Welcome to a reading of selections from Messiah the Prince by William Symington, published 1884. This is part of the book Church and State, the Biblical View, published by Stillwater's Revival Books and read by W. J. Mincaro. And the seventh angel sounded. And there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." The phrase, the kingdoms of this world, necessarily suggests the idea of social relations and civil rights. All those public interests and immunities, in short, which distinguish a compact civil body from a loose assemblage of private persons living in a disconnected state or individual capacity. All know that such is the idea attached to a kingdom. But the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of Christ. It must therefore be, in the same sense in which they are kingdoms in the one case, that they are to become kingdoms in the other. Now it is not the private sentiments or individual conduct of the inhabitants of a land which gives character to a kingdom, of this world as such, neither are the adoption of Christian principles and practices by the great bulk of a people sufficient to constitute the nation a kingdom of Christ. The nations of the world have, in their national capacity, too plainly acknowledged and served the God of this world. They have also, in too many instances, proclaimed themselves kingdoms of Antichrist, giving their power and support directly to the beast in their public social character. When the happy state of things announced in this prediction shall have been introduced, it is impossible to believe otherwise than that these kingdoms shall, in the same public social capacity, become the kingdoms of Christ. And what does their becoming the kingdoms of Christ import? Certainly, at the very least, that for which we are now contending, namely, that in token of their subjection to Him they shall recognize His authority and subordinate their interests to the advancement of His glory. Revelation 21, verses 24 and 26 says, And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it, and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. It is the church which is here spoken of as receiving the attention in question, whether in its millennial or celestial state commentators are not agreed. But whichever of these views is taken, the passage must be understood as describing a course of preparation that takes place on earth, as it is only in this world that national and official distinctions exist. Now, if nations, as such, are to walk in the light of the new Jerusalem, that is to say, are to derive distinguished honor and privileges from the church of Christ, they must surely be regarded as under the dominion of the church's head. And if kings, as such, are to bring their glory and honor into it, that is to say, are to subordinate their authority, power, revenues, and whole administration to the interests of Christ's kingdom, they also must be regarded as under the dominion of the mediator. Such is the voice of prophecy on this interesting subject. Every unprejudiced mind must admit that it bears decided testimony to the doctrine we are now attempting to establish. Many more passages might have been quoted. Indeed, the whole tenor of Old Testament prediction speaks the same language. No one, therefore, who has any respect for the Word of God can hesitate to admit that Christ possesses mediatorial dominion over the nations of the earth. In a footnote that's worth reading, he says, God addresses the nations in a collective capacity, reproves them for their idolatry, and calls them to his worship in Isaiah 34 verse 1, 41 verse 1, and verses 21 and 29. He proposes Christ as his anointed servant to them, Isaiah 42, 1. declares that he has given him the nations for his inheritance and that he shall inherit them all, Psalm 2.8, 82.8, Isaiah 52.15, 55.5. Christ addresses himself not only to individuals but to whole islands, Isaiah 44.1. Nations join themselves to him. Isaiah 2, verse 2, Micah 4, verses 1 and 2, Zechariah 2, verse 11, and Zechariah 8, verses 20 and 22. Nations bless themselves in glory in him, Jeremiah 4, 2. All nations and dominions serve him, Daniel 7, verses 14 and 27. They consecrate all things in them, and employ them in his service. Isaiah 60 verses 6 through 12. Zechariah 14 verses 20 and 21. He owns these nations as his and blesses them while he breaks in pieces and wastes others. See Psalm 33 verse 12. 155 verse 15. Isaiah 19 verse 25. Psalm 2, verses 9 and 12, and Isaiah 60, verse 12. The force of the argument arising from these and similar predictions is such that Mr. Edward Williams, although an independent, acknowledges that they imply a national profession and establishment of Christianity. In answer to the objection, if the above prophecies refer to national conversions, does not that lead to national churches, he replies, that a national establishment, if well ordered, appears more agreeable to the prophetic passages we have been considering than the anti-Pedobaptist plan, nay, more agreeable to the general tenor of revelation. " We now return to the text. Thirdly, another set of proofs will be found in numerous designations implying dominion over the nations which are given to Christ in the Scriptures. Such are the following. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is governor among the nations." Psalm 22 verse 28. That the psalm in which this occurs refers to Christ we need not wait to prove, and that it refers to him as mediator is evinced by the whole tenor of the composition itself. His being called in the verse Lord or Jehovah is not inconsistent with this view, as the same high appellation is applied to him in other parts of scripture. It cannot be doubted that the preceding verse foretells the extension of the church of Christ. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. What immediately follows, being introduced as accounting for the universal spread of the kingdom of Messiah, it must be considered as referring to the same illustrious personage. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He is the governor among the nations. Here then is a glorious title, distinctly recognizing the dominion of the Mediator over the nations of men. a title which the nations may indeed overlook, but which they cannot disregard with impunity, and which shall one day be as fully acknowledged by them as it has been hitherto shamefully neglected and despised. The 89th Psalm refers to Messiah. He is the Chosen of the Father, with whom He has made a covenant, whose seed He will establish forever, and whose throne He will build up to all generations. Now mark what He says of Him in the course of this Psalm. I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. Here is another glorious title. His being to be made, what the title imports, determines in what character it belongs to him. It must be as mediator that the Son of God is here described as made higher than the kings of the earth. In the sense of natural superiority he is higher and needs not to be made. In the sense of official supremacy only, then, can this phrase be understood. Besides, the words might have been rendered Most High or Supreme over the kings of the earth. The very same term is often used to express the supremacy of God and is translated Most High. The dominion of Messiah over civil rulers on the one hand, and the subjection of such to him on the other, are thus clearly imported in this title. In the prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter 10, verses 6 and 7, there occurs the following passage. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD, thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? Nations here mean organized civil bodies. King is a title of office, expressive of supreme rule or government. He to whom this title belongs is the true and living God, the God of Israel as distinguished from heathen idols. But as the God of Israel is God in Christ, the title may be regarded as equally applicable to the Redeemer. Should any hesitate, however, to admit this inference, the excuse for doing so cannot be urged in respect to the next proof we have to induce. The exile of Patmos, while introducing his apocalyptic vision under the influence of the Spirit, speaks of Jesus Christ in Revelation 1.5 as the prince of the kings of the earth. The whole context, not to speak of the very verse in which the title occurs, determines the reference to the mediatorial character of our Redeemer. That character, namely, in which He bore faithful witness as a prophet, rose from the dead and washed us from our sins in His blood. There is no room to doubt for a moment that it is Christ as mediator who is spoken of. The persons who are here supposed to be subject to Christ are kings, civil rulers, supreme and subordinate, all in civil authority, whether in the legislative, judicial, or executive branches of government. Of such, Jesus Christ is prince, ruler, lord, chief, the first in power, authority, and dominion. The most splendid title of all remains to be noticed. It occurs twice in the Revelation of John. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. His name is called the Word of God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." The whole book of Revelation relates to Christ as Mediator. The sublime predictions, in which this resplendent title is ascribed to him, treat of the last struggle between Christ and His enemies, in which these enemies are to be finally subdued and their opposition to Him to be buried in oblivion. He by whom the victory is to be secured is the same who is spoken of in the forty-fifth Psalm as, quote, girding his sword upon his thigh, and in his majesty riding prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness. And in the prophecy of Isaiah, as, quote, coming up with dyed garments from Basra, red in his apparel and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat. It is the faithful and true who in righteousness doth judge and make war. He is represented as head of the church, sitting on a white horse. While as head over all things to the church, he is described as having on his head many crowns, as clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, as smiting the nations with a sharp sword, ruling them with a rod of iron, treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and having on his vesture and on his thigh the name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is nothing equivocal here. The mediator is exhibited as waging war with the kings of the earth who oppose his reign, and his right to do so is plainly involved in the title conspicuously inscribed on his vestment, a title not more fraught with terror to those who oppose his dominion than confirmatory of his official supremacy over civil rulers of every description. The proof of the mediatorial dominion over the nations derived from these sources, from commands, predictions, and designations, is so abundant, varied, direct, complete, that we cannot but express our surprise in the doctrine in question should ever have been denied or overlooked. After what has been said, there may be few who will venture formally to impugn this precious truth. But it cannot escape observation that there are many, very many, who are in the habit of constantly neglecting it. This is the case to a mournful extent, not only with the nations and their rulers, whom it greatly concerns to recognize and act upon it, but with private Christians who profess to be concerned for the mediatorial honors of their Redeemer. That it should be so is much to be deplored, and is to a considerable extent unaccountable. How dishonoring to Christ, thus to attempt to tear from his head the crown of the nations! And how blind, even to their own true interests, are those who thus provoke the Lord to anger, and expose themselves to the withering frown of his sovereign displeasure! To the doctrine thus established, no solid objection can be made. Standing as it does on such a basis of scripture evidence, it bids defiance to every argument which prejudice or self-interest or perverted reason can muster against it. It has been violently assailed in some quarters, notwithstanding. The grounds on which this opposition has proceeded have, for the most part, been already overturned. It has been supposed, for example, to exclude Jehovah, essentially considered, from the government of the nations. This objection is just a branch of the common objection which is brought against the mediatorial dominion altogether, and which has already been sufficiently answered. We repeat, that delegation does not involve the surrender of power. And Messiah's dominion over the nations, being of a delegated character, it does not at all follow that when the Father committed this power to the Son, He parted with it Himself. Indeed, it is with the mediatorial power over the nations, as it is with that over the church. And, as the latter certainly does not interfere with the essential dominion of God, no more does the former. Equally vain it is to object that the doctrine in question is at variance with the opinion that civil society originates with God as the God of nature. True, civil society is founded in nature and not in grace, but its subjection to Christ is not in the least inconsistent with this. The objection will be found to carry farther than, perhaps, its friends were aware of. For if everything that springs from the law of nature is to be excluded from the dominion of the mediator, many things must be accepted which they have been accustomed to