Turn with me, please, to Revelation,
the 19th chapter. Once again, I ask you to try
to get a picture of the scene before us. It is a scene full
of majesty, wonder, and adoration. The final judgment of God has
fallen upon his enemies. The salvation of God's elect
is now complete. And the Lord Jesus Christ, our
mighty Savior and King, rides out before his people in majesty,
displaying the spoils of his great victory. We read in verse
11, And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And
he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. The armies which were in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean
and white. And out of his mouth proceeded,
are goeth the sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.
He shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now catch these words in verse
12. On his head were many crowns. You know whose head this is. It is the head of Emmanuel, our
Savior, our King, our Lord Jesus Christ. On his head were many
crowns. This is the head that once in
infancy laid upon the breast of his mother, Mary, like the
head of any other child. This is the head that meekly
bowed in obedience to a carpenter as his father. This is the head
which became a fountain of tears in Gethsemane. This is the head
that was defiled and polluted by men. The betrayer's kiss identified
this head. The soldiers put a crown of thorns
on this head. They spit upon this head. They
beat this head. They plucked the hair off of
this head. This is the head that bowed at
last in death upon the cursed tree. In the grim agony of death,
I hear the son of God, his head crowned with thorns, covered
with blood, bruises, and human spit, crying out in agony, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Yet, even then, as a mighty
conqueror, he cried, it is finished. And at last he cried, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. And he gave up the ghost and
hung his head in death in reverent submission to the father's will.
This is the head that slept in the grave for three days and
three nights. But when those three days of
death were ended, this head rose to life again. This head looked
with radiant eyes of love toward those holy women who were waiting
at the tomb. Forty days later, this head was
crowned by God the Father with glory and honor and everlasting
dominion. This is the head which John saw
here in verse 12. This is the one that John himself
knew. This is the very one that John
himself had walked with and seen and handled. And now he sees
him and he says, on his head were many crowns. Who would have
ever thought that this head, the visage of which was more
marred than any man, would have thought, who would have thought
that this head, which suffered more human scorn and more divine
wrath than any other, would be crowned with so many crowns?
And yet John beholds him riding forth in majesty. He rides forth
to conquer. He rides forth conquering and
to conquer. And on his head were many crowns. Those star-studded crowns are
our subject for this evening. We need John himself to expound
this glorious vision to us. My eye has not yet seen the heavenly
glory, and so I only give you what I anticipate seeing. I only
give you what my faith beholds. I can't give you firsthand account
of that which John saw. I only give you what he saw as
I understand it. I'm like the little child in
the king's palace. I'm overwhelmed, overawed with
the grandeur and the majesty of the palace, speechless with
wonder at the beauty and the glory of the king. But if God,
the Holy Spirit will enable me, I want to simply point you to
our great savior and king and call your attention to a few
of the glorious diadems upon our mighty savior's brow. The
hymn writer expresses it well. Crowns of glory ever bright rest
upon the conqueror's head. Crowns of glory are his right. He is who liveth and was dead. He subdued the powers of hell
in the fight he stood alone. All his foes by him were fell
by his single arm or throne. His the battle, His the toil,
His the honors of the day, His the glory, His the spoil, Jesus
bears them all away. Now proclaim His deeds afar,
fill the world with His renown. He alone the victor's car, His
the everlasting crown. Because our Lord Jesus Christ
suffered and died at Calvary because by his sufferings and
death, he accomplished the redemption of his people. He is now crowned
with glory, honor, and dominion as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. The very crown of Jesus Christ,
the very dominion of Jesus Christ, is the result of his effectually
accomplished redemption at Calvary. Because he suffered and died,
accomplishing redemption, God's exalted him. That's what Paul
says in Philippians chapter 2, wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him. That he should have a name above
every name. He's given him a name above every
name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things
in heaven and of things in the earth and of things under the
earth and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Now that happens. Our Lord sits
upon the throne of glory not because he made an effort at
redeeming and saving his people. but he sits upon the throne of
glory because when he cried, it is finished, he had accomplished
entirely the redemption of God's elect. On his head then were
many crowns. These are not crowns that shall
be put on his head. These are crowns he now has.
