Already the church is singing—“Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou Most Mighty; and in thy majesty, ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness. Thine arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king’s enemies, whereby the people fall under thee.” The song has reached the ear of the Prince of Darkness, and he “hath come in great wrath” to the battle, “for he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” He knows that “the Desire of nations” is come; and that his kingdom, already begun, shall be established for ever, and extend from sea to sea, till the knowledge of his glory and the victories of his grace shall cover the earth. He sees the Stone rolling against the idols of India, and Africa, and the islands of the sea, and feels his kingdom shake beneath its progress. He sees the Bramins, the Karens, the worshippers of Juggernaut and the Ganges, plucked as brands out of the burning. He trembles to anticipate the announcement—“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ!” He beholds the mighty angel, with the keys of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, descending from heaven, to bind him in his prison. He hates the church, with her various benevolent enterprises; for he sees in them the artillery of Heaven, playing upon his fortresses of infidelity, and idolatry, and vice—the enginery of God, setting up a kingdom which shall consume all others, and stand for ever. “The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure.”
II. We call your attention to the glory of Messiah’s universal reign. It includes three things; the victory obtained, the blessings bestowed, and the duration of the kingdom. Let us consider them distinctly.
_First_. The victory obtained. Here we behold the “stone cut out of the mountain,” rolling down the steep, rushing and leaping toward the great image, and smiting and breaking its feet of iron and clay, so that it falls like Dagon before the ark. And still the Stone, instinct with the power of God, and increasing in size and velocity, keeps rolling to and fro, bounding and rebounding, till it grinds the fallen image to powder, and scatters it as the dust of the summer thrashing-floor. It is endued with perpetual motion; keeping up a constant action and reaction, crushing whatever opposes its progress, and growing to such a magnitude as shall shortly fill the whole earth. This is the salt of Galilee, seasoning the nations—the leaven of Jerusalem, spreading through the world. This is the victorious reign of Christ, from the Tiber to the Thames, from the Euphrates to the Ganges, from Britain to Japan, from sea to sea, and from pole to pole. This glorious conquest is to be obtained by “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” in connection with the vast machinery of Divine Providence, all the wheels of which are under the direction of Jesus the Christ. It is a victory over Satan, by bruising his head; a victory over sin, by destroying its power; a victory over death, by swallowing it up for ever. Emmanuel has already successfully engaged all these foes; and having routed them on Calvary eighteen hundred years ago, he still pursues their flight; and shall not turn again, till he has trampled “the last enemy” under his feet.