THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER

A SERMON

By Mister JAMES WELLS

“But unto the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.” Hebrews 1:8

By Mister JAMES WELLS

VOLUME 12 Number 630

“But unto the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.” Hebrews 1:8

THERE was a declaration made by the angel that the Lord God should give unto Christ the throne of his father David; certainly not the literal throne of his father David, any more than he should be constituted a priest after the Levitical order. As he was not to be a priest after the Levitical order, but after the order of Melchizedek so he was not to be a king after the Jewish order, though that royalty was a type of the royalty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as David in his royalty, as we shall have to observe in some respects the meaning in which David was a type of Christ, therefore, it is that in giving unto him the throne of his father David, we of course must understand that promise spiritually, and that Christ, as it is there explained, should reign over the house of Jacob, and that for ever and ever.

First, then, the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is, secondly, the righteousness of his scepter, “A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.”

First, then, I notice the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I take a threefold view of this throne: first, that it is a mercy throne; second, that it is a rich throne; and third, that it is a throne of plenty. Now remember it is by Jesus Christ in every one of the characters he bears that God dwells with us, and that we have access to God. There is not one character under which we are by nature that does not keep us from God; and there is not one character sustained by the Savior which does not bring us unto God; and that therefore a right apprehension of his royalty, as well as his priesthood, his pastoral character, his intercessory character, and the other relations he bears, will show them as all bearing upon the one great end of bringing us to God, conforming us unto God, and bringing us into possession of all that that the Lord has provided and prepared for them that love him. First, then, this is a mercy throne. And as we are creatures of circumstance, the Lord has provided circumstances by which we shall be enabled clearly to understand this matter. You observe under the Old Testament dispensation that that throne in the holy place where the Lord appeared is called the mercy-seat. The publican was in perfect order, both in spirit and in form, when he stood there at a distance, and looking to the mercy-seat, said, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Let us look, for instance, at where this mercy-seat was, and we shall find that all the characters belonging to it will bear the test of our text; namely, that “your throne,” your throne of mercy, your throne of grace, “is for ever and ever.” Now the mercy-seat rested upon the ark of the covenant. This is to teach us that Jesus Christ, as the way of mercy, is the Mediator of the new covenant; he belongs entirely to that new covenant; and the mercy-seat rested upon the ark of the covenant, and so the mercy of God rests entirely upon his covenant, as the sworn covenant wherein he has said, “In blessing I will bless you;” “As he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself.” This, then, is the order of mercy, resting upon the everlasting covenant. And it is one of our great privileges to know that Jesus Christ is enthroned as the King of the new covenant; therefore, it is where the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. And then this mercy-seat not only rested upon the ark of the covenant but was covered with two cherubim of glory. There were two cherubim of pure gold on the mercy-seat. Men have different opinions as to what is spiritually meant by these two cherubim's, but I must confess that I have never felt in my own mind, I may be wrong, but I have never felt at all at a loss as to the spiritual meaning of these cherubim's. When I come to the 4th of Zechariah, and there read of the two candlesticks, two olive trees; then when I come to the 11th of Revelation, and read of the two witnesses, I find that, these two candlesticks represent the ministers of the gospel. A candlestick taken in the scriptural sense signifies a lightbearer; and every man that is sent of God is a light-bearer; he bears the light of truth, and by which the Lord commands light to shine into the heart of one, and into the heart of another, as into a dark place, and thereby revealing to that poor sinner the mercy-seat, revealing to that sinner the sacrifice by which sin is put away, and by which the Lord becomes a God of free, a God of eternal, a God of infinite mercy, they are called also two olive trees; these are only variations to set forth the same characters, because these olive trees yield golden oil in order to keep the lights burning. And that minister is a highly favored minister whose ministry is attended with that grace that brightens up the faith, and that brightens up the hope, and that brightens up the affections, and that brightens up the prospects of the people. Then, also, they are called witnesses. So here the cherubim's I understand to represent, by those simple figures, the same things. And just observe one thing, that this mercy-seat