John’s First Doxology

John's First Doxology

(No. 1737)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1883,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT EXETER HALL.

"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be
glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:5, 6

JOHN had hardly begun to deliver his message to the seven Churches. He
had hardly given his name and stated from whom the message came when he
felt that he must lift up his heart in a joyful doxology! The very
mention of the name of the Lord Jesus, "the faithful witness, and the
first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth,"
fired his heart. He could not sit down coolly to write even what the
Spirit of God dictated–he must rise; he must fall upon his knees–he
must bless and magnify, and adore the Lord Jesus! This text is just the
upward burst of a great geyser of devotion. John's spirit had been
quiet for a while, but all of a sudden the stream of his love to Jesus
leaps forth like a fountain, rising so high that it would seem to bedew
Heaven, itself, with its sparkling column of crystal love!

Look at the ascending flood as you read the words, "Unto Him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings
and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen." Now, in the matter of this bursting out of
devotion at unexpected times, John is one among the rest of the
Apostles. Their love to their Divine Master was so intense that they
had only to hear His footsteps and their pulse began to quicken. And if
they heard His voice, they were they carried clean away–whether in the
body or out of the body, they could not tell–but they were under
constraint to magnify the Savior's name! Whatever they were doing, they
felt compelled to pause at once and to render direct and distinct
homage unto the Lord Jesus by adoration and doxology.

Observe how Paul breaks forth into doxologies–"Now unto Him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the
Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Again–"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise
God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." The same is true of
Jude, who cries–"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." The Apostles overflowed
with praise! This explains to me, I think, those texts which bid us
"rejoice evermore," "bless the Lord at all times," and "pray without
ceasing."

But these do not mean that we are always to be engaged in devotional
exercises, for that would cause a neglect of other duties. The very
Apostle who bids us "pray without ceasing," did a great many other
things beside praying, and we would certainly be very faulty if we shut
ourselves up in our private chambers and there continued perpetually
upon our knees. Life has other duties and necessary ones–and in
attending to these we may render to our God the truest worship–to
cease to work in our callings in order to spend all our time in prayer
would be to offer to God one duty stained with the blond of many
others! Yet we may "pray without ceasing," if our hearts are always in
such a state that at every opportunity we are ready for prayer and
praise. Better, still, if we are prepared to make opportunities! If we
are instant in season and out of season and ready in a moment to adore
and supplicate. If not always soaring, we may be as birds ready for
instant flight–always with wings, if not always on the wing.

Our hearts should be like beacons made ready to be fired. When invasion
was expected in the days of Queen Elizabeth, piles of wood and
combustible material were laid ready on the tops of certain hills.
Watchmen stood prepared to kindle the piles should there be notice
given that the ships of the enemy were in the offing. Everything was in
waiting. The heap was not made of damp wood, neither had they to go and
seek kindling, but the fuel waited for the match. The watch fire was
not always blazing, but it was always ready to shoot forth its flame.
Have you ever read, "Praise waits for you, O God, in Sion"? So let our
hearts be prepared to be fired with adoring praise by one glimpse of
the Redeemer's

eyes–to be all on a blaze with delightful worship with one touch from
those dear, pierced hands. Anywhere, wherever we may be, may we be clad
in the robes of reverence and be ready, at once, to enter upon the
angelic work of magnifying the Lord our Savior. We cannot always be
singing, but we may always be full of gratitude–this is the fabric of
which true Psalms are made.

This spontaneous outburst of John's love is what I am going to preach
upon this morning. First of all, I shall ask you to consider the
condition of heart out of which such outbursts come. And then we will
look more closely at the outburst itself, for my great desire is that
you and I may often be thus transported into praise, carried off into
ecstatic worship! I long that our hearts may be like harps through
which each wind, as it sweeps on its way, makes charming music. As
roses are ready to shed their perfume, so may we be eager to praise
God–so much delighting in the blessed exercise of adoration that we
shall plunge into it when colder hearts do not expect us to do so. I
have read of Mr. Welch, a minister in Suffolk, that he was often seen
to be weeping, and when asked why, he replied that he wept because he
did not love Christ more. May not many of us weep that we do not praise
Him more? Oh that our meditation may be used of the Holy Spirit to help
us in that direction!

