XVII.

GLORY AND DOMINION ASCRIBED TO CHRIST.

"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."—REV. i. 5, 6.

THE words which have been read are a fervid and natural outburst of grateful affection, suggested by the mention of the Saviour's name.

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They follow immediately upon the salutation with which, according to general custom, the apostle John, at the beginning of his epistle to the seven churches of Asia, greets those whom he was addressing. The form of the salutation is somewhat peculiar. In substance it is a prayer the seven churches might enjoy the favour of a Triune Jehovah; but in referring to the several persons of the Godhead, he names the Saviour last. "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come" (the everlasting Father); " and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne" (the Holy Spirit, described in terms indicative of the multiplicity and variety of his blessed influences); "and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the first-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth." I do not mean to offer any rea

son for such an arrangement. Perhaps none could be given. The practice of the apostles in regard to this matter varied. Thus, in the benediction at the close of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Lord Jesus is named first: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." But what I wish to notice, as bearing upon the present subject is, that the name of the Lord Jesus falling, in the chapter before us, at the close of the salutation, the mind of the apostle seizes hold of it. The mention of it calls up to his recollection the immeasurable obligations under which he lies to the Redeemer; and, in the view of these, he cannot proceed till he has given utterance to his sentiments in the language of the text: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Striking as the words of the text are in themselves, they must appear still more interesting when we consider whence they were derived. The text is an expression of the apostle John's sentiments, but not in his own language. The book which he was now sitting down to write, is a record of visions with which he had been favoured. In the first of these, the heavenly world had been disclosed to his view; and what had he beheld? The throne of God; and, in the right hand of Him who sat upon the throne, a book which no one was able to open till its seals were loosed by the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And, we are told, when he had opened the book, the hosts of the redeemed fell down before him and sung a new song, saying, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests."

Now, is it not apparent that the words which the beloved disciple had thus heard the redeemed singing in their blissful seats above, had taken deep possession of his mind, and that, in the passage before us, when he would express his sentiments of adoring gratitude to Christ, he simply adopts these, and repeats the hymn of the upper sanctuary? So much sympathy is there between saints on earth and saints in heaven! The blue curtain of the firmament separates them outwardly, but their hearts are one.

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The apostle's ascription of eternal glory and dominion to Christ is founded upon three considerations: first, the benefits which believers receive from Christ-he "washed us from our sins, . . . . and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;" secondly, the price at which these blessings were procured-"his own blood;" and, thirdly, the motive which induced Jesus to be at this expense on our account-love; he "loved us." On these points, in their order, I proceed to offer some remarks; and while we meditate upon a subject so fitted to excite devotional feeling, may He who made the hearts of the disciples who were journeying to Emmaus "burn within them while he talked with them by the way, and while he opened to them the Scriptures," lead us to lively apprehensions of the truth, and cause us to be suitably affected under it!

I. In enumerating the benefits which believers owe to Christ, the apostle mentions,

1st, That he washes them from their sins; language descriptive of deliverance, both from the guilt of sin, and from its pollution.

By the guilt of sin is meant the liability to condemnation under which sinners are laid by their transgression of the divine law. Sin necessarily exposes to condemnation, for "the wages of sin is death." All mankind therefore

are naturally in a state of condemnation, because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The sentence of a broken law stands against them in God's book. They are "children of wrath," justly obnoxious to, and actually under, the wrath of God. This is an awful state. No mind can imagine the whole that it involves, but enough can be conceived to appal the stoutest heart. Accordingly, when sinners are awakened to a consciousness of their real condition, they are miserable till some way is discovered to them by which they can obtain forgiveness of their iniquities, and be reconciled to their offended Maker. It was to open up a way of reconciliation for perishing men that Christ came into the world. The justice of God rendering it impossible that our offences could be pardoned, till satisfaction had first been made for them, Christ came to satisfy divine justice by dying in our room. He "bare our sins in his own body on the tree." He "hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour." And all who, under a sense of their guilt, humbly betake themselves to him, and trust in his atonement, are "saved from wrath through him." "We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." "Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Had it not been for the interposition of Christ, our guilt never could have been removed. But for him, every child of Adam must have continued hopelessly throughout eternity under "the curse of the law." No one of us could have himself rendered that satisfaction to divine justice, which would have made it a righteous thing in God to pardon his transgressions and to receive him into his favour. We are indeed prone to self-righteousness-prone to imagine that we can give unto God some ransom for our souls: but the thought is vain. The utmost that man could in any case be supposed to do, by way of compensating

for past sin, would be to lament it, and to make strenuous efforts after obedience in time to come. But though he were to do this (which, however, he never would, unless inclined thereto by the Spirit of God), tears, however sincerely shed, and zeal, however active, would not atone for sin. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, and that alone, can cleanse from guilt. If we therefore, my friends, are in the happy condition of pardoned sinners,—if God has reconciled us unto himself, and no longer imputes our trespasses unto us,-if he looks down from heaven upon us with a propitious countenance, pacified towards us for all our offences, and we can look up to him in return with filial confidence, and can address him in the language of the prophet, "Though thou wast angry with us, thine anger is turned away," the praise of all this must be ascribed to Jesus.

O blessed Saviour, Lamb of God! have we been forgiven all our sins for thy sake? Have we, unworthy of the divine favour in ourselves, been accepted in thee, the Beloved? Then unto thee "be glory and dominion for ever and ever!"

But we require to be sanctified as well as justified,-made holy as well as pardoned and accepted. Besides being delivered from the condemnation to which sin exposes, we need to be emancipated from its reigning power. And in this latter sense too, no less than in the former, Christ washes his people from their sins. The object of his interposition on their behalf was not simply to reconcile them to God, by obtaining for them the forgiveness of their past offences, but likewise to restore the lost image of God to their souls. He loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”