HOW many times during the year that is now closing have we all heard these words! How earnestly we have praised God for the long life and glorious reign of our gracious sovereign, and how heartily we have prayed that she might yet long be left to us!
Dear children, you will never forget this jubilee, will you? You have been given medals and pictures of our Queen, and processions, and feasts, and treats, to make you remember it as long as you live.
Now it will surprise you when I tell you that I want to speak to you of a far longer reign that that of Queen Victoria, and still more when I tell you that even this long, long reign will be broken by yet another, which will be indeed the RECORD REIGN.
And I would ask you if you are going to share the grand jubilee of that coming reign, for I am!
First of all, about this long reign that has far exceeded our beloved sovereign's. You will find it in the fifth of Romans, in the fourteenth verse: "Death reigned from Adam to Moses." Oh, what a long time! Over two thousand five hundred years! And the reign of death did not end then either, for Moses bringing in the law only added another terror to the reign of him who has been called "the king of terrors"—for "the strength of sin is the law," and "sin hath reigned unto death ever since." So that for pretty near six thousand years this reign has lasted.
Now, I dare say you think there will never be one that can beat that. Never one so awful certainly. No jubilees, no feastings, no rejoicings mark its course—only the tears of the orphan and the widow, only the sighs of the desolate in darkened homes, only the groans of a weary creation! Oh! let us turn from this sad theme to a brighter one—to the grand RECORD REIGN yet to come.
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven... And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom... His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Then, oh! then, shall be the true jubilee to this sad earth; for the King will" make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow "; and in that glad day" He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.". Jesus, the rejected One, to whom the crown of Israel was refused, to whom was given the cross of Calvary, shall then" sit... a Priest upon His throne." “All kings shall fall down before Him," and the whole earth shall be "filled with His glory."
Many shared in the festivities of our Queen's jubilee; many of the great ones of the earth took part in the honors of that wonderful 22nd of June; but none shared her throne! In this grand coming day those who have suffered for Christ's sake shall reign with Him; they also shall be crowned, and shall sit with Him on His throne, so that He will be in very deed "King of Kings" when we shall be "glorified together."
Now, when His glory shall be revealed, will you "be glad also with exceeding joy"? or are you yet unsaved, so that when Jesus comes in power you will be among those who "shall wail because of Him"? Don't leave this an unsettled question. The people who set their hearts on seeing that grand procession last June, bespoke their seats long beforehand,— paid heavy prices to secure a good view; many of the poorer folk who could not do this, took up their position over night in the streets, and patiently waited many weary hours for the sight of the Queen, with all the military pomp and attendant princes. What will you sacrifice to make sure of seeing "the King in His beauty," by-and-bye; of having your share of joy in that "day of the gladness of His heart"? Are you still in the kingdom of darkness, where death reigns in awful power? or have you “passed from death unto life," so that for you there is "no condemnation"?
Are you, as I am, awaiting the coming King, and that bright RECORD REIGN that shall never be broken?