Nevertheless, Hereafter
(No. 1364)
DELIVERED BY
C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Jesus said unto him, You have said (or said so), nevertheless, I say
unto you, Hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right
hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven." Matthew 26:64.
Our Lord, before His enemies, was silent in His own defense, but He
faithfully warned and boldly avowed the Truth of God. His was the
silence of patience, not of indifference--of courage, not of cowardice.
It is written that "before Pontius Pilate He witnessed a good
confession," and that statement may, also, be well applied to His
utterances before Caiaphas, for there He was not silent when it came to
confession of necessary Truths of God. If you will read the chapter now
open before us, you will notice that the High Priest commanded Him to
speak the truth, saying, "Are You the Christ, the Son of God?" to which
He replied at once, "You have said it."
He did not disown His Messiahship. He claimed to be the Promised One,
the Messenger from Heaven, Christ the Anointed of the Most High.
Neither did He, for a moment, disavow His personal Deity! He
acknowledged and confessed that He was the Son of God. How could He be
silent when such a vital point as to His Person was in question? He did
not hold them in suspense, but openly declared His Godhead by saying,
"I am," for so are His words reported by one of the Evangelists.
He then proceeded to reveal the solemn fact that He would soon sit at
the right hand of God, even the Father. In the words of our text He
declared that those who were condemning Him would see Him glorified
and, in due time, would stand at His bar when He would come upon the
clouds of Heaven to judge the quick and dead according to our Gospel.
See, then, dear Brothers and Sisters, in a few words, the great Truths
of our holy religion clearly set forth by our Lord Jesus! He claimed to
be the Christ of God and the Son of God! And His brief statement, by
implication, speaks of Jesus dead, buried and risen, and now enthroned
at the right hand of God in the power of the Father, and Jesus soon to
come in His glorious Second Advent to judge the world in righteousness.
Our Lord's confession was very full and, happy is he who heartily
embraces it! I intend to dwell upon three catchwords around which there
gathers a world of encouraging and solemn thought. The first is,
"nevertheless," and the second is, "hereafter." What the third is you
shall know later, but not just now.
I. "NEVERTHELESS," said Christ, "hereafter shall you see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of
Heaven." This, then, is the string from which we must draw forth music.
"Nevertheless," which, being interpreted by being pulled in pieces,
signifies that the Truth of God is never-the-less sure because of
opposition. "Nevertheless," not one atom the less is the Truth of God
certain to prevail for all that you say or do against it. Jesus will
surely sit at the right hand of the Power and come in due season, upon
the clouds of Heaven.
Let us dwell for a little time upon this important fact, that the Truth
of God is none the less certain because of the opposition of men and
devils. Observe, first, that the Savior's condition when He made use of
that, "nevertheless," was no proof that He would not rise to power.
There He stood, a poor, defenseless, emaciated Man, newly led from the
night watch in the garden and its bloody sweat. He was a spectacle of
meek and lowly suffering led by His captors like a lamb to the
slaughter, with none to speak a word on His behalf. He was surrounded
by those who hated Him and He was forsaken by His friends.
Scribes, Pharisees, priests were there, all thirsting for His heart's
blood. A lamb in the midst of wolves is but a faint picture of Christ
standing there before the Sanhedrim in patient silence. And yet, though
His present condition seemed to contradict it, He who was the faithful
and true Witness spoke truly when He testified, "Nevertheless,
hereafter you shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven.
Despite My present shame and suffering, so it shall be." He gives
Himself that lowly, humble title of Son of Man, as best indicating
Himself in His condition at that time. "Hereafter you shall see the Son
of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds
of Heaven."