These are not crowns that he's going to get when eternity has
commenced or when some future age has come. But these are crowns
that right now sit upon the head of Jesus Christ, our Lord and
Savior. What are they? What do they represent?
Well, I can just describe a few. First, our Lord Jesus Christ,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, as he comes forth riding
upon the white horse and John sees him, I'm sure he sees upon
his head the crown of heaven itself. In heaven, you see, Jesus
Christ is that one who is high and lifted up. In the book of
Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet Isaiah said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up and
his train filled the temple and the angels, the seraphim bowed
before him with their wings that covered their face and they covered
their feet and they swiftly flew to do his will and they cried
continually, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth. And our
Lord Jesus said, Isaiah spoke of me when he saw my glory. He's the one that Isaiah saw
sitting upon the throne. He is the one who is the king
of heaven itself. In heaven, you see, all the angels
recognize his dominion and all the heavenly spirits recognize
his total sovereignty. The angels of heaven belong to
him. The cherubim and the seraphim continually sing his praise.
The mightiest spirit in heaven waits to do his will. He has
but to speak and they obey. In heaven, Jesus Christ reigns
in sovereign, majestic splendor. There he is reverenced, worshipped,
and adored as the king. The angels, though they are but
Men are creatures of God that are pure and holy, pure and holy
without sin. Yet they bow before him and they
worship him and they cover themselves in his presence for they reverence
him as the king who is himself God. He wears the crown of heaven. The heavenly angels worship Christ,
their great king. The glorified spirits of the
redeemed continually sing his praise, worship him and adore
him. Back in Revelation 4, we see
this. And if we see it all the way through the book, As you
read this book of Revelation, this revelation of Jesus Christ,
this continually is repeated. We see the saints of God in heaven
worshiping Him, bowing before Him, extolling Him, magnifying
Him, lifting Him up, singing His praise, honoring Him as the
King, the Sovereign Lord. Here in chapter 4, in verse 11,
we see the 24 elders fall down and worship Him, and they cast
their crowns before His throne. And this is what they say, Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for
Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are
and were created. These redeemed ones, these 24
elders representing the church of the living God, cast their
crowns at his feet, declaring they are not worthy to wear any
honor in his presence, but that he alone deserves honor. He's
the king. In the realm of heaven's eternal
glory, you see, Christ is all. He's the foundation of that city
whose builder and maker is God. He's the gate by which we enter
into the celestial city. Christ is the light of the city
beautiful. In the blessed glory land, there
is a tree of life whose name is the Son of God. There is a
fountain of living waters whose name is Jesus Christ. There is
a great reward whose name is Emmanuel. The joy of heaven is
Christ. The satisfaction of heaven is
Christ. The glory of heaven is Christ. Among the saints of God
in glory, Christ is all. He wears the crown of heaven.
Oh, let us join the heavenly spirits. Let us join the redeemed
men who sit around the throne of God this night and sing his
praise and place upon his head with our hearts of faith the
crown of total praise and total adoration. He well deserves the
praise. Thou art worthy, O Lord. He alone
is worthy to wear the crown of heaven's praise and adoration.
But then as John beholds the Lord Jesus, riding forth, conquering
and to conquer, going out to meet the enemy and finally slay
all his enemies under his wrath to cast the beast and the false
prophet alive down into hell. He sees upon his head the crown
of hell itself. You see, Christ Jesus reigns
as supreme king in heaven. And he reigns in heaven, but
he reigns a supreme king in hell just as fully and just as completely
as he does as the supreme monarch of heaven. In hell he rules sovereignly,
totally, and completely. Mr. Spurgeon said, in the black,
impenetrable darkness of hell, his omnipotence is felt and his
sovereignty acknowledged. The chains which bind the damned
spirits are the chains of his strength. The fires which burn
are the fires of his vengeance. The burning rays that scorch
through their fate eyeballs and melt their very heart are the
flash of his vindictive eye. There is no power in hell besides
his. The very devils know his might.
