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THE CHURCH A ROYAL DIADEM
IT was promised to our blessed Lord, that, “when he should have made his soul an offering for sin, he should see a seed, who should prolong their days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hands.” These promises are to be fulfilled in the conversion of souls to him: and then only will they be fully accomplished, when all the kingdoms of the world are his, and when the entire Church, both of Jews and Gentiles, shall be “a crown of glory, and a royal diadem in his hand.” In another part of his writings, the prophet says, that “Jehovah shall in that day be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people [Note: Isa_28:5.].” And that appears an expression suited to the occasion. But the language of our text seems altogether inexplicable. That God should be “a crown of glory” to us, as adding glory to us, and crowning us with loving-kindness and tender mercies, is conceivable enough; but that we should be a royal diadem to him, is utterly inconceivable. Yet so it is: and the declaration of it to us will lead me to shew,
I. In what estimation God holds his Church and people—
To form a just idea of this subject, we must consider in what light an earthly monarch views his crown; and then transfer to Jehovah those feelings, as far as they will comport with the holiness of his Nature, and the dignity of his divine Majesty.
God regards, then, his Church.
1. As an emblem of his power—
[Crowns and sceptres are generally used as emblems of royalty, and as bearing witness to the power of Him who is invested with them. Now God’s Church and people are precisely such “witnesses for him.” The works of creation indeed testify of his eternal power and Godhead, and that in terms that are intelligible to all [Note: Rom_1:19-20.]: but the new creation of his people speaks no less strongly on this subject. By sin, they are fallen from the image in which they were first created, and are transformed into the very likeness of Satan himself. Now, to repair these ruins, to cancel, in consistency with God’s perfections, the guilt that has been contracted, to purge away all the pollution with which the soul is defiled, to impress again upon it the divine image, and to render it meet for the enjoyment of God himself in heaven, is confessedly a work which no finite imagination could ever have contemplated. But God has wrought it; he has wrought it for every individual of his Church and people: and this it is, which, in the judgment of the angelic host, brings “glory to God in the highest.” It is this in which “the exceeding greatness of his power, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead,” is pre-eminently displayed [Note: Eph_1:19-20. Perhaps in no book upon earth will there be found more energetic language than this is in the original.]; and this proclaims him, throughout the whole universe to be “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”]
2. As a monument of his love—
[Nothing does a monarch behold with more complacency than his crown. And with what delight does God behold his Church and people, whom he accounts “his peculiar treasure [Note: Exo_19:5-6. Psa_135:4.],” his most inestimable “jewels [Note: Mal_3:17.]!” “He has chosen them in Christ from before the foundation of the world, and predestinated them to be to the praise of the glory of his grace [Note: Eph_1:4-6.]:” and he delights in them in that peculiar view; as says the Prophet Zephaniah: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing [Note: Zep_3:17.].”]
3. As an object of his peculiar care—
[Were his crown menaced, and a confederacy formed to wrest it from him, a monarch would exert himself to the uttermost to defend it. And what will not Jehovah do for the preservation of his Church and people? He has declared that “neither the power nor the policy of hell shall ever prevail against them [Note: Mat_16:18.];” that “none shall ever pluck them out of his hands [Note: Joh_10:28-29.];” but that “they shall be kept by the power of God unto everlasting salvation [Note: 1Pe_1:5.].” They are in the palm of his hand [Note: See Vitringa in loc.], held fast by him, against all the efforts of their enemies. “Lest any should hurt them, he keeps them night and day [Note: Isa_27:3.];” nor shall the least jewel of his crown be found wanting in it [Note: Amo_9:9.]. How determined he is to keep them, may be seen by his own gracious declarations in the Prophet Jeremiah: “I will rejoice over them, to do them good; and I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul [Note: Jer_32:41.].” “They are to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory [Note: Jer_13:11.];” and he will never suffer so much as one of them to perish [Note: Mat_18:14.].]
Seeing, then, that God esteems his people so highly, we may perceive,
II. The interest which we also, from this consideration, should take in their welfare—
They should undoubtedly be dear to us. We should take a lively interest in,
1. The Church at large—
[We are taught, in our daily prayers, to make this a leading petition, “Thy kingdom come.” And we should not only desire it, but labour to promote it to the utmost of our power. We should labour in it for the world’s sake. Who would not wish that the wretched bond-slaves of Satan should be rescued from his dominion, and be brought into the liberty of God’s dear children? It matters not whether they belong to the civilized or uncivilized world; for with God “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free; but Christ is all, and in all [Note: Col_3:11.].” The meanest Hottentot, who is brought to the knowledge of Christ, is made a jewel in the Redeemer’s crown, and is not a whit less dear to him than the greatest monarch upon earth. And should we account any labour too great, if peradventure we may be instruments in God’s hands to “pluck brands out of the burning,” and to form them as pillars for the temple of our God; or to wrest jewels from Satan’s crown, and polish them for the crown of our Redeemer? I say, the man who pants not to help forward such offices of love as these, has yet to learn wherein true love consists.