The humiliation of Christ did not in the least endanger His later
Glory. His sufferings, His shame, His death, even, did not render it
any the less certain that He would climb to His Throne. Nor did the
caviling of His opposers keep Him, for one instant, from His place of
honor. I want you to remember this, for there is a great principle in
it. There are many poor weak-minded people who cannot take sides with a
persecuted Truth of God, nor accept anything but the most popular and
fashionable form of religion. They dare not be with the Truth of God
when men spit in its face, or buffet it, or pour contempt upon it--but
it will be victorious, none the less, although cowards desert it and
false-hearted men oppose it.
If it stands alone at the bar of the world, a culprit to be
condemned--if it receives nothing but a universal hiss of human
execration--yet, if it is the Truth of God, it may be condemned, but it
will be justified! It may be buried, but it will rise! It may be
rejected, but it will be glorified, even as it has happened to the
Christ of God! Who would be ashamed of the Truth of God at any time
when he knows the preciousness of it? Who will tremble because of
present opposition when he foresees what will yet come of it? What a
sublime spectacle--the Man of Sorrows standing before His cruel judges
in all manner of weakness and poverty and contempt--and at the same
time heir of all things and appointed, nevertheless, to sit at the
right hand of the Power and to come on the clouds of Heaven!
Nor may we think only of His condition as a despised and rejected Man,
for He was, in His trial, charged with grievous wrong and about to be
condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. The scribes, most learned
in the Law, declared that He blasphemed. And the priests, familiar with
the ordinances of God, exclaimed, "Away with Him! It is not meet that
He should live." The High Priest, himself, gave judgment that it was
expedient for Him to be put to death. It is a very serious thing, is it
not, when all the ecclesiastical authorities are against you--when they
are unanimous in your condemnation? Yes, verily, and it may cause great
searching of heart, for no peaceable man desires to be opposed to
constituted authority, but would sooner have the good word of those who
sit in Moses' seat.
But this was not the last time in which the established ecclesiastical
authorities were wrong, grievously wrong! They were condemning the
innocent and blaspheming the Lord from Heaven! Nor, I say, was this the
last time in which the miter and the gown have been upon the side of
cruel wrong--yet this did not un-Christ our Savior or rob Him of His
Deity or His Throne! On the same principle, human history brings before
us abundance of instances in which, nevertheless, though scribes,
priests, bishops, pontiffs and popes condemned the Truth of God, it was
just as sure and became as triumphant as it had a right to do! There
stands the one lone Man and there are all the great ones around
Him--men of authority and reputation, sanctity and pomp--and they
unanimously deny that He can ever sit at the right hand of God!
"But, nevertheless," He says, "hereafter you shall see the Son of Man
at the right hand of the Power." He spoke the Truth of God! His
declaration has been most gloriously fulfilled up to now. Even thus,
over the neck of clergy, priests, pontiffs, popes, His triumphant
chariot of salvation shall still roll and the Truth of God--the simple
Truth of His glorious Gospel--shall, despite them all, win the day and
reign over the sons of men! Nor is this all. Our Lord, at that time,
was surrounded by those who were in possession of earthly power. The
priests had the ear of Pilate and Pilate had the Roman legions at his
back. Who could resist such a combination of force? Craft and authority
form a dreadful league!
One disciple had drawn a sword, but just at the time when our Lord
stood before the Sanhedrim that one chivalrous warrior had denied Him
so that all the physical force was on the other side. As a Man He was
helpless when He stood bound before the council. I am not speaking, now
of that almighty power which faith knows to have dwelt in Him--but as
to human power, He was weakness at its weakest. His cause seemed at the
lowest ebb. He had none to stand up in His defense--no, none to speak a
word on His behalf, for, "Who shall declare His generation?" And yet,
for all that, and even because of it, He did rise to sit at the right
hand of the Power and He shall come on the clouds of Heaven!
So if it ever comes to pass, my Brother, that you should be the lone
advocate of a forgotten Truth of God--if your Master should ever put
you, in all your weakness and infirmity, in the midst of the mighty and
the strong, do not fear or tremble, for the possession of power is but
a trifle compared with the possession of the Truth of God! And he that
has the right may safely defy the might of the world. He shall win and
conquer, let the princes and powers that betake to
themselves what force and craft they choose. Jesus, nevertheless, wins,
though the power is all against Him--and so shall the Truth which He
represents--for it wears about it a hidden power which baffles all
opponents.
