Our Lord’s Transcendent Greatness

Our Lord's Transcendent Greatness

(No. 3382)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1913.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S DAY EVENING,
DECEMBER 2, 1866.

"Now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth." Micah 5:4.

THERE can be no doubt but what the Prophet here spoke of the
Messiah–of our Lord Jesus Christ. We shall not need to enter into any
discussion of that subject here, but shall take it at once for granted
that the passage means, "Now shall the Lord Jesus be great unto the
ends of the earth." This does not mean that Jesus Christ will be any
greater than He always is essentially and naturally. As the Son of God,
He is Infinite in Glory and can be no greater. As King of kings and
Lord of lords, His Glory fills immensity. Before Him all intelligent
spirits that are obedient to God pay their constant homage. He is so
great that as we look up to Him, we can both rejoice in Him as our
Brother and be humbled in His Presence when we reflect that He is our
God. Jesus Christ is not to be greater, then, essentially than He now
is. He is "God over all, blessed forever." The greatness here spoken of
is not one of essence, but of manifestation. Christ is to be made great
in the judgment, hearts and understandings of men, as He is at all
times really great in Himself. When we read in the text, "Now shall He
be great unto the ends of the earth," we may remember that He is
already great in Heaven. Albeit that man rejects Him–painful as the
thought is that multitudes in this world have not even heard His name
and that multitudes more only know it to revile it–yet there is a
place where His name is great.

In every golden street that name is celebrated. The strings of every
holy harp in Heaven are set to the melodies of His praise. All of "the
melodious sonnets sung by angel hosts above" are to extol and magnify
Him. They delight to do Him service. We may comfort ourselves with this
thought when blasphemy abounds and the love of many grows cold. There
is at least one shrine where He is always adored–one happier and
better land where the sound of blasphemy never profanes Him–where He
is loved, adored and reverenced by every creature!

And it is also sweet to remember that although Jesus Christ is not as
yet great unto the ends of the earth, yet He is exceedingly great in
the hearts of the multitudes of His people. When we meet here tonight,
a comparatively little band, we are not the only worshippers of the
Crucified. At this moment the sacred song is going up from tens of
thousands of sincere hearts in this island. Across the Continent there
are those who have not bowed the knee to Baal, but who delight to join
with angels and archangels in singing the praises of Jesus. And far,
far across the sea, men of our own kith and kin love Him as we do. No,
no, where is there a place where the name of Jesus is not now known? As
the wide sea is everywhere whitened with the sails of our commerce, so
do these swift ships bear in them the servants of God!

The desert has been heard to ring with the songs of His praises!
Adventurous missionaries have forced their way to what seemed to be
impenetrable swamps and deserts that never could be trodden by the foot
of man–and Jesus Christ's name has been made known–at least as a
witness againstthe people, even where it has not been received by the
people. Little is the Light of God, but we thank God we have some
Light! Few there are that find the narrow road, but still, there is a
goodly company who, as they march along, sing of Jesus–the way, the
truth and the life! "The whole world lies in the Wicked One," but, like
an oasis in the midst of the desert, we can see the Christian Church!
Like a handful of salt scattered over a mass of putridity, like here
and there a lamp hung up in the thick darkness, God has a chosen people
and in their hearts Jesus Christ is great–and shall be great in time
and in eternity!

But the text does mean this, that throughout the whole world–north,
south, east, and west–Jesus Christ shall yet be made great! We will
speak of this tonight, first, by showing that He deserves to be great.
Then by reminding you that Godhas decreed that He shall be great.
Thirdly, by asking you, my Brothers and Sisters, whether you do not
also agree

with that decree and now, in His strength, that you will make Him great
And then I shall close by asking whether there are not some here whose
hearts, as yet unbowed to His dominion, shall tonight come and
acknowledge His sway, that they also may feel and proclaim His
greatness unto the ends of the earth. In the first place, what a task I
have undertaken in endeavoring to show that–

I. JESUS CHRIST DESERVES TO BE MADE GREAT!

Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, it needs an angel to set forth the Person
of the Lord Jesus, and yet an angel might fail, for an angel was never
washed in the Savior's blood and never redeemed from wrath by Jesus the
Substitute! What are my lips but poor, cold clay, and what are my words
but air, and how shall I, then, set forth the Son of God, the Eternal
One, "who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we,
through His poverty, might be rich"?

