Songs 3:11 Go forth, O you daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals… Here we have, by the voice of the Holy Ghost, the account of the coronation of human nature in the person of the Incarnate Word. As "the day of our Lord's Resurrection is the day wherein the dignity of the everlasting priesthood was actually collated upon Him, so the day of His ascension, or placing at the right hand of God, is the day of His solemn enthronization, when the Lord 'sent forth the rod of His strength out of Zion.'" But the coronation of our Lord is not the quiet accession of the heir of a desired and long-descended line to the peaceful seat of his fathers: it is rather the final triumph of a mighty warrior who through blood hath waded to the throne. It is rather the eventual vindication of the true heir, who, as in many an Oriental land, has been debarred from His succession by the intrigues of His enemies, and has to obtain His own by the might of His holy arm. And who are they whom the triumphant Lord hath thus routed? I will not speak of those temporal enemies who now, or in times past, oppose and resist His will Rather will I speak of the spiritual enemies of this Monarch, whom He hath overthrown — Satan, sin and death: each a mighty potentate — Satan, "the prince of this world"; sin, that "reigned unto death in our mortal bodies"; death, that by one offence reigned "from Adam till Moses." Now the royal work of our ascended Lord is to subdue and to destroy these; and because, though scotched and crippled, they still exist, so the royalty of our Lord is a present and potential act of conquering dominion. The" demonstration of the eternal justice of God," and the probation of holy souls, require that still the powers of evil should be allowed; and therefore is the Eternal Son "set down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool." And yet the conquest is complete, so far as our condition of trial will allow. Satan subdued is now the unwilling servant of Divine justice in the case of the reprobate, while he has no power to hurt the elect of God. Sin still remains, in all its hideous mystery, as the measure of the love of the Cross, but has no power over the children of the kingdom; and even death itself, though still allowed to fill its place in the physical world, has now changed its conditions, and altered its position in the kingdom of grace, its realm being the ante-chamber of the New Jerusalem, and itself the harbinger of a joyous resurrection. But we must not confine our ideas of the royalty of Christ to a mighty warrior going forth conquering and to conquer. Our Heavenly Monarch is to His own no "minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil"; but yielding to the deep necessities of the benevolence of His attributes, "He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" First, His reign is established in the kingdom of the physical world. This bursting springtime, when nature is at its freshest and loveliest, when the hidden powers of vegetable life, so lately dead and inert, have again put forth their might to the glory of God, and the green carpet of the earth, and the rich foliage of the trees and the flowers reflecting every hue of paradise on the earth below, all speak to the eye of faith, as the sweet bird's song speaks to the ear, tells us not merely of a King, but of a King whose law shall not be broken, and who shows us, by the beauty of that inviolate law. how bright would be His other kingdoms, did not the free will of man mar what He had made good, and defile what He had pronounced pure. And next, His reign is established in the kingdom of grace. Our blessed Saviour is King and Lord of His Mystical Body. That mighty organization is no mere fortuitous congeries of holy souls, unknown to men, known only to God, without discipline or order; but it is a well-grounded polity, of which by far the greater part is in heaven, obeying, loving, serving, adoring, and where here on earth the heart of man finds its truest happiness in perfect and unreserved submission. How it comforts one in the midst of the mysterious providences and spiritual trials, and strange dispensations which mark the course of the fortunes of the Church here below, to dwell upon that unswerving obedience which is paid Him by the glorious hierarchies above. The Lord is king, be the people never so impatient. He sitteth between the cherubim, be the nations never so unquiet. And more than this, He is the very King and Lord of holy souls. When we say, "Thy kingdom come," what mighty thoughts are stirred up within us! May Thy reign be established within our hearts! — Thy kingdom which Thou hast said is "within" us. May every power and faculty be subdued to Thy gracious commandments! Be Thou the Master of our intellects, the Lord of our affections. Rule Thou, and so constrain our wills already subject to Thee, that even in this world we may anticipate the perfect conformity of heaven. Is the thought of our Lord s ascension as connected with His royalty exhausted? I trow not. The ascension of our Lord hath not terminated in Himself. It is our ascension also. The coronation of our Lord is not merely the assumption of royal state by our ascended Head, it is also the coronation of His body mystical. The nature of man in the Person of the Divine Word hath been seated upon the throne of God. Who shall now use unworthy words of the worthlessness of that which is thus united to God? Who shall now undervalue the exalted position of the true Christian? Who shall now dare to profane, either in body, soul or spirit, that which has attained to so high a destiny? (Bishop A. P. Forbes.). Parallel Verses KJV: Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. |
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