Nor was it merely all the power--there was a great deal of furious rage
against Him. That Caiaphas, how he spoke to Him! "I command you," he
sad, "by God." And after he has spoken, he tears his garments in
indignation! His anger burns like fire, but the Christ is very quiet.
The Lamb of God is still and, looking His adversary in the face, He
says, "Nevertheless, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at
the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven." He
was strong and, therefore, calm. He was confident and, therefore,
peaceful. He was fully assured and, therefore, patient. He could wait,
for He believed--and His prophecy was true, notwithstanding the High
Priest's rage!
So, if we meet with any man at any time who gnashes his teeth at us,
who foams in passion, who dips his pen into the bitterest gall to write
down our holy faith, who is indefatigable in his violent efforts
against the Christ of God--what does it matter? "Nevertheless, you
shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power." "Yet
have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion," said Jehovah--and He
declared the decree though the heathen raged and the people imagined a
vain thing! Well may He smile at rage who is so sure of victory!
Yes, but it was not merely one person that raged! The people of
Jerusalem and the multitudes that had come up to the Passover, bribed
and egged on by the priests and the Pharisees, were all hot after our
Savior's death, clamoring, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" And yet there He
stood and, as He heard their tumult and anticipated its growing demand
for His blood, He lost not His confidence, but He calmly said,
"Nevertheless, hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the Power." Behold His perfect inward peace and see how
He manifests it by a bold confession in the very teeth of all His
adversaries! "You may be as many as the waves of the sea and you may
foam and rage like the ocean in a storm, but the purpose and the decree
of God will, nevertheless, be fulfilled. You cannot delay or hinder it
one whit. You, to your everlasting confusion, shall see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Power."
Beloved, you know that after He had said this, our Lord was taken
before Herod and Pilate and at last was put to death. He knew all this,
foreseeing it most clearly, and yet it did not make Him hesitate. He
knew that He would be crucified and that His enemies would boast that
there was the end of Him and of His Kingdom. He knew that His disciples
would hide themselves in holes and corners and that nobody would dare
to say a word concerning the Man of Nazareth. He foreknew that the name
of the Nazarene would be bandied about amid general opprobrium and
Jerusalem would say, "That cause is crushed out! That egg of mischief
has been broken."
But He, foreseeing all that and more, declared, "Nevertheless,
hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven." I cannot help harping upon
the text--I hope I shall not weary you with it, for to me it is music!
I do not like running over the word, "nevertheless," too quickly. I
like to draw it out and repeat it as, "never-the-less." No, not one jot
the less will His victory come! Not in the least degree was His royal
power endangered or His sure triumph imperiled! Not even by His death
and the consequent scattering of His disciples was the least hazard
occasioned! But, indeed, all these things worked together for the
accomplishment of the Divine purpose concerning Him! The lower He
stooped the more sure He was to rise ultimately to His Glory!
And now, Beloved, it is even so. The man, Christ Jesus, was despised
and rejected of men, but at this moment He sits at the right hand of
the Power! All power is given to Him in Heaven and in earth and,
therefore, does He bid us proclaim His Gospel. There is not an angel
but does His bidding. Providence is arranged by His will, for, "the
government shall be upon His shoulders and His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace." Atoning work is done and, therefore, He sits. His
work is well done and, therefore, He sits at the right hand of God, in
the place of honor and dignity!
Before long He will come. We cannot tell when. He may come tonight, or
He may tarry many a weary year--but He will surely come in Person, for
did not the angels say to the men of Galilee, as they stood gazing into
Heaven--"This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you have seen
Him go into Heaven"? He shall come with blast of trumpet and with
thousands of angelic beings, all doing Him honor! He shall come with
flaming fire to visit the trembling earth. He shall come with all His
Father's glories! Kings and princes shall stand before Him and He shall
gloriously reign among His ancients. The tumults of the people and the
plotting of their rulers shall be remembered in that day, but it shall
be to their own eternal shame!