admit, as under that dominion. Marriage originates in a law of nature. Does it follow that parties united in this relation are to have no regard to the authority and honor of the Redeemer, that they are not to be guided by his law or to act under the influence of his grace? Let him that marrieth marry only in the Lord, Scripture says. The domestic relation has its foundation in the law of nature. Are parents and children, masters and servants at liberty to regard themselves as not under subjection to the Redeemer? What then are we to make of these commands, which require parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, children to obey their parents in the Lord, and servants to be obedient to them that are their masters as unto Christ? Nay, are there not even some prominent parts of religion, such as prayer and praise, which have their foundation in nature, and in which we are certainly not at liberty, much less bound, to have no respect to Christ as mediator? On the same principle, then, it by no means follows, because nations originate in nature, which we freely admit that they do, that they are not placed under Christ, or, in other words, it is no objection to the dominion of Christ over the nations that civil society springs from God as the God of nature. But the most specious objection, perhaps, is derived from what is matter of fact. The nations do not acknowledge Christ. They are, many of them at least, in a state of open rebellion against Him. Not a few of them have given their power to the beast, to the avowed enemy of the Messiah. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. But as before remarked, right and acknowledgment are different things, and the former is not dependent on the latter. On the one hand, an unlawful usurper may be acknowledged, but this can never confer on him the right to rule. On the other hand, acknowledgment may be refused to one whose right of dominion rests on the most solid foundation. It is easy to see that if acknowledgment were necessary to establish right, neither the Messiah's dominion over the church nor Jehovah's moral government of the world could be established, as there are many who not only refuse to recognize but pointedly dispute both the one and the other. Because we see not yet all things put under him, as respects active moral subjection, we are not to consider the statement as invalidated, that the Father hath put all things in subjection under his feet, as respects his right of sovereignty. The fact of the mediatorial rule of the nations having them considered, we now proceed to the acts of Christ's regal administration towards this class of his subjects. First, although civil society originates with God as the God of nature, nations may be said, in a certain sense, to derive even their existence from Christ. The origin of civil society and political government has given rise to much speculation. Whether they originate with God or with man, and in what sense they can be said to originate with either or with both, are topics that admit of extensive discussion, but into which we do not feel ourselves called at present to enter. The scriptures, it may be remarked, represent civil government as at once an ordinance of God and an ordinance of man. In as far as it is the right of the people to fix the constitution, to elect the rulers, and to revise and amend the system under which they live, civil government may be regarded as an ordinance of man. But it is not to be inferred from this that it depends solely on the will of man whether civil institutions should be set up in a country at all, that civil society originates wholly in voluntary compact, or that whatever is sanctioned by the public will necessarily be right and consequently obligatory. The most frightful results would follow from admitting such an absolute sovereignty of the people as this. There are too many instances on record of the great body of the people having gone egregiously astray ever to permit us to give our unqualified assent to such a principle. Indeed, it is manifestly absurd to suppose that the majority of a nation should be free from the moral control of the law and authority of God in the formation of their civil institutions. This were to ascribe to an aggregate body composed of moral subjects who are individually responsible a proud, irreligious, irresponsible independence of the will of the great moral governor himself. a supposition so monstrous that, however much overlooked in practice, everyone must shrink from it in theory. It is admitted that God has invested the people with power in political matters, and that the people, of course, have a right to the exercise of this power. But it is at the same time to be attentively observed that he has given them a law by which they are to be regulated in the use of this power, and it is only when they act according to the law given them that their determinations and institutions possess the sanction and obligation of righteousness. Civil government can be the ordinance of man in no sense that it is inconsistent with its being strictly and properly the ordinance of God. Now, it is not merely in regard to his overruling providence that it is the ordinance of God. In this respect, indeed, the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth it up over the basest of men. He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." But in this sense, the grossest tyranny and misrule might also be regarded as the ordinance of God. Civil government originates with Him morally, not less than providentially. It is the moral ordinance of God. It is a divine institution. The principles by which its formation and management are to be regulated are laid down in the Bible. Lawful magistrates, whether supreme or subordinate, are consequently the ministers of God, not the mere creatures and servants of men, but the authorized vice-regents of heaven. Nor, in saying that the nations derive their existence from Christ, do we say anything in variance with what has just been laid down. This is perfectly consistent with maintaining, as we do, that civil government proceeds from God, not as the God of grace, but as the God of nature. We admit that it springs from Him as the supreme moral governor of the universe, having its foundation in natural principles which belong to the constitution of man. National society, political government, magistratical authority, all originate in the moral government of God as the God of nature, and not in the mediatorial system. These might all have existed, had there never been a mediatorial economy. Nay, they do often exist where the economy of grace is quite unknown. We are anxious not to be misunderstood on this point. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that, as we have already shown, God has placed the affairs of the moral universe in the hands of his Son as mediator. The dispensations of providence in general are put under his feet, in consequence of which such dispensations as give rise to the existence of nations, or regulate their political aspects and interests, may be viewed as managed and directed by him. And not only so, but civil government, as a moral ordinance of God, is put under the Redeemer's feet, and, in as far also as this is the case, may not nations be regarded as deriving their being from Christ? It is not enough to say that nations owe their existence to God. This is true, but it is not the whole truth. They originate in the will, authority, and appointment of the Messiah. We find it indeed said, There is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. But we also find issuing from the mediator this proclamation, by me kings reign and princes decree justice, by me princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. Proverbs 8 verses 15 and 16. Nations are thus invested with a high and noble character. They are the moral subjects of the Redeemer. The rulers are not the mere servants of men, the creatures of popular choices, but the ministers of God, the moral deputies of heaven, the servants, the representatives, the vice-regents of the prince of the kings of the earth. This gives them a peculiar elevation in dignity, throws around them a moral grandeur, lays them under obligations to attend to moral qualifications and conduct, and entitles them to be treated by the people with esteem, veneration, and honor. Secondly, Messiah watches over and directs all occurrences connected with nations. National concerns are numerous and diversified. The origin of national associations, whether it be warlike aggression, internal revolution, arbitrary usurpation, or voluntary compact, involves a vast variety of interests and events. so also the progress of nations, whether this is connected with the management of internal and foreign relations, the councils of statesmen, the conduct of generals, or the prowess of armies. Nor is it less so with the circumstances which occasion the dissolution of states. Yet these and all their aspects and bearings are ordered and controlled by the Mediator. They form prominent parts of that universal providence which, as before shown, is placed under Messiah. The wheels of providence and all their intricacy are propelled by the God-man mediator. And, as for that department of providential arrangements which respects nations, the control of Messiah is fully illustrated and confirmed in the Apocalypse. The events unfolded in this book have respect to the nations of the earth in general, and more especially to such as are connected with the Roman Empire, the fourth great monarchy, in whose decline and fall are involved the interests of the principal European powers. But these events are represented as developed by the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, the divine mediator who opens the sealed book of God's purposes respecting the nations, blows the trumpets of divine warning, and pours forth the vials of Jehovah's wrath. thus carrying forward the scheme of predetermined decrees, till Babylon the Great is overthrown, till all thrones of iniquity are overturned in its downfall, and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. Thirdly, Jesus, as King of nations, exacts obedience to His commands. The moral law and all the precepts of Scripture are administered by Christ. Communities, as well as individuals, are under the divine law. Such commands, therefore, as are found in the word of God, applicable to nations and their rulers, are to be regarded as issuing from the divine mediator, who is invested with all possible sovereignty and power, with not merely physical control, but moral dominion. It follows that wherever we find nations commanded to serve the Lord and civil rulers required to promote the public good, to restrain evil, to administer the laws with equity and partiality and benevolence, to set a good example in intelligence, morality, and religion, and to give countenance, protection, and aid to the Church, we are to recognize the authority of the Redeemer. The duties of subjects are, perhaps, more frequently inculcated in Scripture than those of rulers, yet are not either the qualifications or the duties of rulers entirely overlooked. And if rulers are, as we have shown, under moral subjection to Messiah, in those passages of Scripture which prescribe their qualifications and duties, they are addressed by the Redeemer. Such are the following. We're going to be reading a selection of Scripture. Deuteronomy 1, verses 16 and 17, 16, verses 18, 2 Samuel 23, verse 3, Psalm 2, verses 10 and 11, Psalm 82, verses 2 through 4, and Romans 13, verses 3 and 4. Here are the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Be wise now, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear. How long will you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. He is the minister of God to thee for good. He beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. These and similar precepts and prescriptions, if all power is given to Christ, must be regarded as emanating from the mediatorial throne and as enforced by the gracious but sovereign authority of the Redeemer. It follows that national communities and civil office bearers who disregard or neglect them are guilty not only of a contravention of the people's rights, but of rebellion against Jesus, the King of Nations. And here we have another act of Christ's regal administration. For this rebellion, He overrules for good. The nations oft times refuse to serve Him. The kings of the earth have set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, is not the only king who has made his people to sin. Herod and Pontius Pilate are not the only rulers who have of a truth conspired against Jesus of Nazareth. National honor and personal aggrandizement are more commonly the objects they pursue than the glory of God, the honor of Christ, or the good of his people. His prescribed qualifications are not stolen contemptuously disregarded and his commands trampled underfoot. The power with which they are invested is too often employed to persecute and oppress his church and to support his enemies. Revelation 17 verses 12 and 13 says, The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings. These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. But all this is overrule for the accomplishment of ultimate good by the divine mediator. He makes the wrath of man to praise him. The nations and their rulers may refuse to serve him, but they cannot prevent him from serving himself by them. By their councils and treaties, their ambitious wars and lawless transactions, he fulfills his own sovereign purposes. Their conspiracy against his rights he causes to issue in the development of the weight of his arm. their persecution of his church in her purification, and the countenance they afford to his enemies in the chastisement and overthrow of his impenitent foes. The Assyrian is the rod of his anger, and when he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so. Christ executes by him his own righteous decrees. But for this comforting assurance, what friend of the Redeemer could look abroad without the most gloomy forebodings on the tyranny, oppression, blasphemy, and iniquity of every sort and degree which are practiced among the nations of the world under the convenient cloak of civil power. The Lord Jehovah Jesus reigneth. He rules in the midst of his enemies. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Fifthly, Christ as mediator executes the righteous judgments of God on wicked nations and rulers. The Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. The Father hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man, says the Scripture. The treasures of wrath, as well as those of grace, are at his disposal. We read not only of the wrath of God, but of the wrath of the Lamb. Nor is it merely the solemnities of the final judgment that are administered by him, but those judicial dispensations which are unfolded in the providential occurrences of the present state. Among these, the judgments inflicted on civil communities stand conspicuous. The moral character of nations and the moral responsibility of rulers show the possibility of national and official sins. By cherishing a spirit of pride, self-confidence, and independence of God, by practicing tyranny, cruelty, and oppression, by indulging a perverse, ungrateful, and turbulent temper, by prostituting their power and influence to the encouragement and support of their religion, blasphemy, and immorality, or by employing the scepter and the sword in hostile opposition to the tenets and institutions of true religion. Civil communities may be guilty of such heinous iniquity as to call forth the retributive judgments of God. National crime, when carried to a height, operates as a conductor to draw down the lightning of vengeance from the eternal throne. And what we here wish to be remarked is that it is the province of the King of Nations to execute these judgments. He is the mediatorial angel described in the Apocalypse as taking the censer and filling it with the fire of the altar and casting it upon the earth, causing voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. These judgments, whether they consist in a dark and confounding infatuation, seizing hold of the thoughts and counsels of men in power, or in a sudden paralyzing of the hearts of the people, by which they are disarmed of all their wanted fortitude and reduced to a state of most cowardly and effeminate timidity, or in the pressure and secession of those fearful calamities which induce disorganization and ruin, or in those terrible things in righteousness by which the Almighty speaks to the guilty and makes bare His holy arm against the workers of iniquity. Whether they be brought about by the whirlwind of war, by the blast of famine, by the withering breath of pestilence, or by the earthquake of popular commotion, in whatsoever they consist, by what means soever they are affected, they are the doings of Him who is Governor among the nations. In general, we are assured, with regard to rebellious princes, that he shall speak to them in wrath, and vex them in a sore displeasure, shall break them with a rod of iron, and shall dash them in pieces, like a potter's vessel. The Lord shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall fill the places with dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over many countries. " Those quotes are from Psalm 2 verse 5 and 110 verses 5 and 6. The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. By whom this sentence is carried into execution we are not left to conjecture. Who is this that comes from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me. For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. Here we have the Almighty Savior executing the most awful judgments on His enemies. With regard, in particular, to those great enemy empires prefigured in Nebuchadnezzar's image, the Chaldean, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, we know that it is the kingdom of the Messiah, under the government, of course, of its glorious head and prince, that shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, as it is said in Daniel 2.41. While with respect to the judgments already executed, or yet to be executed, on the kingdoms of the Roman Empire, the nations of the Latin earth, we find them directly and unequivocally ascribed to the same source. He that overcometh, saith the Son of God, and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers. Even as I received of my Father, the kings of the earth hid themselves from the wrath of the Lamb, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." And that, of course, is from Revelation 2, verses 26 and 27, 6, verses 15 and 16, and chapter 19, verse 15. We are thus bound to believe that those occurrences by which guilty nations are scourged and chastised for their sins are not merely brought about in providence, but ordered and directed by the mediator. And whether, therefore, we behold the desolating sword cutting off the inhabitants, or the blasting mildew destroying the crops, or commercial stagnation obstructing the sources of wealth, or wasting disease, stalking with ghastly power over a land, or the upheavings of popular commotion overturning the foundations of social order. In all these we recognize the wisdom and might and righteous retribution of Prince Messiah, carrying into execution the divine decree, The nations and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The prince of the kings of the earth opens up a way for the universal dissemination and success of his gospel among the nations. The religion of the cross is to be universally diffused. This supposes that the ministers of Christ are to circulate throughout the nations, making overtures of reconciliation to their inhabitants and urging upon them the claims of their divine sovereign. Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them, etc., is the command of the Redeemer to his ministering servants. But it is only in virtue of his sovereignty over the nations that he could issue such a mandate. And in this way only could those invested with his commission be warranted to demand admission for themselves and reception for their message by the nations of the earth. When the ambassadors of Jesus visit foreign lands to disseminate the knowledge of the gospel, however exclusive the laws and strict the prohibitions of these lands against foreign intrusion, they are not to be regarded as lawless aggressors. Jealous potentates may refuse to acknowledge the king in whose name they come. The subservient functionaries of these potentates may use all means to shut them out from their dominions, but they have a right to enter, and, as faithful and authorized ambassadors, have a right to negotiate with the inhabitants of all lands on behalf of their sovereign lord. It may be their duty to use caution and exercise prudence in introducing themselves into heathen kingdoms. But still they are to regard themselves as fully entitled to be heard in the name of Him by whom they are sent. The sovereignty of their Lord spares them the moral degradation of feeling that they are doing what is illegal, that they are violating the principles of international law, that they are acting the part of contraband traitors. What they are doing may be unauthorized by man, may be contrary even to the will and command of the rulers of those regions of the earth into which they have gone. But they proceed in the name of one whose authority extends over all nations, who claims all the kings of the earth as his subjects, and whose commands cannot without rebellion be disputed. He has said to them, Go teach all nations. And when the jealousy of heathen princes interferes to impede them in the execution of this commission by arresting them on the confines of their territory and commanding them to depart from their coasts, they are entitled to refuse and to plead as an excuse for doing so the obligation to obey God rather than man. Without the supremacy of Christ over the nations, however, the missionaries of the cross could have no right thus to penetrate into all lands. The apostolic commission could not indeed be lawfully executed. In consequence of this supremacy, however, they may circumnavigate the globe, may touch at every island that studs the ocean, may make a descent on every coast, may pass every boundary, may knock at the gates of every palace, may address every crowned head, may pervade the length and breadth of every kingdom, and ask admission in the name of the King of Kings for themselves and for their message. Nor is the right of his ambassadors to perceive the only thing that is secured by the Messiah's headship over the nations. Provision is thus made for the opening up of a way for the success of their cause and the protection of their persons. There may be much in the prejudices, the opinions, the habits and the manners of the inhabitants, much in their legal institutions and superstitious rites, to present barriers to the introduction of the pure and self-denying religion of Jesus. But notwithstanding all, the prince of the kings of the earth can open a way for his own cause in the midst of all obstructions. Nothing can baffle his counsel, nothing can withstand his might. Difficulties disappear at his approach, before him mountains become a plain. He hath the key of David, he openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. Behold, says he, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. Yes, the herald of salvation in foreign lands may have numerous discouragements, and may often find reason to say, with the great apostle of the Gentiles, there are many adversaries. But believing in the dominion of Christ over the nations, he need not despair of being able to add, A great door and effectual is opened unto me. Seventhly, it is thus easy to see how the mediatorial dominion over the nations is connected with the gathering of a church and the setting up of a spiritual kingdom in the midst of them. The preservation of this church, the protection of this kingdom, is another purpose for which Christ wields the mediatorial scepter. There is much, very much, in the nature and spirit of the civil institution set up among men which tends to endanger the Redeemer's covenant society. The indifference with which her interests are regarded, and the seductive attempts made to induce her to barter away her spiritual liberties and to permit herself to be degraded into a political engine, not to speak of the positive hostility which she may be directly assailed, are evils against which she requires to be guarded, and into which, if left to herself, she would be sure to fall a prey. There is much in the doctrines and precepts of the Christian religion that is opposed to the immoral principles and practices patronized and acted upon by the nations of the world in general, so that she could not continue to exist among them uncorrupted and independent unless protected by one who can control, modify, and overrule all their counsels and doings. Without this, the Church would not long be tolerated pure and unfettered, but would either be crushed beneath the iron rod of despotic power, or be extirpated by the flames of persecution. To her blessed and glorious King, who is Governor among the nations, is she indebted for so overruling the hearts and conduct of men in power as to throw around her a shield of safety. Considering the dangers of the Church and the character of the nations, we could have no hope of her continuing to subsist were it not for the feature of mediatorial dominion now under review. Eighthly, it only here remains to notice that in this capacity the mediator will ultimately bring about an entire change in the character and constitution of the nations of the world. To the fulfillment of Scripture prophecy, such a change is indispensable. At present, the nations are all more or less in a state of hostility to the Redeemer, either sunk in criminal apathy or extensively pervaded with pagan and anti-Christian leaven. A numerous and influential class have given their power and strength to the beast. The authority and law of the Redeemer are not regarded, His glory is not contemplated, the true interests of His church are opposed or forgotten. It will be otherwise, however, in the end. When kings shall be nursing fathers and their queens nursing mothers to the church, when the Zion of the Holy One of Israel shall suck the breasts of kings, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, the nations of this earth will assume an aspect very different from the present. The basis of their organization will then be in the word of God, and the aim of their administration the glory of Christ. Their officers shall be peace, and their exactors righteousness, and the spirit which shall pervade all the nations shall be the pure spirit of the gospel. But by whom is this change to be effected? How is this marvelous revolution to be brought about? By the overruling providence and gracious energy of Him who is governor