not only rested upon the ark of the covenant, and that the cherubim's rested upon the mercy-seat, but something more than this; these cherubim's of glory, and they may be well called cherubim's of glory, because they proclaim the glorious gospel of the blessed God, that these cherubim's were one with the mercy-seat; they were one with it, of the same piece. The mercy-seat was of pure gold, and these cherubim were of gold, and they were one with it. I do not know anything more descriptive, if you will allow your humble servant so to speak, of my own feelings, than that which is represented in that. And as ministers represent the people of God, I am sure you cannot think of a thing, those of you that are Christians, that more minutely represents your own feelings than that which declares the cherubim's and the mercy-seat to be one. What is there that the Christian feels so much one with as he does the mercy of God? Has not the Lord said, “Come unto me, and your souls shall live?” “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” And when once the soul is brought into this free mercy, into these multitudinous mercies, for the plural there is used, “I will make an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies,” what is the result? Why, that soul becomes one with the mercy; one with Jesus, one with a God of mercy. Ah, is there a sin here, is there a sin there, is there a foe here, is there a necessity there, is there a want there, is there a fear there, is there a trouble there? and could you multiply, go on to calculate your sins, and troubles, and necessities, and make them to be as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sands upon the sea-shore, innumerable to the creature, yet the mercies of this mercy-seat would outnumber them all. It is the mercy of an infinite God, the mercy of an eternal God. If, therefore, he thus reigns by mercy, if he thus reigns by grace, is it any wonder that it should be said, “Your throne, O God,” this mediatorial throne, “is forever”? Now hear what the apostle says about this matter, how he speaks of it, before I leave the Old Testament, which I shall have to go back to presently. The apostle says, “Seeing we have an high priest entered into heaven, made a priest after the order of Melchizedek,” seeing here is this sacrifice that has put sin eternally away, “let us therefore,” he says, “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy.” So here, you see, while he calls it the throne of grace, he at the same time recognizes the throne of mercy. “Let us come to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy;” and grace and mercy are such kindred and interchangeable terms that we may frequently put the one for the other, for in substance they mean the same thing. Only this approach to God, mind this, that under the Old Testament dispensation the priest entered into the holy of holies once in the year with that sacrifice, in its twofold aspect: the one was that of the sin and burnt offering, to atone for sin and to endure wrath; and the other that of the scapegoat, that was to take the sins of the people away ceremonially into a land not inhabited, where the sins should never be seen again, and where they should never be heard of again, and where they should be forgotten, and that forever, according to the order of this mercy, “I, even I, am he that blots out your transgressions, and will not remember your sins.” Now this is the great secret, to know our need of that sacrifice that brings us near to God; that it is by confidence in this sacrifice that we have access to the mercy-seat. And as though the Lord would impress this very particularly upon our minds, that in the Old Testament age none but the priest had access to the mercy-seat, and he must come only at the time appointed, and he must come by the blood of the sacrifice, step by step; you no doubt have often noticed that there was not one step which the priest could take towards the mercy-seat without sacrificial blood. Let this be expressive unto us of the necessity of understanding our need of the sacrificial excellency of Jesus Christ. I have said, not a step could he take toward the mercy-seat without the sacrificial blood. First, there was the altar out of doors, in the front of the temple to show that grace and mercy should reign by the sacrificial excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ. First, there was the altar out of doors, in the front of the temple, and there it was that the fire descended, and the sacrifice was accepted; there it was the atonement was made. The next step was, he was to sprinkle the blood on the horns, the four horns of the altar, to denote two things. The horn is the symbol of power, and therefore the sprinkling of the blood on the horns of the altar is to denote that power that should attend that gospel that proclaims what the Savior has done. Sprinkling the blood on the four horns of the altar means also the universal spread in future ages of the gospel, to east, west, north, and south; thus, to gather up poor sinners out of all the miseries of sin, and death, and hell, and condemnation, and bring them into all the blessedness of that mercy of our God which is from everlasting to everlasting. The next step was that the priest had to sprinkle the blood between the altar and the mercy-seat. So, you observe that every step he took was by sacrificial blood.

