Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3382
“Now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.” Micah 5:4.
THERE can be no doubt but what the Prophet here spoke of the Messiah—of our Lord Jesus Christ. We shall not need to enter into any discussion of that subject here, but shall take it at once for granted that the passage means, “Now shall the Lord Jesus be great unto the ends of the earth.” This does not mean that Jesus Christ will be any greater than He always is essentially and naturally. As the Son of God, He is Infinite in Glory and can be no greater. As King of kings and Lord of lords, His Glory fills immensity. Before Him all intelligent spirits that are obedient to God pay their constant homage. He is so great that as we look up to Him, we can both rejoice in Him as our Brother and be humbled in His Presence when we reflect that He is our God. Jesus Christ is not to be greater, then, essentially than He now is. He is “God over all, blessed forever.” The greatness here spoken of is not one of essence, but of manifestation. Christ is to be made great in the judgment, hearts and understandings of men, as He is at all times really great in Himself. When we read in the text, “Now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth,” we may remember that He is already great in Heaven. Albeit that man rejects Him—painful as the thought is that multitudes in this world have not even heard His name and that multitudes more only know it to revile it—yet there is a place where His name is great.
In every golden street that name is celebrated. The strings of every holy harp in Heaven are set to the melodies of His praise. All of “the melodious sonnets sung by angel hosts above” are to extol and magnify Him. They delight to do Him service. We may comfort ourselves with this thought when blasphemy abounds and the love of many grows cold. There is at least one shrine where He is always adored—one happier and better land where the sound of blasphemy never profanes Him—where He is loved, adored and reverenced by every creature!
And it is also sweet to remember that although Jesus Christ is not as yet great unto the ends of the earth, yet He is exceedingly great in the hearts of the multitudes of His people. When we meet here tonight, a comparatively little band, we are not the only worshippers of the Crucified. At this moment the sacred song is going up from tens of thousands of sincere hearts in this island. Across the Continent there are those who have not bowed the knee to Baal, but who delight to join with angels and archangels in singing the praises of Jesus. And far, far across the sea, men of our own kith and kin love Him as we do. No, no, where is there a place where the name of Jesus is not now known? As the wide sea is everywhere whitened with the sails of our commerce, so do these swift ships bear in them the servants of God!
The desert has been heard to ring with the songs of His praises! Adventurous missionaries have forced their way to what seemed to be impenetrable swamps and deserts that never could be trodden by the foot of man—and Jesus Christ’s name has been made known—at least as a witness againstthe people, even where it has not been received by the people. Little is the Light of God, but we thank God we have some Light! Few there are that find the narrow road, but still, there is a goodly company who, as they march along, sing of Jesus—the way, the truth and the life! “The whole world lies in the Wicked One,” but, like an oasis in the midst of the desert, we can see the Christian Church! Like a handful of salt scattered over a mass of putridity, like here and there a lamp hung up in the thick darkness, God has a chosen people and in their hearts Jesus Christ is great—and shall be great in time and in eternity!
But the text does mean this, that throughout the whole world—north, south, east, and west—Jesus Christ shall yet be made great! We will speak of this tonight, first, by showing that He deserves to be great. Then by reminding you that Godhas decreed that He shall be great. Thirdly, by asking you, my Brothers and Sisters, whether you do not also agree
with that decree and now, in His strength, that you will make Him great And then I shall close by asking whether there are not some here whose hearts, as yet unbowed to His dominion, shall tonight come and acknowledge His sway, that they also may feel and proclaim His greatness unto the ends of the earth. In the first place, what a task I have undertaken in endeavoring to show that—
I. Jesus Christ Deserves to Be Made Great!
Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, it needs an angel to set forth the Person of the Lord Jesus, and yet an angel might fail, for an angel was never washed in the Savior’s blood and never redeemed from wrath by Jesus the Substitute! What are my lips but poor, cold clay, and what are my words but air, and how shall I, then, set forth the Son of God, the Eternal One, “who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich”?