Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1047
“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before You.” Psalm 22:27.
SOME have thought that this Psalm was used as a soliloquy by our Lord when He was expiring upon the Cross. It may be so. Fitter words could scarcely have been conceived, even by our Lord Himself. We must not, however, strain a point to establish a conjecture, nor attempt to prove that which is not revealed to us. We have no sort of hesitation, however, in asserting that this Psalm describes both the outward sufferings and the inward emotions of our expiring Lord—and in that light it becomes a very wonderful Psalm, indeed. Its clear prophetic description is an evidence of our Lord’s Messiahship, and indeed, it is so full and plain that it is a key to His sufferings.
Here the Prophet explains the Evangelist, just as in ordinary cases the Evangelist is the expositor of the Prophet. Towards the close of this Psalm its tone is singularly altered—mournfulness departs and joy occupies its place—the mighty Hero sees the conflict ended, anticipates the victory and begins to chant the conquerors paean. We have selected our text out of that part of the Psalm which overflows with the joy of anticipated triumph, and we trust that this morning the joy of the Lord may be our strength so that we may be moved to prayer and nerved for action. As this is the annual Missionary Sabbath, I feel bound to preach upon the subject, yet, while I do so, I shall at the same time desire to speak personally to the souls of all present.
Remembering that we are in a dying world, I, a dying preacher to dying hearers, would not deliver even a single discourse without appealing to the consciences and aiming at the hearts of those who are present. Because we are thinking of heathens, or of the coming triumphs of Christ in the latter days, we must not forget those who are perishing before our eyes. Excuse me, therefore—no, commend me—if every now and then I drive right away from the subject to assail men’s hearts.
I. Our first point this morning is, I think, pretty clear in the text, namely, that THE CONVERSION OF THE NATIONS TO GOD MAY BE EXPECTED. “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship Him.” We are all agreed that such a thing is to be desired. It is, indeed, a “consummation devoutly to be wished,” since this is the true and only remedy for the ills of human society. Nothing else will ever cure earth’s woes but the bringing of her back again to her God from whom she has wandered.
We are equally well agreed, I think, in the sorrowful conclusion that such a consummation does not appear at all likely to the eye of observation and the judgment of reason. How little progress has the Kingdom of God made in the world in these latter days! In the heroic age of Christianity the Cross was borne as a conquering symbol from land to land in a short space of time! The Apostles were clothed with extraordinary power and their immediate successors, retaining much of their spirit, went from strength to strength till the nations heard the testimony of Christ and myriads submitted to it.
A long pause has intervened, with only occasional breaks, such as the Reformation, the times of refreshing under the Methodists, and the partial revival of our own times. Despite these hopeful outbreaks of life, the progress of Christianity has been very slight, indeed, compared with what might have been expected from its rapid strides at the commencement, and compared with what might have been expected from the force of its essential truth, and from the fact that its message commends itself to the best sympathies of the human heart. Alas, alas! The battle is long and weary, and the end is not yet. So far from going on to victory, we so decline that men taunt us with the decadence of our holy faith and foretell that we are nearing the period of decay when something better will supplant the Gospel.
We do not believe the insinuation! We reject it as blasphemy! And yet we should not wonder if our lethargy and non-success have been the soil in which this noxious thought has grown. It is unquestionable that the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, except to those who regard it with very sanguine eyes, has not progressed of late as we could have desired. It would be fair to conclude, judging of things to come by the things that appear, and setting aside the hopes of faith and the teachings of Revelation, that it is not probable that so spiritual a faith as that of Christ should ever subdue the nations. Men need a coarser system of religion—their minds are groveling, they desire a creed which will tolerate their lusts—they crave a religion which will afford scope for their pride and their self-will.
The doctrines of the Gospel kindle men’s hostility when they are fairly and honestly preached—there would be more opposition to it if it were not so frequently diluted, and even falsified by its professed teachers. True Christianity causes a warfare and a division, and has to force its way against inveterate hatred. Only the Grace of God can make it spread. Yet, for all that, Brothers and Sisters, we judge not after the sight of the eyes, neither do we look into the future through the glass of human calculation. We believe in God, and viewing the future with the eyes of faith, we expect a complete triumph! As in the past, so in the future, the Church walks by faith. We are to believe, and we shall be established. The sooner we have done with reasoning and conclusions drawn from things that can be seen, the better! After all, our only reason, as far as I can see, for the firm conviction that the Gospel will yet subdue the nations lies in this—that God will have it so—He has promised it, and He can effect His own purposes.