The next step was that he had to sprinkle the blood on the mercy-seat, to show that the grace and mercy should reign by the sacrificial excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let us look at this in relation to our own experience. If we pray, every step we take towards God, all the confidence we have, let it be by the blood of Jesus Christ. I cannot speak sufficiently highly here of the infinite excellency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. See what a clear view and what a strong confidence in, and what an unswerving decision for this sacrifice Abel had; he saw, it was the way to the mercyseat; see how he was accepted, and how he obtained witness that he was righteous. Looking, then, at this throne as a throne of mercy, here is pardon, here is forgiveness for everyone. Bless the Lord for that word “whosoever.” “Whosoever comes unto me,” said Jesus, and that is the voice from the mercy-seat, “I will in no way cast out;” but that means, of course, when they come to him by what he has done and come to the mercy-seat by that sacrifice by which he has put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself. Now here it is our God rests. The Lord has left, the blessed God has left no reason whatever why he should change his mind. He loves you. Every one of your sins might be turned into reasons for hating you; but he loved you; he has found a ransom; and every one of those sins which he might have turned into reasons for hating you and condemning you, every one of those sins were embodied in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and all reason why he should change his mind is taken out of the way, because this sacrificial excellency remains forever, and Christ's righteousness remains forever. Now I am sure when we come to a dying bed, and we can view the Lord thus by the mercy-seat, can view him thus by Jesus Christ, and see that he delights in mercy, that he has cast all our sins as into the depths of the sea, I am sure, having this revelation of his glory and realization of his presence, that will make us happy even in that hour, willing to depart to an infinitely better and brighter world. Thus, then, the throne of Jesus Christ is a throne of mercy, established by his sacrifice, having put away sin; here it is, then, we have access to and fellowship with the blessed God.

But, second, this throne is also represented as a throne of riches. Hence in the fourth chapter of the Revelation the Lord called John's attention to this mediatorial throne, to this heavenly throne, as the way of heavenly and durable riches. John says, “A door was opened in heaven;” and Christ's mediatorial work is that door. It is by him that hell is closed; it is by him that the law is ended; it is by him that death is swallowed up in victory. “And I heard a voice as of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither,” rise above the world, human works, and above all human inventions. And John was “immediately in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne.” Now you will observe that as the heavenly Jerusalem is spoken of as adorned very largely with gold and precious stones, it is to set forth the riches of Christ; it is to set forth the riches of his throne, to set forth the riches of his kingdom; and the rainbow before the throne indicates the peace that the people have with God by Christ Jesus the Lord. And so, it is said of this order of things, or of that wisdom by which this order of things was established, that “in her right hand,” in wisdom's right hand, “is length of days, and in her left hand, riches and honors.” hence every poor sinner thus brought to know something of the Lord in this order of things is nominated by all those characters that denote the riches in which he is interested; but upon this part I will not enlarge, nor indeed much upon any part of this part of our subject. It is called, then, or represented as a throne of mercy, and a throne of riches. There is no danger of coming to poverty there. Come to poverty you all must; there is not one of you that will not come to poverty naturally. You may possess millions; but when you come to a dying hour you have made your will, you are dying, and you have given it all up; there you are, without a halfpenny that is any use to you, without a friend that is any use to you; houses and lands, why, they are all nothing. You are just as poor as Lazarus in your dying hour, just as poor, just as poor as the poorest man in the land. And we who are poor are poor already, so that we have not to undergo that privation; we are inured to it already; it is you rich folks that have to undergo so much when you come to die; you will have to part with it; you become poor then. Ah, you may say, I have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, rich all my days; and here I am without a halfpenny, without help; what a poor creature I am! Well, if at the same time a Christian, then it shall be said of you spiritually, not literally, but spiritually, that you die full of days, and riches and honor. So, bless the Lord, while then all are equal when they come to that hour, yet, having an interest in the precious promise of the gospel, by the sacrificial perfection of Christ, there, is our treasure, durable riches, and righteousness. “Your throne, O God, is forever;” he reigns forever, to make all his people kings and priests to God. But it is also a throne of plenty. Hence in the seventh chapter of the Revelation you read of a multitude standing before this throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. We will stop here just a moment to make one remark, and it is this: You observe of all that multitude that are there, they were all brought to this throne, this throne of mercy, this mercy-seat, they were all brought to this throne or grace; and they all stood before the Lamb, and they stood before him in a way that showed that by him all their sins were gone, and eternal righteousness brought in, and complete victory given unto them. And it is said of them that “they shall not hunger nor thirst any more, for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lend them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Thus, then, by the mediatorial throne or exaltation of the Savior, we have mercy that endures forever, we have riches that endure forever, and we have plenty that endure forever. “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”

