Jesus was the source of blessedness

JESUS WAS THE SOURCEOF BLESSEDNESS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Psalm72:17 17
May his name endure forever; may it
continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be
blessedthrough him, and they will call him blessed.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Christ On The Throne
Psalm 72:15
W. Forsyth If it may be said of the twenty-second psalm that it lets us see Christ on the cross, it
may be said of this that it shows us Christ on the throne. Instead of humiliation, there is
exaltation; instead of the mockery of "the purple robe," there is the homage of angels; instead of
the wicked cries of envious priests and a deluded people, "Crucify him!" there is the joyful song
of the redeemed, "Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" The saints on earth, as well
as the saints in heaven, are partakers of this joy; they know whom they have believed, and they
have had experience of his benign and righteous rule. We learn here -
I. THAT WHERE CHRIST REIGNS THERE IS LIFE. He is the Source and the Giver of life.
Where the waters that Ezekiel saw came, there was life; and so where the gospel of Christ
comes, there is life. The mind that before was dark has the life of truth; the conscience that
before was dormant has the life of righteousness; the heart that before was dead in sins is
quickened to the new life of love and holiness. Christ's rule ever tends to the well being of his
people.
II. THAT WHERE THERE IS LIFE THERE WILL BE PRAYER. The first sign of infant life is
breathing; and the first sign of the soul's life is the breathing of prayer to God. The life within
expresses itself in accordance with its nature and needs. The mind that has light cries for more

light; the conscience, awakened to a sense of sin, seeks deliverance; the heart that has been
touched with the love of God yearns for more love and nearer fellowship. So it was with Paul.
"Behold, he prayeth!" and so onward, through all the toils and struggles of his noble life, he
continued instant in prayer.
III. THAT WHERE THERE IS PRAYER THE SUPREME DESIRE WILL BE THE GLORY
OF CHRIST. Self will be lost in love. Concern about ourselves will be merged in concern for the
glory of Christ our Lord. "Prayer shall be made for him."
1. For his cause. What interests him will interest us; what lies nearest his heart will be nearest
ours. There is unity of life.
2. For his people. He identifies himself with them. He regards what is done to them as done to
himself. When "prayer was made of the Church" for Peter, they were, in a sense, making prayer
for Christ. Our sympathies should be as broad as the sympathies of Christ.
3. For his second coming. His first coming was the hope of Israel; his second coming is the hope
of the Church of the gospel (Revelation 22:20; Titus 2:13). "Prayer for Christ" increases our love
to him, binds us in closer union with the brethren, and enables us to transmit the blessed hope to
future generations. Think of the prayers made every Lord's day! What cause for thankfulness and
joy! Yea, "daily" prayer shall be made till prayer is consummated in praise. - W.F.
Biblical Illustrator
His name shall endure for ever: His name shall be continued as long as the sun.
Psalm 72:17
The name of Christ
James Parsons.I. THE SAVIOUR'S RENOWN. For by "His name" we understand His renown.
1. The source from whence this renown is derived. It is from His proper and essential divinity;
from His condescending and efficacious sufferings; from His exaltation and mediatorial glory.
What is all other renown compared to His?
2. The permanence with which it is invested. We have seen much of the essential perpetuity of
our Saviour's renown, from what has already transpired in the history and annals of the world. It
has endured the attack of heathenism when made under the elements of classic Greece or the
power of inferior Rome. It has endured the attack of modern infidelity, which uttered its hell-cry
from philosopher to king, and back again from king to philosopher, "Crush the wretch, crush the
wretch!" — by that wretch meaning the Redeemer, whose Cause and whose glory we plead.
II. THE REDEEMER'S INFLUENCE.
1. Its method. It is secured through His Spirit, His Word, His Church.
2. Its character — it is one of blessing and grace. The religion of Christ alone is the source alike
of national, of domestic, and of individual felicity.
3. Its extent — "All nations shall call Him blessed."

(James Parsons.)
The imperishable name
Homilist.We apply these words to Christ, although their literal reference may point to another.
What reason have we to believe that Christ's name will endure for ever?
I. HE IS THE AUTHOR OF AN IMMORTAL BOOK. Men's names come down through the
centuries by reason of the books they have written, although the time comes when the most
enduring of these become obsolete and pass away. Now, the Bible is Christ's book. He is at once
its Author and its substance. But, unlike other books, it has imperishable elements.
1. Its doctrines are true to the immortal intellect.
2. Its precepts are true to the undying conscience.
3. Its provisions are true to the unquenchable aspirations.
II. HE IS THE FOUNDER OF ENDURING INSTITUTIONS. Men's names come down in
institutions they have founded. Christ has instituted the Lord's Supper. And the Sunday
commemorates Him.
III. HE IS THE LIVING HEAD OF AN UNDYING FAMILY. Conclusion. Trust this name.
(Homilist.)
The eternal nameIt is the name of Jesus Christ. Text true of —
I. THE RELIGION SANCTIONED BY HIS NAME.
1. There was never a time when it did not exist here on earth.
2. If it were destroyed no other religion would take its place.
3. If another could, by what means would you crush this?
4. And if it could be crushed, what would become of the world then: would life be worth living?
II. THE HONOUR OF HIS NAME. As long as a redeemed sinner is to be found, so long will the
honour of Christ's name endure. And so of —
III. THE POWER OF HIS NAME. For it alone gives peace, purity, triumph in death. Let all
other names perish, as they will: but this never.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
The honour of the name of Christ
J. Bannerman, D. D.The language of this psalm cannot be confined to Solomon: it speaks of him
only as he was in office or character the type of Christ. The full meaning of the psalm belongs to
Christ alone. By the name of Christ, His chief greatness or excellency, His peculiar honour and
glory, is meant. Now, such glory has been given to Christ —
I. BY GOD THE FATHER.
1. In the eternal counsels.
2. At His baptism.
3. On the Mount Of Transfiguration.
4. By the Resurrection.

