Heavenly Worship

Heavenly Worship

A Sermon

(No. 110)

Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 28th, 1856, by the

REV. C.H. SPURGEON

at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an
hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in
their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many
waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of
harpers harping with their harps; And they sung as it were a new song
before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders; and no
man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand,
which were redeemed from the earth."–Revelation 14:1-3.

THE SCENE of this marvellous and magnificent vision is laid upon Mount
Sion; by which we are to understand, not Mount Sion upon earth, but
Mount Sion which is above, "Jerusalem, the mother of us all." To the
Hebrew mind Mount Sion was a type of heaven, and very justly so. Among
all the mountains of the earth none was to be found so famous as Sion.
It was there that patriarch Abraham drew his knife to slay his son; it
was there, too, in commemoration of that great triumph of faith,
Solomon built a majestic temple, "beautiful for situation and the joy
of the whole earth." That Mount Sion was the centre of all the
devotions of the Jews.

"Up to her courts, with joys unknown,

The sacred tribes repaired."

Between the wings of the cherubim Jehovah dwelt; on the one altar there
all the sacrifices were offered to high heaven. They loved Mount Sion,
and often did they sing, when they drew nigh to her, in their annual
pilgrimages, "How amiable are thy tabernacles O Lord God of hosts, my
King and my God!" Sion is now desolate; she hath been ravished by the
enemy; she hath been utterly destroyed; her vail hath been rent
asunder, and the virgin daughter of Sion is now sitting in sackcloth
and ashes; but, nevertheless, to the Jewish mind it must ever, in its
ancient state, remain the best and sweetest type of heaven. John,
therefore, when he saw this sight might have said, "I looked, and, lo,
a Lamb stood in heaven, and with him an hundred and forty and four
thousand having his Father's name written in their foreheads: And I
heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with
their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and
before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that
song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth."

This morning I shall endeavour to show you, first of all, the object of
heavenly worship–the Lamb in the midst of the throne; in the next
place we shall look at the worshippers themselves, and note their
manner and their character; in the third place we shall listen to hear
their song, for we may almost hear it; it is like "the noise of many
waters and like great thunder;" and then we shall close by noting, that
it is a new song which they sing, and by endeavouring to mention one or
two reasons why it must necessarily be so.

I. In the first place, then, we wish to take a view of THE OBJECT OF
HEAVENLY WORSHIP. The divine John was privileged to look within the
gates of pearl; and on turning round to tell us what he saw–observe
how he begins–he saith not, "I saw streets of gold or walls of
Jasper;" he saith not, "I saw crowns, marked their lustre, and saw the
wearers." That he shall notice afterwards. But he begins by saying, "I
looked, and, lo, a Lamb!" To teach us that the very first and chief
object of attraction in the heavenly state is "the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sins of the world." Nothing else attracted the
Apostle's attention so much as the person of that Divine Being, who is
the Lord God, our most blessed Redeemer: "I looked, and, lo a Lamb!"
Beloved, if we were allowed to look within the vail which parts us from
the world of spirits, we should see, first of all, the person of our
Lord Jesus. If now we could go where the immortal spirits "day without
night circle the throne rejoicing," we should see each of them with
their faces turned in one direction; and if we should step up to one of
the blessed spirits, and say, "O bright immortal, why are thine eyes
fixed? What is it that absorbs thee quite, and wraps thee up in
vision?" He, without deigning to give an answer, would simply point to
the centre of the sacred circle, and lo, we should see a Lamb in the
midst of the throne. They have not yet ceased to admire his beauty, and
marvel at his wonders and adore his person.

"Amidst a thousand harps and songs,

Jesus, our God, exalted reigns."

He is the theme of song and the subject of observation of all the
glorified spirits and of all the angels in paradise. "I looked, and,
lo, a Lamb!"

Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen
the Lamb. Through thy tearful eyes thou hast seen the Lamb taking away
thy sins. Rejoice, then! In a little while, when thine eyes shall have
been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb exalted on his
throne. It is the joy of the heart to hold daily fellowship and
communion with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy in heaven; "there
shalt thou see him as he is, and thou shalt be like him." Thou shalt
enjoy the constant vision of his presence, and thou shalt dwell with
him for aye. "I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!" Why, that Lamb is heaven
itself; for as good Rutherford says, "Heaven and Christ are the same
things; to be with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to
be with Christ." And he very sweetly says in one of his letters,
wrapped up in love to Christ. "Oh! my Lord Christ, if I could be in
heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and
have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the
heaven I want." It is true, is it not Christian? Does not thy soul say
so?