I. First, let us look at THE CONDITION OF THE HEART OUT OF WHICH BURSTS
of adoration arise. Who was this man who, when he was beginning to
address the Churches, must lay down his pen to praise the Savior? We
will learn the character of the man from his own devout language. We
shall see his inmost self here, for he is carried off his feet and
speaks out his very heart in the most unguarded manner. We shall now
see him as he was and learn what manner of persons we must be if we are
to be like he was. It would be easy to talk at great length about John
from what we know of his history from other parts of Scripture, but
this time I tie myself down to the words of the text, and I notice,
first, that this man of doxologies, from whom praise flashes forth like
light from the rising sun, is, first of all, a man who has realized the
Person of His Lord.

The first words are, "Unto Him." And then he must, a second time before
he has finished, say, "To Him be glory and dominion." His Lord is
evidently before his eyes. He sees the actual Christ upon the Throne of
God! The great fault of many professors is that Christ is to them a
character upon paper–certainly more than a myth–but yet a Person of
the dim past; an historical Person who lived many years ago and did
most admirable deeds, by which we are saved–but who is far from being
a living, present, bright reality. Many think of Jesus as gone away.
They know not where and He is little more actual and present to them
than Julius Caesar or any other remarkable personage of antiquity. We
have a way, somehow, a very wicked way it is, of turning the facts of
Scripture into romances, exchanging solidities for airy notions,
regarding the august sublimities of faith as dreamy, misty fancies
rather than substantial matters of fact.

It is a grand thing, personally, to know the Christ of God as a living
existence; to speak into His ear; to look into His face and to
understand that we live in Him and that He is always with us, even to
the end of the world. Jesus was no abstraction to John! He loved Him
too much for that. Love has a great vivifying power–it makes our
impressions of those who are far away from us very lifelike and brings
them very near. John's great, tender heart could not think of Christ as
a cloudy conception. He remembered Him as that blessed One with whom he
had spoken and on whose breast he had leaned. You see that is so, for
his song rises at once to the Lord, beginning with, "Unto HIM."

He makes us see Jesus in every act of which he speaks in his doxology.
It runs thus–"Unto Him that loved us." It is not, "Unto the love of
God"–or an attribute, or an influence, or an emotion–it is, "Unto Him
that loved us." I am very grateful for love, but more grateful to Him
who gives the love. Somehow you may speak of love and eulogize it, but
if you know it only in the abstract, what is it? It neither warms the
heart nor inspires the spirit. When love comes to us from a known
person, then we value it. David had not cared for the love of some
unknown warrior, but how greatly he prized that of Jonathan, of which
he sang, "Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women!"
Sweet is it to sing of love, but sanctified hearts delight still more
to sing, "Unto Him that loved us."

So, too, with the washing from sin. It is enough to make us sing of
pardoning mercy forever and ever if we have been cleansed from sin–but
the center of the joy is to adore Him "that washed us from our sins in
His own blood." Observe that He cleansed us, not by some process
outside of Himself, but by the shedding of His own blood of
reconciliation. It brings the blood-washing into the highest estimation
with the heart when we look into the wounds from where the Atonement
flowed–when we gaze upon that dear visage so sadly marred, that brow
so grievously scarred, and even peer

into the heart which was pierced by the spear for us to furnish a
double cleansing for our sin. "Unto Him that washed

us."