And that is absolutely the truth. Our Lord Jesus not only reigns
in heaven and reigns in the earth, but he reigns in hell beneath.
You see, Satan and all the demons of hell are under the dominion
of Jesus Christ. Christ has chained the great
dragon, Satan, and Satan has no power, no authority, no ability
except that which Christ gives him and permits him to exert
so that hell itself trembles before his majesty. Look over
in Revelation chapter 20 and you'll see it. Revelation 20,
we'll be coming to this in a few weeks. And I saw an angel come
down from heaven. That angel had the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold
on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan.
And he bound him a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless
pit and shut it up, shut him up, and set a seal upon him that
he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years
should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed
for a little season. Now, what John sees here is a
picture of exactly what took place at Calvary. You can compare
John chapter 12. Our Lord Jesus, when he came
to the cross, he said, is the judgment of this world. Now is
the prince of this world cast out. And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto me. When our Lord came
and suffered the wrath of God upon the cursed tree, He, by
his death, crushed Satan's power. He crushed the serpent's head. He bound him up and cast him
into the pit so that he no longer has the power to deceive the
nations. And that's exactly what had happened
for 4,000 years prior to the coming of Christ. The nations
of the world were held in darkness. They were held in the bondage
of idolatry and paganism and superstition. Only the nation
of Israel had the light of truth. And now that Christ has come,
he's bound up the old serpent, cast him into the pit, that the
nations of the world might have the light of the gospel dispensed
unto them, that the nations no longer be deceived until that
little season comes. when he comes again from the
pit to deceive the nations. And even that is by the permission
and the decree of the great king. Even that. Hell, you see, is
the prison house of King Jesus. It belongs to him. It's the place
where he sends his enemies, the rebels against his throne. And
there he executes justice upon them. One of the old writers
said the very howlings of the lost spirits are but the deep
base notes of his praise. While in heaven the glorious
notes shout forth his goodness, in hell the deep growlings resound
his justice and his certain victory over all his foes. And thus his
empire is higher than the highest heaven and deeper than the lowest
hell. Hear what I say and hear it well.
Be warned, the Lord, our God, our Savior, that very one who
hung upon the cursed tree to save sinners, will, in the time
of God's appointment, punish every transgressor, every unbeliever. The holy God is willing to punish
sin. He is great and able to punish
sin. And his holiness, justice, and
truth demand that he punish sin. And he, being the great God that
he is, holds dominion even over the regions of the damned. Oh,
children of God, get the comfort of this. The demons of hell,
Satan himself, while we're no match for them, we have no power
over them. We dare not speak, as so many
do, of taking hold of Satan and of wrestling with Satan. Oh,
my soul, let me not deal with that terrible dragon. But I worship
one who holds the dragon in his hand and does with him what he
will. He's no match for the King of
Glory. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is that
one who says to the serpent, you can go and afflict my servant
Job, but only here. You can touch him there and you
can touch him there, but his life is mine and you can't have
him. The Prince of Darkness has no
power in this world but the power that Jesus Christ permits him
to have. Now look at the text again and see our mighty king
and savior one more time. There's another crown on his
head. He wears the crown of creation as well. Turn over to the book
of Colossians, Colossians chapter one. We're living in this super scientific
age. And men, I suppose they suppose
that everybody is fooled. Everybody just plumb ignorant
and they tell us to believe things about evolution that are unbelievable
to any rational thinking person, just plumb unbelievable. Some
of you may not have been present when I told you what I heard
Carl Sagan say one morning watching the Donahue show. I don't watch
Mr. Donahue often, that's even a
long time, but I was getting dressed one morning, putting
my towel, and Carl Sagan, this renowned astrologer from New
York University, was on the Donahue Show. And Mr. Donahue and Mr.