"Not all the harps above

Could make a heavenly place,

Should Christ his residence remove,

Or but conceal his face."

All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is "to be
with Christ, which is far better."

And now observe the figure under which Christ is represented in heaven.
"I looked, and, lo, a Lamb." Now, you know Jesus, in Scripture, is
often represented as a lion: he is so to his enemies, for he devoureth
them, and teareth them to pieces. "Beware, ye that forget God, lest he
tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." But in heaven he is
in the midst of his friends, and therefore he

Looks like a lamb that has been slain,

And wears his priesthood still."

Why should Christ in heaven choose to appear under the figure of a
lamb, and not in some other of his glorious characters? We reply,
because it was as a lamb that Jesus fought and conquered, and,
therefore as a lamb he appears in heaven. I have read of certain
military commanders, when they were conquerors, that on the anniversary
of their victory they would never wear anything but the garment in
which they fought. On that memorable day they say, "Nay, take away the
robes; I will wear the garment which has been embroidered with the
sabre-cut, and garnished with the shot that hath riddled it; I will
wear no other garb but that in which I fought and conquered." It seems
as if the same feeling possessed the breast of Christ. "As a Lamb,"
saith he, "I died, and worsted hell; as a Lamb I have redeemed my
people, and therefore as a Lamb I will appear in paradise."

But, perhaps, there is another reason; it is to encourage us to come to
him in prayer. Ah, believer, we need not be afraid to come to Christ,
for he is a Lamb. To a lion-Christ we need fear to come; but the
Lamb-Christ!–oh, little children, were ye ever afraid of lambs? Oh,
children of the living God, should ye ever fail to tell your griefs and
sorrows into the breast of one who is a Lamb? Ah, let us come boldly to
the throne of the heavenly grace, seeing a Lamb sits upon it. One of
the things which tend very much to spoil prayer-meetings is the fact
that our brethren do not pray boldly. They would practice reverence, as
truly they ought, but they should remember that the highest reverence
is consistent with true familiarity. No man more reverent than Luther;
no man more fully carried out for the passage, "He talked with his
Maker as a man talketh with his friend." We may be as reverent as the
angels, and yet we may be as familiar as children in Christ Jesus. Now,
our friends, when they pray, very frequently say the same thing every
time. They are Dissenters; they cannot bear the Prayer Book; they think
that forms of prayer are bad, but they always use their own form of
prayer notwithstanding; as much as if they were to say that the
bishop's form would not do, but their own they must always use. But a
form of prayer being wrong, is as much wrong when I make it as when the
bishop makes it; I am as much out of order in using what I compose
myself continually and constantly, as I am when I am using one that has
been composed for me; perhaps far more so, as it is not likely to be
one-half so good. If our friends, however, would lay aside the form
into which they grow, and break up the stereotyped plates with which
they print their prayers so often, they might come boldly to the throne
of God, and need never fear to do so; for he whom they address is
represented in heaven under the figure of a Lamb, to teach us to come
close to him, and tell him all our wants, believing that he will not
disdain to hear them.

And you will further notice that this Lamb is said to stand. Standing
is the posture of triumph. The Father said to Christ, "Sit thou on my
throne, till I make thine enemies thy footstool." It is done; they are
his footstool, and here he is said to stand erect, like a victor over
all his enemies. Many a time the Saviour knelt in prayer; once he hung
upon the cross; but when the great scene of our text shall be fully
wrought out, he shall stand erect, as more than conqueror, through his
own majestic might. "I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount
Sion." Oh, if we could rend the veil–if now we were privileged to see
within it–there is no sight would so enthrall us as the simple sight
of the Lamb in the midst of the throne. My dear brethren and sisters in
Christ Jesus, would it not be all the sight you would ever wish to see,
if you could once behold him whom your soul loveth? Would it not be a
heaven to you, if it were carried out in your experience–"Mine eye
shall see him, and not another's?" Would you want anything else to make
you happy but continually to see him? Can you not say with the poet–

"Millions of years my wondering eyes

Shall o'er my Saviour's beauty rove,

And endless ages I'll adore

The wonders of his love?"

And if a single glimpse of him on earth affords you profound delight;
it must be, indeed, a very sea of bliss, and an abyss of paradise,
without a bottom or a shore, to see him as he is; to be lost in his
splendours, as the stars are lost in the sunlight, and to hold
fellowship with him, as did John the beloved, when he leaned his head
upon his bosom. And this shall be thy lot, to see the Lamb in the midst
of the throne.