The disciples were bound to love the hands that took the basin and
poured water on their feet; and the loins which were girt with the
towel for their washing. And we, Brothers and Sisters, must do the
same. But as for the washing with His own blood, how shall we ever
praise Him enough? Well may we sing the new song, saying, "You are
worthy, for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood."
This puts body and weight into our praise when we have realized Him and
understood how distinctly these precious deeds of love, as well as the
love, itself, come from Him whose sacred heart is all our own! So, too,
if we are "kings and priests," it is Jesus who has made us so–

"Round the altar priests confess If their robes are white as snow,
'Twas the Sa vior's righteousness And His blood that made them so." Our
royal dignity and our priestly sanctity are both derived from Him. Let
us not only behold the streams, but also consider the source. Bow
before the blessed and only Potentate who crowns and enthrones us!
Extol the faithful High Priest who robes and anoints us! See the Divine
Actor in the grand scene and remember that He always lives and,
therefore, to Him should we render perpetual glory!

John worships the Lord Himself. His mind is not set upon His garments,
His crowns, His offices, or His works, but upon Himself, His very Self.
"I SAW HIM," says the beloved Apostle, and that vision almost blotted
out the rest! His heart was all for Jesus. The censer must smoke unto
Him; the song must rise unto Him–unto Himself, unto His very Self! I
pray that every professor here may have a real Christ, for otherwise he
will never be a real Christian. I want you to recognize, in this
realization of Christ by John, this teaching–that we are to regard our
holy faith as based on facts and realities. We have not followed
cunningly devised fables! Do you believe in the Divine life of Christ?
Do you also believe that He who is "very God of very God" actually
became Incarnate and was born at Bethlehem? Do you put down the union
of the Godhead with our humanity as an historical fact which has the
most potent bearing upon all the history of mankind?

Do you believe that Jesus lived on earth and trod the blessed acres of
Judea, toiling for our sake, and that He did actually and really die on
the behalf of sinners? Do you believe that He was buried and, on the
third day, rose again from the dead? Are these stories in a book, or
facts in the life of a familiar Friend? To me it is the grandest fact
in all history, that the Son of God died and rose again from the dead
and always lives as my Representative! Many statements in history are
well attested, but no fact in human records is one half as well
attested us the certain resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
This is no invention, no fable, no parable, but a literal fact–and on
it all the confidence of the Believer leans. If Christ is not risen,
then your faith is vain! But as He surely rose again and is now at the
right hand of God, even the Father, and will shortly come to be our
judge, your faith is justified and shall, in due season, have its
reward!

Get a religion of facts and you will have a religion which will produce
facts by operating upon your life and character! But a religion of
fancies is but a fancied religion and nothing practical will come of
it. To have a real personal Christ is to get a good anchor hold for
love, faith and hope. Somehow men cannot love that which is not
tangible. That which they cannot apprehend they do not love. When I was
about to commence the Orphanage at Stockwell, a gentleman who was very
experienced in an excellent orphanage said to me, "Begin by never
expecting to receive the slightest gratitude from the parents of the
children and you will not be disappointed. For," he said, "I have been
connected with a certain orphanage," which he mentioned, "for a great
many years, and except in the rarest case I have never seen any tokens
of gratitude in any of the mothers whose children have been received."

Now, my experience is very different. I have had a great many grips of
the hand which meant warm thanks. And I have often seen tears fall from
the mothers' eyes. And many a grateful letter have I received because
of help given to the orphan children. How do I explain the difference?
Not that our Orphanage has done more than the other, but the other
Orphanage is conducted by a Committee with no well-known head and,
therefore, it is somewhat of an abstraction–the poor women do not know
who is to be thanked and, consequently, thank nobody! In our own case
the poor people say to themselves, "Here is Mr. Spurgeon and he took
our children into the Orphanage." They recognize in me the outward and
visible representative of the many generous hearts that help me! They
know me, for they can see me and they say, "God bless you," because
they have someone to say it to!