among the nations. He will shake all nations with the thunder of His power, till everything connected with them that is opposed to His cause is overthrown. and they are led to hail himself as the desire of all nations. He will purge out the leaven of infidelity and anti-Christianism with searching scrutiny and liberally infuse the opposite principles till they leaven the whole lump. He will overturn, overturn, overturn till he come whose right it is and he will give it him. The secular tyrannies of the Latin earth shall be broken to pieces, shall become like the chaff of the summer-thrashing floor, and be carried away by the wind till no place be found for them. And the kingdoms that shall succeed will be actuated with the spirit of that kingdom which is represented by the stone cut out without hands, which is to become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. Thus to purify, sanctify, revolutionize, nay, Christianize the nations of the world is what none but He could perform. And were it not that he is head of the nations as well as head of the church, we should have to despair of these glorious anticipations being ever realized. If it is admitted that the Messiah is invested with dominion over the nations, toward which, in consequence of such investment, he performs the acts of administration of which we have been speaking, it follows as a natural and unavoidable inference that there are duties which the nations owe to the mediator. If the mediator is the king of nations, nations are the subjects of the mediator, and all the duties which subjects owe to their prince must be due by them to him. It is vain to plead exemption from moral responsibility for bodies politic or civil office bearers as such. Associations composed of such as are individually morally responsible must be morally responsible collectively. An aggregate of moral subjects must itself possess a moral character. Every society of moral beings is itself a moral being or subject. That a nation is not a responsible moral subject is a sentiment monstrously inconsistent in itself, and fraught with consequences of most hideous description. By means of its laws and its rulers, a nation is capable of putting forth acts as strictly of a moral character as those of any individual. This view of the matter is not more consonant with sound reason than with Scripture, for there we read and express terms of an ungodly nation, a hypocritical a rebellious nation. Look at Psalm 43 verse 1, Isaiah chapter 10 verse 6, Ezekiel 2 verse 3. The same principle is admitted in the common language of mankind. We are accustomed every day to speak of national virtue, national honor, national faith, national sin, phraseology which distinctly recognizes the moral character and obligation of nations as such. Nor is it at all difficult to conceive however precept of the Decalogue may be as expressly kept or violated by a body politic as by a private individual. Such being the case, we can be at no loss to perceive either that nations are under moral obligations to Christ or what are the specific duties they owe to Him. First, it is the duty of nations and their rulers to have respect to the glory of Christ in all their institutions and transactions. No principle can less admit of dispute than it is the duty of subjects to honor their King. And if Christ is King of nations, and magistrate subjects of the Messiah, they must be held bound in virtue of their relative characters to pay all possible respect to His honor and glory. The spirit of the divine command, honor the King, carries in it thus much. Indeed, from the relation in which we all stand to God, we are bound to have respect to His honor in everything as the grand end of our being, whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. On the same principle, kingdoms and civil rulers, from the relation in which they stand to the Redeemer, are bound to subordinate all that belongs to them to His honor. It is not enough that they have respect to the public good, to the promotion of social order and happiness among men, such is doubtless the grand immediate end they are to contemplate, but as moral and responsible subjects they are in seeking this end to look higher and to have an ultimate regard to the honor of him to whom they owe their being, preservation, and powers. Like all other moral creatures, they are to have respect to the highest possible end in all that they do. And certainly no end can they ever propose to themselves, at all so dignified and illustrious, as the display of the glorious excellency of the prince of the kings of the earth, who possesses undisputed sovereignty over all. This object, therefore, they are bound to keep distinctly before them in the formation of their constitution, in the establishment of their various institutions, in the shaping of their policy, whether domestic or foreign. in the selection and appointment of their functionaries, whether supreme or subordinate, in their legislative enactments, and in all their separate acts of administration. Not an establishment are they at liberty to set up, not a law are they entitled to pass, not a step are they free to take, not an alliance are they permitted to form without having supreme regard to this high and glorious end. Hostility, or even indifference to this, partakes of the very essence of rebellion against their sovereign lord. The true feeling of loyal subjection to a lawful prince requires more than a mere selfish regard to the subject's own immediate interests. A devoted regard to the prince's honor and a willingness to maintain his dignity against every infringement enter essentially into the nature of loyalty. For disregard of this, Nebuchadnezzar of old was subjected to the fearful punishment by which he was driven from among men and had his dwelling with the beasts of the field, until seven times passed over him. The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, Thy kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall make thee to eat grass as an oxen, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And what was the crime for which the impious Belshazzar had the ominous sentence so miraculously inscribed against him? Daniel 5 verse 23, Thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. These are the cases which it well becomes civil communities and their office-bearers deeply to ponder, as not only involving by implication the duty of nations to consult the glory of the Messiah in all things, but as holding out a solemn warning of the danger to which the neglect or violation of this duty necessarily exposes. And oh, when we reflect how little reason we have to suppose that in the great majority of national concerns and transactions this end is at all regarded by civil communities, we