II. The second point is, THE WORSHIPPERS, WHO ARE THEY? Turn to the
text, and you will not, first of all, their numbers–"I looked, and,
lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and
four thousand." This is a certain number put for an uncertain–I mean
uncertain to us, though not uncertain to God. It is a vast number, put
for that "multitude which no man can number," who shall stand before
the throne of God. Now, here is something not very pleasant to my
friend Bigot yonder. Note the number of those who are to be saved; they
are said to be a great number, even a "hundred forty and four
thousand," which is but a unit put for the vast innumerable multitude
who are to be gathered home. Why, my friend, there are so many as that
belonging to your church. You believe that none will be saved but those
who hear your minister, and believe your creed; I do not think you
could find one hundred and forty-four thousand anywhere. You will have
to enlarge your heart I think; you must take in a few more, and not be
so inclined to shut out the Lord's people, because you cannot agree
with them. I do abhor from my heart that continual whining of some men
about their own little church as the "remnant"–the "few that are to be
saved." They are always dwelling upon strait gates and narrow ways, and
upon what they conceive to be a truth, that but few shall enter heaven.
Why, my friends, I believe there will be more in heaven than in hell.
If you ask me why I think so, I answer, because Christ, in everything,
is to "have the pre-eminence," and I cannot conceive how he could have
the pre-eminence if there are to be more in the dominions of Satan than
in paradise. Moreover, it is said there is to be a multitude that no
man can number in heaven; I have never read that there is to be a
multitude that no man can number in hell. But I rejoice to know that
the souls of all infants, as soon as they die, speed their way to
paradise. Think what a multitude there is of them! And then there are
the just, and the redeemed of all nations and kindreds up till now; and
there are better times coming, when the religion of Christ shall be
universal; when he shall reign from pole to pole with illimitable sway;
when kingdoms shall bow before him, and nations be born in a day; and
in the thousand years of the great millennial state there will be
enough saved to make up all the deficiencies of the thousands of years
that have gone before. Christ shall have the pre-eminence at last; his
train shall be far larger than that which shall attend the chariots of
the grim monarch of hell. Christ shall be master everywhere, and his
praise sounded in every land. One hundred and forty-four thousand were
observed, the types and representatives of a far larger number who are
ultimately to be saved.

But notice, whilst the number is very large, how very certain it is. By
turning over the leaves of your Bible to a previous chapter of this
book, you will see that at the 4th verse it is written, that one
hundred and forty-four thousand were sealed; and now we find there are
one hundred and forty-four thousand saved; not 143,999, and 144,001,
but exactly the number that are sealed. Now, my friends may not like
what I am going to say; but if they do not like it, their quarrel is
with God's Bible, not with me. There will be just as many in heaven as
are sealed by God–just as many as Christ did purchase with his blood;
all of them, and no more and no less. There will be just as many there
as were quickened to life by the Holy Spirit, and were, "born again,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God." "Ah," some say, "there is that abominable doctrine of
election." Exactly so, if it be abominable; but you will never be able
to cut it out of the Bible. You may hate it, and gnash and grind your
teeth against it; but, remember, we can trace the pedigree of this
doctrine, even apart from Scripture, to the time of the apostles.
Church of England ministers and members, you have no right to differ
from me on the doctrine of election, if you are what you profess by
your own Articles. You who love the old Puritans, you have no right to
quarrel with me; for where will you find a Puritan who was not a strong
Calvinist? You who love the fathers, you cannot differ from me. What
say you of Augustine? Was he not, in his day, called a great and mighty
teacher of grace? And I even turn to Roman Catholics, and, with all the
errors of their system, I remind them that even in their body have been
found those who have held that doctrine, and, though long persecuted
for it, have never been expelled the church. I refer to the Jansenists.
But, above all, I challenge every man who reads his Bible to say that
that doctrine is not there. What saith the 9th of Romans? "The children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of
him that calleth: It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the
younger." And then it goes on to say to the carping objector–"Nay,
but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not
the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour, and another unto dishonor?" But enough on this subject.