II. FROM THE ANGELS OF GOD. Their knowledge, their security, have been furthered by
Christ in His redeeming work.
III. FROM THE REDEEMED AMONG MEN. Through their justification and sanctification
they become witnesses to the glory and greatness of the Redeemer.
(J. Bannerman, D. D.)
Christ's renown
J. W. Adams, D. D.By the name of Christ is signified His renown. Now, this prediction was
uttered more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ, and when deep obscurity rested
upon all that pertained to Him. And when He was born and had entered on His ministry, there
was scarcely anything in His condition or circumstances to justify the anticipation of His endless
renown. He died ignominiously forsaken of all His friends. But after His death their love revived,
and they went forth to preach His name. But still there seemed little probability that the name of
their Master should endure for ever. Yet so it has been. The triumphs of Christianity are all
known. Time rolled on, and the fame of Christ widened and spread. And His fame and renown
are entirely different from that which belongs to all others. For —
I. WHERE ONCE CHRIST'S NAME HAS BEEN KNOWN IT HAS NEVER BEEN
ENTIRELY ROOTED OUT. Even in the place where the seven Churches of Asia withered
under the curse of heaven, His name is not lost. But other names, however great, are.
II. THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH MEN HAVE OF HIM IS MORE INTIMATE AND
PARTICULAR THAN THAT WHICH THEY HAVE OF ANY OF THE GREAT MEN OF
THE PAST. How little we know of these ." how much we know of Him.
III. And the knowledge of Him is POSSESSED BY ALL CLASSES. Not the rich and educated
alone, but the poor and the common people know Him.
IV. And HOW DIFFERENT THE FEELINGS WHICH WE ASSOCIATE WITH HIM FROM
THOSE WHICH WE HAVE FOR OTHERS. It is not mere admiration or respect, but we give
Him our hearts. Every mention of His name touches our deepest affections. What wonder that He
should receive the homage of a world! But what is He to us? That is the all-important question.
Has such a friend, such a Saviour, no beauty in our eyes? God forbid that we should refuse Him
that love which He asks for, and so richly merits from us.
(J. W. Adams, D. D.)
His name shall endure
W. S. Goodall, M. A.I. WHY MAY THE INFLUENCE OF CHRIST'S NAME BE EXPECTED
TO ENDURE FOR EVER?
1. Because He is the greatest benefactor the world has ever seen.
2. Because He is a mighty conqueror. He achieved victory, notwithstanding fearful odds. Look at
two periods in the history of the Church. Look at the first three centuries. Emperors and rulers
combined to exterminate this new sect. The most determined means were adopted. Religious
teachers were put to death or cast into prison. Bibles were gathered together in response to
several edicts and burned in different squares and market places. Did these succeed? The very
means adopted to destroy the new faith were the means blessed of God for perpetuating it.
Religious teachers were scattered over the then known world. To their amazement, I can well
believe, they found that God had been preparing the world for their coming. Magnificent roads

had been made, so that they could pass easily from town to town. The Greek language was
spoken so that they could address the people in their own tongue. Verily it was only in the
"fulness of time" that God "sent forth His Son." If you wish to see triumph in connection with the
preaching of the Gospel, study the first three centuries of the Gospel history. Look at the last
century of the history of the Church. In that century you see the history and the triumph of
missions.
II. HOW IS CHRIST'S NAME TO BE PERPETUATED?
1. In the hearts of His people. Take Christ and His teaching out of song. Take Christ and His
Cross out of poetry, and you take away their very heart and soul and life. No teacher has ever
received such tribute as Christ has done. The fact that you have the best geniuses in song, and
poetry, and painting, laying their offerings at His feet is one of the most convincing arguments in
favour of my text — "His name shall endure for ever."
2. By the character of His people. This is one thing that scepticism can never explain away. The
maxims and the example of the world can never produce a holy life. It takes Christianity to do
that. A holy life is therefore one of the best means by which the influence of Christ's name can
be perpetuated in this world.
3. By the ordinances of the Church.
(W. S. Goodall, M. A.)
Christ -- His enduring name
John Cairns, D. D.I. THE NAME OF JESUS OUR SAVIOUR IS FITTED TO ENDURE.
1. By virtue of the law which connects memory with greatness. The great are remembered —
great kings, great heroes, great sages, great saints — while the crowd must be forgotten. Jesus
does not refuse to be commemorated according to this standard. He does not struggle indeed for
fame, but for usefulness; but when He says, "Come unto Me," "Follow Me," He presupposes
transcendent greatness. Even on the human side the greatness of Jesus is unexampled, the
greatness of knowledge, of wisdom, of purity, of benevolence, of devotion — such greatness as
amounts to absolute perfection.
2. By virtue of the law which connects memory with service.
3. By virtue of the law which connects memory with suffering. Even destroyers and conquerors
are better remembered by disaster than by victory — as Alexander by his premature death,
Caesar by his assassination, and Napoleon by his exile. How much more have the great
benefactors of our race had their memories embalmed by suffering; so that they are cherished as
their works and endurances have cost them dear. But how imperfect is every such image of the
connection between the Saviour's sufferings and the enduring of His name! All others were born
to suffer, if not in that form in some other; they were sinners, and could not escape even by
labour and service to mankind. But Jesus was above this doom, and stooped to meet it —
stooped from a height beyond all parallel. "Though He was rich," etc. "The Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto,." etc.
II. IT IS DESTINED TO ENDURE.
1. The name of Jesus is identified with the existence of the Church. Take it away, and the Church
falls. Christianity is obliterated, or sinks in fragmental Take it away, and there is no pardon, no

sanctification, no fellowship with God, according to His own word, "No man cometh unto the
Father but by Me."
2. The name of Jesus Christ is hound up with the history and prospects of mankind. This name is
a key to the history of the world. It is not without reason that history is divided into two great
periods, before Christ and after Christ.
3. The Saviour's name is destined to endure, because it is committed to the watchful care of the
Godhead. God the Father sees here the brightest manifestation of Himself, for He thus reveals
the fulness of power, the depth of wisdom, the beauty of holiness, the tender radiance of mercy,
all shining in the face of Jesus Christ. The continued display of this glory to men and angels is
the last end of redemption, the fulfilment by the Father of the prayer of the Son, "Glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." Shall this last prayer, then, be defeated? Shall these
supreme manifestations of God, which, pent up from everlasting days, have at last broken forth
upon the universe, be recalled? And shall the word of promise that has gone out of His mouth be
made void" I will make Thy name to be remembered in all generations"?
(John Cairns, D. D.)
The universality and perpetuity of Christ's reign
W. J. Dawson., Footsteps of Truth.Buddha is reported to have said that he did not expect his
religion to last more than 5,000 years.
(W. J. Dawson.)Voltaire said he lived in the twilight of Christianity. He meant a lie; he spoke the
truth. He did live in its twilight; but it was the twilight before the morning; not the twilight of the
evening, as he meant to say; for the morning comes, when the light of the sun shall break upon
us in its truest glory. The scorners have said that we should soon forget to honour Christ, and that
one day no man should acknowledge Him. "His name shall endure for ever."
(Footsteps of Truth.)
And men shall be blessed in Him
What history owes to Jesus Christ
James Orr, D. D.I. THE MORAL AND SOCIAL BENEFIT. We need to take the simplest,
plainest facts that lie upon the surface of history, to see what a revelation was implied in the
entrance of Christian ideas into such a world as this. It brought, for one thing, a totally new idea
of man himself, as a being of infinite dignity and immortal worth; it taught that every man's soul,
even the humblest, poorest, and the most defiled, was made in God's image, is capable of eternal
life, and has an infinite value — a value that made worth while God's own Son's dying to redeem
it. It brought back to men's minds the sense of responsibility to God — an idea that had never
been possessed, or had been altogether or almost altogether lost. It brought into the world a new
spirit of love and charity, something wonderful in the eyes of those heathen as they saw
institutions spring up round about them that they had never thought or heard of in heathenism
before. It flashed into men's souls a new moral ideal, and set up a standard of truth, and integrity,
and purity, which has acted as an elevating force on moral conception in the world till this hour.
It restored woman to her rightful place by man's side as his spiritual helpmate and equal, and
created that best of God's blessings on earth, the Christian home, where children are reared in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord. It taught the slave his spiritual freedom as a member of the
Kingdom of God, gave him a place there in Christ's kingdom as an equal with his own master,
and struck at the foundations of slavery by its doctrine of the natural brotherhood and the dignity