There is nothing particular about me, certainly, and there are others
who deserve far more gratitude than that which comes to me–but it come
to me, by God's Grace, because the poor people know the name and the
man–and have not to look at a mere abstraction. Pardon the
illustration, but it suits my purpose well. If you have a Christ whom
you cannot realize, you will not love Him with that fervent affection
which is so much to be desired! If you cannot reach the Lord in your
mind, you will not embrace Him in your heart! But if you have realized
the blessed Master. If He has become a true existence to you, One who
has really loved you and washed you from your sins and made you a king
and a priest– then your love must flow out towards Him. You cannot
resist the impulse to love One who has so truly loved you and is so
well known to you.

This also gives a foothold to faith. If you know the Lord Jesus, you
feel that you can trust Him. "They that know Your name will put their
trust in You." Those to whom Christ has become a well-known Friend do
not find it difficult to trust Him in the time of their distress. An
unknown Christ is untrusted. But when the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, He
also breeds faith. By the same means, your hope also becomes vivid, for
you say, "Oh, yes, I know Jesus and I am sure that He will keep His
Word. He has said, 'I will come again and receive you unto Myself,' and
I am sure that He will come, for it is not like He to deceive His own
chosen." Hope's eyes are brightened as she thinks of Jesus and,
realizing that He loves to the end those who believe in Him, she
rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory! To love, to trust, to
hope, are all easy in the Presence of a real living Christ, but if,
like the disciples at midnight on the Galilean lake, we think Him to be
a mere specter or apparition, we shall be afraid and cry out in fear!
Nothing will suffice a real Christian but a real Christ!

Next, the Apostle John, in whom we note this outburst of devotion, was
a man firmly assured of his possession of the blessings for which he
praised the Lord. Doubt has no outbursts; its chill breath freezes all
things. Nowadays we hear Christian people talk in this way–"Unto Him
that we hope has loved us, and that we humbly trust has washed us, and
that we sometimes believe has made us kings, unto Him be glory." Alas!
The doxology is so feeble that it seems to imply as little glory as you
like. The fact is, if you do not know that you have a blessing, you do
not know whether you ought to be grateful for it or not! But when a man
knows he has Covenant mercies, that Divine assurance which the Holy
Spirit gives to Christians works in him a sacred enthusiasm of devotion
to Jesus. He knows what he enjoys and he blesses Him from whom the
enjoyment comes.

I would have you, Beloved, know beyond all doubt that Jesus is yours,
so that you can say without hesitation, "He loved me and gave Himself
for me." You will never say, "You know all things, You know that I love
You," unless you are first established upon the point that Jesus loves
you, for, "we love Him because He first loved us." John was certain
that he was loved and he was, therefore, most clear that he was washed!
And therefore he poured forth his soul in praise. Oh to know that you
are washed from your sins in the blood of Jesus! Some professors seem
half-afraid to say that they are cleansed, but oh, my Hearer, if you
are a Believer in Jesus, the case is clear, for, "there is now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus"!

"He that believes in Him has everlasting life." "He that believes in
Him is justified from all things from which he could not be justified
by the Law of Moses." "You are clean," says Christ. "He that is washed
needs not wash but his feet, but is clean every whit." And "You are
clean."–

"O how sweet to view the flowing Of the Sa vior's precious blood! With
Divine assurance, knowing He has made my peace with God." This
well-grounded assurance will throw you into ecstasy and it will not be
long before the deep of your heart will well up with fresh springs of
adoring love! Then shall you also praise the Lord with some such words
as these–"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His
own blood, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Once more. I think we have brought out two points which are clear
enough. John had realized his Master and firmly grasped the blessings
which his Master brought him. But he had also felt and was feeling very
strongly his communion with all the saints. Notice the use of the
plural pronoun. We would not have wondered if he had said, "Unto Him
that loved me, and washed me from my sins in His own blood." Somehow
there would have been a loss of sweetness had the doxology been so
worded and it would have hardly sounded like John. John is the very
mirror of love and he cannot live alone, or rejoice alone, in sacred
benefits. John must have all the brotherhood round about him and he
must speak in their name, or he will be as one who benefits only half
for himself.

