II. The vanity of that opposition — Notwithstanding all the exertions of his enemies,
Christ was exalted —
[It was " a vain thing that the people imagined," when they supposed that they could defeat the purposes of the Most High in relation to the establishment of his Son upon the throne of Israel. " He that sitteth in the heavens laughed at them, and had them in derision." In vain were the stone, the seal, the guard: at the appointed hour, Christ rose triumphant from the grave, and, on his ascension to the right hand of God, sent forth his Spirit to erect in the hearts of men that spiritual king- dom, that shall never be moved : " Yet," says God, " have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." As the purpose of Jehovah respecting the typical David was fulfilled in due season, so was that " decree which Jehovah had declared" respecting " his anointed Son." " The word grew and multipHed" in every place: and " the stone that had been cut out of the mountain without hands broke in pieces" all adverse powers, and filled the whole Roman Empire^. The opposition raised by the Jewish nation against the Lord and his Christ, terminated only in the confusion of the opponents, on whom " the wrath of God" soon fell, and who are to this hour the most awful monuments of " his displeasure."]
In due time his exaltation shall be complete — [God having, in the resurrection of Christ, borne witness to him as his only-begotten Son*^, has engaged, in answer to his recjuests, to " give him the utmost ends of the earth for his pos- session." And this he is gradually accomplishing : in every quarter of the globe is the Redeemer's kinj^dom extending on the right hand and on the left: and though there is very much land still unsubdued before him, yet shall he " go on conquering and to conquer," " till every enemy is put under his feet." The enmity of the human heart indeed will still vent itself against him ; but all who will not bow to the sceptre of his grace, *' shall be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel." Whether we look to the world at large, or to any particular individual in the world, the final issue of the contest will be the same: he must prevail, and " all his enemies shall become his footstool '."J
Let us then contemplate,
III. Our duty with respect to him —
If He be " the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,"
Our duty is, to submit to him and serve him —
[A " holy
f Dan. ii. 34, 35. ^ Rom. i. 4. ' Rev. xi. 15.