of man. It created self-respect, a sense of duty in the use of one's powers for self-support and for
the benefit of others. It urged to honest labour. "Let him that stole steal no more," etc. And in a
myriad ways, by direct teaching, by the protest of holy lives, by its gentle spirit, it struck at the
evils and the corruptions and the malpractices and the cruelties of the time.
II. THE RELIGIOUS DEBT TO JESUS. It was Christianity that overthrew the reign of those
gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome, and swept them so completely from the path of history
that no one, even in his wildest imagination, now dreams of the possibility of their revival. It was
Christianity that, still maintaining something of its youthful energy, laid hold of these rough
barbarian people in the Middle Ages and trained them to some kind of civilization and moral life.
It was Christianity that in England and Scotland lighted the light that by and by spread its
radiance through every part of the country. It is Christianity that to-day is teaching the nations to
burn their idols, to cease their horrid practices, to take on them the obligations of moral and
civilized existence. Whatever blessings or hopes we trace to our religion, whatever light it
imparts to our minds or cheer to cur hearts, whatever power there is in it to sustain holiness or
conquer sin, all that we owe to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
III. THE ETERNAL BENEFITS. "Jesus hath abolished death," we read, "and hath brought life
and immortality to light through His Gospel." And what was better, He not only taught men the
way of life, but stood there Himself, the great medium of return to God. He stood there not only
teaching men what the way of life was, but He Himself was there to place their feet in its paths.
He not only taught us about God, but showed us how to be at peace with Him — brought us back
to God, from whom we had wandered, and reconciled us with God. He not only warned us of the
dangers and the evils of the life of sin, of the ruin, the destruction which sin brought with it, of
the alienation, the estrangement from the life of God that was in sin; but He united Himself there
with us, with His infinite mercy in our lone, and lost, and condemned condition, took upon
Himself there, on His own soul, that burden we could not for ourselves bear, and through His
cross and passion opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
(James Orr, D. D.)
The benefits of Christianity
A. Duncan.I. THE BENEFITS WHICH CHRISTIANITY CONVEYS TO THE
COMMUNITIES AMONG WHOM IT IS PREACHED.
1. It has diffused among all classes of men the knowledge of God. "Nothing," says the son of
Sirach, "is so much worth as a mind well instructed"; but there is no knowledge like that which
respects the character of God, our obligations to Him, and expectations from Him. It is the only
effectual source of right conduct, and of true comfort, in every state and condition of human life.
2. Christianity has greatly purified and reformed the manners of men. Some of those vices which
marked and disgraced the character of heathen nations are scarcely known but by their name; and
others, which were openly practised in the face of day, are now hid in obscurity and darkness. On
the other hand, some virtues, of the obligation of which the heathens had no apprehension, are
not only to be found in the character of real Christians, but have risen into such general credit
and esteem as to influence the conduct of many who, in other respects, feel but little of the power
of religion.
3. Christianity has promoted among men a spirit of humanity and benevolence, unknown to the
heathen world.

4. Christianity has contributed essentially to the safety and prosperity of society.
II. THE BENEFITS WHICH IT CONVEYS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WHO BELIEVE AND
EMBRACE IT.
1. It effectuates their conversion to God, and to the obedience of His will.
2. The effects of Christianity upon the Christian's state of mind are not less important and happy
than its influence upon his character; it restores him to peace with God, and to hope in Him.
(A. Duncan.)
Blessed in HimI. A SINGULAR CONDITION.
1. By nature, men are not blessed. The trail of the old serpent is everywhere.
2. The text promises that men shall be delivered from the curse, that they shall be uplifted from
their natural unhappiness, that they shall be rescued from their doubtful or their hopeful
questioning, and shall even come to be blessed. God shall pronounce them blessed. He shall set
upon them the bread seal of Divine approbation; and with that seal there shall come streaming
into their hearts the sweetness of intense delight, which shall give them experimentally a blessing
to their own conscious enjoyment.
3. Let me tell you what Christ does for a man who is really in Him, and then you will see how He
is blessed.
(1)The man who comes to Christ by faith, and truly trusts Christ, has all the past rectified.
(2)He has present favour.
(3)His future is guaranteed.
II. A WIDE STATEMENT.
1. To make this wide statement true requires breadth of number. The text says, "Men shall be
blessed in Him," that is to say, the most of men, innumerable myriads of men shall get the
blessing that Jesus purchased by His death on the cross.
2. It implies great width of variety. "Men" — not merely kings or noblemen, but "Men shall be
blessed in Him." Men — not working men, or thinking men, or fighting men, or this sort of men,
or the other sort of men, but men of all sorts — "Men shall be blessed in Him." It is a delightful
thought that Christ is as much fitted to one rank and one class of persons as to another.
3. Our text indicates length of period: "Men shall be blessed in Him." Men have been blessed in
Him; these many centuries, Christ has shone with all the radiance of omnipotent love upon this
poor fallen world, but His light is as full as ever; and, however long this dispensation shall last,
"Men shall be blessed in Him."
4. The text suggests fulness of sufficiency concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a
wonderful depth of meaning in this passage when it says, "Men shall be blessed in Him." "Oh!"
says one, "Men shall be blessed by philosophy, or by Christ and philosophy." Not at all; it is,
"Men shall be blessed in Him." "But they shall be blessed in Him through trade and commerce
and the like." Not so; "Men shall be blessed in Him." Have not we, who are half a century old,
heard a great number of theories about how the millennium is to be brought about? I remember
that, at one time, free trade was to bring it, but it did not; and nothing will over make men
blessed unless they get into Christ: "Men shall be blessed in Him."