Does the world ring with the name of the Conqueror? It was but a few
years ago that everywhere the name of Napoleon was dreaded and men
trembled at the very thought of that mighty destroyer of the human
race. Ah, well, if a conqueror's name always seems to have a spell
about it which fascinates men with its glitter and its glare, I will
say that Jesus is a greater Conqueror than all the Napoleons, or
Alexanders, or Caesars who ever devastated the world, for He has
overcome that which overcame them!

Kings as they were, they were often the victims of great sin. Alexander
drowned himself in the bowl long before he died, for he was the slave
of drunkenness. But Christ has fought with sin and overcome it, leading
it captive at His chariot wheels. Behold the conqueror, smitten in the
breast by the skeleton hand, lies as motionless as the slave he slew!
Death is the conqueror of conquerors, and casts noble dust upon the
same grave as the poorest and most ignoble! But my Lord and Master has
conquered death–

"He, Hell in Hell laid low, Made sin, He sin overthrew, Bowed to the
grave, destroyed it so, And death, by dying, slew."

My Master met Satan face to face and put His foot upon his neck. He met
sin and trod it as men tread grapes in the winepress! He met Death,
itself, the master of all, and rent the grave, rolled away the stone
and proclaimed a Resurrection to the buried sons of men! This Conqueror
is, and well does He deserve to be made great!

Some men who will not applaud a conqueror will sometimes speak well of
a deliverer I saw on the triumphal arch at Milan, at the far end of the
Corso, a well-deserved encomium on the man who, whether with or without
his own will, helped at first to snap the chains of Italy. There was a
grateful recognition on the part of Italy of the deeds of Victor
Emmanuel and of Louis Napoleon–and the horses of triumph on the top of
the Arch of Victory seemed well placed as a tribute to one who had
helped to set a nation free, which long had felt the tyrant's chain. It
is said that when Macedonia was first set free, the Greeks were
assembled at their games and they gave to him who freed Greece the name
of "Sotea" or "Savior," and the shouting was such that they said the
birds fell dead, astonished! 'Twas an exaggeration, but I can
understand the joy of a nation when a savior comes to deliver them from
bondage! But what shouts shall be equal to the praises of the Son of
God! The fetters He has broken are the fetters of your souls! The
dungeons from which He delivers are the dungeons of eternal fire! The
rescue that He brings you is not for this life, only, but for the life
to come! As everlasting as the age of God is the deliverance which
Jesus brings! Sound, sound His name abroad! Daughters of music, give
Him your sweetest notes. Look, the triumphant Hero comes! Now let every
heart give forth its glad peal of holy joy for all that He has done! He
deserves to be great, both as Conqueror and as Deliverer!

In these more peaceful times, too, men are inclined to make those great
who are full of learning. When a man has penetrated through the shell
of ignorance and has gotten to the central core of knowledge, men say
that he is great. We speak of a great geologist, a great mathematician,
or a great astronomer. Men are proud of their fellow man when he has
threaded the stars, walked with his staff above and become familiar
with planet and with comet, as though they were his next of kin! But
what shall I say of my Lord, for in Him dwells all "the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge"? To know Him is life and by His knowledge shall
His righteous one justify many. If you get Christ, you get wisdom! His
name is "wisdom." Solomon, the wise one, called Him so. He is Wisdom
without faintest folly, Knowledge without mistake. Oh, let Him, then,
be made great!

Great discoverers, too, are highly honored and valued. It was right of
Her Majesty the Queen to confer knighthood upon those who had bound two
lands together, moored two distant nations side by side, so that they
could speak to each

other in friendly terms. 'Twas well done, good Sirs, to make the depths
of the sea a highway for human thought! But what has Jesus done? He has
not merely linked England and America together, but Heaven and earth!
He has thrown a connecting cable between the sinner, far off from God,
and the Eternal One who, hating sin, was far off from man. Now, through
Him we can speak with God and, through Him, God returns an answer to
the message of our misery and the sigh of our grief! Oh, Brothers and
Sisters, Christ has established a communication which is swifter than
the telegraph! "Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet
speaking, I will hear." He has bridged a gulf such as no human mind
ever imagined could be bridged! As far as Hell is from Heaven was man
from God–but Christ has bridged the chasm! The mountains of our sins
are greater than a thousand Alps heaped on each other–and they stood
between us and God–but the Cross has tunneled the mountains and there
is now a highway for souls to come to God! Now shall He be great,
indeed, if He gets His just deserts!