His Throne shall be none the less resplendent. I beg you to learn the
spiritual lesson which comes out of this. I have already indicated it
and it is this--never be afraid to stand by a losing cause. Never
hesitate to stand alone when the Truth of God is to be confessed. Never
be overawed by sacerdotalism, or daunted by rage, or swayed by
multitudes. Unpopular Truth is, nevertheless, eternal--and that
doctrine which is ridiculed and cast out as evil, today, shall bring
immortal honor to the man who dares to stand by its side and share its
humiliation! Oh, for the love of the Christ who thus threw a,
"nevertheless," at the feet of His foes, follow Him wherever He goes.
Through flood or flame, in loneliness, in shame, in obloquy, in
reproach--follow Him! If it is outside the camp, follow Him!
If every step shall cost you abuse and scorn, still follow! Yes, to
prison and to death still follow Him, for as surely as He sits at the
right hand of the Power, so shall those who love Him and have been
faithful to His Truth sit down upon His Throne with Him. His overcoming
and enthronement are the pledges of the victory both of the Truth of
God and of those who courageously espouse it. Thus have we sounded our
first great bell--"NEVERTHELESS." Let its music ring through the place
and charm each opened ear!
II. The second bell is "HEREAFTER." "Nevertheless, hereafter." I like
the sound of those two bells together! Let us ring them again.
"Nevertheless, hereafter." The hereafter seems, in brief, to say to me
that the main glory of Christ lies in the future. Not today, perhaps,
nor tomorrow will the issue be seen! Have patience! Wait a while! "Your
strength is to sit still." God has great leisure, for He is the
Eternal. Let us partake in His restfulness while we sing,
"Nevertheless, hereafter." O for the Holy Spirit's power at this
moment, for it is written, "He will show you things to come."
It is one great reason why the unregenerate sons of men cannot see any
Glory in the kingdom of Christ because to them it is such a future
thing. Its hopes look into eternity! Its great rewards are beyond this
present time and state--and the most of mortal eyes cannot see so far.
Unregenerate men are like Passion in John Bunyan's parable--they will
have all their good things now--and so they have their toys and break
them and they are gone! And then their hereafter is a dreary outlook of
regret and woe. Men of faith know better and, like Patience in the same
parable, they choose to have their best things last, for that which
comes last, lasts on forever. He whose turn comes last has none to
follow him and his good things shall never be taken away from him.
The poor, almost-blind world cannot see beyond its own nose and so it
must have its joys and riches at once. To them, speedy victory is the
main thing and the Truth of God is nothing. Is the cause triumphant
today? Off with your caps and throw them up and cry, "Hurrah!" no
matter that it is the cause of a lie! Do the multitudes incline that
way? Then, Sir, if you are worldly-wise, run with them! Pull off the
palm branches, strew the roads and shout, "Hosanna to the hero of the
hour!" though he is a despot or a deceiver. But not so--not so with
those who are taught of God. They take eternity into their estimate and
they are content to go with the despised and rejected of men for the
present, because they recollect the hereafter! They can swim against
the flood for they know where the course of this world is tending.
O blind world, if you were wise, you would amend your line of action
and begin to think of the hereafter, too, for the hereafter will soon
be here! What a short time it is since Adam walked in the Garden of
Eden! Compared with the ages of the rocks, compared with the history of
the stars, compared with the life of God it is as the winking of an
eye, or as a flash of lightning! One has but to grow a little older and
years become shorter and time appears to travel at a much faster rate
than before--so that a year rushes by you like a meteor across the
midnight heavens. When we are older, still, and look down from the
serene abodes above, I suppose that centuries and ages will be as
moments to us, for to the Lord they are as nothing!
