|
Hone
Page
Patrick Henry
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house,
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to
be prescribed by law.
|
|
THE TRIUMPH OF CALVARY
By Christmas Evans
“Who is
this that cometh from
Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?
This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his
strength? I speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou
red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the
winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of people there was
none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in
my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments. For the
day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was
none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my
fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and
make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the
earth” IS.63: 1-6.
This
passage is one of the sublimest in the Bible. Not more majestic and
overwhelming is the voice of God issuing from the burning bush. It
represents the Captain of our salvation, left alone in the heat of
battle, marching victorious through the broken columns of the foe,
bursting the bars asunder, bearing away the brazen gates, and delivering
by conquest the captives of sin and death. Let us first determine the
events to which our text relates, and then briefly explain the question
and answers, which it contains.
We have
here a wonderful victory, obtained by Christ, in the city of Bozrah, in the land of Edom.
Our first inquiry concerns the time and the place of that achievement.
Some of
the prophecies are literal, and others are figurative. Some of them are
already fulfilled, and others in daily process of fulfillment.
Respecting this prophecy, divines disagree. Some think it is a
description of Christ’s conflict and victory without the gates of
Jerusalem, eighteen centuries ago; and others understand it as referring
to the great battle of Armageddon predicted in the Revelation and yet to
be consummated before the end of the world.
I am not
willing to pass by
Mount Calvary and Joseph’s new tomb on my way
to the field of Armageddon; nor am I willing to pause at the scene of
the crucifixion and the ascension without going farther on the final
conquest of the foe. I believe divine inspiration has included both
events in the text: the victory already won on
Calvary, and the victory yet to be accomplished at
Armageddon; the finished victory of Messiah’s passion, and the
progressive victory of His Gospel and grace.
The
chief difficulty in understanding some parts of the Word God arises from
untranslated words, many of which are found in our own version, as well
as in that of our English neighbors. For instance, it is said, “He came
and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, He shall be called a
Nazarene” MT.2: 23. Where in the prophets it predicted that Christ shall
be called a Nazarene? Nowhere. When the proper names are translated, the
difficulty vanishes. “He came and dwelt in a city called Plantation: that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called the Branch.” This name is
given Him by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. Now this is precisely the
difficulty that occurs in our text, and the translation of the terms
unties the knot: “Who is this that comes from
Edom
[red earth] with dyed garments from Bozrah [tribulation]?”
The
former part of the text has reference to the victory of
Calvary; the latter part anticipates the battle and triumph
of Armageddon, mentioned in Revelation. The victory of
Calvary is consummated on the morning of the third day after
the crucifixion. The Conqueror comes up from the earth, exclaiming, “I
have trodden the winepress alone on Calvary;
and I will tread in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury at the
battle of Armageddon. I will overtake and destroy the beast, and the
false prophet, and that old serpent the devil, with all their hosts.”
When the
tide of battle turned on the field of
Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington mounted his
horse and pursued the vanquished foe. So Isaiah’s Conqueror, having
routed the power of Hell on Calvary,
pursues and destroys them on the field of Armageddon. Here he is
represented as a hero on foot, a prince without an army; but John, the
revelator, saw Him riding on a white horse, followed by the armies of
Heaven, all on white horses, and not a footman among them.
The
victory of Calvary is like the blood of atonement in the sanctuary.
The cherubim were some of them looking one way, and some the other, but
all were looking on the atoning blood. Thus all the great events of
time—all the trials and triumphs of God’s people—those, which happened
before. Those, which have happened since, and those are yet to happen,
are all looking toward the wrestling of Gethsemane,
the conflict of Golgotha, and the triumph of Olivet. The escape from Egypt, and the
return from Babylon
looked forward to the cross of Christ; and the faith of the perfect man
of Uz hung on a risen Redeemer. The Christian martyrs overcame by the
blood of the Lamb, and all their victories were in virtue of one great
achievement. The tomb of Christ is the birthplace of His people’s
immortality, and the power, which raised him from the dead, shall open
the sepulchers of all His saints. “Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in
dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out
the dead” IS.26: 19.