Men also, now-a-days, are wise enough to think those great who show
great generosity. She is great who goes into the hospital, devoting the
prime of her days to the relieving of human misery. He is truly great
who, having acquired wealth, gives it with more than a princely hand to
build habitations for the poor. He is great who, having won a nation,
gives it up as freely as he won it and who lives unrestrained by the
smiles or frowns of kings and is the true, though uncrowned, king, the
world's hero, whom we all delight to honor! But oh, my Master, my Lord
Jesus as much excels all these as the sun excels the stars! He gave not
corruptible things, as silver and gold, but He gave Himself, His heart,
His soul, His Deity! He gave such a jewel for us that if Heaven and
earth were sold, they could not buy another like it! He gave Himself
for us that He might redeem us from iniquity! Speak of entering into
hospitals? He came unto this great hospital–this huge leper house, the
world–and He Himself took our infirmities, bore our sicknesses and by
His stripes we are healed! Speak of the disinterestedness that has made
men heroes from the mere love of their fellow men? What had Christ to
gain? Oh, you lamps of Heaven, what had He to gain? Your splendor was
enough for Him! What could He win but shame, disgrace, abuse, the spit
on His face and the scourging on His shoulders?

It was for the love of His enemies, the love of those who hated and
despised Him and nailed Him to the Cross–it was for this transcendent,
unparalleled love that Christ came to earth! He deserves to be great
and I am sure that if you do not think that Jesus Christ is great, it
is because you do not know Him–

"His worth, if all the nations knew, Surely the whole world would love
Him too."

There is no biography that has ever been written that is like that
given us by the four Evangelists. There is no story of human sacrifice
that can rival it, or that can be mentioned in the same breath! Oh,
men, it was for you He lived! Oh, men, it was for you He died!

The angels love Him, though for them He laid not down His life–and
shall men, alone, be dumb, or earth, alone, fast close her mouth and
refuse to praise Him? The very stones, surely, would speak, if we did
not say, "Now, shall He be great unto the ends of the earth."

Thus much upon a theme that defies our power to set forth fully. And
now, in the second place, the text may be viewed as–

II. A SOLEMN PURPOSE AND DECREE ON THE PART OF GOD.

Christ shall be made great to the ends of the earth. There are
idol-gods that are worshipped by the largest proportion of our race,
but the idols He shall utterly abolish! The false prophets have more
followers on earth than Christ has. There are more Muslims than
Christians of all kinds. But the crescent of Mohamed must wane. The
Papacy has still a firm hold upon the minds of millions, but, like a
millstone which is hurled into the flood to rise no more, so must the
antiChrist of Rome be utterly cast away! Everything that stands in the
place of Christ must be broken into a thousand shivers, for He must
reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet! Brothers and
Sisters, the very signs of the times, as well as the Word of God, lead
us to the comfortable belief that there should be a wider enlightenment
of the human mind. It may be, certainly it may be, that the Lord will
speedily come, but it does not seem to me at all likely that He will.
We are to live anticipating His coming, as servants who know they will
have to give an account when He does come. That is the practical
bearing of the Doctrine upon our life, but there are many prophecies
yet to be fulfilled which seem to show that He is not coming just now.
I believe that there will be a gradual enlightenment of the human race.
I see but little of it at present, but, still, He must be great unto
the ends of the earth! Hard hearts will melt before the preaching of

His Gospel. Perhaps they will melt suddenly. Perhaps a nation shall be
born in a day. That preaching which now wins tens might, if God willed
it, win hundreds, no, it might win thousands and hundreds of thousands!
I have never seen any reason why, if God blesses half a dozen in the
Tabernacle under a sermon, He should not bless the whole congregation!
I do not see any reason why, if He blesses the preaching of the Word
here, He should not bless it everywhere! No, I see a great many reasons
why He should and I hope that He will–and that Pentecost will be
outdone until we shall talk of that blessed day as being but a trifling
beginning of a much greater result! Pentecost was only the feast of the
first-fruits. It was not the harvest. The first-fruits were just one
sheaf and, surely the harvest is to be much more than that! Let us,
then, expect far greater things than even Pentecost knew!