Suppose the coming of the Lord should be put off for 10,000 years--it
is but supposition--but if it were, 10,000 years will soon be gone and
when the august spectacle of Christ coming on the clouds of Heaven
shall be seen, the delay will be as though but an hour had intervened.
The space between now and then, or rather the space between what is
"now," at this time, and what will be, "now," at the last--how short a
span it is! Men will look back from the eternal world and say, "How
could we have thought so much of the fleeting life we have lived on
earth when it was to be followed by eternity? What fools we were to
make such count of momentary, transient pleasures when now the things
which are not seen and are eternal, have come upon us and we are
unprepared for them!"
Christ will soon come and, at the longest, when He comes, the interval
between today and then will seem to be just nothing at all--so that,
"hereafter," is not as the sound of a far-off cannon, nor as the boom
of distant thunder--but it is the rolling of rushing wheels hastening
to overtake us. "Hereafter!" "Hereafter!" Oh, when that hereafter
comes, how
overwhelming it will be to Jesus' foes! Now where is Caiaphas? Will he
now command the Lord to speak? Now, you priests, lift up your haughty
heads! Utter a sentence against Him, now! There sits your Victim upon
the clouds of Heaven! Say now that He blasphemes and hold up your torn
rags and condemn Him again! But where is Caiaphas? He hides his guilty
head! He is utterly confused and begs the mountains to fall upon him!
And, oh, you men of the Sanhedrim who sat at midnight and glared at
your innocent Victim with your cold, cruel eyes and afterwards gloated
over the death of your martyred Prince--where are you now--now that He
has come with all His Father's power to judge you? They are asking the
hills to open their caverns and conceal them! The rocks deny them
shelter. And where, on that day, will you be, you who deny His Deity,
who profane His Sabbaths, who slander His people and denounce His
Gospel--oh, where will you be in that terrible day which as surely
comes as comes tomorrow's rising sun?
Oh, Sirs, consider this word--"Hereafter!" I would gladly whisper it in
the ears of the sinner fascinated by his pleasures. Come near and let
me do so--"Hereafter!" I would make it the alarm of the sleeping
transgressor who is dreaming of peace and safety while he is slumbering
himself into Hell. Hereafter! Hereafter! Oh, yes, you may suck the
sweet and eat the fat, and drink as you will, but hereafter! Hereafter!
What will you do hereafter, when that which is sweet in the mouth shall
be as gall in the belly and when the pleasures of today shall be a
mixture of misery for eternity? Hereafter! Oh, hereafter! Now, O Divine
Spirit, be pleased to open careless ears that they may listen to this
prophetic sound. To the Lord's own people there is no sound more sweet
than that of, "hereafter." "Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of Heaven."
Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, Redeemer, Savior! Welcome in every
Character in which You come! What acclamations and congratulations will
go up from the countless myriads of His redeemed, when first the
ensigns of the Son of Man shall be seen in the heavens! On one of
earth's mornings, when the children of men shall be "marrying and
giving in marriage," while saints shall be looking for His appearing,
they shall, first of all, perceive that He is actually coming! Long
desired and come at last! Then the trumpet shall be heard, waxing
exceedingly loud and long--ringing out a sweeter note to the true
Israel than ever trumpet heard on the morn of Jubilee!
What delight! What lifting up of gladsome eyes! What floods of bliss!
Oppression is over! The idols are broken! The reign of sin is ended!
Darkness shall no more cover the nations! He comes! He comes! Glory be
to His name!--
"Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all."
O blessed day of acclamations! Heaven's vault shall be opened with them
when His saints shall see for themselves what was reserved for Him and
for them in the "hereafter!" "You shall see the Son of Man at the right
hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven." That word,
"hereafter," my Brothers and Sisters, is, at this moment, our grandest
solace, and I wish to bring it before you in that light. Have you been
misunderstood, misrepresented, slandered because of fidelity to the
right and to the true? Do not trouble yourself! Vindicate not your own
cause. Refer it to the King's Bench above and say, "Hereafter,
hereafter."