III. THE FULL ASSURANCE expressed in the text. It is a grand thing to get a sentence like this
with a "shall" in it: "Men shall be blessed in Him." It is not "perhaps they may be,"but, "Men
shall be blessed in Him." Not, "perchance they may be blessed under certain conditions"; but,
"Men shall be blessed in Him."
1. They shall not try Him and fail.
2. They shall not desire Him and be denied.
3. They shall come to Christ and get the blessing.
IV. Now, with all your hearts, think of my text with a PERSONAL APPROPRIATION: "Men
shall be blessed in Him." Are you blessed in Christ? Will you personally answer the question?
Do not pass it round, and say to yourself, "No doubt there are many who think that they are
blessed, and who are not." Never mind about them; for the present moment, ask this question of
yourself, "Am I blessed in Christ?"
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jesus: all blessing and all blestI. WE OURSELVES ARE LIVING WITNESSES THAT MEN
ARE BLESSED IN CHRIST. You and I do not pretend to be great sages, famous philosophers,
or learned divines; but we feel when a pin pricks us, or when a dog bites us. We have sense
enough to know when a thing tastes well or ill in the eating. We know chalk from cheese, as the
proverb hath it. We know somewhat about our own wants; and we also know when we get those
wants supplied. We bear witness that we have been blessed in Him. How much, how deeply,
how long, and in how many ways we have been blessed in Him, I will not undertake to say; but
this I will say most emphatically, for many of you now present, we have in verity, beyond all
question, been blessed in Jesus to the highest degree, and of this we are sure. We believe — and
faith grasps the first blessing — that we have received a great blessing in Christ by the removal
of a curse which otherwise must have rested upon us. If He had accomplished nothing but the
bearing away of our sin into the wilderness — as the scapegoat of old bore away the iniquity of
Israel — He would have done enough to set our tongues for ever praising Him. He has lifted
from the world the weight of the eternal curses; therefore, let all the bells of our cities ring out
His honour, and all the voices of the village sing forth His praise. The negative being removed,
we have had a positive actual experience of blessing, for God has blessed us in Christ Jesus, and
we know that none are more blest than we are. We are now not at all the men that we used to be
as to our inward feelings.
II. WE HAVE SEEN OTHER MEN BLESSED IN CHRIST.
1. What social changes we have seen in those who have believed in Him! He has blessed some
men and some women at such a rate that the devil himself would not have the impudence to say
it was not a blessing. Liar as Satan is, he could not deny that godliness has brought sunshine
where there was none: the blessing has been too distinct and manifest for any to deny it.
2. What a moral change have we seen in some! They could not speak without an oath, but the
habit of profane swearing ended in a minute, and they have never been tempted to it since. Rash,
bad-tempered men, who would break up the furniture of the house in their passion, have become
as gentle as lambs. Such furies usually become quiet, peaceable, and long-suffering: grace has a
marvellous influence upon the temper.
3. Then, as to mental blessing. What have we seen? This have I seen: here is one case out of
many. A young man, who had fallen into sin, came to me in deep despair of mind. He was so

desponding that his very face bore witness to his misery. I had tried to set the Gospel clearly
before him on the previous Sabbath, but he told me that he could not grasp it, for that by his sin
he had reduced his mind to such a state that he felt himself to be little better than an idiot. He was
not speaking nonsense either, for there are vices which destroy the intellect. I told him that Jesus
Christ could save idiots — that even if his mind was in measure impaired as the result of sin, yet
there was quite enough mind left to be made glad with a sense of pardon, seeing there was more
than enough to make him heavy with a sense of guilt. I cheered that brother as best I could, but I
could effect nothing by my own efforts. Soon the Lord Jesus Christ came to him, and he is now a
happy, earnest, joyful Christian.
III. This whole matter is to extend till THE ENTIRE WORLD SHALL BE BLESSED IN
CHRIST. Even at this moment the whom world is the better for Christ. But where He is best
known and loved, there is He the greatest blessing. What snatched many an island of the
southern sea from barbarism and cannibalism? What but Jesus Christ preached among them?
Men have been blessed in Him in Europe, America, Asia, and everywhere. Africa, and other
lands still plunged in barbarism, shall receive light from no other source but that from which our
fathers received it centuries ago — from the great Sun of Righteousness.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ's Kingdom: its progress and prospects
H. Grey, D. D.I. THE PERPETUITY OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM. extending from age to age
throughout all generations; for it is in connection with it that "His name shall endure for ever,
and be continued as long as the sun." Where are the mighty monarchies of the ancient world —
the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian — that seemed to have taken deep root in the earth, and,
matured by ages of vigour, to bid fair for perpetuity? Even the more modern States of Greece and
Rome have undergone a complete change, and their ancient characters are sought in vain in the
regions they once emblazoned with glory. Nor has the higher and less vulgar authority of
wisdom and legislation been more stable. The schools of ancient philosophy have passed away,
and the tenets of their sages have solved for us none of the hard questions suggested by reason
and conscience: one great name after another dies from the memory of fleeting generations, as
the stars fade with the rising morn.
II. THE FELICITY OF THIS KINGDOM: "Men shall be blessed in Him." Whatever blessings
have descended on the human race since the fall, have been communicated through the
mediation of Christ; for thus only, we are taught, can a holy God have friendly intercourse with
man. But the blessings that specially mark His kingdom are of a spiritual nature, and can be
rightly estimated only by a spiritual mind.
III. THE DESTINED UNIVERSAL EXTENSION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST: "all
nations shall call Him blessed." And why, asks the infidel, was not this kingdom, and the
revelation that makes it known, universal from the beginning? Why did the God of the whole
earth confine His favour for many ages to the descendants of Abraham, and, leaving other
nations in darkness, restrict the light of heaven to the little province of Judaea? Is it to be
believed that, overlooking and despising the great, populous, enlightened empires of the ancient
world, He expended all His treasures on a people remarkable only for a bigoted and exclusive
superstition? Is this system of favouritism worthy the Sovereign of the universe, the Father of
mankind? But not to insist on arguments which, it may be said, are fitted to silence rather than
satisfy, it is an important fact, never to be forgotten, that Divine revelation was originally

