Revelation 19:12 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. On his head were many crowns. We know whose head is meant. It was "the head that once was crowned with thorns;" the head that was once pillowed on a human mother's breast; the head that "had not where," during the days of his earthly ministry, "to lay" itself down to rest; the head that once and again was a fountain of tears because of man's sorrow and man's sin; the head that was beaten and spit upon by his enemies; the head that was bound about by the linen wrappings of the tomb; the head that was "bowed" when on the cross "he gave up the ghost;" - on that head St. John saw in vision "many crowns." To see desert rewarded, especially when the deserving has been conspicuous, marked by great toil, great self sacrifice, great suffering, great purity, great love, and great good gained for those for whom all this was borne - to see such deserving duly recompensed is ever a real joy. What, then, must be the believer's joy to see on his Lord's head the many crowns which tell of his reward! The figure is taken from the ancient diadem, which consisted of many circlets, or bands, the whole forming one crown, though consisting of many diadems, Now, it is given to us not only to rejoice in, but to add to, these many crowns; and that we may be roused to a holy ambition thus to minister to our Saviour's glory, let us consider these "many crowns." And - I. THOSE THAT ARE NOT OF EARTH. 1. The heavenly crown. What glorious scenes does this book present to us of the palace and court of heaven, and of him who is the Centre and Sovereign of it, "Lord of lords, and King of kings"! Have we not had shown to us the adoration of the Lamb? All these, love, worship, and obey. 2. He is Sovereign of death. "I," said he, "have the keys of hell and of death." By this is meant that all that unseen world where the departed are owns him as its King. He "openeth, and no man shutteth; he shutteth, and no man openeth." Blessed thought! they who have left us went only at his bidding, and they have gone where he is Lord. 3. Hell is beneath his feet. It did its best and worst to defeat and to destroy him, but in vain. When he was but a Babe, hell put it into the heart of Herod to seek to kill him. When he went forth to his ministry, he was forty days and forty nights tempted of the devil. During that ministry hell assailed him, now with blandishments, now with terror. At last the powers of hell had their way, and Jesus was hung up and crucified. And he entered the shades of death. But it was "not possible that he should be holden" of the grave. He broke through its power, and overcame its sharpness, and opened the kingdom of heaven, which hell would have shut, to all believers. And by virtue of his great atonement Satan has received a "deadly wound," is fallen, is doomed, is "reserved unto the judgment of the great day." And the lien, the hold, that hell had on humanity, Christ has destroyed by his death, which, though not a ransom paid to Satan - as the ancient Church long thought - was, nevertheless, effectual as a ransom, opening the prison doors and setting at liberty them that were bound. Yes, Christ has this crown also - iron crown though it be - amid his many crowns. II. THOSE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH COMBINED. By these we mean his mediatorial crown, by which he becomes the King of grace. For he united heaven and earth. He was the true Ladder set upon earth, but whose top reached to the heaven, and upon which the angels of God ascend and descend. So he himself explained the vision of Jacob at Bethel. And in his nature he was Son of man and Son of God; born of Mary, and yet" in the beginning was with God, and was God." "The Word was made flesh." Thus has he become the "one Mediator between God and man." In his hand, there-lore, is the bestowal of all grace. Whatever I need I can turn to him to give to me. Pardon, peace, holiness, heaven - all are in him for his people. He is my very Brother as well as my Lord, Friend as well as Sovereign. His is the mediatorial crown. III. THOSE OF EARTH. 1. The material earth owns him her Sovereign. By him "the worlds were made." He sustains them in all their orderly course. "By him all things consist." He directs and governs by his unerring laws all their movements. His miracles showed his sovereignty over nature. "What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" 2. But especially does he wear the crown of sovereignty in regard to man. (1) Even those who say, "We will not have this Man to reign over us," though they may be suffered for a while to slight his authority, yet will one day own that "his are all their ways;" that it is "in him they live, and move, and have their being." "To him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess." God has placed that crown upon his head. (2) But especially is he the crowned King of his Church. Redeemed, saved, men delight to "crown him Lord of all." All they who know his love - and what an ever growing multitude they are! - "old men and maidens, young men and children," all ages, ranks, and conditions of men, for that they each and all have some special knowledge of his grace, are eager to crown him with their love. Myriads of children transplanted in infancy from this drear, desert world to the fair garden of heaven; sufferers so sustained that they could rejoice even in tribulation; great workers for him who could do all things, and did all they did, through his strength; hoary age, to whom he gave light at eventide; - but what a throng is there of those whose love would add yet another to the many crowns of their Lord! Have we none to lay at his feet, to place on his head? None, though forgiven; none, though his Spirit dwells within us; none, though his home waits for us? Enthrone him in thy heart, crown him there, for that is his desire. - S. C. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
    |