Have you been accused of being mad, fanatical and I know not what,
besides, because to you, party is nothing, ecclesiastical pride nothing
and the stamp of popular opinion nothing? Have you been ridiculed
because you are determined to follow the steps of your Master and
believe the true and do the right? Then be in no hurry--the sure
hereafter will settle the debate! Or are you very poor, very sick and
very sad? But are you Christ's own? Do you trust Him? Do you live in
fellowship with Him? Then the hope of the hereafter may well take the
sting out of the present. It is not for long that you shall suffer--the
Glory will soon be revealed in you and around you. There are streets of
gold symbolic of your future wealth and there are celestial harps
emblematical of your eternal joy! You shall have a white robe, soon,
and the dusty garments of toil shall be laid aside forever! You shall
have a far more exceeding and an eternal weight of Glory and,
therefore, the light affliction which is but for a moment may well be
endured with patience.
Have you labored in vain? Have you tried to bring souls to Christ and
had no recompense? Fret not, but remember the hereafter! Many a
laborer, unsuccessful in the eyes of man, will receive a, "Well done,
good and faithful servant," from his Master on that day! Set little
store by anything you have and wish but lightly for anything that you
have not. Let the present be to you as it really is--a dream, an empty
show--and project your soul into the hereafter which is solid and
enduring! Oh, what music there is in the hereafter!--what delight to a
true child of God! "Nevertheless, hereafter."
I feel half inclined to have done and to send you out, singing all the
way, "Nevertheless, hereafter." The people outside might not understand
you, but it would be a perfectly justifiable enthusiasm of delight!
III. Now, thirdly. Where am I to look for my third bell? Where is the
third word I spoke of? In truth, I cannot find it in the version which
we commonly use and there is no third word in the original. And yet the
word I am thinking of is there. The truth is that the second word,
which has been rendered by, "hereafter," bears another meaning. I will
give you what the Greek critics say. As nearly as can be, the meaning
of the word is, "FROM NOW ON." "From now on you shall see the Son of
Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of
Heaven." "From now on."
That is another word and the teaching gathered out of it is this--even
in the present there are tokens of the victory of Christ. "But," says
one, "did Christ say to those priests that from now on they should see
Him sitting at the right hand of the Power?" Yes, yes, that is what He
meant. He meant, "You look at Me and scorn Me, but, Sirs, you shall not
be able to do this any longer, for from now on you shall see for
yourselves that I am not what I appear to be, but that I sit at the
right hand of the Power. From now on, and as long as you live, you
shall know that galling Truth of God."
And did that come true? Yes, it came true that night--for when the
Savior died, there came a messenger unto the members of the Sanhedrim
and others and told them that the veil of the Temple was torn in two!
In that moment, when the Man of Nazareth died, that splendid piece of
tapestry seemed to tear itself asunder from end to end as if in horror
at the death of its Lord! The members of that council, when they met
each other in the street and spoke of the news, must have been dumb in
sheer astonishment. And while they looked upon each other, the earth
they stood upon reeled and reeled again--and they could scarcely stand
up!
This was not the first wonder which had startled them that day, for the
sun had been beclouded in unnatural darkness. At midday the sun had
ceased to shine and now the earth ceases to be stable. Lo, also, in the
darkness of the evening, certain members of this council saw the
sheeted dead, newly arisen from their sepulchers, walking through the
streets! The rocks split, the earth shook, the graves opened and the
dead came forth and appeared unto many! Thus, early, they began to know
that the Man of Nazareth was at the right hand of the Power! Early on
the third morning, when they were met together, there came a messenger
in hot haste who said, "The stone is rolled away from the door of the
sepulcher. Remember that you placed a watch and that you set your seal
upon the stone! But early this morning the soldiers say that He came
forth! He rose, that dreaded One whom we put to death and at the sight
of Him the keepers did quake and became as dead men."