Beloved, it is well for you and me to use this, "us," often. There are
times when it is better to say, "me," but in general, let us get away
to the, "us"–for has not our Lord taught us when we pray to say, Our
Father which are in Heaven? Give us this day our daily bread forgive us
our trespasses," and so on? Jesus does not bid us say, "My Father." We
do say it and it is well to say it, but our usual prayers must run in
the, "Our Father," style. And our usual praises must be, "Unto Him that
loved us, and washed us from our sins." Let me ask you, beloved
Brothers and Sisters, do you not love the Lord Jesus all the better and
praise Him all the more heartily because His Grace and love are not
given to you, alone? Why, that blessed love has embraced your children,
your neighbors, your fellow Church members, myriads who have gone
before you, multitudes that are round about you and an innumerable
company who are coming after! And for this we ought to praise the
gracious Lord with unbounded delight.

It seems so much more lovely–this salvation–when we think of it,, not
as a cup of water of which one or two of us may drink, but as a well of
water opened in the desert, always flowing, always giving life and
deliverance and restoration to all who pass that way. "Unto Him that
loved us." Oh, my Lord, I bless You for having loved me; but sometimes
I think I could adore You for loving my wife, for loving my children
and all these dear Friends around me, even if I had no personal share
in Your salvation! Sometimes this seems the greater part of it, not
that I should share in Your compassion, but that all these poor sheep
should be gathered into Your fold and kept safe by You. The instinct of
a Christian minister leads him to love Christ for loving the many–and
I think the thought of every true worker for the Lord runs much in the
same way.

No man will burst out into such joyful adoration as we have now before
us unless he has a great heart within him which is full of love to all
the brotherhood. And then, as he looks upon the multitude of the
redeemed around about him, he will be prompted to cry with enthusiastic
joy–

"To Him that loved the souls of men,

And washed us in His blood,

To royal honors raised our head,

And made us priests to God.

To Him let every tongue be praise,

And every heart be love!

All grateful honors paid on earth,

And nobler songs above!"

Thus much upon the condition of heart which suggests these doxologies.

II. Secondly, let us look at THE OUTBURST ITSELF. It is a doxology and,
as such, does not stand alone–it is one of many. In the Book of
Revelation doxologies are frequent. In the first few chapters they
distinctly grow as the book advances. If you have your Bibles with you,
as you ought to have, you will notice that in this first outburst only
two things are ascribed to our Lord. "To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever." Now turn to the fourth chapter at the ninth verse
and read, "Those living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to
Him that sat on the throne." Here we have three words of honor. Run on
to verse eleven, and read the same. "Saying, you are worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honor and power." The doxology has grown from two to
three in each of these verses.

Now turn to chapter 5:13. "And every creature which is in Heaven, and
on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all
that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and
power, be unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever
and ever." Here we have four notes of praise. Steadily but surely there
is an advance. By the time we get to chapter 7:12, we have reached the
number of perfection–and may not look for more. "Blessing, and glory,
and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power and might, be unto
our God forever and ever. Amen." If you begin praising God you are
bound to go on! The work engrosses the heart. It deepens and broadens
like a rolling river.

Praise is somewhat like an avalanche, which may begin with a snowflake
on the mountain moved by the wing of a bird, but that flake binds
others to itself and becomes a rolling ball. This rolling ball gathers
more snow about it till it is huge and immense–it crashes through a
forest; it thunders down into the valley–it buries a village under its
stupendous mass! Thus praise may begin with the tear of gratitude, but
soon the bosom swells with love! Then thankfulness rises to a song and
it breaks forth into a shout! And finally it mounts up to join the
everlasting hallelujahs which surround the Throne of the Eternal! What
a mercy it is that God, by His Spirit, will give us greater capacities,
by-and- by, than we

have here! For if we continue to learn more and more of the love of
Christ which passes knowledge, we shall be driven to sore straits if
confined within the narrow and drowsy framework of this mortal body!
This poor apparatus of tongue and mouth is already inadequate for our
zeal–

"Words are but air and tongues and clay, But His compassions are
Divine." We need to get out of these fetters and rise into something
better adapted to the emotions of our spirit! I cannot emulate the
songsters of Immanuel's chorus though I would gladly do so. But as
Berridge says–

"Strip me of this house of clay, And I will sing as loud as they."

