gospel, nor upon eloquence
by which we may advance its claims, but upon the Eternal Spirit of God,
for it is He, and He alone, who can lift the rejected Stone and make it
to become the Headstone of the corner! It is impossible for blinded
human nature to believe the Truth of God! And, therefore, we must be
born again! Gospel teachings are so humbling, so radical, so pure, so
spiritual, so much above our thoughts that nobody will accept them
unless taught of God! His chosen people shall be taught of the Spirit
and the rest will choose to remain in blindness. So it has been, and so
it ever shall be!
But, Beloved, let us not tremble because of this, for despite human
blindness and the opposition of the wise, Christ must reign even to the
world's end. Did I hear a whisper that ministers are, nowadays, very
broad and have given up the old Gospel? I know it and I am not
surprised! The builders are the first to reject the chosen Stone.
Christ owes little to preachers and some of His worst enemies are found
in their ranks! Unconverted men are in too many pulpits and are seeking
out many inventions to set aside the pure Gospel which exalts Christ
Jesus. Let them alone! The ditch is gaping for these blind guides. Our
Lord can do without them. He owes His victories to Himself and to
Himself, alone! And, therefore, let the faith of His people rest in
peace, for if they will have patience, they shall see greater things
than they have yet beheld.
Our text says that it is not only the Lord's doing and marvelous, but
it is marvelous, "in our eyes," which it could not be if we did not see
it. We shall see and we shall marvel! Some of us may have passed away,
but you who are younger may live to see modern thought obtain supremacy
over human minds–German rationalism which has ripened into Socialism
may yet pollute the mass of mankind and lead them to overturn the
foundations of society. Then "advanced principles" will hold carnival
and free thought will riot with the vice and blood which were years ago
the insignia of "the age of reason." I say not that it will be so, but
I should not wonder if it came to pass, for deadly principles are
abroad and certain ministers are spreading them!
If it ever should be so, do not, O Believers, for a single moment
despair, but rest certain that the Lord is about to do a marvelous
thing in the earth and that He will lift up, once again, the Stone
which the builders have again refused and cause it to become more than
ever the Headstone of the corner! Never dream of defeat! Be calm amid
all the din of controversy, for the hand which holds the Gospel must
win the victory! This is the Lord's doing and we shall see it!
IV. Let us now notice that THE EXALTATION OF THE REJECTED CHRIST
COMMENCES A NEW ERA. For
what says the 24th verse? "This is the day which the Lord has made; we
will rejoice and be glad in it." We date from our Lord's Resurrection,
even as the Jews of old counted from the night wherein they went out of
Egypt. What is this day which the Lord has made? I reply first, it is
the day of the Gospel! Through our Lord's exaltation, pardon for the
guilty is freely preached among all nations and whoever believes in Him
has everlasting life! Now is Christ exalted on high to give repentance
unto Israel and remission of sins! Now is He on the throne of power
that He may be able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by
Him!
Let us rejoice and be glad in Him. How can we rejoice and be glad in
Him except by believing in Him? Come, let us believe the Gospel, the
Gospel of the once rejected, but now exalted Savior! Let us put our
trust in Him and then let us sing for joy of heart because we have a
royal Savior, an exalted Savior, an almighty Savior in whose hands our
souls are safe! The era of the Gospel ought to be a time of gladness,
for its favors are rich, its light is clear, its promises are abundant
and its truth is certain! To be unhappy, now that Jesus reigns, is to
be ungrateful! It is a royal feast! Let us eat to the full and so honor
the King and bless ourselves!
What day is this which the Lord has made? Why, in the next place, it is
a Sabbath day, the beginning of a long line of Sabbaths! The day in
which our Lord Jesus rose from the dead is now sacred to rest and holy
joy. Let us keep it with reverent love and bless God for making it–
"This is the day the Lord has made,
He calls the hours His own.
Let Hea ven rejoice, let the earth be glad,
And praise surround the Throne!
Today He rose and left the dead
And Satan's empire fell!
Today the saints His triumphs spread,
And all His wonders tell."
The world calls the Sabbath, Sunday, do not let us turn it into
Cloud-day! Certain good Christian people look upon the Lord's Day as a
season so solemn that it can only be properly kept by being as dreary
as possible! Draw down the blinds, darken the room, chide the children,
cherish every smile–now we are getting Sabbatic! Let us go up to the
House of Prayer like convicts exercising in the prison yard and there
let us be as decorously miserable as possible! Let the preacher be as
dull and as monotonous as though he had no subject to preach about but
death and destruction and must preserve an air of melancholy, or none
would think him gracious!
Such is NOT the teaching of our Master, nor is it according to His mind
and spirit! Herbert well says of the Sabbath–
"You are a day of mirth,
And where the weekdays trail on ground,
Your flight is higher, as your birth." It should be "a day most calm,
most bright," fit to be called, "the endorsement of supreme delight!"
It is a time of the singing of birds, for the winter of our Lord's
humiliation is over and He has risen from the dead! Today we celebrate
the Glory of Christ in the highest heavens as the elect of God and the
cornerstone of His Church–surely it ill becomes us to go about with
our hands upon our loins as if we mourned His victory and begrudged His
honor! No, let us clap our hands with exultation! "The Lord reigns! Let
the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof."
