In God's purpose there was a King. One will was to be the ruler of
should come to repentance. He lingers because He loves. He is slow to leave the throne of grace, and to ascend the throne of judgment. For His mercy endureth for ever; and every part of creaturehood is of value in His eyes. What a gospel this delay preaches to the sons of men, even when not a word is spoken! He lingers and tarries, because He pities, and seeks not to destroy, but to save. Each hour's delay is a fresh message of grace to you, O man! It says to you: Tarry not, draw near, be reconciled, enter into peace through the blood of the covenant, and live for ever.
16. Thou art the King of Kings
In God's purpose there was a King. One will was to be the ruler of many wills. One man was to have dominion over earth and sea. In heaven there seems to be no such predominance or pre-eminence of the one over the many. God there is all, and under Him directly the heavenly hosts. On earth it was otherwise. God was to rule it by means of a man, and the first Adam was set on its throne as sole and sovereign ruler. Earth was given to man to be ruled by him as well as replenished.
The first man left his first estate, and lost his crown. Since then there have been many rulers among the many subdivisions or regions of earth. And these rulers man has called kings. For many ages they have been exercising dominion, yet they have failed to rule successfully. Earth is no nearer its normal state of order and peace than it was when first they took up their sceptres. Nay, under the rule of man, confusion multiplies; lawlessness and disobedience overflow; and nothing but the sword prevents this world from being a chaos and a slaughter-house. The armies of earth, meant for war, are the only preservers of peace.
God means to prove man to the uttermost, and to test his ability to govern and to preserve order on his own earth. When that proof has been completed, and man demonstrated to be unable to rule his own
world, then God introduces His own King, who is to rule the earth in righteousness.
This King of kings is the Christ of God. Times without number has God described for us this Messiah and His kingdom,—His fitness to reign, and the glory, as well as the peace and order, by which that reign is to be distinguished.
Thus David speaks in his last words:
There shall be a just one ruling over men,
Ruling in the fear of God.
He shall be as the light of the morning
When the sun riseth;
A morning without clouds (2 Sam. 23:4).
Thus he speaks in the well-known psalm of the kingdom:
Give the King Thy judgments, O God,
And Thy righteousness unto the King's Son.
He shall judge Thy people with righteousness,
And Thy poor with judgment.
In His days shall the righteous flourish;
And abundance of peace shall be
As long as the moon endureth.
He shall have dominion from sea to sea,
And from the river to the ends of the earth.
All kings shall fall down before Him;
And all nations shall serve Him (Ps. 72:1–11).
Thus, too, Isaiah points the prophetic finger to the coming King,—the expected Christ:
Behold!
A King shall reign in righteousness,
And princes shall decree judgment.
Yea, this man shall be
An hiding-place from the wind,
And a covert from the tempest;
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land (Isa. 32:1).
And again he points to Him, and dilates upon the glories of His reign as the reign of peace, the 'restitution of all things,' the more than restoration of Paradise:
There shall come forth a rod
Out of the stem of Jesse,
And a branch (a shoot)
Shall grow out of his roots:
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and might,
The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
With righteousness shall He judge the poor,
And reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:
And He shall smite the earth
With the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips
Shall He slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins,
And faithfulness the girdle of His reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf, the young lion, and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed;
Their young ones shall lie down together:
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy
In all my holy mountain:
For the earth shall be full
Of the knowledge of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:1–9).
His crown, His throne, His sceptre, are fully described in many ways, and by different prophets; each seeming to vie with the other as to who shall speak of them most perfectly. Messiah as King, is one of the most prominent themes of prophecy. We find Him everywhere as such,—the Church's joy, the world's hope, Israel's expectation, and creation's deliverance. And when He comes again in His royal splendour, we read:
In righteousness doth He judge and make war.
His eyes are as a name of fire,
And on His head are many crowns;
And He is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood:
And His name is called the Word of God.
Out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword,
That with it He should smite the nations;
And He shall rule them with a rod of iron:
And He treadeth the wine-press
Of the fierceness and wrath
Of Almighty God.
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh
A name written,
King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:11–15).
Messiah is at once Priest and King. His is the royal priesthood, or the priestly kingship. He is Melchizedek, King of Salem, and Priest of the Most High God. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. As son of Adam, His dominion is over earth; as son of David, His kingdom is over Israel. Yet is He King of heaven also, seated on the eternal throne, and wearing the crown of the universe. For there is a future for the Church, a future for Israel, a future for the earth, a future for heaven, a future for the universe in connection with His kingship as the Christ of God, which is as blessed as it is boundless, as glorious as it is eternal.
On His throne shall His Church sit, sharing His triumphs and glories: for each of His redeemed is an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ. 'If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.' Our designation is, 'partakers of the glory that shall be revealed.' The lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly heritage. We eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. We receive the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8), the crown of life (Jas. 1:12), the crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4). Ours is the Morning-star; and having overcome, we sit with Messiah on His throne, even as He overcame and sat down with the Father on His throne.
Chapter VI