We would not be surprised if news should come, long before these heads
of ours sleep among the sweet clods of the valley, that there has been
an awakening through Germany and France–that the Gospel has spread all
down the Apen-nines–that the Truth of God, as it is in Jesus, has
shaken Italy from end to end! That Turkey has submitted to the Cross!
That the Euphrates has dried up its rebellion, that the multitudes of
India have cast away Vishnu and Siva and bowed before Christ! That
Confucius is no longer the great philosopher of China, but that the Man
of Nazareth is the Teacher of millions in that strange people–that
from Eastern Coast to Western–the people have set their faces towards
Christ and desire to learn concerning Him! We may be living upon the
threshold of mighty times. "There were giants upon the earth" in days
gone by. There may be giants yet again and the Gospel which has crept
along at a steady pace may yet take to itself its great power and,
swift as the chariot of the sun, the light of Truth shall fly the whole
world over! This, then, is God's purpose and decree, "Now, shall He be
great unto the ends of the earth."

I want, now, in the third place, to ask Christians here–

III. WHETHER, AS THIS IS GOD'S DECREE, IT HAS NOT OFTEN ALSO BEEN THE
EXPRESSION OF OUR

HEARTS?

When you and I were first converted, did we not say that we would make
Him great? And we did try to do it. We began to talk to our friends. We
got a handful of tracts and gave them away. We tried to get into a
little cottage to speak about Christ and our resolve then was that, as
far as ever our power would go, we would make Christ great to the ends
of the earth! Ah, we have fallen very sadly short of those first days.
I am afraid we have not kept up our first love, but I wish that every
Christian here would go back to that first moment when he received his
pardon and say, "Yes, I have been loved much and, having had much
forgiven, in God's name, I will love Him much in return. And as far as
I can, I will make His name great."

Since that period we have had some very happy seasons. I know that in
this very House of Prayer we have sometimes felt that we could stay
here forever. It has been like Heaven below to us, and then we have
said, "Oh, what will I not give Him? I will consecrate my substance. I
will use my tongue, my mind, my hands–I will do anything for Him–He
has loved me so much that I cannot help talking about it! I will make
my children and all my family know what a precious Savior He is." Oh, I
wish that we had come to this and that we not only said it, now and
then, but that it was our prayer night and day and the one comfort of
our hearts! Beloved, there are some of us who can say before God, the
Heart-Searching One, that the one thing we care about is to make Jesus
Christ great. I have sometimes prayed from this platform a prayer which
has made some of you wonder when I have asked that, if the crushing of
me might lift Christ one inch higher, it might be done at once. Well,
it is my daily feeling. I thank God that if it would more honor Him to
cast me where He wills, if I might but be permitted to love Him and He
will but love me, the thing may be done and He shall have all the
praise! While Mr. Tennant was being greatly helped of God in preaching,
it came to pass on a certain Sunday that a sermon which he had very
carefully prepared suddenly went from his mind and, instead of
preaching, he was compelled to be silent. It was a painfully humbling
thing for him, but it was the means of the conversion of one of his
hearers, who said, "Then I am to understand that as Mr. Tennant
preaches so mightily sometimes to the people, but could not preach on
this occasion, he must have been helped of God before–and so it has
been God that has spoken to me." This thought pricked the man to the
heart. Oh, it were a good thing to be made a shame, a blessed thing to
be a butt, a jest, a jeer, a byword–if Christ were but lifted up
thereby!