Christ
offered Himself a sacrifice for us, and drank the cup of God’s righteous
indignation in our stead. He was trodden by almighty justice as a
cluster of grapes in the winepress of the Law, till the vessels of mercy
overflowed with the wine of peace and pardon, which has made thousands
of contrite and humble spirits “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory” 1 PE.1: 8. He suffered for us that we might triumph with Him. But
our text describes Him as a king and a conqueror. He was, at once, the
dying victim and the immortal victor. In “the power of an endless life,”
He was standing by the altar when the sacrifice was burning. He was
alive in His sacerdotal vestments, with His golden censer in hand. He
was alive in His kingly glory, with His sword and scepter in His hand.
He was alive in his conquering prowess, and had made an end of sin, and
bruised the head of the serpent, and spoiled the principalities and
powers of Hell, and turned the vanquished of hosts of the prince of
darkness down to the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God. Then on the
morning of the third day, when He arose from the dead, and made a show
of them openly—then began the year of jubilee with power!
After
the prophets of ancient times had long gazed through the mists of
futurity at the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, a
company of them were gathered together on the summit of
Calvary. They saw a host of the enemy ascending the hill,
arrayed for battle and most terrific in their aspect. In the middle of
the line was the Law of God, fiery, exceeding broad, and working wrath.
On the right wing was Beelzebub with his troops of infernals, and on the
left Caiaphas with his Jewish priest and Pilate with his Roman soldiers.
The rear was brought up by death, the last enemy. When the holy seers
saw this army and perceived that it was drawing near, they started back
and prepared for flight. As they looked round, they saw the Son of God
advancing with intrepid step, having His face fixed on the hostile band.
“Seest thou the danger that is before thee?” asked one of the men of
God. “I will tread them in mine anger,” he replied, “and trample them in
my fury.” “Who art thou?” said the prophet. He answered: “I speak in
righteousness, mighty to save.” Wilt thou venture to the battle alone?
Asked the seer. The Son of God replied:” I looked, and there was none to
help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold; therefore mine own
arm shall bring salvation unto me; and my fury, it shall uphold me.” “At
what point wilt thou commence thy attack?” Inquired the anxious prophet.
“I will meet the Law,” he replied, “and pass under its curse: for lo! I
come to do thy will, oh God. When I shall have succeeded at the center
of the line, the colors will turn in my favor.” So saying, he moved
forward. Instantly, the thunderings of Sinai were heard, and the whole
band of prophets quaked with terror. But he advanced, undaunted, amidst
the gleaming lightnings. For a moment he was concealed from view; and
the banner of wrath waved about in triumph. Suddenly, the scene was
changed. A stream of blood poured forth from his wounded side, and put
all the fires of Sinai. The flag of peace was now seen unfurled, and
consternation filled the ranks of his toes. He then crushed, with his
bruised heal the old serpent’s head; and put all the infernal powers to
flight. With his rod he dashed to pieces the enemies on the left wing,
like a potter’s vessel. Death still remained, who thought himself
invincible, having hitherto triumphed over all. He came forward,
brandishing his sting, which he had whetted on Sinai’s tables of stone.
He darted it at the Conqueror, but it turned down and hung like the
flexible lash of a whip. Dismayed, he retreated to the grave, his
palace, into which the Conqueror pursued. In a dark corner of his den,
he sat on the throne of moldering skulls and called upon the worms, his
hitherto allies, to aid him in the conflict; but they replied, “His
flesh shall see no corruption!” The scepter fell from his hand. The
Conqueror seized him, bound him, and condemned him to the lake of fire.
The Conqueror then rose form the grave, followed by a band of released
captives who came forth after his resurrection to be witnesses of the
victory which he had won.
John in
the Revelation did not look so far back as the treading of the
winepress; but John saw Him on His white horse, decked with His many
crowns, his eyes like flames of fire, a two-edged sword in His hand, in
the van of the armies of Heaven, going forth conquering and to conquer.
This is the fulfillment of his declaration in our text. “For I will
tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury.” This is the
beginning of the jubilee, the battle of Armageddon, wherein all heathen
idolatry and superstition shall be overthrown, the beats and the false
prophet shall be discomfited, and the devil and his legions shall be
taken prisoners by Emmanuel, and shut up in the bottomless pit. He, who
hath conquered principalities and powers on Calvary,
will not leave the fields till He makes his enemies His footstool, and
sway His scepter over a subject universe. Having sent forth the Gospel
from Jerusalem, He accompanies it with the grace of
His Holy Spirit; and it shall not return unto Him void, but shall
accomplish that which He pleaseth, and prosper in the thing whereto He
hath sent it.