Sagan were discussing the fact of evolution, you know, 20 million,
30 million, 40 billion years ago, give or take a few billion,
you know. There was terrible events, catastrophic
event that took place somewhere out in the galaxy. And the earth
was formed. It took a little time developing,
a billion, two billion, three billion years, but it developed
over time. And Donahue asked him the question,
said, now we know that all life came from the water, but how
is it that the life developed upon the earth? Now, if I'm lying
to you, I'm dying. I'm telling you the factual truth. This is just truth. I watched
it, I thought, I would laugh till my side was sore. This fella
is a scientist. I mean, these are the brilliant
intellects of the world. He said, well, what happened
as the ponds on the earth dried up? The fishes began to flop
and they flopped from one pond to the other. until they developed
legs and began to walk. Well, you can buy that if you
want to, and we'll check you into the funny farm. But here
in Colossians 1, we're told plainly who wears the crown of creation,
not man, not the creature, but the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Colossians 1 and verse 16, for by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth. visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him. And he is before
all things and by him all things consist. And he is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
This earth, you see, is within the province of our Savior's
sovereign dominion. The Lord Jesus Christ said, let
there be light and there was light. Yes, he is the God by
whom the world was made. We read in the scriptures that
in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and
the word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God and all things were made by him and for him. And
without him was not anything made that was made. He is that
word by whom the world were framed. He is the word of God. His strength
piled up the high mountains. His hand dug out the deep seas. His wisdom laid the clouds in
balances and holds the universe in balance. Jesus Christ is the
divine creator. I challenge you to go out on
a clear night and look up into the distant heavens and see the stars. How did they get there? They
flew off the anvil of omnipotence like sparks in the night. That's
how they got there. God cast them into their place. And there they are. There they
are. Our Lord Jesus Christ created
this world by his omnipotent power. And he holds the world
and sustains it together by his omnipotent power as well. By
him, all things consist. He's the creator, the sovereign
creator. The world, the universe belongs
to him. He made it. He's the one who
gives you breath. He's the one who gives you the
air you breathe. He's the one who feeds and clothes
the sparrows and feeds and clothes the lilies. He's the one who
sustains everything. The raven. is the one that he
feeds. That raven crying for its food
cries to God. We read it in Job. The ostrich. God does things in his creation
just to throw a monkey wrench in man's opinion of things, you
know. The ostrich, that great bird. Job says, or God said to
Job, I kept her from understanding. I made the ostrich dumb. Just
so you'd understand, this is not altogether an accidental
thing. It's altogether a providential
thing. I made the ostrich. I made the
raven. I made the rhinoceros. I made the stars. I made the
deep places. All things are mine. Now you
explain them if you can. You can explain them and you
can try to find them out and you can search and dig and search
and dig or you can bow down and worship me. But that's all there
is to it. Our Savior, God's exalted son,
God's exalted king, wears on his head the crown of divine
providence as well as the crown of creation. You see, as the
result of his obedience, As the result of his sufferings and
death at Calvary, by which he accomplished the salvation of
his people, the Lord God has turned this world over into the
hands of Jesus Christ, our mediator. He has put all things in the
hands of his son. Our Lord said, Father, the hour
has come. Glorify thy son, thy son also
may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, God has put in the hands of the mediator power,
authority, dominion over everything for this purpose, that he should
give eternal life to as many as the Father has given him.