universal, without limitation or selection, commensurate with the necessity that called it forth;
none of the progeny of Adam being exempted from the promise of a Redeemer who should
bruise the serpent's head, given to our first parents as a sacred trust for the benefit of mankind.
The truths embodied in these facts were designed to regulate the faith, worship, and hopes of all
mankind; and, had they been faithfully preserved, the blessings of the true religion would have
been in every man's possession. It was the careless forgetfulness of these things, and the wilful
preference of darkness to light, that introduced idolatry and wickedness into the world. If Divine
revelation was not universal in ancient times, those who incurred the loss must bear the blame.
For though the promise declared that "all nations should be blessed in Him," though the Saviour's
parting command enjoined that His "Gospel should be preached to all the world and to every
creature," have His disciples as yet acquitted themselves of the charge assigned to them in the
realization of this purpose? If the Gospel be not universal, who, we ask, are answerable for this
loss? where falls the blame of this delinquency? The commission given to them is continued with
us — the promises that supported them are those we rest upon — the purposes of God wait on us
still for their accomplishment; and those to whom He commits the fulfilment of His will, are no
other than the reclaimed sinners who, like us, have passed from death into life, who stand
obedient to His call, who are ready to start to any service in which His interests demand their
activity.
(H. Grey, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) Shall be continued.—Rather, have issue.
Literally, send out new shoots.
As long as the sun.—See Note on Psalm 72:5.
Shall be blessed in him.—Or, bless themselves in him. The meaning is clear, though the Hebrew
is rather vague. The monarch will himself be a source of blessing to his people, who will never
tire of blessing him. The psalmist’s prayer finds a genuine echo in the noble dedication of In
Memoriam:
“May you rule us long,
And leave us rulers of your blood
As noble, till the latest day!
May children of our children say,
‘She wrought her people lasting good.’ ”
For the doxology closing the second book, and for the note apparently appended by the collector
of this book, “the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended,” see General Introduction.
Benson CommentaryHYPERLINK "/psalms/72-17.htm"Psalm 72:17. His name shall endure for
ever — Namely, the honour and renown of his eminent wisdom, and justice, and goodness. This

agrees but very obscurely and imperfectly to Solomon, who stained the glory of his reign by his
prodigious luxury, and oppression, and apostacy from God, into which he fell in the latter part of
his days. His name shall be continued — Hebrew, ‫,ןוני‬ jinnon, shall be propagated, or
transmitted, to his children; as long as the sun — Hebrew, ‫לפל‬ ‫,ׁשמון‬ liphnee shemesh, before the
sun; meaning, either, 1st, Publicly, and in the face of the sun: or, 2d, Perpetually; as a constant
and inseparable companion of the sun; as long as the sun itself shall continue. Men shall be
blessed in him — In him, as it was promised to Abraham, shall all the true children of Abraham
be blessed with the blessings of grace and glory, and that by and through his merits and Spirit.
Hebrew, ‫,נכרבתן‬ jithbarechu, shall bless themselves. All nations shall call him blessed — They
shall bless God for him, shall continually extol and magnify him, and think themselves happy in
him. To the end of time and to eternity, his name shall be celebrated; every tongue shall confess
it, and every knee shall bow before it. And the happiness shall also be universal, complete, and
everlasting; men shall be blessed in him truly and for ever.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary72:2-17 This is a prophecy of the kingdom of Christ;
many passages in it cannot be applied to the reign of Solomon. There were righteousness and
peace at first in the administration of his government; but, before the end of his reign, there were
troubles and unrighteousness. The kingdom here spoken of is to last as long as the sun, but
Solomon's was soon at an end. Even the Jewish expositors understood it of the kingdom of the
Messiah. Observe many great and precious promises here made, which were to have full
accomplishment only in the kingdom of Christ. As far as his kingdom is set up, discord and
contentions cease, in families, churches, and nations. The law of Christ, written in the heart,
disposes men to be honest and just, and to render to all their due; it likewise disposes men to live
in love, and so produces abundance of peace. Holiness and love shall be lasting in Christ's
kingdom. Through all the changes of the world, and all the changes of life, Christ's kingdom will
support itself. And he shall, by the graces and comforts of his Spirit, come down like rain upon
the mown grass; not on that cut down, but that which is left growing, that it may spring again.
His gospel has been, or shall be, preached to all nations. Though he needs not the services of any,
yet he must be served with the best. Those that have the wealth of this world, must serve Christ
with it, do good with it. Prayer shall be made through him, or for his sake; whatever we ask of
the Father, should be in his name. Praises shall be offered to him: we are under the highest
obligations to him. Christ only shall be feared throughout all generations. To the end of time, and
to eternity, his name shall be praised. All nations shall call HIM blessed.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleHis name shall endure for ever - Margin, as in Hebrew, "Shall be
forever;" that is, "He" shall endure forever.
His name shall be continued as long as the sun - As long as that continues to shine - an
expression designed to express perpetuity. See the notes at Psalm 72:5. The margin here is, "shall
be as a son to continue his father's name forever." The Hebrew word - ‫וני‬ nûn - means "to sprout,
to put forth;" and hence, to "flourish." The idea is that of a tree which continues always to sprout,
or put forth leaves, branches, blossoms; or, which never dies.
And men shall be blessed in him - See Genesis 12:3; Genesis 22:18. He will be a source of
blessing to them, in the pardon of sin; in happiness; in peace; in salvation.
All nations shall call him blessed - Shall praise him; shall speak of him as the source of their
highest comforts, joys, and hopes. See Luke 19:38; Matthew 21:9; Matthew 23:39. The time will
come when all the nations of the earth will honor and praise him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary17. His name—or, "glorious perfections."
as long as the sun—(Compare Ps 72:5).
men shall be blessed—(Ge 12:3; 18:18).
Matthew Poole's CommentaryHis name; the honour and renown of his eminent wisdom, and
justice, and goodness; which agrees but very obscurely; and imperfectly to Solomon, who
stained the glory of his reign by his prodigious luxury and oppression, and apostacy from God,
into which he fell in the latter part of his days.
Shall be continued; or, shall be propagated or transmitted to his children; which suits much better
to Christ, from whom we are called Christians, than to Solomon.
As long as the sun, Heb. before the sun; either,
1. Publicly, and in the face of the sun. Or,
2. Perpetually; as a constant and inseparable companion of the sun; as long as the sun itself shall
continue. See Poole "Psalm 72:5".
Be blessed in him; either,
1. As a pattern of blessedness. When any man shall wish well to a king, he shall say, The Lord
make thee like Solomon. See Poole "Genesis 22:18". Or rather,
2. As the cause of it, by and through his merits and mediation.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleHis name shall endure for ever,.... As a King; for he is
chiefly spoken of here in his kingly office: not merely the fame of him; for so the fame of an
earthly king; even of a tyrant, may continue as long as the world does; but the meaning is, that he
himself should continue in his office for ever: his throne is for ever and ever; of his government
there will be no end; his kingdom is an everlasting one; he shall reign over the house of Jacob,
and on the throne of David, for ever and ever: he shall have no successor in this his office, any
more than in the priestly office; which is an unchangeable one, or does not pass from one to
another: his Gospel is his name, Acts 9:15; and that shall endure for ever, or to the end of the
world; until all his elect are gathered in, notwithstanding the violent persecutions of men, the
cunning craft of false teachers, and the death of Gospel ministers and professors: as long as this
is preached, Christ's name will endure, since he is the sum and substance of it; and not only is his
name perpetuated in his Gospel, but also in his ordinances, those of baptism and the Lord's
supper, which are administered in his name, and will be unto his second coming;
his name shall be continued as long as the sun; or "shall be sonned" or "filiated" (r); that is, shall
be continued in his sons, in his spiritual offspring, as long as the sun lasts; as the names of
parents are continued in their children; so the name of Christ is, and will be, continued in him: he
has children which the Lord has given him; a seed that he shall see in all periods of time, to
whom he stands in the relation of the everlasting Father; these bear his name, are called
"Christians" from him, and these his seed and offspring shall endure for ever: for though
sometimes their number may be few; yet there are always some in the worst of times; Christ has
always had some to bear his name, and ever will have; and in the latter day they will be very