And should we not engage in this work for our Redeemer’s sake? Has he left his throne in glory for us, and submitted to death, even the accursed death upon the cross, for us? and shall we feel no zeal for his glory; Shall we be indifferent, whether he ever “see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied?” The prospect of bringing many sons to glory was “the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame, till he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [Note: Heb_12:2.].” And shall we be indifferent, whether he ever attain that joy? Even the honour of having “men as our own joy and crown of rejoicing” in the latter day [Note: 1Th_2:19-20.], might well be a sufficient stimulus to our exertion in their behalf: but, to gather them as jewels for the Redeemer’s crown, jewels in whom he shall be glorified to all eternity, should be regarded by us as the most honourable office that can be sustained, the most delightful work in which it is possible to be engaged.]
2. The Jewish Church in particular—
[It is of them that the prophet speaks in the whole context, and to them chiefly that the words in my text refer. They were God’s chosen people from the beginning; even from the moment that God called Abraham their father, and entered into covenant with him. It was to them that he revealed himself as their God in a more eminent and peculiar way than he was of any other people: and in them has he been more glorified than in the whole world besides. Though they are under his displeasure, scattered over the face of the whole earth, yet are they preserved in a way that no other people have ever been; and are kept for the express purpose, that his glory may again be displayed in them, far beyond what it has been at any former period of their existence. It is at the period of their destined conversion that they are to be “a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of their God.” This is plainly declared by the Lord himself: “I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first: and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them [Note: Jer_33:7-9.].” Hence are we called to be fellow-workers with God in their conversion. For Zion’s sake we should not hold our peace; and for Jerusalem’s sake we should not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” To this period God himself looks forward, even as a bridegroom to the day of his nuptials; saving, “As a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons (who build up the families of their ancestors) marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee [Note: ver. 1, 5.].” At that period, through the labours of God’s people [Note: ver. 10.], shall the attention of the whole world be directed to them [Note: ver. 11.], and men “shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, a people sought out, a city not forsaken [Note: ver. 12.].” Say then, Brethren, whether we should not, both by secret prayers and public exertions, labour, all of us, according to our respective abilities, to hasten forward this glorious day, when “that people, hated and despised as they have been, shall become an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations,” the branch of God’s planting, the work of his hands, in which he shall be glorified [Note: Isa_60:15; Isa_60:21.]? Yes: “we should not hold our peace day nor night.” “O ye that make mention of the Lord,” and profess to serve him, in the name of Almighty God I say to you, “keep not silence, and give God no rest, till he establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth [Note: ver. 6, 7.]!”]
As a further improvement of this subject, I wish you particularly to observe,
1. What obligations we are under to look well to our ways—
[Every true Believer is a jewel in the Redeemer’s crown. And does it become persons so honoured to be regardless of their ways? Should we not rather be studious, “as sons of God, to be blameless and harmless in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, shining as lights in the world, holding forth in the whole of our conversation the word of life [Note: Php_2:15-16.]?” I call upon you, Brethren, to remember what a conspicuous place you are ordained to fill to all eternity; and to “walk worthy of your high calling,” yea, “and worthy of the Lord himself too, unto all pleasing:” and however bright you already shine, “let your path shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.”]
2. What encouragement we have to labour for the Lord—
[It is no worthless object that we have in view. What if we be not able to labour on an extended scale? If, in the course of our whole lives, we can add but one jewel to Jehovah’s crown, we shall have effected, both for God and man, a work that is superior in value to the whole world. See, then, whether God may not enable you to effect this in behalf of a parent or child, a brother or sister, a friend or servant, a neighbour, or some person in a state of deep affliction. It is not human skill that is requisite, like that which is necessary to prepare stones for an earthly crown: the speaking of a word for God, and in dependence upon him, may, through his blessing, accomplish this glorious undertaking. And, O! how rich a recompence would one single instance of success be for the labours of our whole life! If, indeed, we are able to extend our labours to the very ends of the earth, let us account it our highest privilege to do so. Let us, “for the joy that is set before us, endure any cross, and despise any shame,” even as our Lord and Saviour did, if, peradventure, we may prepare “a crown of rejoicing” for ourselves [Note: Php_4:1.], and “a crown of glory” for our God.]