The
victory of Armageddon is obtained by virtue of the victory of
Calvary. It is but the consummation of the same glorious
campaign; and the first decisive blow dealt on the prince of darkness is
a sure precursor of the final conquest. “I will meet thee again at
Philippi! Said the ghost of Julius Caesar to Brutus. “I will
meet thee again at Armageddon!” saith the Son of God to Satan on
Calvary. “I will meet thee in the engagement between good
and evil, grace and depravity, in every believer; in the contest of
divine truth with human errors, of the religion of God with the
superstitions of men; in every sermon, every revival, every missionary,
in the spread and glory of the Gospel in the latter day, I will meet
thee; and the heel which thou hast now bruised, shall crush thy head
forever!”
Man’s
deliverance is of God. Man had neither the inclination nor the power.
His salvation originated in the Divine love, and burst forth like an
ocean from the fountains of eternity. Satan, as a ravenous lion, had
taken the prey, and was running to his den with the bleeding sheep in
his mouth; but the Shepherd of Israel pursues him, overtakes him, and
rends him as if he was a kid. The declaration of war was made in
Eden: “I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel” GE.3:15.It shall be fulfilled. The league
with hell and the covenant with death shall stand. The rebellion shall
be quelled, the conspiracy shall be broken, and the strong man armed
shall yield the citadel to a stronger. The works of the devil shall be
destroyed, and the prey shall be taken from the teeth of the terrible.
The house of David shall grow stronger and stronger, and the house of
Saul shall grow weaker and weaker, till the kingdom of this world shall
become the kingdom of our God and His Christ; Satan shall be bound in
chains to darkness and cast into the lake of fire. All the enemies of Zion shall be vanquished, the forfeited favor
of God shall be recovered, and the lost territory of peace, holiness and
immortality shall be restored to man.
This
campaign is carried on at the expense of the government of Heaven. The
treasury is inexhaustible; the arms are irresistible; therefore, the
victory is sure. The Almighty King has descended; He has taken the city
of Bozrah;
He has swayed His scepter over
Edom; He has risen victoriously and
gone up with a shout, as the leader of all the army. This is but the
pledge and the earnest of his future achievements. In the Battle of
Armageddon, He shall go forth as a mighty man; He shall stir up jealousy
as a man of war; and He shall prevail against his enemies. They shall be
turned back; they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images;
that say unto molten images, “Ye are our gods!” Then He will open the
blind eyes and bring the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in
darkness out of the prison house. He will make bare His holy arms; He
will show the sword in that hand which was hidden under the scarlet
robe; He will manifest His power in the destruction of His enemies and
the salvation of His people. As certainly as He shed His blood on
Calvary, He shall stain all His raiment with the blood of
His foes on the field of Armageddon. As certainly as He hath drained the
cup of wrath and received the baptism of suffering on Calvary, shall he wield the iron rod of justice and sway
the golden scepter of mercy on the field of Armageddon. Already the
sword is drawn, the decisive blow is struck, the helmet of Apollyon is
cleft, and the bonds of iniquity are cut asunder. Already the fire is
kindled, and all the powers of Hell cannot quince it. It has fallen from
Heaven; it is consuming the camp of the foe; it is inflaming the hearts
of men; it is renovating the earth, and purging away the curse. “The
bright and Morning Star” has risen on Calvary; and soon “the Sun of Righteousness” shall shine
on the field of Armageddon. The darkness that covers the earth, and the
gross darkness that covers the people, shall melt away; and Mohammedism,
and paganism, and popery, with their prince, the devil, shall seek
shelter in the bottomless pit!
After a
battle, we are anxious to learn who is dead, who is wounded, and who is
missing from the ranks. In the engagement of the Messiah with Satan and
his allies on Calvary, Messiah’s heel
was bruised, but Satan and his allies received a mortal wound in the
head. The head denotes wisdom, cunning, power, and government. The
devil, sin, and death have lost their dominion over the believers in
Christ, since the achievement of Calvary.
There is no condemnation, no fear of Hell. But the serpent, though his
head is bruised, may be able to move his tail and alarm those of little
faith. Yet it cannot last long. The wound is mortal, and the triumph
sure. On Calvary
the Captain of our salvation crushed the dragon’s head; after the battle
of Armageddon, his tail shall shake no more!