One hundred and forty-four thousand, we say, is a certain number made
to represent the certainty of the salvation of all God's elect,
believing people. Now, some say that this doctrine has a tendency to
discourage men from coming to Christ. Well, you say so; but I have
never seen it, and blessed be God I have never proved it so. I have
preached this doctrine ever since I began to preach; but I can say
this,–ye shall not (and I am now become a fool in glorying) ye shall
not find among those who have not preached the doctrine, one who has
been the instrument of turning more harlots, more drunkards, and more
sinners of every class, from the error of their ways, than I have, by
the simple preaching of the doctrine of free grace; and, while this has
been so, I hold that no argument can be brought to prove that it has a
tendency to discourage sinners, or bolster them up in sin. We hold, as
the Bible says, that all the elect, and those only, shall be saved; all
who go to Christ are elect. So that if any of you have in your heart a
desire after heaven and after Christ; if you carry out that desire in
sincere and earnest prayer, and are born again, you may as certainly
conclude your election as you can conclude that you are alive. You must
have been chosen of God before the foundation of the world, or you
would never have done any of these things, seeing they are the fruits
of election.

But why should it keep any one from going to Christ? "Because," says
one, "if I go to Christ I may not be elect." No, sir, if you go, you
prove that you are elect. "But," says another, "I am afraid to go, in
case I should not be elect." Say as an old woman once said, "If there
were only three persons elected, I would try to be one of them; and
since he said, He that believeth shall be saved,' I would challenge God
on his promise, and try if he would break it." No, come to Christ; and
if you do so, beyond a doubt you are God's elect from the foundation of
the world; and therefore this grace has been given to you. But why
should it discourage you? Suppose there are a number of sick folk here,
and a large hospital has been built. There is put up over the door,
"All persons who come shall be taken in:" at the same time it is known
that there is a person inside the hospital, who is so wise that he
knows all who will come, and has written down the names of all who will
come in a book, so that, when they come, those who open the doors will
only say, "How marvellously wise our Master was, to know the names of
those who would come." Is there anything despiriting in that? You would
go, and you would have all the more confidence in that man's wisdom,
because he was able to know before that they were going. "Ah, but," you
say, "it was ordained that some should come." Well, to give you another
illustration; suppose there is a rule that there always must be a
thousand persons, or a very large number in the hospital. You say,
"When I go perhaps they will take me in, and perhaps they will not."
"But," says someone, "there is a rule that there must be a thousand in:
somehow or other they must make up that number of beds, and have that
number of patients in the hospital." You say, Then why should not I be
among the thousand; and have not I the encouragement that whosoever
goes shall not be cast out? And have I not again the encouragement,
that if they will not go, they must be fetched in somehow or other; for
the number must be made up; so it is determined and so it is decreed."
You would therefore have a double encouragement, instead of half a one;
and you would go with confidence, and say, "They must take me in,
because they say they will take all in that come; and on the other
hand, they must take me in, because they must have a certain number:
that number is not made up, and why should not I be one?" Oh, never
doubt about election; believe in Christ, and then rejoice in election;
do not fret about it till you have believed in Christ.

"I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an
hundred forty and four thousand." And who were these people, "having
his Father's name written in their foreheads?" Not Bs for "Baptists,"
not Ws for "Wesleyans," not Es for "Established Church:" they had their
Father's name and nobody else's. What a deal of fuss is made on earth
about our distinctions! We think such a deal about belonging to this
denomination, and the other. Why, if you were to go to heaven's gates,
and ask if they had any Baptists there, the angel would only look at
you, and not answer you; if you were to ask if they had any Wesleyans,
or members of the Established Church, he would say, "Nothing of the
sort;" but if you were to ask him whether they had any Christians
there, "Ay," he would say, "an abundance of them: they are all one
now–all called by one name; the old brand has been obliterated, and
now they have not the name of this man or the other; they have the name
of God, even their Father, stamped on their brow." Learn then dear
friends, whatever the connection to which you belong, to be charitable
to your brethren, and kind to them, seeing that, after all, the name
you now hold here will be forgotten in heaven, and only your Father's
name will be there known.

One more remark here, and we will turn from the worshippers to listen
to their song. It is said of all these worshippers that they learned
the song before they went there. At the end of the third verse it is
said, "No man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four
thousand, which were redeemed from the earth." Brethren, we must begin
heaven's song here below, or else we shall never sing it above. The
choristers of heaven have all had rehearsals upon earth, before they
sing in that orchestra. You think that, die when you may, you will go
to heaven, without being prepared. Nay, sir; heaven is a prepared place
for a prepared people, and unless you are "made meet to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light," you can never stand there
among them. If you were in heaven without a new heart and a right
spirit, you would be glad enough to get out of it; for heaven, unless a
man is heavenly himself, would be worse than hell. A man who is
unrenewed and unregenerate going to heaven would be miserable there.
There would be a song–he could not join in it; there would be a
constant hallelujah, but he would not know a note: and besides, he
would be in the presence of the Almighty, even in the presence of the
God he hates, and how could he be happy there? No, sirs; ye must learn
the song of paradise here, or else ye can never sing it. Ye must learn
to sing–

"Jesus, I love thy charming name,

'Tis music to my ears."