Now, these men--these members of the Sanhedrim--believed that fact! We
have clear evidence that they did, for they bribed the soldiers and
said, "Say, 'His disciples came and stole away His body while we
slept.'" Then did the word, also, continue to be fulfilled and they
plainly saw that Jesus, whom they had condemned, was at the right hand
of the Power! A few weeks passed over their heads and, lo, there was a
noise in the city and an extraordinary excitement. Peter had been
preaching and 3,000 persons in one day had been baptized into the name
which they dreaded so much! And they were told and heard it on the best
of evidence, that there had been a wonderful manifestation of the Holy
Spirit, such as was spoken of in the Book of the Prophet Joel. Then
they must have looked one another in the face and stroked their beards
and bit their lips, and said to one another, "Did He not say that we
should see Him at the right hand of the
Power?"
They had often to remember that word and, again and again, to see its
truth, for when Peter and John were brought before them it was proven
that they had restored a lame man. And these two unlearned and ignorant
men told them that it was through the name of Jesus that the lame were
made to leap and walk! Day after day they were continuously obliged,
against their will, to see, in the spread of the religion of the Man
whom they had put to death, that His name had power about it such as
they could not possibly imagine or resist. Lo, one of their number,
Paul, had been converted and was preaching the faith which he had
endeavored to destroy! They must have been much amazed and chagrined,
as in this, also, they discerned that the Son of Man was at the right
hand of the Power!
Yes, you say, but did they see Him coming on the clouds of Heaven? I
answer, yes. From now on they saw that, also, for they began to have
upon their minds forebodings and dark thoughts. The Jewish nation was
in an ill state. The people were getting disquieted. Imposters were
rising and the leading men of the nation trembled as to what the Romans
would do. At last there came an outbreak and the imperial power was
defied--and then, such of them as still survived, began to realize the
words of Christ. When they saw the comet in the sky and the drawn sword
hanging over Jerusalem. When they
saw the city compassed about with armies. When they watched the legions
dig the trenches and throw up the earthworks and surround the devoted
city while all around was fire and famine--when from every tower upon
the walls they could see one of their own countrymen nailed to a cross,
for the Romans put the Jews to death by crucifixion by hundreds and
even by thousands--then they must have begun to see the coming of the
Son of Man!
And when, at last, the city was destroyed and a firebrand was hurled
even into the holy place and the Jews were banished and sold for slaves
till they would not fetch the price of a pair of shoes, so many were
they and so greatly despised--then they saw the Son of Man coming on
the clouds of Heaven to take vengeance on His adversaries. Read the
text as meaning, "From now on you shall see the Son of Man at the right
hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven." It is not the
full meaning of the passage, but it is a part of that meaning, beyond
all question. Beloved, even at the present time we may see the tokens
of the power of Christ among us! Only tokens, mark you! I do not want
to take you off from the hereafter, but from now on and even now there
are tokens of the power of our Lord Jesus!
Look at revivals. When they break out in the Church, how they stagger
all the adversaries of Christ! They said--yes, they dared to say--that
the Gospel had lost all its power! They dared to say that since the
days of Whitefield and Wesley there was no hope of the masses being
stirred! Yet when they see, even in this house, from Sabbath to
Sabbath, vast crowds listening to the Word of God and, when, some few
months ago no house could be built that was large enough to accommodate
the thronging masses who sought to hear our American Brothers, then
were they smitten in the mouth, so that they could speak no more, for
it was manifested that the Lord Christ still lives and that, if His
Gospel is fully and simply preached, it will still draw all men to Him
and souls will be saved, and that not a few!