I notice, secondly, the scepter. “A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom,” There is a threefold respect in which I notice this scepter to be a scepter of righteousness, First, because it was righteously acquired. Hence David seems a remarkable type of the Savior in this. God had chosen David, and God chose Jesus Christ, and God had assured David that he should come to the throne; and Jesus Christ, it is true, differed from David in this, that David sometimes doubted whether he should get to the throne, and exclaimed between the time the promise was given and the time he came to the throne, “As the Lord lives, there is but a step between me and death.” But the point I wish to note here is this, a righteous scepter because righteously acquired. So, David in coming to the throne; when he was advised by those about him to slay king Saul, he saw at once he should be doing wrong, and therefore, he would not mingle with his coming to the throne any act of wrong. David felt he would rather endure anything than commit any act of wrong by which to reach the throne. God had promised him he should reach the throne, and on that he rested, and left his enemies in the hands of the Lord. He is a remarkable type here of Jesus Christ, and even a representation of all the people as well; but first of the Savior. Now how did the Savior acquire this dominion? How did he reach this throne? How did he reach this exaltation? Why, I need not here stop to show you as you all know that he did no wrong in his life; you know it was by a righteous life; and you know that he lived a life of suffering, and that he came to that throne in entire accordance with the approbation of the blessed God; that he came there by obeying God's law, magnifying that law, and bringing in everlasting righteousness; that he came to that throne by his sacrificial death. Hence this was the order of things, that he was to receive universal and eternal dominion by the work which he should perform. And hence the apostle says, “He dies no more; death has no more dominion over him.” Just so the apostle Paul was in this secret when he said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.” Now Christ arrived at the resurrection, and arrived at the right hand of God, by his perfectly righteous and mediatorial work; hence it was by his own blood that he entered into the holy of holies. It is therefore a right scepter because righteously acquired. And so here, if I am brought to rest my hope upon Jesus Christ, and upon the promise that is by him, there is no such thing as coming short. You observe that you have not only mercy on your side, but you have the righteousness of Jesus Christ on your side; you have not only mercy on your side, but you have the claim of his sacrificial death on your side; you have not only mercy on your side, but you have his infinite worth and worthiness on your side. Thus, it is a right scepter because righteously acquired. And so, the people of God, it is said of them that being justified by faith, they have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, then, as the apostle observes, “do we make void the law through faith? Yea, we establish the law.”

And then, secondly, it is a right scepter because he makes war in righteousness. He had a throne and a kingdom without a single inhabitant, was not one subject. There is the solitary throne, there is the solitary kingdom, and there is a wondrous scene of things, and not one inhabitant. Why, what solitude! What had he to do? Well, he had to go to war, and to take people captive, and bring them into his kingdom, make them come in; and “in righteousness does he judge and make war.” Let us read out this part carefully and see then that it is a right scepter in all the wars he undertakes. Let us hear the word of the Lord upon this, and just see how expressive it is of the Lord having entered into a war with us, conquering us, and bringing us into this glorious and everlasting kingdom. David saw this and described it very beautifully: “you are fairer than the children of men;” here is the Son of God; “grace is poured into your lips;” and what grace was this but the covenant of grace? if you like, salvation grace; “grace is poured into your lips;” he received the great truths of the everlasting covenant; “therefore God has blessed you forever.” Now comes the in-gathering of the people. “Therefore, with your glory and with your majesty ride prosperously;” notice this, with his glory; what was his glory? Why, the completeness of his work. “This is my meat, to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” Now, “with your glory,” with this finished work. Was ever a prophet, as a gospel prophet, sent without being first made well acquainted with Christ's finished work. No, were not all the apostles before they were sent made well acquainted with this complete mediatorial work? And have not ministers of the gospel from that day to this, do not the people of God to this day, recognize the completeness of his work as his glory? Take away the completeness of his work, what glory would there be in the gospel? The gospel then could not reach our necessities, it could not conquer our foes, it could not swallow up the mighty gulf between us and God, nor bring us to God. Therefore, he would go forth with his glory; and with his majesty, that is, authority. And what is his authority? Here is what it is; “Sit you at my right hand, till I make your foes your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion; rule you in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: you have the dew of your youth.”

