1216. Jesus, The Delight Of Heaven

A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Evening, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. *3/14/2012

And they sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and have made us kings and priests to our God: and we shall reign on the earth.” [Re 5:9,10]

For other sermons on this text:
   [See Spurgeon_SermonTexts "Re 5:9"]
   [See Spurgeon_SermonTexts "Re 5:10"]

1. If you want to know a man’s character, it is good to enquire at his home. What do his children and servants think of him? What is the estimate formed by those who are always with him? George Whitfield was once asked his opinion of a person, and his answer was very wise, for he replied, “I never lived with him.” Beloved brethren in Christ, see what an estimate is formed of your Lord at home up there, where they know him best, and see him most constantly, and in the clearest light. They have discovered no faults in him. The angels who have watched him ever since they were created, the redeemed who have been with him, some of them for thousands of years, have found no spot in him; but their unanimous verdict expressed freely in joyful song is, “You are worthy; you are worthy; you are worthy.”

2. If you desire to know a man it will be good to find out what the best kind of people think of him, for the good opinion of bad men is worthless. “What have I done,” said one of the Greek philosophers, “that you speak well of me?” when he found himself applauded by a man of evil character. A character that comes from men qualified to judge, who know what purity is, who have had their eyes opened to discriminate between virtue and its counterfeit — such a character is well worth having. One would not like to be thought poorly of by a saint. We value the esteem of those whose judgment is sound, who are free from prejudice, and who love only what is honest and of good repute. Now, beloved, see what your Lord is thought of in the best society, where they are all perfect, where they are no longer children, but are all able to judge, where they live in a clear light, and are free from prejudice, where they cannot make a mistake. See what they think of him. They themselves are without fault before the throne; but they do not think themselves worthy, they ascribe worthiness to Jesus only. No one stood up to take the book from the open hand of the great King; when they saw the Lamb do so they felt that it was his right to take that prominent and honourable position, and with one accord they said, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals, for you were slain.” You and I cannot have too lofty thoughts of Jesus. We err in not thinking enough of him. Let our estimate of him grow, and let us cry with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” Oh, for great thoughts of Jesus. Oh, to set him on the highest imaginable throne in the conceptions of our soul, and to make every power and faculty of our manhood fall prostrate like the elders before him, while whatever of honour God may put upon us, we cast always at his feet, and always say, with heart and lip and act, “You are worthy, Jesus, Emmanuel, Redeemer, who has purchased us by your blood. You are worthy, worthy for ever and for ever.”

3. It is to the estimate of the perfect spirits that I would call your attention. What do you think of Christ, you glorified ones with whom we shall so soon unite? We have your answer in the words we have read. “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation: and have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

4. I. Notice first that the bright ones before the throne adore the Lord Jesus as WORTHY OF THE HIGH OFFICE OF MEDIATOR.

5. They adore him as the only one worthy of that office, for there was silence in heaven when the roll was held in God’s hand, and the challenge was given, “Who is worthy to take the book, and to open its seals?” The four living creatures were speechless; the cherubim and seraphim were silent: the twenty-four elders on their thrones sat in mute solemnity. They put in no claim for worthiness, but by their silence, and their subsequent song when Christ came forward, they admitted that he alone could unfold the purposes of God, and interpret them to the sons of men. For I take it that one of the meanings of our Lord’s taking the book into his hand was this: that he was the fulfiller of that mysterious scroll so tightly sealed. He was come to unfold it, and by transactions in which he should hold the prominent place, it was to be fulfilled. The key of the purposes of God is Christ. We do not know what the decrees of God may be until they are fulfilled; but we do know that of him and through him, and to him, are all things, and that everything will begin and end with Jesus, for he is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the initial letter of all history, and he will be the “finis” of it when he shall give up the throne to God even the Father, so that God may be all in all. Just as our Lord Jesus is the fulfiller, so he is the interpreter. He has been with the Father, and “No man knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him.” He is the great interpreter for us of the mind of God. His Spirit dwelling in us takes of his things and shows them to us, and in the light of the Spirit we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. “No man comes to the Father,” he says, “except by me”; for no man can expound the Father to us or conduct us to the Father except Jesus Christ, the sole interpreter of the divine secret. And so I regard the expressions here as presenting him as mediator, for it is he who stands between God and man. He is worthy to take the book in his hand on our behalf, and grasp for us the indentures of our inheritance beyond the stars. No one else can go in for us to the august presence of the Most High, and take the title deeds of grace into his hand on our behalf; but Christ can do it, and taking it he can unfold it and expound to us the wondrous purpose of electing love towards the chosen ones. Stand back, you sons of antichrist, with your brasen foreheads! How dare you bring forward a virgin, blessed among women, and cause her very name to be defiled by calling her our intercessor before God? How dare you bring your saints and saintesses and make these to mediate between God and men? “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” [1Ti 2:5] The saints in heaven sing of him, “You are worthy”; but they greet no one else besides. They reserve no homage for any other intercessor or mediator or interpreter or fulfiller of the divine grace, for they know of no other. To him and to him alone, they give the honour to go in to the King on the behalf of the sons of men, and to take the book in his hand.