Again, "This is the day which the Lord has made." The Resurrection of
Christ commences an era of triumph! We have spoken of the Gospel day
and the Sabbath day, but it is also a day of victories. As Jesus Christ
rose from the dead, so will His Truth continually rise from the
sepulcher into which men may cast it. As He triumphed over the powers
of death and darkness, so will His Gospel triumph over all opposition!
Whenever at any time your hearts are heavy, I would bid you stand at
the open tomb of Christ and remember that He rose! And if He could not
be held by the bands of death, certainly neither He nor His Gospel can
be held by any other bands! His adversaries thrust His Gospel into the
tomb again! They proclaim that the old doctrines are effete, but as
surely as Jesus our Lord lives they shall see the Truth of God revive!
Walk in patience, for the vision will not tarry. The day comes when in
yet greater power the Gospel shall renew its youth and the world shall
assuredly know that the Lord has done it!
Let us rejoice and be glad that we live in an era bright with victories
of the right and the true. We may have to fight for them and wait for
them, but they will surely come and Christ shall reign forever and
ever! I would to God that the thought of the exalted Christ would be
the beginning of days to some of you! This day began with sunlight but
at this hour it deepens into gloom. The skies are overcast and a
tempest is hurrying up. I trust that with my dear Hearers it may be the
absolute reverse–that if you began this morning amid clouds of doubt
and showers of tears, you may see Christ exalted in the highest Heaven
because He has offered for you His great atoning Sacrifice–and may you
look to Him and find clear shining after the rain, a great calm after a
great storm!
V. I close by saying that THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST SUGGESTS A PRAYER.
The 25th verse supplies us with it. "Save now, I beseech You, O Lord: O
Lord, I beseech You, send now prosperity." First, it is a prayer for
salvation. It may mean, "God save the King: may Jesus live forever,"
and in that sense we would make the heavens ring with it! But we will
take it, this morning, to be a prayer for the salvation of men. Since
Christ is the exalted and victorious Savior, let us beseech Him to save
all those who are around us! Save them, Lord! Save them all! Save them
NOW!
Put it in the present tense! Ask for a display of the present saving
power of our exalted Head! O Christ Jesus, Prince and Lord, save the
sinners in Zion! We beseech You save those who occupy these pews
Sabbath after Sabbath and hear about You, but do not know You! Save,
too, the strangers that are within Your gates and are strangers to You
as well as to us. Save the careless, good Lord! Save the anxious! Save
the seekers! By Your Glory at the Father's side, we beseech You, save
men! Do you believe that Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God? If
you do, all things are possible with Him and He has promised to hear
prayer! Hear me then, you thousands of Israel, as I entreat you now to
breathe one hearty unanimous prayer to this effect–"Save now, O Lord,
we beseech You!"
Put the name of your child to the prayer if you please, or that of your
wife, or father, or sister, or brother–but put up the prayer to Him
who is enthroned on purpose to save! Save now, O Lord! You are no more
despised and rejected! Unveil Your Glory by saving men! You could save
even in Your agony–on the Cross you saved a dying thief! But now, in
Glory, You have mightier power! Therefore, O Savior, save now! Will you
not importunately urge that petition, O you who know His readiness to
hear? Sinners, will you not pray thus for yourselves? Here, now, as we
sit together in this dense gloom, so unusual in the month of June, let
us feel that the shadow of the Eternal is brooding over us, that the
Almighty is now covering us with His wings!
Do you not feel near to Him? Be sure of this, He is very near to you!
Call upon Him while He is near! In all probability we shall, in a few
moments, hear His majestic voice rolling in thunder through the sky and
before long we shall see the flash of His glittering spears. Let all
this deepen our reverence and prompt us to entreat Him now to save us!
The God that thunders at His pleasure is near! Bow before Him and trust
in His Son, Christ Jesus, and let the prayer go up, "SAVE NOW." Do not
wait for tomorrow, nor even until the storm has passed over, but now,
even now, seek His salvation!
The other half of the prayer is for prosperity. "O Lord, send now
prosperity." This is what we continually need in this Church. The
prayer is in harmony with the whole passage. Since, Lord, You have
lifted the chief Stone into its place, be pleased to raise up other
stones of Your Temple into their places! O fit them, one upon another,
and send a prosperous building up! Lord, You have conquered all the
foes of Christ–come and conquer the foes of your Church today. Lord,
You did gather out a people to His praise and build up a Church in the
first centuries of Christianity and then Your Son Jesus was gloriously
the Corner and Headstone! Come again and build up Your own Church
throughout all the lands, a Church in which the Lord Jesus shall be
exalted even to the highest!
"Send now prosperity." I pray you, Beloved, join in this prayer! Pray
that Jerusalem may have peace and prosperity, for they that love her
and her peace still have great happiness. Join in the supplication to
the once rejected but now exalted covenant Head of the Church and the
Lord will bless you for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.