The last verse of this Psalm contains the subject which is to occupy us this evening: " Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt, inherit all nations." It is God who is to judge the earth, and, as the consequence of this judgment, to become the possessor of all nations.
I have spoken of Christ, Heir of all things, with the church His co-Heir; then of the coming of Christ, or of the time when He will take His inheritance; and of the resurrection of the church, or of the moment when the raised church participates with Him in this inheritance. Even departed souls—blessed as they are with Him—wait for the resurrection of their bodies to enjoy the fullness of blessing and of glory. It is for this reason that a Christian may desire death, because he is thus delivered from all affliction and trial; but he awaits the resurrection for the consummation of his glory. We have spoken of the progress of evil, and shown that, far from the world being converted by the preaching of the gospel, the tares are to increase and to ripen until the harvest. And we have seen the evil come to its height in the eighth. head of the beast, which goes down to destruction in the apostasy of the civil power of tire fourth monarchy, and in the false prophet, who, having seduced the world to do homage to the beast and to take his mark, is destroyed with him.
We have seen that there arc two beasts and that the second is transformed into the false prophet. (Comp. Rev. 13, with the end of 19). The scene now extends itself for not only will the fourth beast be destroyed, but the nations will he judged. All the races of men who inhabit the earth, which took their rise in the division of the children of Noah into their respective families, will be found at the end gathered together and judged by God. All that is high and lifted up will be brought low by the power and glory of God, in order that God in full blessing, may enjoy the kingdom, and may have the inheritance of all nations.
I have touched, at our last meeting, the most difficult part, namely, the point where the two dispensations touch, and where the evil caused by the failure of the existing one (failure, of course, on man's part) requires the intervention of God; and, as a sequel, the judgment which terminates the dispensation.
I have spoken specially of the rebellion of the beast abetted by Antichrist, because it is, hi fact, the consummation of the apostasy. But when this event takes place, there comes also the judgment of all nations. God does not only judge the last rebellion of the antichristian beast; but having made His power felt-the moment of his wrath being come-He judges all nations.
This is what we read in Revelation 11:15-18: " 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; and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wart, 'and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth."
Let us follow up he passages which speak on the same subject.
We before remarked, that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the true King over the whole earth, was presented to the fourth beast and to the Jews, that is, to the Gentiles and Jews (to the Gentiles in the person of Pontius Pilate, and to the Jews in the person of the high priest). He was presented to the world and to His own, and was rejected. But in a much more extended sense it is said, " The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come." It is the wrath of God breaking forth against them by the judgment of His Son.
Psa. 2 Two things are set forth. First, that the Son is anointed (margin) king upon Zion, God's holy hill, and that He has the heathen for His inheritance: Zion is His throne; the nations, His inheritance.
Secondly, His way of dealing with the nations-a way entirely opposed to the gospel:—Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron." The scepter (rod) of Christ, in the gospel, is a rod of goodness and love; it is everything that is most sweet, most powerful, in His love; it is not a scepter of iron. The psalmist is speaking of the kings of earth: " Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings;.... kiss the Son." The decree of God is, that His Son shall be annointed, that is, declared King over all the earth; and He invites the kings of the earth to submit themselves to Him. He says to them, "I am about to speak in my wrath; I give the heritage of the nations to Christ; He will bruise you with a rod of iron; He will break you in pieces: now then, submit yourselves to Him, to my Son, King in Zion." These kings follow their own ways; their -policy is settled according to the wisdom of man. Alas! it is not of Christ, King in Zion, that they think. Go and speak to the kings of earth of Christ, King in Zion: you would be taken for one out of his senses. Nevertheless, God has decreed His reign surely, irrevocably, and He will bring it to pass in spite of the kings of the earth; He will establish Him King in Zion, and will give Him the nations as His heritage, and the ends of the earth for His possession. " Now," says He by the prophet Micah, " shall He be great unto the ends of the earth" (Chapter 5:4).