6. Notice carefully to what they ascribe this worthiness: — “You are worthy to take the book and open its seals, for you were slain.” Now, the case stands like this. God has given to us innumerable blessings in the covenant of grace, but they are given conditionally. There are two sides to a covenant. Jesus Christ is our representative and covenant head, and the condition which as the mediator he had to fulfil was this — that in due time he would offer to divine justice an honourable compensation for all the injury done to the honour of God by our sins. As mediator, our Lord’s worthiness did not merely arise from his person as God and perfect man: this outfitted him to undertake the office, but his right to claim the privileges written in the Magna Charta which God held in his hand, his right to take possession for his people of that seven sealed indenture lies in this, that he has fulfilled the condition of the covenant, and hence they sing, “You are worthy, for you were slain.” Not “You are worthy, for you were born on earth, and you lived a holy life,” but “You were slain”; for he must render compensation to incensed justice and injured holiness, and he did that upon the bloody tree. Whenever we begin to talk about this, the believers in the modern atonement — which is no atonement, but a hazy piece of cloud land — say to us, “Oh, you hold the commercial theory, do you?” They know very well that we only use, because the Bible uses them, commercial expressions as metaphors; but I venture to say to them, “You may well assert that there is nothing commercial about your system, for the commercial value of a counterfeit farthing would be too much to pay for the atonement in which you believe.” I believe in an atonement in which Christ literally took the sin of his people, and for them endured the wrath of God, giving to justice quid pro quo for all that was due to it, or an equivalent for it: bearing, so that we might not bear, the wrath that was due to us. Jesus himself really “bore our sins in his own body on the tree.” “He was made sin for us who knew no sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”; there was a literal, positive, actual substitution of “the just for the unjust to bring us to God.” No other atonement is worth the breath used to preach it. It will neither give comfort to the conscience nor glory to God. But on this rock our souls may rest without fear, and it is because of this that they sing in heaven, “You are worthy, for you were slain. You can claim our absolution: you can take the Magna Charta of your elect into your hand, and unroll the covenant established with them of old. You can reveal to us the sure mercies of David, for your part in the covenant has been fulfilled; your substitutionary death has made your people heirs with you.” Gladly would I fly up there to join their song, but until then I will lisp it out as best as I can, — “You are worthy to take the book and open its seals, for you were slain.”

7. II. Secondly, in heaven they adore the Lord as their REDEEMER. “You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood.”

8. The metaphor of redemption, if I understand it, means this. A thing which is redeemed in the strict sense belonged beforehand to the person who redeemed it. Under the Jewish law lands were mortgaged as they are now; and when the money lent upon them, or the service due for them, was paid, the land was said to be redeemed. An inheritance first belonged to a person, and then went away from him by stress of poverty, but if a certain price was paid it came back. Now “all souls are mine” says the Lord, and the souls of men belong to God. The metaphor is used, and, notice, these expressions are only metaphors; but the sense under them is no metaphor; it is fact. Our souls had come under mortgage, as it were, through the sin committed, so that God could not accept us without violating his justice until something had been done by which he who is infinitely just could freely distribute his grace to us. Now, Jesus Christ has taken the mortgage from God’s inheritance. “The Lord’s portion is his people”; that portion was mortgaged until Jesus discharged it. We always were God’s, but we had fallen into slavery to sin. Jesus came to make payment for our offences, and thus we return to where we were before, only with additional gifts which his grace bestows. In heaven they say “You have redeemed us”; and they tell the price, “You have redeemed us to God by your blood.” There lay the price, the sufferings and death of Jesus have set his people free from the slavery into which they were brought. They are redeemed, and they are redeemed to God. That is the point: they come back to God as lands come back to the owner when the mortgage is discharged. We come back to God again, to whom we always did belong, because Jesus has redeemed us to God by his blood.