may well tremble at the fearful retribution that awaits them if they repent not. How few, alas, of those who conduct public affairs in the political world get evidence of being actuated by the high motive in question. A patriotic regard to the good of the community is the highest object to which in general any ever pretend to have respect. There is reason to fear that not seldom they come even far short of this, while regard for the glory of the mediatorial king is neither thought of nor professed. Secondly, it is the duty of nations as the subjects of Christ to take His law as their rule. They are apt to think it enough that they take as their standard of legislation and administration human reason, natural conscience, public opinion, or political expediency. None of these, however, nor indeed all of them together, can supply a sufficient guide in affairs of state. Of course, heathen nations who are not in possession of the revealed will of God must be regulated by the law of nature. But this is no good reason why those who have a revelation of the divine will should be restricted to the use of a more imperfect rule. It is absurd to contend that because civil society is founded in nature, men are to be guided in directing its affairs and consulting its interests solely by the light of nature. Might not the same be said with as much propriety of many other relations of human life, such as parents and children, husbands and wives, masters and servants, the duties of which we never think of exempting from the control of a preternatural revelation? Nay, might it not with equal propriety be maintained, as was formerly hinted, that as certain religious duties such as prayer and praise are founded in nature, we are in the performance of them to have no respect either to the authority or directions of the Holy Scriptures? The truth is that revelation is given to man to supply the imperfections of the law of nature, and to restrict ourselves to the latter and renounce the former in any case in which it is competent to guide us, is at once to condemn God's gift and to defeat the end for which it was given. We contend, then, that the Bible is to be our rule, not only in matters of a purely religious nature, in matters connected with conscience and the worship of God, but in matters of a civil or political nature. To say that in such matters we have nothing to do with the Bible is to maintain what is manifestly untenable. To require nations who possess the sacred volume to confine themselves in their political affairs to the dim light of nature is not more absurd than it would be to require men, when the sun is in the heavens, to shut out its full blaze and go about their ordinary duties by the feeble rays of a taper. Indeed, if nations are moral subjects, they are bound to regulate their conduct by whatever laws their moral governor has been pleased to give them. and, as they are the subjects of the Mediator, they must be under the law of the Mediator as contained in the Scriptures. He has not placed His moral subjects in ignorance of His will, nor left them to search for it amid the obscurities and imperfections of a law which sin has effaced and well nigh obliterated. In the holy Scriptures of truth He has given them a fairer and more complete exhibition of the principles of immutable and eternal justice than that which is to be found in the law of nature. We have only to look into the volume of Revelation itself to have these reasonings confirmed. The people of Israel were instructed to regulate their national concerns by a revealed standard, and were taught to regard the possession of God's revealed statutes and judgments as a national distinction for which they were bound to be grateful. Nor is there anything said which would warrant us to conclude that this was to be regarded as peculiar to that people. Behold, says Moses, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whether ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations. And what nation is so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? In strict conformity with this, the chief magistrate was to have a copy of the law, according to which he should act in the discharge of his official duties. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them. that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel." The same principle is illustrated in the instructions given to the rulers, judges, and kings of Israel. To Joshua it was said, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. When the days of David drew nigh that he should die, he charged Solomon, his successor on the throne, thusly, Be thou strong, and show thyself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and withersoever thou turnest thyself. We wait not to quote these passages in which nations and their rulers are encouraged to obey the law of God by the promise of suitable rewards, are cautioned against disobedience by appropriate threats, and are spoken of as actually punished for the transgression of this rule. What has been already adduced is sufficient to show that the Jews, at least, were bound to regulate their national concerns by the revealed will of Jehovah. And the inference from this is neither obscure nor illegitimate. that nations like them in possession of revealed truth are still bound to take it as their supreme rule, standard, and guide in all their civil affairs. Neither do we wait to inquire what parts of the judicial law given to the Jews are binding upon Christian states. We build at present upon the broad and undeniable fact that nations as such and civil magistrates in their official capacity, when the matter of revelation was less extensive than it is now, were bound to make it their rule of duty. And from this we deduce the natural and reasonable influence that civil communities blessed by God with the perfect revelation of His will are under obligation at all times to shape and model their political conduct by the dictates of this infallible standard. The principle on which they were at any time bound to do so being a moral principle, they must be held bound to do the same at all times. What is moral is neither of local nor of temporary obligation. If nations are not bound by the word of God, they are not responsible or punishable for acting contrary to it, but may at pleasure revel with impunity in the violation of every branch of revealed truth. a degree of licentious indulgence, which, however agreeable to the taste of the infidel, cannot fail to shock the mind of every Christian. Our address is 4710 37A Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6L 3T5. As for our complimentary discount catalog containing Calvinist materials, if you do not already have it, and to be put on our email super special list.