There is
no discharge in this war. He that enlisted under the banner of the cross
must endure faithful until death; must not lay aside his arms till death
is swallowed up in victory. Then shall every conqueror bear the image of
the heavenly, and wear the crown instead of the cross, and carry the
palm instead of the spear. Let us be strong In the Lord and in the power
of His might, that we may be able to stand in the evil day; and after
all the war is over, to stand accepted in the Beloved, that we may reign
with Him for ever and ever.
It
remains for us to explain briefly, very briefly, the glorious colloquy
in the text; the interrogatives of the church, and the answers of
Messiah.
How
great was the wonder and joy of Mary when she met the Master at the
tomb, clothed in immortality, where she thought to find Him shrouded in
death! How unspeakable was the astonishment and rapture of the disciples
when their Lord, whom they had so recently buried, came into the house
where they were assembled and said, “Peace be unto you!” Such are the
feelings, which the church is represented as expressing in this sublime
colloquy with the Captain of her salvation. He has traveled into the
land of tribulation, He has gone down to the dust of death; but lo, He
returns a conqueror, the golden scepter of love in His left hand, the
iron rod of justice in His right, and on His head a crown of many stars.
The church beholds Him with great amazement and delight. She lately
followed Him, weeping, to the cross, and mourned over His body in the
tomb; but now she beholds Him risen indeed, having destroyed death, and
him that had the power of death—that is, the devil. She goes forth to
meet Him with songs of rejoicing, as the daughters of
Israel
went out to welcome David, when he returned from the valley, with the
head of the giant in his hand, and the blood running down his clothes.
The choir of the church is divided into two bands, which chant to each
other in alternate strains. The right hand division begins the glorious
colloquy, “Who is this that cometh from
Edom?” and the left takes up the
interrogative, and repeats it with a variation: “with dyed garments from
Bozrah?” “This that is glorious in his apparel,” resumes the right-hand
company, “glorious notwithstanding the tribulations he hath endured?”
“Raveling in the greatness of his strength?” responds the left,
“strength to unbar the gates of the grave, and liberate the captives of
corruption?” The celestial Conqueror pauses, and casts upon the company
of the daughters of Zion a look of infinite benignity; and with a voice
of angel melody, and more than angel majesty, he replies, “I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save!” Now bursts the song again, like the
sound of many waters, from the right, “Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel?” and the response rolls back in melodized thunder from the
left, “And thy garments like him that treadeth the winefat?” The divine
hero answers, “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people
there was none with me. Even Peter has left me, with all the courage and
affection; and as for John, to talk of love is all that he can do. I
have triumphed over principalities and powers. I am wounded, but they
are vanquished. Behold the blood, which I have lost! Behold the spoils,
which I have won! Now will I mount my white horse, pursue after Satan,
demolish his kingdom, and send him back to the land of darkness in
everlasting chains, and all his allies shall be exiles with him forever.
My own arm, which has gained the victory on Calvary
and brought salvation to all my people from the sepulcher, is still
strong enough to wield the golden scepter of love and break my foes on
the fields of Armageddon. I will destroy the works of the devil, and
demolish all his hosts; I will dash them in pieces like a potter’s
vessel. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my
redeemed is come. My compassion is stirred for the captives of sin and
death; my fury is kindled against the tyrants that oppress them. It is
time for me to open the prisons and break off the fetters. I must gather
my people to myself. I must seek that which was lost, and bring again
that which was driven away. I must bind up that which was broken, and
strengthen that which was weak. But I will destroy the fat and the
strong, I will feed them with judgment; II will tread them in mine
anger, trample them in my fury, bring down their strength to earth, and
stain all my raiment with their blood!”
Let us
flee from the wrath to come! Behold, the sun is risen high on the day of
vengeance. Let us not be found among the enemies of Messiah, lest we
fall a sacrifice to His righteous indignation on the field of
Armageddon! Let us escape for our lives, for the firestorm of His anger
will burn to the lowest Hell! Let us pray for grace to lay hold on the
salvation of His redeemed. It is free, full, perfect, glorious, and
eternal salvation. Return, ye ransomed exiles from happiness, return to
your forfeited inheritance! Now is the year of jubilee. Come to Jesus
Christ, that your debts may be cancelled, your sins forgiven, and your
persons justified! Come, for the Conqueror of your foes is on the
throne! Come, for the triumphs of mercy are sounding! Come, for all
things are ready!
|
