The Secret of His Rule.
"_For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin_."--Heb. iv. 15.
We hail the Christmas season as the anniversary of our King's birth. Our
eyes turn to the manger, and our hearts to Mary, for a thousand and one
reasons, but the chiefest is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as the
Divine Son and the Royal Branch.
Although we know that many shadows darken the way of the Cross, and that
it is roughened by many thorns and agonies, many dark descents and weary
struggles, we have always the assurance that at the end, and at the right
time, there will be a crown and a throne.
Standing at the manger, and looking over the hills of hatred and
suffering, we can already see the great white Throne. From the wilderness
of the Temptation we can even catch a glimpse of the marriage supper of
the Lamb. In the darkness around the cross, we have visions of a great
multitude, which no man can number, casting their crowns at the feet of
the Crucified. Written large on all the life of Jesus there is, in fact,
the witness that He will triumph. We know and feel it. It is revealed even
when it is not stated. It is assured even when not promised.
But I do not think that it is by virtue of this that Jesus Christ has
exerted His greatest influence on the hearts of men. To be a king, to be
in the royal line, is a great thing; and to be the Divine King is
infinitely greater. To be a king, however, is one thing; to be a ruler is
often quite another. The right descent, the royal birth, the due
recognition, the ultimate taking possession of the throne, are enough to
make the king, but far from enough to make the ruler.
Principles, of course, there are, very important and far-reaching,
involved in any sort of kingship. We have all heard of "the divine right
of kings." We all see--even if we cannot understand it--the love of
peoples for a king. Even when the heads of states are called by some other
name than king, the fact of kingship is still there. All this denotes the
working of great principles, having their roots in the deepest feelings of
the human race. But I repeat, that to rule is quite another thing than to
be a king. History abounds with examples of great monarchs who have not
ruled, and of true rulers who have had no royal blood and no kingly
throne.
And just as there are facts in human experience which have made kings
necessary and possible, so are there principles by which alone it is
possible to rule.
The kingship and rule of Jesus Christ our Lord was no exception. It is not
my purpose to dwell here on the great and unchanging demands of the human
soul which make His sovereignty a necessity of our well-being alike as
citizens, and as individuals of His world. Unless the Lord is King, all
must be confusion, dissonance, and disaster. The supreme fact in human
life after all is, that our God is "the creator, preserver, and governor
of all things."
But what of His rule? There another principle comes into operation. On
what is His _rule_ based? By what agency does He extend His
_authority_ until it becomes _control_?
And here it must be remembered that He aspires to rule men's hearts. His
kingdom is moral and spiritual first, and then physical and material. That
is why it will endure for ever. It is in the region of motive and
affection, of reason and emotion, of preference and choice, that He
designs to be Ruler. It is to reign in men's hearts that Christ laid aside
His heavenly crown and throne. If He cannot be a Ruler there, then He will
account little of His kingship in the skies.
By what, then, does He rule? _Is it not by His compassion_? Has
not that been the chief influence which has drawn men to Him, and held
them in His service?
Just think for a moment of one or two commonplace facts.