These doxologies occur again and again throughout this book as if to
remind us to be frequent in praise. And they grow as they proceed, to
hint to us that we, also, should increase in thankfulness. Now, this
outburst carried within itself its own justification. Look at it
closely and you perceive the reasons why, in this enthusiastic manner,
John adores his Savior. The first is, "Unto Him that loved us." Time
would fail me to speak long on this charming theme, so I will only
notice briefly a few things. This love is in the present tense, for the
passage may be read, "Unto Him that loves us." Our Lord, in Glory,
still loves us as truly and as fervently as He did in the days of His
flesh. He loved us before the world was! He loves us, now, with all His
heart, and He will love us when sun and moon and stars have all expired
like sparks that die when the fire is quenched upon the hearth and men
go to their beds. "He loves us."

He is Himself the same yesterday, today and forever–and His love is
like Himself. Dwell on the present character of it and be, at this
moment, moved to holy praise. He loved us first before He washed
us–"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us." Not, "Unto Him that washed
us and loved us." This is one of the glories of Christ's love–that it
comes to us while we are defiled with sin–yes, DEAD in sin! Christ's
love does not only go out to us as washed, purified and cleansed, but
it went out towards us while we were yet foul, vile and without
anything in us that could be worthy of His love at all! He loved us and
then washed us! Love is the fountainhead, the first source of blessing.
Think of this as being a recognizable description of our Lord–"Unto
Him that loved us."

John wanted to point out the Lord Jesus Christ and all he said was,
"Unto Him that loved us." He was sure nobody would make any mistake as
to who was intended, for no one can be said to love us in comparison
with Jesus. It is interesting to note that as John is spoken of as,
"that disciple whom Jesus loved," so now the servant describes the
Master in something like the same terms, "Unto Him that loved us." No
one fails to recognize John or the Lord Jesus under their several love
names. When the Apostle mentioned, "Him that loved us," there was no
fear of men saying, "That is the man's friend, or father, or brother."
No, there is no love like that of Jesus Christ! He bears the palm for
love–yes, in the presence of His love all other love is eclipsed–even
as the sun conceals the stars by his unrivalled brightness!

Again, the words, "Him that loved us," seems as if it described all
that Christ did for us, or, at least, it mentions, first, the grandest
thing He ever did, in which all the rest is wrapped up. It is not,
"Unto Him that took our nature; unto Him that set us a glorious
example; unto Him that intercedes for us," but, "Unto Him that loved
us," as if that one thing comprehended all, as indeed it does! He loves
us–this is matter for admiration and amazement. Oh, my Brothers and
Sisters, this is an abyss of wonder to me! I can understand that Jesus
pities us. I can very well understand that He has compassion on us. But
that the Lord of Glory loves us is a deep, great, heavenly thought
which my finite mind can hardly hold. Come, Brothers and Sisters, and
drink of this wine on the lees, well refined! Jesus loves you! Grasp
that!

You know what the word means in some little degree according to human
measurements, but the infinite Son of God loved you of old and He loves
you now! His heart is knit with your heart and He cannot be happy
unless you are happy. Remember He loves you with His own love according
to His own Nature. Therefore He has for you an infinite love altogether
immeasurable! It is also like Himself, immutable, and can never know a
change. The emperor Augustus was noted for his faithfulness to his
friends whom he was slow in choosing. He used to say, "Late before I
have, long before I leave." Our blessed Lord loved us early, but He
never leaves us! Has He not said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake
you"? The love of Jesus is a pure, perfect and Divine–a love whose
heights and depths none can measure!