When Sir Walter Raleigh laid down his cloak and covered the mire for
Queen Elizabeth's sake, it was, I fear, but a courtier's trick. But for
Christians to be willing to lose their reputations and even their very
lives to make Christ glorious–this is the only truly Christian way of
living! God forbid that we should ever think about sparing or pampering

self. I saw a good Christian Brother last Friday, whom God has greatly
blessed. But, when working in a very bad part of London, he used to be
constantly teased by abominable stories which were made up against him.
I said to Him, "I see you have got something that no Evangelist can
afford to have." "What is that?" he said. "Why," was the reply, "you
have got a good reputation and you must get rid of it for Christ's
sake. That is to say, live a holy life and then let men call you
'devil' if they like. Let them lay every sin to your charge, but never
heed them, never speak nor fight for yourself, but speak and fight for
your Master! Contend for Him and think it to be your honor and your
glory to become a butt, an outcast and as the offscouring of all things
if Jehovah-Jesus may but wear the crown–and you can win but one single
soul to Jesus Christ forever."

I think, then, that we are all agreed upon this point. We mean, God
helping us, to hold fast to this and to do what we can that Jesus
Christ may be great unto the ends of the earth!

And now we can spend only two or three minutes in asking the question–

IV. ARE THERE NOT SOME HERE TONIGHT IN WHOM JESUS CHRIST MAY BE MADE
GREAT?

Now, you good people who have never done anything wrong and who have
got a very good righteousness of your own–I do not ask you to glorify
Christ–because you cannot! If I wanted to praise up some doctor and
said, "Now, here he is–he can cure all diseases! Will you come and
help him to get a name?" I would know that you who were not sick could
not help him, but the man who was most sick would be the very one that
would get the doctor the best name if he could cure him! So when
Christ's name is to be lifted up and we want to preach Him so that He
may be extolled, you who feel your guilt are the very men who can help
us! Supposing now, Jesus Christ should take the drunk and wash out his
mouth and make a sober man of him–and a Christian–would not that make
Christ to be exalted? And ah, if there should be, even here, a woman of
an evil and vicious life, and Christ should change her so as to make
her chaste and ho-norable–oh, how great it would make Him to become!
And if some black villain has crept in here and one who has said of
himself that there is no hope of his being converted and no mercy
possible for him–supposing he should find pardon and peace by
believing in Jesus? And then suppose he become a preacher of His
Gospel–would that not make Christ's name to be made great? John Newton
was once the vilest of the vile and oh, it made London wonder when the
African blasphemer stood up in the pulpit of the church of St. Mary,
Woolnooth, to preach the Christ and the Cross which he had so
blasphemed! And oh, may God make London wonder yet again by taking some
of the worst of the worst, and saving them, and making them proclaimers
of the Gospel of His Grace! Why should He not do it? He has often done
it. Are you willing and anxious that He should do it again? Then cry to
Him and He will do it!

Perhaps there is one here who has been a backslider. Ah, Backslider,
you can make Christ's name great if you come back to Him! Mr.
Whitfield's brother had once been a very sad backslider. He had gone
far, far from the way of Christ. At last his conscience was pricked and
he fell into despair. Sitting at tea one day with the Countess of
Huntingdon, he said to the Countess, "I know what you have said is very
proper, and I believe in the infinite mercy and goodness of God, but I
do not believe in its application to me, for I am a lost man." The
Countess put down the tea and said, "I am glad to hear it, Mr.
Whitfield! I am glad to hear it!" "Madam," he said, "I did not think
you would rejoice and glory in a thing so terrible as that!" "I am glad
to hear you say you are lost, Mr. Whitfield," she said, "for it is
written that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was
lost." His eyes sparkled and he said, "I thank God for that text, and
for the extraordinary power with which it has now come into my heart."
He died that night and God had just sent him the word of peace in time
to gather him into the fold. Why should not many of you who are lost
glorify the name of Christ by trusting Him, for He came to seek and to
save the lost?

Andrew Fuller was once preaching in Scotland and there was a wicked,
abandoned woman, whose life had been given up to all sorts of
filthiness. She noticed that the church was very full and that many
people were standing outside. So she asked what was doing. They told
her that an Englishman was preaching. She desired to hear him–she
pressed into the crowd, as some of you may have done tonight–and Mr.
Fuller just then used this blessed expression, "Look unto Me, and be
you saved, all you ends of the earth." "Oh," said the woman, "is there
an invitation to the ends of the earth? Surely I am one of the ends of
the earth!" She looked, according to the gracious command, and Christ
got a good name in that Scottish parish through her being so wondrously
saved! Oh, I wish He could be great to some of you who are in the ends
of the earth! I feel as if I could give my eyes, both of them, if
Christ could but be great with some of you!