9. And please notice that the redemption they sing about in heaven is not general redemption. It is particular redemption. “You have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” They do not speak of the redemption of every tongue, and people, and nation, but of a redemption out of every tongue, and people, and nation. I thank God I do not believe that I was redeemed in the same way that Judas was, and no more. If so, I shall go to hell as Judas did. General redemption is not worth anything to anyone, for by itself it secures a place in heaven for no one: but the special redemption which does redeem, and redeems men out of the rest of mankind, is the redemption that is to be prayed for, and for which we shall praise God for ever and ever. We are redeemed from among men. “Christ loved his church and gave himself for it.” “He is the Saviour of all men” — let us never deny that — “but especially of those who believe.” There is a wide, far reaching sacrificial atonement which brings untold blessings to all mankind, but by that atonement a special divine object was intended, which will be carried out, and that object is the actual redemption of his own elect from the bondage of their sins, the price being the blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, brethren, may we have a share in this particular, effective, efficient redemption, for this alone can bring us where they sing the new song.

10. This redemption is one which is personally experienced. You have redeemed us to God. Redemption is sweet, but “you have redeemed us” is still sweeter. If I can only believe he loved me, and gave himself for me, that will tune my tongue to sing Jehovah’s praise, for what did David say? “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness.” He repeated that several times over, but it would never have been carried out unless he had said, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed out of the hand of the enemy.” In vain he called upon others, their tongues were dedicated to their pleasures; but the redeemed of the Lord are an appropriate choir to magnify his name.

11. The pith of what I have to say is this: in heaven they praise Jesus Christ because he has redeemed them, — my dear hearer, has he ever redeemed you? Oh, one says, “I believe he has redeemed everyone.” But of what avail is that? Do not the great majority of mankind sink into perdition? If you rest upon such a redemption you rest upon what will not save you. He redeemed his own elect; or, in other words, he redeemed believers. “God so loved the world” is a text greatly extolled, but please go on with it. How much did he love the world? “That he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish.” There is the specialty of it — “Whoever believes in him”; and if you do not believe in him neither do you have part or lot in his redemption, you are slaves to sin and Satan, and so you will live and so you will die: but believing in the Lord Jesus you have the marks of being specially and effectively redeemed by him, and when you get to heaven this will be your song, — “You have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and people, and tongue.” Blessed be God for this. Some of all kinds are saved, some of all colours, ranks, nations, and ages are saved; some of all conditions of education and morals, some of the poorest, and some of the richest are redeemed: so that when we all assemble in heaven, though we make a motley throng on earth, we shall constitute a united choir, having all our voices tuned to this one note, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”

12. III. Thirdly, and briefly, in heaven they praise Christ, not merely as mediator and as redeemer, but as the DONOR OF THEIR DIGNITIES.

13. They are kings and reign. We too are kings; but as yet we are not known or recognised, and often we ourselves forget our high descent. Up there they are crowned monarchs, but they say, “You have made us kings.” They are priests too, as we are now, every one of us. When a fellow comes forward in all kinds of curious garments, and says he is a priest, the poorest child of God may say, “Stand aside, and do not interfere with my office: I am a priest; I do not know what you are. You surely must be a priest of Baal, for the only mention of the word vestments in Scripture is in connection with the temple of Baal.” The priesthood belongs to all the saints. They sometimes call you laity, but the Holy Spirit says of all the saints, “You are God’s cleros” — you are God’s clergy. Every child of God is a clergyman or a clergywoman. There are no priestly distinctions known in Scripture. Away with them! Away with them for ever! The Prayer Book says, “Then shall the priest say.” What a pity that word was ever left there. The very word “priest” has such a stench of the sulphur of Rome about it, that as long as it remains, the Church of England will exude an ill savour. Call yourself a priest, sir! I wonder that men are not ashamed to take the title: when I remember what priests have done in all ages — what priests connected with the church of Rome have done, I repeat what I have often said: I would sooner a man pointed at me in the street and called me a devil, than called me a priest; for bad as the devil has been, he has hardly been able to match the crimes, cruelties, and villainies which have been transacted under the cover of a special priesthood. May we be delivered from that: but the priesthood of God’s saints, the priesthood of holiness, which offers prayer and praise to God — this they have in heaven; but they say of it, “You have made us priests.” What the saints are, and what they are to be, they ascribe to Jesus. They have no glory except what they received from him, and they know it, and are perpetually confessing it.