Jesus' Nature is eternal and undying, and such is His love. He could
not love you more; He will never love you less. With all His heart and
soul and mind and strength He loves you! Come, is not that a grand
excuse, if excuse is needed, for often lifting up our hearts and voices
in hearty song unto the Lord? Why should we not, seven times a day,
exult before Him, saying, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests

unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen"? Oh for new crowns for His blessed brow! Oh for new songs for His
love–new gifts to always praise Him! Praise Him, all earth and Heaven!

Then the Apostle passes on to the second reason why he should thus
magnify the Lord Jesus by saying, "And washed us from our sins in His
own blood." "Washed us." Then we were foul and He loved us though we
were unclean! He washed us who had been more defiled than any. How
could He condescend so far as to wash us? Would He have anything to do
with such filthiness as ours? Would that sublime holiness of His come
into contact with the abominable guilt of our nature and our practice?
Yes, He loved us so much that He washed us from our sins, black as they
were. He did it effectually, too. He didn't try to wash us, but He
actually and completely washed us from our sins! The stains were deep
and damnable; they seemed indelible, but He has "washed us from our
sins." No spot remains, though we were black as midnight. "Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow," has been realized by every Believer here!

But think of how He washed us–"with His own blood." Men are cautious
of their own blood, for it is their life, but brave ones will pour it
out for their country or for some worthy objective. But Jesus shed His
blood for such unworthy ones as we are, that He might, by His
Atonement, forever put away the iniquity of His people! At what a cost
was this cleansing provided! Too great a cost I had almost said. Have
you never felt at times as if, had you been there and seen the Lord of
Glory about to bleed to death for you, you would have said, "No, my
Lord, the price is too great to pay for such a one as I am"? But He has
done it, Brothers and Sisters–His sin-atoning work is finished
forever–Jesus has bled and He has washed us! And we are clean beyond
fear of future defilement. Shall He not have glory for this? Will we
not wish Him dominion for this?–

"Worthy is He that once was slain, The Prince of Peace that groaned and
died; Worthy to rise, and live, and reign At His Almighty Father's
side."

Does not this doxology carry its justification in its own heart? Who
can refuse to praise at the remembrance of such Grace as this? Nor is
this all. The Lord that loved us would do nothing by halves and,
therefore, when He washed us in His own blood, He, "made us kings."
What? Are we kings this morning? We do not feel our crowns as yet, nor
perhaps grasp our scepters as we might, but the Lord has made us a
royal priesthood! We reign over ourselves and that is a dominion which
is hard to gain! Indeed, it is impossible without Divine Grace! We walk
like kings among the sons of men, honored before the Lord and His holy
angels–the peerage of eternity! Our thoughts, our aims, our hopes and
our longings are all of a nobler kind than those of the mere carnal
man. Ours is a nature of a higher order than theirs, since we have been
born, again, of the Spirit!

Men know us not because they know not our Lord, but we have a heritage
they have not and we have prepared for us a crown of life which fades
not away. The Lord has made us kings and endowed us with power before
His Presence–yes, He has made us rich since all things are ours. We
read of the peculiar treasures of kings and we have a choice wealth of
Grace. He has made us, even now, among the sons of men to possess the
earth and to delight ourselves in the abundance of peace. Furthermore,
our Lord has made us priests. Certain men impiously set up to be
priests above the rest of the Lord's people. As Korah, Dathan and
Abiram are they, and they had need fear lest they and their evil system
should go down into the Pit. Whoever they may be, all the people of God
are priests! Every man that believes in Jesus Christ is, from the
moment he believes, a priest, though he is neither shaven nor shorn,
nor bedecked in peculiar array. To the true Believer, his common
garments are vestments; every meal is a sacrament, every act is a
sacrifice.