You must learn to feel that "sweeter sounds than music knows mingle in
your Saviour's name," or else you can never chaunt the hallelujahs of
the blest before the throne of the great "I AM." Take that thought,
whatever else you forget; treasure it up in your memory, and ask grace
of God that you may here be taught to sing the heavenly song, that
afterwards in the land of the hereafter, in the home of the beautified,
you may continually chaunt the high praises of him that loved you.

III. And now we come to the third and most interesting point, namely,
THE LISTENING TO THEIR SONG. "I heard a voice form heaven, as the voice
of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the
voice of harpers harping with their harps;" singing–how loud and yet
how sweet!

First, then, singing how loud! It is said to be "like the voice of many
waters." Have you never heard the sea roar, and the fulness thereof?
Have you never walked by the sea-side, when the waves were singing, and
when every little pebble-stone did turn chorister, to make up music to
the Lord God of hosts? And have you never in time of storm beheld the
sea, with its hundred hands, clapping them in gladsome adoration of the
Most High? Have you never heard the sea roar out his praise, when the
winds were holding carnival–perhaps singing the dirge of mariners,
wrecked far out on the stormy deep, but far more likely exalting God
with their hoarse voice, and praising him who makes a thousand fleets
sweep over them in safety, and writes his furrows on their own youthful
brow? Have you never heard the rumbling and booming of ocean on the
shore, when it has been lashed into fury and has been driven upon the
cliffs? If you have, you have a faint idea of the melody of heaven. It
was "as the voice of many waters." But do not suppose that it is the
whole of the idea. It is not the voice of one ocean, but the voice of
many, that is needed to give you an idea of the melodies of heaven. You
are to suppose ocean piled upon ocean, sea upon sea,–the Pacific piled
upon the Atlantic, the Arctic upon that, the Antarctic higher still,
and so ocean upon ocean, all lashed to fury, and all sounding with a
mighty voice the praise of God. Such is the singing of heaven. Or if
the illustration, fails to strike, take another. We have mentioned here
two or three times the mighty falls of Niagara. They can be heard at a
tremendous distance, so awful is their sound. Now, suppose waterfalls
dashing upon waterfalls, cataracts upon cataracts, Niagaras upon
Niagaras, each of them sounding forth their mighty voices, and you have
got some idea of the singing of paradise. "I heard a voice like the
voice of many waters." Can you not hear it? Ah! if our ears were opened
we might almost cast the song. I have thought sometimes that the voice
of the Aeolian harp, when it has swollen out grandly, was almost like
an echo of the songs of those who sing before the throne; and on the
summer eve, when the wind has come in gentle zephyrs through the
forest, you might almost think it was the floating of some stray notes
that had lost their way among the harps of heaven, and come down to us,
to give us some faint foretaste of that song which hymns out in mighty
peals before the throne of the Most High. But why so loud? The answer
is, because there are so many there to sing. Nothing is more grand than
the singing of multitudes. Many have been the persons who have told me
that they could but weep when they heard you sing in this assembly, so
mighty seemed the sound when all the people sang–

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

And, indeed, there is something very grand in the singing of
multitudes. I remember hearing 12,000 sing on one occasion in the open
air. Some of our friends were then present, when we concluded our
service with that glorious hallelujah. Have you ever forgotten it? It
was indeed a mighty sound; it seemed to make heaven itself ring again.
Think, then, what must be the voice of those who stand on the boundless
plains of heaven, and with all their might shout, "Glory and honour and
power and dominion unto him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb
for ever and ever."

On reason, however, why the song is so loud is a very simple one,
namely, because all those who are there think themselves bound to sing
the loudest of all. You know our favourite hymn–

"Then loudest of the crowd I'll sing,

While heav'n's resounding mansions ring

With shouts of sov'reign grace."

And every saint will join that sonnet, and each one lift up his heart
to God, then how mighty must be the strain of praise that will rise up
to the throne of the glorious God our Father!