Our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, by his death, bought
the right to rule this world so that he rules over all men,
the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and the unjust, the
wicked and the believing. He rules them all, rules them
all with total sovereignty. The earth itself is upheld and
maintained and governed by Jesus Christ. By him, the apostle says,
all things consist. He upholds all things by the
word of his power. Everything would cease to be
did he not hold all things together. Oh, they talk about laws of nature. But every now and then he suspends
them, doesn't he? Every now and then he just turns things around
so the men are baffled and they can't explain it. Well, that's
a freak of nature. No, that's the rule of the hand
of the sovereign king in providence. And if he should withdraw his
upholding hand, the world would collapse. He holds it up upon
the foundation of his decree and of his word. Our Lord Jesus
Christ holds everything and rules everything by the power of his
own will. This vast universe knows and
does the will of Christ in all things. The heart of the universe
beats with his power. The laws of nature are simply
the decree of his mouth. The elements of the world all
fulfill his decree. Let's look in the scripture and
see. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Verse 7. I form the light, I create darkness,
I make peace and create evil, I the Lord do all these things. What on earth is he saying? He's
declaring that the universe is under his domain and every element
of nature is ruled by him, everything, everything, the thunder clouds,
the lightning of the thunder, the path of the lightning, the
voice of the thunder, echoes, the sovereign omnipotence of
the king of glory. Everything's ruled by him. He
has his way in the whirlwind and the clouds are just the dust
of his feet. He rules with sovereignty. Not
only does he rule in all things with regard to this physical
world, But all men, all events, all episodes, all circumstances
and all the history of the universe are sovereignly governed. Let
me use the word precisely. All things are sovereignly manipulated
by the king of glory to accomplish his will. Everything, everything. Everything is manipulated by
the power, the will, the wisdom, and the decree of Jesus Christ,
our sovereign Redeemer, our sovereign King, our Savior. The God whom
we worship is not only the eternal God. He's the reigning monarch
of the universe. Oh, get the comfort of it. He
is God upon an indisputable, uncontestable throne. He reigns. He reigns. Why do we insist so much upon
God's sovereignty? Well, if God does not rule everywhere,
let's just suppose, think with me. If God does not rule everywhere,
I mean everywhere, from the highest heaven to the deepest hell, in
all the bounds of time and space, if God does not rule everywhere,
then there's somewhere and something that he does not rule. And his
presence and power is not supreme. If God does not have his will,
someone else has their will. And that someone is a rival to
God. That's what this religious age
has made the devil to be. They've made him to be a rival
to God. That's what this religious age has made man to be. They've
made man to be a rival to God. For they declare that God does
not rule absolutely the demons of hell. And God does not rule
absolutely the devil himself. And God does not rule absolutely
man. If God does not absolutely rule,
somebody rules wherever he doesn't rule. Somebody has his way wherever
God doesn't have his way. And if that were the case, such
a blasphemous doctrine, would scare me to death. It'd scare
me to death. Nothing would be safe. Nothing
could be secure. No promise of God could be believed. Not one. If God is not totally,
absolutely, universally sovereign, I would advise you never to read
this book again. It'd be nothing but a frustration
and a mockery to you. If God is not totally, absolutely
sovereign, I'd suggest you throw the thing away. Because nothing
in the book can be believed unless God has power to fulfill his
will. Unless God absolutely controls everything to accomplish his
decree, nothing is certain, nothing is sure. Men talk about prophecy,
and they talk about promises, and they talk about rewards,
and they talk about heaven and eternal life. But if God does
not have total sovereignty, if Jesus Christ does not absolutely
rule the universe, all men and all things in it, then nothing
can be believed. Nothing is safe. The very throne
of God would be in jeopardy. I dare not believe that even
man's sin is exempted from the sovereign control of the providence
of Jesus Christ, our God. I dare not believe that even
the evil that men perform in this world is in any way out
of the control and the overruling dominion of Jesus Christ our
Lord. That's the reason David declares,
surely the wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder
of wrath wilt thou restrain. This is what I'm saying. God
will not permit any man or any group of men, any demon of hell
or Satan himself, he will not permit any to perform any evil
deed against you or against his throne that he will not overrule
and make to be good for you and honoring to his name. He'll not
do it. He'll not do it. That's the God we worship. That's
the God we worship. Now that ought to give you some
comfort. That ought to enable you to lay down at night and
go to sleep with ease. God's in control. That one who
loved us, who redeemed us, who bled at Calvary for us, David
sits on the throne and he rules the universe. Rest in his providence. The ultimate end of our Lord's
mediatorial reign is the salvation of his people and the glory of
his name. Turn to that text in Romans 8.