Then let us go on again. “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty.” And was there not a time when the word was made mighty to us, when it was to us as the sword of the Spirit, piercing by conviction, for that is the idea, to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and entering into the joints and marrow, and became a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; and we felt what we never felt before, a sight and sense of our lonely, solitary, guilty, sinful, lost, and wretched condition? We knew not what it meant; we knew not as yet his finished work; we knew not as yet his mercy; we knew not as yet the riches of his grace. Hence it goes on, “Ride forth prosperously, because of truth.” What truth? Why, that, truth that declared what he should do in gathering sinners into his kingdom. “And meekness,” on the ground of his humiliation; “and righteousness,” on the ground of the righteousness that he had wrought out and brought in. “Your arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under you. Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the scepter of your kingdom is a right scepter.” Now the New Testament renders it like this, which is the same thing in another shape: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us acceptable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Thus, then, “in righteousness does he judge and make war.” And we do bless his holy name that the day ever did arrive with us that he opened our eyes, that he humbled our pride, that he turned our faces toward Zion, causing us to say, “Come, let us join ourselves unto the Lord, if the Lord will receive us, in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Thus, his scepter is a right scepter, because rightly acquired; and secondly, because in righteousness he does judge and make war.

And then, lastly of all, it is a right scepter because he maintains the rights of heaven. Now this is one allusion, and a beautiful feature of the government. Under the Old Testament age those kings that were right-minded, and abode by the truth of God, and thereby abode by the God of truth, for you cannot abide by the God of truth without abiding by the truth of God; the truth of God is the way to abide by the God of truth. Men have not always thought this; but the Lord will teach his people this, that in order to abide by the God of truth you must abide by the truth of God. I know not anything more offensive to the great God than to rush into his presence with your hands, and hearts, and mouths full of lies, as the Pharisees of old did. Now David abode by the God of truth by abiding by the truth of God. What was the result? The result was that wherever he turned he conquered and prospered. He had his troubles, but he was unconquerable. And Solomon up to a certain point did the same. Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, and Josiah, these were men that understood the same; they therefore, in abiding by the truth of God, thereby abode by the God of truth, and the God of truth abode by those men, and maintained the rights and liberties of the people. Now those kings that admitted idolatry, that admitted an admixture of error with God's covenant, those kings, in so doing, were wicked kings; they wickedly set aside God's truth, they wickedly robbed the people of their liberty, and they wickedly put God's prophets, who testified against such conduct, and God's people to death. Now this is what is meant in the next verse. “you love righteousness;” that is, Jesus Christ. And I will make this very much clearer presently. I have reserved a nice little space of time for this part, because I know herein lay the greater part of what I had to say upon this subject. Now the Lord Jesus Christ loves righteousness; that is to say, God has given the people certain blessings, and he has entrusted Jesus Christ with those blessings, and he has entrusted the people with Jesus Christ; and it would be wickedness in Jesus Christ not to bring every one of the people for whom the blessings are intended. Hence, he said, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and there shall be one-fold and one shepherd.” It would be, I say it, of course, you know I do, in reverence, wickedness in Jesus Christ to deprive the people of one of the blessings that God has treasured up for them. And he himself said, “This is the will of him that sent me, that of all he has given me I should lose nothing.” Thus, he hated wickedness; he hated thus wickedly scattering the people; he hated thus wickedly depriving them of their inheritance; he loved righteousness. “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” The fellows there are those that occupied a typical position, typical of him; such were the kings of Judah. David afforded great joy to the nation when he was anointed the throne. That was temporal; David must die, and it comes an end. Solomon afforded great joy to the nation when he ascended the throne, and they were sitting from Dan to Beersheba every man under his vine and his fig tree, not an adversary nor evil occurrent. And Jehoshaphat caused great joy when he was anointed; so, did Hezekiah, and so did Josiah; but all these were temporal. But Jesus Christ, having conquered every foe, and having established