14. Let our hearts sing with the redeemed — “All for Jesus, for all is from Jesus! All for Jesus, for Jesus has given us all we have.” Let us begin that music here.

15. IV. Once again, in heaven they adore the Saviour as DIVINE.

16. I am not straining the words of my text at all, but keeping the whole passage before me. If you read the two chapters you will find that while they sing to God, “You are worthy, oh Lord, to receive honour and glory and power,” they sing to the Lamb, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom.” The ascriptions which are given to the Creator are also offered to the Lamb, and he is represented as sitting on the same throne. Notice carefully that he does not resent the adoration which they give to him. When John fell down to worship one of the angels he received an earnest protest, “See that you do not it.” Now, if the worship given to Christ had been wrong, the thrice holy Saviour would have exclaimed most earnestly, “See that you do not it”; but he intimates no objection to the worship, although it is freely rendered by all the intelligent beings before the throne. Depend upon it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God. They are all doing it there: you will have to acknowledge it, and if you entertain the notion that he is a mere man, or that he is anything less than God, I am afraid you will have to begin at the beginning and learn what true religion means. You have a poor foundation to rest on. I could not trust my soul with a mere man, or believe in an atonement made by a mere man: I must see God himself putting his hand to so gigantic a work. I cannot imagine a mere man being praised like this as the Lamb is praised. Jesus is “God over all, blessed for ever.” [Ro 9:5] When we ever speak at all severely of Socinians and Unitarians you must not be surprised by it, because if we are right they are blasphemers, and if they are right we are idolaters, there is no choice between the two. We never could agree, and never shall while the world stands. We preach Christ the Son of God as very God of very God, and if they reject him it is not for us to pretend that it makes no difference, when in fact it makes all the difference in the world. We would not wish them to say more than they believe to be true, and they must not expect us to say less than we believe to be true. If Jesus is God, they must believe it, and must worship him as such, or else they cannot participate in the salvation which he has provided. I love the deity of Christ! I preach his humanity with all my might, and I rejoice that he is the Son of man; but oh, he must be the Son of God too, or there is no peace for me.

   Till God in human flesh I see,
      My thoughts no comfort find.
   The holy, just, and sacred Three
      Are terrors to my mind.
   But if Emmanuel’s face appear,
      My hope my joy begins:
   His name forbids my slavish fear;
      His grace removes my sins.

17. Now I am almost finished, only this is the outcome of the subject. You see the opinion they have of Jesus in heaven. My dear friends, are you of the same mind with them? You will never go there until you are. There are no sects in heaven — no two parties. They hold the same views about Jesus there. Let me ask you then, are you of the same persuasion as the glorified saints? They praise Jesus for what he has done. It is very wonderful to my mind that when they are adoring the Saviour they seem to strike that one key: they praise him for what he has done, and they praise him for what he has done for them. They might have praised him for what he is, but in the text they do not. Now, this reason which has such sway in heaven is the very same which moves us here — “We love him because he first loved us,” and as if to show that this kind of love is not an inferior love, the love of gratitude seems to be the very sum and substance of the love of heaven — “You were slain, and have redeemed us.” Can you praise him for redeeming you? Dear hearer, you have heard about Jesus hundreds of times. Has he saved you? You know there is a fountain filled with blood, which cleanses from all sin; has it cleansed you? You know he has woven a robe of righteousness which covers his people from head to foot: has he covered you with it? You will never praise him until that is the case, and you cannot go to heaven until you are ready for his praise. “Well, but I go to my place of worship.” So you may; but that will not save you until you get a personal hold on Christ for yourself. “My mother and father were godly people.” I am glad they were: I hope they will not have an ungodly son. You must, however, have a personal religion — something done by Jesus Christ for you. Young woman over there, has Jesus Christ redeemed you from among the mass of the people; brought you out from your sins, and separated you to himself? Have you had the blood applied to your soul — the precious blood of sprinkling which speaks peace in the conscience? Time is flying, and you have been hearers month after month; will it always be so? Will you never cry to God, “Lord, let me know your redemption; let me have a share in the precious blood: let me be washed from my sins?” Remember you must be able to praise him for what he has done for you, or else you are not of the opinion of those in heaven, and you cannot come into heaven.