We quote it frequently. We don't read it as often as
we should. But in Romans chapter 8. Look at what Paul declares. And
we know that all things. Reckon what that includes. You
find anything that is outside of all things, and it doesn't
include that. Anything. Anything that's outside
of all things, it doesn't include. But anything that's within the
terms and the boundary of those words, all things, all things
work together for good. To them that love God. To them
who are the call. Now look at this next line. According
to God's purpose. Well, what is God's purpose?
I know that. We read it in the next line.
For whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate, and this
is his purpose in predestination, that those whom he loved and
knew in everlasting love should be conformed to the image of
his son, that his son might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Well, what shall we say then
to these things? I'll say this, if God be for
us, who can be against us? Who can harm us if God be for
us? Who can hurt us if God be for
us? Who can bring us to condemnation
if God be for us? Who can lift up a finger against
us if God be for us? Who can harm one hair of your
head if God be for us? Huh? That's what we're saying.
The Lord God our Savior rules the universe. When our Lord Jesus
Christ is finished with this world, everything will end up
precisely as God ordained it from eternity. Everything. Everything. Everybody will be
where God planned them to be, doing what God planned them to
do, to the praise of God's glory. Everybody. Every creature. Every
creature. What are you saying? I'm saying
that all of God's elect will be saved. I'm saying that hell
and all the powers of hell will be defeated. I'm saying that
Jesus Christ will be glorified in all the universe. Every creature
shall praise his name. That's the God we worship. I
wouldn't give you a flip of a nickel for another. I wouldn't waste
my time bothering to even think about a God who was not sovereign. And yet I see another diadem
of glory upon our Savior's brow. This sovereign one, this glorious,
majestic, all-powerful God upon a throne, wears a crown of grace. Oh, thank God. This God is gracious. He's gracious. He's sovereign. He says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, but he does say I'll have mercy. He
says, I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious, but he does
say I will be gracious. He who sits upon the throne of
grace rules over the kingdom of grace and he wears the crown
of grace. Look in Revelation chapter one
and verse five. Revelation chapter 1 verse 5. Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings
of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God
and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Jesus Christ is the king of grace. Now some of you here need very much to learn that. You think in the back of your
mind that when you get good and ready, you'll be saved by God's
grace. All you have to do after all
is choose to do so. And in spite of all that I preach
and in spite of all that you've heard, you still entertain the
foolish notions of the freewill Arminian pagan in the back of
your mind. You still think that Jesus Christ is at your beck
and call, and you still vainly imagine that Jesus Christ will
do what you bid him do when you bid him do it. I'm telling you
here and now, Jesus Christ gives grace and withholds grace as
he will, when he will, with whom he will. He's the king of grace. Our Lord gives and withholds
grace as he sees fit. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and he has compassion on whom he will have compassion.
The son quickeneth whom he will. The river of God's mercy flows
from beneath the throne of Jesus Christ. He is the sovereign dispenser
of mercy. You remember his type, Joseph? Joseph went down into Egypt. He didn't go voluntarily. He
went because he was sold as a slave. But he recognized it was God's
purpose to save much people alive. And in the time of famine, Joseph
had been exalted to the throne of Egypt so that he sat on the
throne with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh gave Joseph
complete control over everything. And anybody who wanted anything
in Egypt did not go and ask Pharaoh for a thing. If they came to
Pharaoh, Pharaoh said, go to Joseph. The only person who had
power and authority in all the kingdom was Joseph. And I'm telling
you that the only person who has power and authority in all
the universe is the God who is our Savior, that man, Jesus Christ,
who sits on the throne of glory. If you want mercy, you're going
to have to do business with him. You're going to have to deal
with him. You're going to have to go to him. He has the sovereign
power to bestow mercy on whom he will. He has the key of heaven. He opens and no man shuts. He
shuts and no man opens. He calls and the stubborn heart
obeys. He speaks and the rebel sinner
bows before him. He beckons and sinners come to
him. He reveals himself and hard hearts
melt before his majesty. Christ Jesus is the sovereign
king. You who rebel against him are
but fools, just fools. You cannot resist his will. He's the mighty sovereign king.