At the birth of Christ, hatred burst forth upon the least appearance of His royalty. When the cry was heard that a. king had appeared, immediate efforts were made to get rid of Him. Will the nations then, at last, listen to the invitation made to then) to submit themselves? The answer is to be found in Psa. 82
These judges of the earth will have to give an account of their conduct. " They know not, neither do they understand." " I have said, Ye are gods," for God Himself had set them as having authority over the earth (" the powers that be are ordained of God " Rom. 13:1); but God can judge them. It is not Christians who hold the above language; it is lie who has the right of judging those whom He has named judges—of setting aside those subaltern powers, in order to take to Himself Iles great power and reign.
We find in Psa. 9:1-7, that the place where this judgment will he exercised is the land of Israel, and that the Lord will manifest Himself in this act or power. Verse 5: " Thou hast rebuked the heathen; thou hast destroyed the wicked (Antichrist); thou hast put out their name forever and ever." Vs. 15-20 is not the language of the gospel; it is the prophetic demand-the righteous demand-of judgment. This it is which explains those difficulties which Christians often find in the Psalms, owing to not having understood the difference of the dispensations. To convert the wicked, by the announcement of the grace of God, is the gospel; what we have been reading is something quite different. Once the gospel has run its course, Christ will demand righteous judgment against the world. It is no longer Christ, at the right hand of the Father, sending down the Holy Ghost to gather together His coheirs; hut Christ calling for righteousness and asking it (generally by His Spirit in the humble and lowly ones of the Jewish nation) against the proud and violent men. ' If God were not to execute judgment, the evil would only grow worse and worse without any consolation for the faithful. God does not execute it until the evil has arrived at its height. Antichrist and the nations rise up against God and His Christ, and the earth must be cleared of His enemies to give place to the reign of God Himself. It is not David asking to rule over his enemies; but Christ who demands judgment, because the time has come.
We may observe the same truth in Psa. 10:15, 16: " The Lord is King forever and ever; the heathen are perished out of his land." There is a general principle running through this class of Psalms, of a terrible judgment upon the wickedness of the nations—God acting as Judge in the midst of judges.
A passage in Isa. 2:12-22, also presents to us the great day of God upon the earth: "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall he upon every one that is high and lofty.... when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth." It is not for the judgment of the dead, but of the earth.
To make you understand that this judgment applies to all notions, and that it is after this, and by this means, that God will fill the earth With the knowledge of His name, we beg you to turn to Zeph. 3:8 " Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." The intention of God is to assemble the nations to pour upon them His indignation-a terrible judgment, For our expectation then, as to when the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth, we refer to verse 9. This blessing will come to pass after He shall have executed the judgment, and put away the evil-doers. This passage is a very explicit revelation.
The same truth, namely, that the knowledge of the Lord will spread by the effect of His judgment, is presented to us in Isa. 26:9-11: " When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness;" for it is added, " Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness." Grace does not procure the effect, but judgment.
Again, we say, that the determination of Jehovah is to assemble the kingdoms, to pour out on them His indignation, and all the fierceness of His wrath. It will be a terrible day, and one which the world ought to be expecting.
Another passage in support of the truth we are urging is found in Psa. 110 " The LORD (Jehovah) said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Jesus is set down at the right hand of God the Father, until His enemies are made His footstool. Until that time, He acts by His Spirit to gather together Christians: He sends down the Holy Ghost to convince us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. But the day will come when God will make His enemies His footstool; and it is on this account, perhaps, that Jesus says, " Of that day knoweth no man.... neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark 13:32). It is written, that He will inherit all things. This has been prophesied of Me; Jehovah said to Me, " Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." It is not such a year, such a day; hut I go to sit at the right hand of God until—until the moment when the Father will have accomplished this decree: for the Lord Jesus, God blessed forever, receives the kingdom as Man-mediator. Now, as to the accomplishment of the decree, it is when " the Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion." We discern the boundary of this dispensation clearly marked, that is, Christ set down at the right hand of Jehovah, until Jehovah puts His enemies under His feet. After that come the words, " Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." This is what Jehovah will accomplish, when the Lord, at the commencement of the exercise of His power, shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath; shall judge among the heathen; shall fill the places with the dead bodies, and shall wound the heads over many countries.
In Jer. 25:28, the same subject is presented;_ and it is the end of all that we see around us " And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Ye shall certainly drink." (See also ver. 31).
(Continued from page 200.)
(To be continued, D. V.)