18. It is clear from the song I have been reading that in heaven Christ is the be-all-and-end-all for everyone and everything. Is Christ so with you? It is a solemn question to ask people. Is Christ first and last and middle with you, top and bottom, foundation and pinnacle, all in all? He does not know Christ who does not know that Christ is all. Christ and company will never do. Christ is the sole Saviour, the sole trust, the one prophet, priest, and king to all who accept him. Is he everything to you? Ah, there are some who think they love Christ; they think they trust Christ; but if he were to come to their house he would have a seat at the far end of the table if they treated him as they treat him now. They give him part of the Sabbath Day: they were loafing about all the morning, they were only able to get here this evening, and even now they have not come to worship, but only out of curiosity. A chapter in the Bible — how long is it, young man, since you read one? Private prayer — ah, I must not go into that; it is such a sorry story that you would have to tell. If anyone said to you, “You are not a Christian,” you would be offended. Well, I will say it, and you may be offended if you like, but remember you should be offended with yourself rather than with me. If you offend my Lord I am not at all afraid of your being offended with his servant, and therefore I tell you, if Christ is anything short of Lord and King in your soul, Christ and you are far apart. He must be in the front rank, Lord High Admiral upon the sea, and Commander-in-Chief on the land. He is not going to be a petty officer, to come in at your odd times to be a lackey for you. You must take him to be Head, Lord, and Master. Is it so with you? If not, you differ from those in heaven, for he is all in all to them.

19. Once more, can you join with the words of our text and say, “He is worthy, he is worthy?” I hope there are many here who if they for a moment heard that full burst of song, “He is worthy,” would join it very heartily, and say, “Indeed, he is worthy.” I seemed tonight when I was praying — as if I could hear them sing, “He is worthy,” and I could hardly restrain myself from shouting, “Well do you sing so, you spirits before the throne! He is worthy!” If we were to lose our silence for a moment, and break the decorum which we have observed through the sermon, and with one unanimous shout cry, “Yes, he is worthy,” I think it would be a fitting thing to do. Jesus is worthy of my life, worthy of my love, worthy of everything I can say for him, worthy of a thousand times more than that, worthy of all the music and harps on earth, worthy of all the songs of all the sweetest singers, worthy of all the poetry of the best writers, worthy of all the adoration of every knee, worthy of all that every man has or can conceive, or can encompass, worthy to be adored by all who are in the earth and under the earth, and in the sea, and in the heavens, and in the heaven of heavens. He is worthy. We say “worthy,” because we cannot tell how worthy. I think these good singers in heaven desired to give to the Lamb his due, and then they paused, and said to themselves, “We cannot give him the praise he deserves, but we know that he is worthy. We cannot pretend to give him what he is worthy of, but we will say he is worthy.” Yes he is worthy. If I had fifty thousand lives in this poor body, he is worthy that they should all be poured out one after another in martyrdom. One should be burned alive, and another should be broken on the wheel, and another should be starved by inches, and another should be dragged at the heeds of a wild horse, and he would deserve them all. He is worthy, and if we had all the mines of India — silver and gold and gems, the rarest treasures of all the kings that ever lived, if we were to give it all up to him, and go barefoot, he is worthy. And if, after having done that, we were to remain day and night in perpetual work without rest, all for his sake, and if each one of us were multiplied into a million, and all of us laboured so, he is worthy. Worthy. I would make every drop of dew sparkle with his praise, and every leaf in the forest bear his name. I would make every dell and every mountain vocal with adoration, and teach the stars, and teach the angels above the stars, his praise.