numerous, even as the sand of the sea. The Jews take the word "Yinnon", here used, for a name
of the Messiah (s), and render the words, "before the sun his name was Yinnon"; and so the
Targum,
"before the sun was, or was created, (as in the king's Bible,) his name was prepared;''
or appointed: for they say (t), the name of the Messiah was one of the seven things created before
the world was: it is certain that Christ was the Son of God, from eternity, or the eternal Son of
God: he was so before his resurrection from the dead, when he was only declared, and did not
then become the Son of God: he was owned by his divine Father, and believed in as the Son of
God by men before that time: he was so before his incarnation, and not by that: he, the Son of
God, was sent in human nature, and made manifest in it, and was known by David and Solomon,
under that relation; and, as such, he was concerned in the creation of all things; and was in the
day of eternity, and from all eternity, the only begotten Son of the Father; see Psalm 2:7; but the
version and sense which Gussetius (u) gives seem best of all; "his name shall generate", or
"beget children before the sun"; that is, his name preached, as the Gospel, which is his name,
Acts 9:15, shall be the means of begetting many sons and daughters openly and publicly, in the
face of the sun, and wherever that is;
and men shall be blessed in him; men, and not angels, sinful men; such as are by nature children
of wrath, and cursed by the law of works, yet blessed in Christ; even all elect men, all that are
chosen in him, whether Jews or Gentiles; for he is the "seed of Abraham", in whom "all the
nations of the earth should be blessed", Genesis 22:18; as they are with all spiritual blessings;
with redemption, peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life: they are in him, and blessed in
him; he is their head and representative, and so blessed in him; he is the fountain, cause, author,
and giver of all blessings; they all come from him, through him, and for his sake, through his
blood, righteousness, and sacrifice. Or, "they shall be blessed in him": that is, his children and
spiritual offspring, in whom his name is perpetuated. Or, "they shall bless themselves in him"
(w); reckon themselves blessed in him, and make their boast of him, and glory in him;
all nations shall call him blessed; as he is a divine Person; not only the Son of the Blessed, but
God over all, blessed for ever; and as man, being set at the right hand of God, crowned with
glory and honour, and all creatures, angels and men, subject to him; and as Mediator,
acknowledging him to be the fountain of all blessedness to them, and, upon that account,
ascribing all blessing, honour, glory, and praise, unto him.
(r) "filiabitur", Montanus, Vatablus, Michaelis. (s) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 2. Midrash Echa
Rabbati, fol. 50. 2. Pirke Eliezer, c. 32. fol. 33. 2.((t) T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 54. 1. Nedarim, fol.
39. 2. Bereshit Bereihit Rabba, s. 1. fol. 1. 2. (u) Ebr. Comment. p. 511. (w) "et benedicentes sibi
in eo", Junius & Tremellius; so Cocceius, Michaelis, Ainsworth.
Geneva Study BibleHis name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the
sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call {o} him blessed.
(o) They will pray to God for his continuance and know that God prospers them for his sake.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges17. May his name endure for ever;
As long as the sun doth shine may his name have Issue:

May all nations bless themselves in him, (and) call him happy.
The Psalmist prays that the king’s name may not perish like the name of the wicked (Job 18:19),
but may always have issue, be perpetuated in his posterity as long as time lasts (cp. Psalm 72:5).
The Ancient Versions however (LXX, Syr., Targ., Jer.) point to the reading yikkôn, shall be
established, instead of yinnôn, shall have issue, a word which is found nowhere else. Cp. Psalm
89:37; 1 Kings 2:12; 1 Kings 2:45. The LXX reads, “All the families of the earth shall be blessed
in him, all nations shall call him happy.” But each of these last three verses is a tristich, and the
words “all families of the earth” are introduced from Genesis 12:3. May all nations bless
themselves in him, invoking for themselves the blessings which he enjoys as the highest and best
which they can imagine (cp. Genesis 48:20);—an allusion to the promises to Abraham and Isaac
(Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4).
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - His Name shall endure forever (comp. Psalm 45:2, 6; Psalm
102:12; Isaiah 9:7). "The eternity of the Name is based upon the eternity of the kingdom"
(Hengstenberg). His Name shall be continued as long as the sun (comp. ver. 5); or, his Name
shall be renewed - shall spring again to fresh life. Dr. Kay compares an expression of Renan's,
"Son culte se rajeunira." And men shall be blessed in him; literally, men shall bless themselves in
him (comp. Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4). All nations shall call him blessed. With these words
the psalm, properly speaking, ends. The doxology (vers. 18, 19) and the note (ver. 20) were
probably appended by the arranger of the book.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old TestamentThis third strophe contains
prospects, the ground of which is laid down in the fourth. The position of the futures here
becomes a different one. The contemplation passes from the home relations of the new
government to its foreign relations, and at the same time the wishes are changed into hopes. The
awe-commanding dominion of the king shall stretch even into the most distant corners of the
desert. ‫ּיצ‬ ni denimreted eb ot ,tresed eht tibahni ohw nem eht dna slamina eht rof htob desu si ‫ןם‬
each instance by the context; here they are men beyond all dispute, but in Psalm 74:14; Isaiah
23:13, it is matter of controversy whether men or beasts are meant. Since the lxx, Aquila,
Symmachus, and Jerome here, and the lxx and Jerome in Psalm 74:14, render Αἰθίοπες, the
nomadic tribes right and left of the Arabian Gulf seem traditionally to have been associated in
the mind with this word, more particularly the so-called Ichthyophagi. These shall bend the knee
reverentially before him, and those who contend against him shall be compelled at last to veil
their face before him in the dust. The remotest west and south become subject and tributary to
him, viz., the kings of Tartessus in the south of Spain, rich in silver, and of the islands of the
Mediterranean and the countries on its coasts, that is to say, the kings of the Polynesian portion
of Europe, and the kings of the Cushitish or of the Joktanitish ‫לבׁש‬ and of the Cushitish ‫,ׁשבס‬ as,
according to Josephus, the chief city of Mero‫כ‬ was called (vid., Genesis, S. 206). It was a queen
of that Joktanitish, and therefore South Arabian Sheba, - perhaps, however, more correctly (vid.,
Wetzstein in my Isaiah, ii. 529) of the Cushitish (Nubian) Sheba, - whom the fame of Solomon's
wisdom drew towards him, 1 Kings 10. The idea of their wealth in gold and in other precious
things is associated with both peoples. In the expression ‫פוׁשה‬ ‫הלןב‬ (to pay tribute, 2 Kings 17:3,
cf. Psalm 3:4) the tribute is not conceived of as rendered in return for protection afforded
(Maurer, Hengstenberg, and Olshausen), nor as an act repeated periodically (Rdiger, who refers
to 2 Chronicles 27:5), but as a bringing back, i.e., repayment of a debt, referre s. reddere debitum
(Hupfeld), after the same idea according to which obligatory incomings are called reditus
(revenues). In the synonymous expression ‫ׁשלקר‬ ‫הּכרןב‬ the presentation appears as an act of

sacrifice. ‫ׁשלקר‬ signifies in Ezekiel 27:15 a payment made in merchandise, here a rent or tribute
due, from ‫,רכר‬ which in blending with the Aleph prostheticum has passed over into ‫רכר‬ by
means of a shifting of the sound after the Arabic manner, just as in ‫ׁשלקׁש‬ the verb ‫,רכׁש‬ to
interweave, passes over into ‫רכׁש‬ (Rdiger in Gesenius' Thesaurus). In Psalm 72:11 hope breaks
through every bound: everything shall submit to his world-subduing sceptre.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
JESUS:“ALL BLESSING AND ALL BLESSED”NO. 2187
A SERMON INTENDEDFOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, FEBRUARY
1, 1891, DELIVEREDBY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“Menshall be blessedin Him: all nations shall call Him blessed.” Psalm72:17.
THERE are many famous names in human history, but many of them are
connectedwith deeds which have brought no blessing upon mankind. To
bless, and to be blessed, is the noblest sort of fame, and yet how few have
thought it worth the seeking!Full many a name in the roll of fame has been
written there with a finger dipped in blood. It would seemas if men loved
those most that have killed the most of them. They call those greatestwho
have been the greatestcutthroats. Theymake their greatestilluminations over
massacresoftheir fellows, calling them victories. To be set aloft upon a
column, or representedby a public statue, or to have poets ringing out your
name, it seems necessaryto graspthe sword, and to hack and slay your fellow
men. Is it not too sadly true that when men have been cursed by one of their
leaders they henceforthcall him great? O, misery, that wholesale murder

should be the shortestmethod of becoming illustrious! There is one name
that will lastwhen all others shall have died out, and that name is connected
with blessing, and only with blessing. Jesus Christ came into the world on
purpose to bless men. Men, as a race, find in Him a blessing wide as the world.
While He was here, He blessedand cursed not. All around Him, both by
speech, and act, and glance, and thought, He was an incarnate blessing. All
that came to Him, unless they willfully rejectedHim, obtained blessings atHis
hands. The home of His infancy, the friends of His youth, the comrades of His
manhood, He blessedunsparingly. To bless men, He labored. To bless men,
He parted with everything, and became poor. To bless men, at last He died.
Those outstretchedhands upon the cross are spread wide in benediction, and
they are fastened there as if they would remain outstretchedtill the whole
world is blessed. Our Lord’s resurrection from the dead brings blessings to
mankind. Redemption from the grave, and life eternal, He has wonfor us. He
waited on earth a while, until He ascended, blessing menas He went up. His
last attitude below the skies was thatof pronouncing a blessing upon His
disciples. He is gone into glory, but He has not ceasedto bless our race. The
Holy Spirit came among us soonafter the ascension, becauseJesus had
receivedgifts for men; yes, for the rebellious also. The wonderful blessings
which are comprised in the work, person, and offices of the Holy Spirit—all
these come to us through Jesus Christ, the ever-blessedand ever-blessing One.
Still He loves to bless. Standing at the helm of all affairs, He guides the tiller of
Providence with a view to the blessing of His chosen. He spends His time still
in making intercessionfor transgressors thatthe blessing of God may rest
upon them; while His Spirit, who is His Vicegerenthere below, is ever more
occupiedwith blessing the sons of men. Our Lord Jesus will sooncome a
secondtime, and in that glorious hour, though His left hand must deal out
justice, His right hand will lavish blessing. His chief end and bent in His
coming will be that He may largely bless those loving hearts that watchfor
His appearing. Christ is all blessing. When you have written down His name,
you have pointed to the fountain from which all blessings flow; you have
named that Sun of Righteousness to whose beams we owe every goodand
perfect gift. From the beginning, throughout all eternity, the Lord Jesus
blesses men— “Over every foe victorious, He on His throne shall rest; From