And look in the brave world outside, apart from religion--what
influences there are abroad which are due to the power of the Christ of
God! Would you have believed it, 20 years ago, that in America there
should be no more slaves? That united Italy should be free of her
despots? Could you have believed that the Pope would be pulling about
his being a prisoner in the Vatican and that the power of antichrist
would be shorn away? No, the wonders of history, even within the last
few years, are enough to show us that Christ is at the right hand of
the Power! Come what will in the future, mark this, my Brothers and
Sisters, it will never be possible to uphold tyranny and oppression
long, for the Lord Christ is to the front for the poor and needy of the
earth.
O despots, you may do what you will and use your craft and policy if
you please, but all over this world the Lord Jesus Christ has lifted up
a plummet and set up a righteous standard! He will draw a straight line
and it will pass through everything that offends, that it may be cut
off. And it will, also, pass over all that is good and lovely and right
and just and true--and these shall be established in His reign among
men. I believe in the reign of Christ! Kings, sultans, czars-- these
are puppets, all of them--and your parliaments and congresses are but
vanity of vanity! God is great and none but He! Jesus is the King in
all the earth! He is the Man, the King of men, the Lord of all. Glory
be to His name! As the years progress we shall see it more and more,
for He has had long patience, but He is beginning, now, to cut the work
short in righteousness.
He is baring His right arm for war and that which denies manhood's just
claims--that which treads upon the neck of the humanity which Christ
has taken--that which stands against His Throne and dominion must be
broken in pieces like a potter's vessel, for the scepter in His hand is
a rod of iron and He will use it mightily! The Christ, then, still
gives tokens of His power. They are only tokens, but they are sure
ones, even as the dawn does not deceive us, though it is not the
noontide. And oh, let me say, there are some of you present who are
enemies of Christ, but you, also, must have perceived some tokens of
His power! I have seen Him shake the infidel by the Gospel till he has
said, "You almost persuade me to be a Christian." He has taken him in
the silence of the night and probed his conscience--in His gentleness,
love and pity He has led the man to think--and though he has not
altogether yielded, yet he has felt that there is a solemn power about
the Christ of God.
Some of the worst of men have been forced to acknowledge that Christ
has conquered them. Remember how Julian, as he died, said, "The
Nazarene has overcome me! The Nazarene has overcome me"? May you not
have to say that in the article of death, but, oh, that you may say it
now! May His love overpower you! May His compassion win you and you
will see in your own salvation tokens of His power! But I must have
done, for my time has fled. But I desire to add that it will be a
blessed thing if everyone here, becoming a Believer in Jesus, shall,
from now on see Him at the right hand of the
Power and coming on the clouds of Heaven! Would to God we could live
with that vision in full view, believing Jesus to be at the right hand
of the Power, trusting Him and resting in Him!
Because we know Him to be the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty
in battle, we ought never to have a doubt when we are doing what is
right. We ought never to have a doubt when we are following Jesus, for
He is more than a conqueror and so shall His followers be! Let us go on
courageously, trusting in Him as a child trusts in his father, for He
is mighty upon whom we repose our confidence. Let us, also, keep before
our mind's eyes, the fact that He is coming. Be not as the virgins that
fell asleep! Even now my ears seem to hear the midnight cry, "Behold,
the Bridegroom comes!" Arise, you virgins, sleep no longer, for the
Bridegroom is near!
As for you, you foolish virgins, God grant that there may yet be time
enough left to awake even you, that you may yet have oil for your lamps
before He comes. He comes, we know not when, but He comes quickly! Be
ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes. Be
as men that watch for their Lord and as servants that are ready to give
in their account because the master of the house is near. In that
spirit let us come to the Lord's Table, as often as we gather there,
for He has said to us, "Do this until I come." Outward ordinances will
cease when He comes, for we shall need no memorial when the Lord,
Himself, will be among us!
Let us here pledge Him in the cup, that He is coming, we do verily
believe! That He is coming, we do joyfully proclaim! Is it a subject
ofjoy for you? If not--
"You sinners seek His face, Whose wrath you cannot bear! Bow to the
scepter of His Grace, And find salvation there."
God bless you for Christ's sake.