You must bow to him. That's all you can do with a
sovereign. That's all you can do with an absolute God. You
can't bargain with him. He doesn't need you. You don't
have anything to give. You can't reason with him. He
has declared himself to be wisdom. You can't possibly excuse yourself.
He knows everything. You can't do anything with the
sovereign king, but bow down to him. Like that blind man you
read about, Merle. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Now you can do that, and he'll
hear the cry of a penitent sinner begging for mercy. The crown
of our great God and our Savior is the crown of sovereign rule
and sovereign grace. The crowns that he wears Provide
for our souls the comfort that we need as we make our pilgrimage
here. Nothing yields more comfort and
peace to my soul than the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ,
my God. What do you mean? Well, let me
try to show you. Are you passing through the fire?
Huh? You pass through the fire? It's
his fire. It's his fire. Are you going
through the deep troubled sea? You'll not be drowned for even
the floods obey his voice. He's the omnipotent Messiah,
even in the deep places. I'm saying this, you cannot enter
any place or pass through any experience or face any trial
that's beyond the realm of our Savior's sovereign domain. You
can't do it. If you get on a plane a couple
of weeks, fly down to Texas, read about the reports about
those planes, and you get concerned, poor man. Oh, don't be concerned. Don't be concerned. I can't fly
above his roof. Those planes don't fly any higher
than he's in control. Hey, he governs the flight of
the bird. Surely he can govern the flight
of the plane with his redeemed son in it. Our Lord rules everywhere. Nancy, you fix him to go into
the surgeon's knife? You go into the knife of one who's under
the control of the king of glory. And whatever he does, he'll do
well. Whatever it is. Whatever. Bob, you just went
through that ordeal? You're walking, no, you're lying
in the realm of his sovereignty. In the realm of his, do you understand
what I'm saying? What is there? Who is there?
What place is there? What event is there? What circumstance
is there which can cause our hearts to tremble? He whom we
worship sits on the throne of sovereignty, ruling everything. And he rules in grace for his
own. Oh, commit yourself, body, soul,
and spirit into his hands. One of the old writers said,
I am sure that there is no more delightful doctrine to a Christian
than that of Christ's absolute sovereignty. I'm glad that there
is no such thing as chance, that nothing is left to itself, but
that Christ is everywhere and everywhere hath sway. If I thought
that there was one devil in hell that Christ did not govern, I
should be afraid of that devil, afraid that he would destroy
me. If I thought that there was a circumstance on earth which
Christ did not overrule, I should fear that circumstance would
ruin me. Nay, if there were one angel
in heaven that was not one of Jehovah's subjects, I should
tremble even at him. But since Christ is king of kings,
and I'm his poor brother, one whom he loves, I give all my
cares to him who careth for me. And leaning on his breast, my
soul hath full repose, confidence, and security. Well, I can't add
anything to that. He's the king, buddy, and trust
him. He loved you. He redeemed you. He lived for
you, died for you, rules the world for you. Trust him. Trust
him, be at peace in your soul. Sixthly, I see another crown
adorning his brow, the crown of total victory. Turn over to
John chapter 12, passage I quoted a little bit ago. John chapter 12, verse 31. Now
is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what
death he should die. By means of his death upon the
cross and his resurrection from the dead, our great God and Savior
has gotten himself the victory. Never look upon the death of
Jesus Christ as something that he was kindly forced into. Never
look upon our Savior's agony upon the cursed tree as something
that was beyond his control. Oh no, he died by his own sovereign
will according to the decree of God his father by the hand
of his own providence. That one whom the Roman soldiers
nailed to the cursed tree is the very one who gave the Roman
soldiers wisdom to learn how to nail him to the tree. He's
sovereign. When he stood before Pilate in
judgment, he declared his sovereignty, saying, Pilate, you have no power
over me but what I give you. No power. No power whatever.