The devil has been great with you. He has had his bit in your mouth. He
has ridden you, and will yet ride you down to Hell! Will you never kick
against him? Oh, that Christ might come and lay hold upon your bridle
and say, "You shall go no further," so turning you into a new course
and making you willing in the day of His power!

Last of all, there may be one here who has been an infidel. If there
is, I only hope that he will yet come to make Christ's name great. I
remember hearing that Mr. John Cooke, of Maidenhead, was once blessed
to the conversion of a man when he was preaching upon the unpardonable
sin. In the town where he preached there was a young man who was a
member of a club which was very common some 50 years ago, but now
happily, I hope, extinct, called, "The Hell-Fire Club."

The object of the club was to meet once or twice a week and each member
of the club was to invent some new oath or be fined. The young man went
to hear Mr. Cooke only with the design of picking up some new religious
phrase that he might turn into a fresh blasphemy and so delight the
unhappy men with whom he was accustomed to meet at the public-house.

The subject was, as I have said, the unpardonable sin. And Mr. Cooke
showed what that sin was not, and who had notcommitted it–and the man
found, as he listened, that he was one of those who had not committed
it. He went home and fell, bathed in tears, before God, to think that
he had gone so far, but had not been permitted to go quite as far as
the unpardonable sin! That man became a Christian and a useful servant
of the Lord Jesus. I will be bound to say that "The Hell-Fire Club"
began to feel that Jesus Christ's name was great! I wish that some of
you who are practically Hell-Fire men and women might become Heaven 's
men and women and become so tonight! Oh, it would be a fine thing if
you went home and your wife should find you saying–instead of cursing
and swearing–"I think we must pray." How struck she would be! There is
a good woman here now with her husband–I think they are both to be
received into fellowship tonight–and what a happy time it was for
her–though even she then knew little or nothing about Christ– when
one night, as they were going to bed, her husband knelt down and
prayed! She had never heard such a thing before, but after a little
while she thought she had better pray, too. You cannot do better, good
woman, when the Lord blesses your husband, than to try to get a
blessing, too. They could not long pray in quiet–and soon she asked
how it had all come about–and so she learned that it came to pass that
God had met with the husband. Oh, I wish He would meet with some of
you! He has, in His love, turned many a lion into a lamb, and many a
raven into a dove. Let us all pray this short prayer–

"Oh, Sovereign Grace, my heart subdue, I would be led in triumph, too!
A willing captive to my Lord, To sing the triumph of His Word."

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: REVELATION 12.

Verse 1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars. This is that woman of whom the promise runs, "The seed of
the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." John saw this in a vision
in the heavenly places. He saw the Church of God, enthroned, made
glorious, clothed with the sun, having the brightness of Divine Light
about her, with all that is variable, changeable as the moon under her
feet, and upon her head the crown "that her Lord had given her"–twelve
Patriarchs, twelve Prophets, twelve Apostles, a complete number of
glorious lights kindled from Heaven!

2. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to
be delivered. That Child that is born of her, that Seed of the woman
that shall bruise the serpent's head is first, Christ, and then all the
first-born, of whom He is the great Representative.

3, 4. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his
heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was
ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
The spirit of evil in the heavenlies fighting with the power of light
and goodness and Grace, a mysterious being with great power, high
intelligence, seven heads, ten horns, and having mighty influence over
multitudes of men, so that

there were seven crowns upon his seven heads. "And his tail drew the
third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth." The
crocodile, which, I suppose, was the earthly figure from which John's
dream sprang, has great force in its tail and Satan, doubtless of old,
drew from heaven a number of its stars–other angels fell with him. And
there are times in the heavens of the Church when the ministers
fall–they seem to go in companies. Those who should be lights for God
are into darkness and become teachers of heresy. "He did cast them down
to the earth." They lost their brightness, they betrayed their earthly
origin. "And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born." Remember
how he sought to slay Jesus and the like is the case of all the
man-children born unto God, who will be of service in the Kingdom of
God. The main attack of the dragon was against the Child–the main
attack of the power of evil is against Christ and everything Christly.
If he could destroy the Gospel, he would not care about the Church one
whit–the woman might go if the Man-Child could be destroyed.