If we live as we should live, our houses are temples, our hearts are
altars, our lives are an oblation. The bells upon our horses are
holiness unto the Lord and our common pots are as the bowls before the
altar. It is the sanctification of the Holy Spirit which gives men a
special character, so that they are the priesthood of the universe! The
world is dumb and we must speak for it–the whole universe is as a
great organ, but it is silent. We place our fingers on the keys and the
music rises towards Heaven. We are to be priests for all mankind.
Wherever we go we are to teach men and to intercede with God for them.
In prayer and praise we are to offer up acceptable oblations–and we
are to be living sacrifices, acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ our
Lord. Oh, what dignity is this! How you and I are bound to serve God!

Peter Martyr told Queen Elizabeth, "Kings and queens are more bound to
obey God than any other persons. First, as God's creatures, and
secondly as His servants in office." This applies to us, also. If
common men are bound to serve God, how much more those whom He has made
kings and priests unto His name? What does the doxology say? "To Him

be glory and dominion." First, "To Him be glory." Oh, give Him glory,
my Beloved, this morning! Do I address any that have never accepted
Christ's salvation? Accept it now! And thus give your Savior glory.
Have you never trusted Jesus to save you? The best, the only thing you
can do to give Him glory is to trust Him now, sinner as you are, that
He may remove your transgressions. Are you saved? Then, dear Brothers
and Sisters, give Him glory by speaking well of His name and by
perpetual adoration. Glorify Him in your songs! Glorify Him in your
lives! Behave yourselves as His disciples should do and may His Spirit
help you.

But the doxology also ascribes dominion to Him. My heart longs for
Jesus to have dominion! I wish He might get dominion over some poor
heart this morning which has, up to now, been in rebellion against Him!
Yield you rebel! Yield to your Sovereign and Savior! "Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled
but a little." To Him be dominion over hearts that have never submitted
to Him and assuredly to Him be fullest dominion over hearts that love
Him! Reign my Lord! Reign in my bosom more and more! Cast out every
enemy and every rival! Reign supreme and reign eternally! Set up Your
Throne more and more conspicuously in the hearts and lives of all who
call themselves Christians! O my Brothers and Sisters, ought it not to
be so? Is it not clear to you that since He has loved and washed us, He
should have dominion over us? Ah, let Him have dominion over the wide,
wide world till they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him
and His enemies shall lick the dust! Reign forever, King of kings and
Lord of lords!

Then it is added, let Him have glory and dominion "forever and ever." I
suppose we shall have some gentlemen coming up to prove that, "forever
and ever," only means for a time. They tell us that everlasting
punishment means only for a time and, of course, everlasting life must
mean the same and this praise must also have a limit. I do not mean
that and neither do you, Beloved! I pray that our Lord may have endless
glory, eternal dominion. I pray that Christ's power and dominion may be
over this generation, the next and the next until He comes–and then
that it may be said–"The Lord shall reign forever and ever."
Hallelujah! As long as there are wings of angels or songs of man; as
long as God Himself shall live, may the Lord Jesus Christ that loved us
and washed us have glory and dominion!

Now we have come to the last word of the text. It finishes up with,
"Amen." "Forever and ever. Amen." Can you heartily say, "Amen," to
this? Do you wish Christ to have glory and dominion forever and ever?
If you know He loved you, I am sure you do! If you know He washed you,
I am sure you do! Now let our beating hearts in solemn silence say,
"Amen!" And when we have done that, do you think you could join in one
voice with me and say it out aloud, like thunder? Now, "Unto Him that
loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us
kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. "Amen." And, "Amen!" yet again. (Here the great
congregation joined aloud with the preacher). The prayers of David, the
son of Jesse, were ended when he came to that, and so may ours be, and
so may this morning's service be. God bless you through His adorable
Son. Amen and Amen!