But note next, while it was a loud voice, how sweet it was. Noise is
not music. There may be "a voice like many waters." and yet no music.
It was sweet as well as loud; for John says, "I heard the voice of
harpers harping with their harps." Perhaps the sweetest of all
instruments is the harp. There are others which give forth sounds more
grand and noble, but the harp is the sweetest of all instruments. I
have sometimes sat to hear a skilful harper, till I could say, "I could
sit and hear myself away," whilst with skilful fingers he touched the
chords gently, and brought forth strains of melody which flowed like
liquid silver, or like sounding honey into one's soul. Sweet, sweet
beyond sweetness; words can scarcely tell how sweet the melody. Such is
the music of heaven. No jarring notes there, no discord, but all one
glorious harmonious song. You will not be there, formalist, to spoil
the tune; nor you, hypocrite, to mar the melody; there will be all
those there whose hearts are right with God, and therefore the strain
will be one great harmonious whole, without a discord. Truly do we
sing–

"No groans to mingle with the songs

That warble from immortal tongues."

And there will be no discord of any other sort to spoil the melody of
those before the throne. Oh! my beloved brethren, that we might be
there! Lift us up, ye cherubs! Stretch your wings, and bear us up where
the sonnets fill the air. But if ye must not, let us wait our time.

"A few more rolling suns at most,

Will land us on fair Canaan's coast;"

and then we shall help to make the song, which now we can scarcely
conceive, but which yet we desire to join.

IV. We now close with a remark upon the last point: WHY IS THE SONG
SAID TO BE A NEW SONG? But one remark here. It will be a new song,
because the saints were never in such a position before as they will be
when they sing this new song. They are in heaven now; but the scene of
our text is something more than heaven. It refers to the time when all
the chosen race shall meet around the throne, when the last battle
shall have been fought, and the last warrior shall have gained his
crown. It is not now that they are thus singing, but it is in the
glorious time to come, when all the hundred and forty and four
thousand–or rather, the number typified by that number–will be all
safely housed and all secure. I can conceive the period. Time
was–eternity now reigns. The voice of God exclaims, "Are my beloved
all safe?" The angel flies through paradise and returns with this
message, "Yea, they are." "Is Fearful safe? Is Feeble-mind safe? Is
Ready-to-Halt safe? Is Despondency safe?" "Yes, O king, they are," says
he. "Shut-to the gates," says the Almighty, "they have been open night
and day; shut them to now." Then, when all of them shall be there, then
will be the time when the shout shall be louder than many waters, and
the song shall begin which will never end. There is a story told in the
history of brave Oliver Cromwell, which I use here to illustrate this
new song. Cromwell and his Ironsides before they went to battle bowed
the knee in prayer, and asked for God's help. Then, with their Bibles
in their breasts, and their swords in their hands–a strange and
unjustifiable mixture, but which their ignorance must excuse–they
cried, "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge;"
and rushing to battle they sang–

"O Lord our God, arise and let

Thine enemies scattered be,

And let all those that do thee hate

Before thy presence flee.

They had to fight up hill for a long time, but at last the enemy fled.
The Ironsides were about to pursue them and win the booty, when the
stern harsh voice of Cromwell was heard–"Halt! halt! now the victory
is won, before you rush to the spoil return thanks to God;" and they
sang some such song as this–"Sing unto the Lord, for he has gotten us
the victory! Sing unto the Lord." It was said to have been one of the
most majestic sights in that strange, yet good man's history. (I say
that word without blushing, for good he was.) For a time the hills
seemed to leap, whilst the vast multitude, turning from the slain,
still stained with blood, lifted up their hearts to God. We say, again,
it was a strange sight, yet a glad one. But how great shall be that
sight, when Christ shall be seen as a conqueror, and when all his
warriors, fighting side by side with him, shall see the dragon beaten
in pieces beneath their feet. Lo, their enemies are fled; they were
driven like thin clouds before a Biscay gale. They are all gone, death
is vanquished, Satan is cast into the lake of fire, and here stands the
King himself, crowned with many crowns, the victor of the victors. And
in the moment of exaltation the Redeemer will say, "Come let us sing
unto the Lord;" and then, louder than the shout of many waters, they
shall sing, "Hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." Ah! that
will be the full carrying out of the great scene! My feeble words
cannot depict it. I send you away with this simple question, "Shall you
be there to see the conqueror crowned?" Have you "a good hope through
grace" that you shall? If so, be glad; if not, go to your houses, fall
on your knees, and pray to God to save you from that terrible place
which must certainly be your portion, instead of that great heaven of
which I preach, unless you turn to God with full purpose of heart.