Our Lord Jesus Christ died voluntarily, making a vicarious atonement
for his people's sins. And in his death, he was victorious. In the resurrection and ascension
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated his triumph. By his death, he conquered death,
hell, and the grave. He put away our sins. He satisfied
justice so that justice no longer has a claim upon his people.
And then he proved the reality of his conquest by an open and
manifest resurrection from the dead and exaltation. So that
the psalmist says, thou hast ascended on high. The chariots
of God are 10,000. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive
and received gifts for men. Yea, even for us rebels as well. For the rebellious also. And
today, Christ, the exalted King, is victorious over men. victorious by his grace. Oh,
King of Glory, ride forth in mighty power and conquer rebels'
hearts. He can. Not only can he, he does. He conquers as often as he will,
whom he will exactly when he will. The psalmist speaking of
Jesus Christ says, blessed is the man whom thou choosest. Maybe somebody here tonight whom
he from eternity has chosen. And now the hour has come when
this great king of glory comes forth to demonstrate his victory
accomplished at Calvary, and he calls as you to approach him
to him. Oh, God, do it again. Do it again. Do it again. He conquers by his
grace. By irresistible power, he triumphs
over men who are his sworn enemies and wins their hearts. He did it for us, didn't he?
He can do it for the ones sitting beside you. May he be pleased too. Sovereign
grace has my heart subdued. Mighty mercy ends the feud. A willing captive to my Lord,
I sing the triumphs of his word. Let me finish by showing you
one other crown that sits upon his head by right. Our Savior, the Lord of glory,
the Prince of life, rightfully wears the crown of heaven's eternal
praise. We read in Revelation 4 how that
the living creatures and the 24 elders cast their crowns before
his throne, saying, Thou art worthy. And we, the children of God,
do now begin by faith to cast our crowns before him. and declare
that he's worthy of all praise, all honor, all power, all dominion,
and we delight that he has it. Christ is our wisdom, and we
crown him as such. Christ is our righteousness,
and we crown him as such. Christ is our redemption, and
we crown him as such. Christ is our life, and we crown
him as such. Christ is our sanctification,
and we crown him as such. Christ is our preserver, and
we crown him as such. What am I saying? I'm saying
that we take nothing to ourselves of any of the whole work of God's
grace, nothing, nothing. We wouldn't even know the way
Merle K. Jones, the way. We wouldn't even know our sin
if he hadn't come and shown us our sin, much less the remedy
if he hadn't shown us the remedy. We are redeemed, justified, pardoned
of all sin because he did it. He did it. He didn't leave anything
for us to do. He did it all. We're made righteous
and sanctified because he is our sanctification. I want to be entirely sanctified
under God without sin. I want that. And right now I have that in
Christ. And because he is my sanctification,
one of these days I'm going to have it in experience, be just
like he is. But what did you do to sanctify
yourself? Not a blessed thing. Not a thing. He's everything. Yes, we persevere in faith. We go on from faith to faith.
But we persevere because he holds us by the power of his grace.
And we take no credit for ourselves, no honor for ourselves. Neither
in thought, nor in word, nor in imagination, I know full well
that these twenty-odd years I have walked in the path of faith only
because day by day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, he
feeds faith to my soul. That's all. What I'm saying is
this, Christ is all. He's all in salvation. He's all
in grace. He's all in heaven. And we crown
him all in all. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring
forth the royal diadem and crown him, him alone, Lord of all. ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
ye ransom from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall, we'll join the everlasting song and
crown him Lord of all. On his head were many crowns. many crowns. God make you to see the crown
rites of Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer and bow to him as
sovereign king this night for Christ's sake. Amen.