eternal blessedness, he therefore brings a joy which none of these kings could bring. The joy they brought, I say, was temporal; all passed off; but the joy that is by Jesus Christ is said to be everlasting joy, and pleasures at God's right hand, and that for evermore. Let us, then, here be careful to note the blessings which are bestowed upon the people, and which Jesus Christ stands engaged in his reign and government to bring the people into possession of. And of course we must interpret the royalty of Christ according to his own laws, and not according to the laws of worldly and earthly kings; it would only confuse our minds to attempt to run anything in the shape of a parallel between some of the characters of an earthly monarch and the Lord Jesus Christ; his position differs from every other person; there never was a person before that occupied such a position as he does, and there never was one that could, and another will never be needed; there was none before him, there is none after him; he is the everlasting King, the King of time and of eternity. Now you will no doubt admit that the blessings spoken of in the 33rd of Deuteronomy will bear spiritualizing! I am not going to be tedious, to run through to spiritualize every clause or every part; but it does seem to help out our subject so nicely. It is there said of Moses that he was king. It is true he did not bring the people into the promised land; Joshua was commissioned to accomplish that, as far as that covenant and the conduct of the people would let him. That covenant was conditional; therefore, if the people did not conform to those conditions, and perform their part, then Joshua could not bring them in. Now it is not so with Jesus Christ. The covenant in which he is King leaves nothing to the people; it leaves him entirely at liberty; makes the people entirely passive throughout; so that there is no danger of the people coming short or of the blessings being lost; for there remains a rest for the people of God; into that rest they must enter. Now it is said of these people of whom Moses was king that God loved them; “all his saints are in your hand; and they sat down at your feet; every one shall receive of your words.” Now that word is expressive of the blessings which we have by the government of Christ. And he stands both ways responsible, for he is the great executor of God's good will, and he is a righteous executor; he will never wrong the heirs of glory by either suffering them to be lost or to come short of the blessing. Now, the words which the people were to receive, and which we shall receive if we are subjects of his kingdom, are set before us in that chapter, and it begins with life, as you know, and ends with eternal blessedness. First, it is the word of life; “Let Reuben live, and not die.” So, if I am thus brought to believe in Jesus Christ, then I have everlasting life, I can never die. Second, it is the word of help: “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people;” sure to be the case; the man that is taught of God is sure to find out God's people; “let his hands be sufficient for him; and be you an help to him from his enemies.” Now Jesus Christ stands engaged to see that his people are brought together into the same unity of spirit, same truth, and he will be a help to them. And what helps us on so as the gospel helps us? If the heart be heavy, circumstances be crooked, clouds hang over us, let them be what they may, just a word from the Lord; let him say unto us, “I am your salvation;” let him say unto us, “Fear not, I am with you;” why, it helps us, and we rejoice that we thus reign with Christ even already. But it is the word of consecration also. “Of Levi he said, Let your Thummim,” that is, the perfect ones, “and your Urim,” that is, the enlightened ones, “be with your holy one;” that represents Christ standing with God for us, mind that, and our names, as it were, on his breastplate. And as the priest was to enter the holy of holies with the good character of the people, and so plead that why the Lord should bless their substance, and smite through the loins of those that rose up against them, and of those that hated them, that they should rise no more, Why, say you, you are making a mistake; it doesn't say anything about the good character of the people. Doesn't it? Why, but it ought to, then, according to the modern gospels. Ah dear, ah dear, ah dear! so far from the high priest entering the holy of holies with the good character of the people, he actually entered with an atonement for their faults, look at that; entered with an atonement for their faults. What a difference! I say, what a difference! He didn't enter and present them even as neutral; he didn't enter and say, Well, Lord, they are neither good nor bad; I can't bring their goodness, for they have none; and they don't need an atonement, for they have no badness, so far from the priest entering to plead their cause on the ground of their own goodness, he entered with atoning blood for their faults; so far from Christ entering into the holy of holies to plead our cause with any good belonging to us apart from his grace, why, he entered with his own blood. Nothing but the blood of Immanuel could present us acceptably before the great God.