5. And she brought forth a Man-Child, who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His Throne.
That is the brief history of the birth of Christ and of His going from
us. He "was caught up unto God, and to His Throne." God will take care
of the great principle of truth. If it cannot have a refuge on earth,
He will find it a refuge in Heaven.

6. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred
and threescore days. The church of God was long in obscurity. You can
hardly find it among the Albigenses and Waldenses. It was hidden away
among the mountains. The Wycliffites, the Lollards and others held fast
the Truth of God, but history scarcely records their names. The woman
was in the wilderness, hidden away for many a day. "And there was war
in heaven." You are not to think of "heaven" as a place, but among the
heavenlies. John, in a vision, saw the great contending powers of evil.
He was like the Prophet when he saw a mountain full of horses of fire
and chariots of fire.

7. 8. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed
not: neither was their place found any more in Heaven. You remember how
our Lord, who is the true Michael, the only great Archangel, said at
the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel, "I beheld Satan as
lightning falling from Heaven." His power among the heavenlies is gone!
He was cast out of the place called Heaven. So is he now, by the
preaching of the Gospel, and by the death of Christ, cast down from
among the heavenly influences.

9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.This was done in the
olden time as a matter of fact. It is done continually, spiritually, as
Christ is lifted up and His Gospel gets the victory.

10. AndIheard a loud voice saying in Heaven, Now is come salvation,
andstrength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night.Always at it, this Prince of Evil pretending to
goodness, and daring to bring accusations against the Holy One of God.
But he is not permitted, now, to stand in the court–he is hurled from
his high place. He used his place with a desperate pertinacity of
malice, accusing the brethren day and night.

11. 12. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil is come down
unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short
time. "Therefore rejoice you heavens, and you that dwell in them." Let
great joy be in the hearts of all spiritual beings, whether angels or
men, for Satan is cast down from among them! But the battle is not
over–the scene of it is only transferred from the heavenlies to the
earthly. "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the
devil is come down unto you having great wrath because he knows that he
has but a short time." We may expect him to rage more and more as the
time of his destruction comes nearer and nearer. He is like a bad
tenant–he will damage the house out of which he is to be ejected. But
he is to be ejected! And let God be glorified for it!

13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the Man-Child. He had changed
his place, but he did not change his nature–and so he still perseveres
in his attack upon

God.

14, 15. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that
she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is
nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the
serpent And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flooddafter
the woman, that he might cause her to be carrieddaway by the flood.
Read history and see what fierce and brutal persecutions were used like
floods against the Gospel of Christ!

16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth,
andswallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. It is
poor help that the earth can give, and yet God has overruled to make it
useful. The kings and the powers of this world have for their own
reasons sometimes protected the Church. It was so in Luther's day. The
jealousy that was felt of the influence of the Court of Rome
politically tended to the preservation of Luther and those round about
him, so that the Gospel was not destroyed. "The earth helped the
woman," and we may expect that even those political disasters, which we
often dread, will all tend that way. How often has priestly arrogance
been put to the blush even for political reasons! We have nothing to do
with that, but still we can see how God can overrule. It is always
amiss when a woman begins to help the earth–she has nothing to do with
that–let the Church leave the State alone. But sometimes it happens
that in the political Providence of God the earth helps the woman.

17. And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with
the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have
testimony of Jesus Christ. "And the dragon was angry with the woman."
If ever you meet with a church of God which the devil likes, it is good
for nothing! But if it is a true Church of God–if it holds the Truths
of God and if it walks in holiness, it will always be true! "And the
dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed." He had destroyed many already with that flood of
persecution and he kept on a battle with the remnant of her seed,
"which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ." Into the deep mysteries of this passage I have not attempted
to go, but have simply skimmed the surface. God bless the reading to
us.