   Oh for a thousand tongues to sing
      My great Redeemer’s praise!

Let time and space become one mouth for song, and all eternity sound forth that mighty word, “He is worthy.” Do you feel that he is worthy? If you do not, you cannot be admitted where they sing that song, for if you could enter there you would be unhappy. Never hope to enter there until your soul can say, “I have rested in his blood, I am redeemed to God by it, and the Redeemer is worthy; and will bear witness of his worthiness until time shall be no more.”

20. May God bless you all, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Re 4; 5]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, His Praise — A New Song To The Lamb” 412]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, His Praise — ‘Worthy Is The Lamb’ ” 416]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, His Praise — Crown Him” 417]

Jesus Christ, His Praise
412 — A New Song To The Lamb
1 Behold the glories of the Lamb
   Amidst his Father’s throne;
   Prepare new honours for his name
   And songs before unknown.
2 Let elders worship at his feet,
   The church adore around,
   With vials full of odours sweet,
   And harps of sweeter sound.
3 Those are the prayers of the saints,
   And these the hymns they raise;
   Jesus is kind to our complaints,
   He loves to hear our praise.
4 Eternal Father, who shall look
   Into thy secret will?
   Who but the Son shall take that book,
   And open every seal?
5 He shall fulfil thy great decrees,
   The Son deserves it well;
   Lo! in his hand the sovereign keys
   Of heaven, and death, and hell.
6 Now to the Lamb that once was slain,
   Be endless blessings paid;
   Salvation, glory, joy, remain
   For ever on thy head.
7 Thou hast redeem’d our souls with blood,
   Hast set the prisoners free;
   Hast made us kings and priests to God,
   And we shall reign with thee.
8 The words of nature and of grace
   Are put beneath thy power;
   Then shorten these delaying days,
   And bring the promised hour.
                        Isaac Watts, 1709.

Jesus Christ, His Praise
416 — “Worthy Is The Lamb” <6.6.4.6.6.6.4.>
1 Glory to God on high!
      Let earth and skies reply,
      Praise ye his name:
   His love and grace adore,
   Who all our sorrows bore,
   Sing aloud evermore,
      Worthy the Lamb!
2 Jesus, our Lord and God,
   Bore sin’s tremendous load,
      Praise ye his name:
   Tell what his arm hath done,
   What spoils from death he won:
   Sing his great name alone:
      Worthy the Lamb!
3 While they around the throne
   Cheerfully join in one,
      Praising his name:
   Those who have felt his blood
   Sealing their peace with God,
   Sound his dear fame abroad:
      Worthy the Lamb!
4 Join all ye ransomed race,
   Our holy Lord to bless;
      Praise ye his name:
   In him we will rejoice,
   And make a joyful noise,
   Shouting with heart and voice,
      Worthy the Lamb!
5 What though we change our place,
   Yet we shall never cease
      Praise his dear name;
   To him our songs we bring,
   Hail him our gracious, King.
   And, without ceasing sing,
      Worthy the Lamb!
6 Then let the hosts above,
   In realms of endless love,
      Praise his dear name;
   To him ascribed be
   Honour and majesty;
   Through all eternity:
      Worthy the Lamb!
                  James Allen, 1761, a.

Jesus Christ, His Praise
417 — Crown Him
1 All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
      Let angels prostrate fall;
   Bring forth the royal diadem,
      And crown him Lord of all.
2 Crown him, ye martyrs of our God,
      Who from his altar call;
   Extol the stem of Jesse’s rod,
      And crown him Lord of all.
3 Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
      A remnant weak and small,
   Hail him who saves you by his grace,
      And crown him Lord of all.
4 Ye Gentile sinners, ne’er forget
      The wormwood and the gall;
   Go — spread your trophies at his feet,
      And crown him Lord of all.
5 Babes, men, and sires, who know his love,
      Who feel your sin and thrall,
   Now joy with all the hosts above,
      And crown him Lord of all.
6 Let every kindred, every tribe,
      On this terrestrial ball,
   To him all majesty ascribe,
      And crown him Lord of all.
7 Oh that with yonder sacred throng,
      We at his feet may fall;
   We’ll join the everlasting song,
      And crown him Lord of all.
                  Edward Perronet, 1780, a.