age to age more glorious, All blessing and all blessed. The tide of time shall
never His covenantremove;
2 Jesus:“All Blessing and All Blessed” Sermon#2187
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 37
His name shall stand forever, That name to us is—Love.” I purpose, at this
time, if the Lord shall help me, to speak very simply about the fullness of
blessing which comes from our Masterand Lord. First saying, dear friends,
that we ourselves are living proofs of the statementthat men shall be blessed
in Him; then, desiring to say, in the secondplace, that we have seenit to be
true in others also. And, thirdly, expressing our conviction that it shall be
true, on the largestscale, with the nations, “All nations shall be blessedin
Him,” and therefore they shall call Him blessed. I. First, then, WE
OURSELVES ARE LIVING WITNESSESTHAT MEN ARE BLESSED IN
CHRIST. You and I do not pretend to be greatsages,famous philosophers, or
learned divines, but we feel when a pin pricks us, or when a dog bites us. We
have sense enoughto know when a thing tastes wellor ill in the eating. We
know chalk from cheese, as the proverb has it. We know something about our
own needs, and we also know when we getthose needs supplied. We have not
masteredthe extraordinary, but in the commonplace we feelat home. A man
is none the worse witness in court because he does not know all the technical
terms used in science.A judge is never better pleasedthan when he sees in the
witness box some plain, blunt, honest fellow, who will blunder out the truth.
We will speak the truth at this time, so far as we know it, whether we offend
or please. Every man is to speak as he finds, and we will speak concerning
Jesus Christ as we have found Him. I will try, if I can, to be spokesmanfor all
present who are believers in Christ, and I ask a patient hearing. We bear
witness that we have been blessedin Him. How much, how deeply, how long,
and in how many ways we have been blessedin Him, I will not undertake to
say, but this I will say most emphatically, for many of you now present, whose
lives and histories I know almost as I know my own, we have in verity, beyond
all question, been blessedin Jesus to the highest degree, and of this we are
sure. We believe—and faith grasps the first blessing—thatwe have receiveda
greatblessing in Christ by the removal of a curse which otherwise must have

restedupon us. That curse did overshadow us once, for it is written, “Cursed
is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of
the Law to do them.” We could not keepthe law; we did not keepit; we gave
up all hope of keeping it. Therefore, the dark thunder-cloud of that
tremendous sentence hung over us, and we heard the voice of justice speaking
out of it, like a volley of the dread artillery of God in the day of tempest. The
thunder of the curse rolled heavily over our heads and hearts. How some of us
cowereddownand trembled! We can never forget the horror of our soul
under the near apprehension of divine wrath. To be cursed of God meant all
woes in one. Some of us were brought very low indeed by the frown of a guilty
conscience. We gave up even the dream of hope. We thought ourselves
effectually, finally, and everlastingly condemned, and so indeed we should
have found it, had there not been a divine Interposer. But now that curse is
takenfrom us, and we do not dread its return, for He was made a curse for us,
of whose name we are speaking now—evenHe “who knew no sin, but was
made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness ofGod in Him.” No
curse now remains; only blessing abides. Hallelujah! If our Lord had done
nothing else for us but the rolling awayof the curse, He would have blessedus
infinitely, and we would have blessedHim forever. If He had accomplished
nothing but the bearing awayof our sin into the wilderness—asthe scapegoat
of old bore awaythe iniquity of Israel—He would have done enough to set our
tongues forever praising Him. He has lifted from the world the weight of the
eternal curse, therefore, let all the bells of our cities ring out His honor, and
all the voices of the villages sing forth His praise. O, you stars of light, shine to
His glory, for He is blessedbeyond all earthly measure! Let our grateful
hearts in silence mean and muse His praise. The negative being removed, we
have had a positive actualexperience of blessing, for God has blessedus in
Christ Jesus, andwe know that none are more blessedthan we are. We are
now not at all the men that we used to be as to our inward feelings. Some
years ago, under the apprehensionof divine wrath, we were so unhappy and
troubled, that we could find no rest, but now we are blessedin Christ so
greatly that we are at perfectpeace, and our soul has dropped its anchorin
the haven of content. Our joy is usually as greatas formerly our sorrow used
to be. We fearedour sorrow would kill us; we sometimes think that our joy is
more likely to do so, for it becomes so intense that at times we can scarcely

bear it, much less speak ofit. As we could get no rest before, so now, by faith,
we feel as if we never lost that rest, for we are so quiet of heart, so calm, so
settled, that we sing, “My heart is fixed, O God; my heart is
Sermon #2187 Jesus:“All Blessing andAll Blessed”3
Volume 37 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3
fixed!” Notbecause temporal circumstances are quite as we would wish them,
but because we have learned to leave off wishing, we are now more than
satisfied. Getting God’s blessing upon everything, we have learned to be
content, and something more; we joy in Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ.
We used to fret before we knew Him, but His love has ended that. We thought
we could do things better than God could, and we did not like His wayof
managing, but He has taught us to be like children, pleasedwith whateverour
Father provides, and therefore we joyfully declare, “Mysoul is even as a
weanedchild; I have nothing to wish for. I want nothing but what my Father
pleases to give me.” Having God’s sweetlove, we would not give a snap of the
finger for all that princes call their treasure, or all that greatmen reckonto be
their honor. Unto us who believe, Christ is precious—bothtreasure and honor
in one, in fact, Christ is all. It is a delightful calm of mind which the believer
enjoys when He dwells in Christ. Humble faith puts the soulinto the guardian
hand of the Redeemer, and leaves it there in the restfulness of entire trust.
Grace baptizes us into blessedness. Itplunges us into that sea of everlasting
rest in which we hope forever to bathe our wearysouls. Yes, blessedbe His
name, the Lord Jesus has made life worth living! It is no longer“something
better not to be.” We must speak wellof the condition into which He has
introduced us, since we have known His name. “Well, Jack, oldfellow,” said
one who met a man who had lately joined the church, “I hear you have given
up all your pleasures.” “No, no,” saidJack, “the factlies the other way. I have
just found all my pleasures, and I have only given up my follies.” Every
Christian man can confirm that way of putting it. We who have believed in
Jesus have lost no real pleasures, but we have gained immensely in that
direction. If anything sinful was a pleasure to us once, it is not so now; when
we discoveredit to be evil, it ceasedto be pleasure, and we thrust it away
without regret. We have lostnothing by conversionthat was worth the

keeping, but what we gainedby coming to Christ has been an inconceivable
recompense to us. Is it not so, brethren? Are we not blessed in Christ? Now,
there are some of us who, if we were askedto tell what blessings we have
receivedfrom Christ, would scarcelyknow where to begin, and when we had
once begun, we would never leave off unless it were from sheer lack of time or
strength. Brethren, certainof us owe all that we have to the influence of the
Lord Jesus. Fromour birth and childhood we were indebted to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Some of us now present had the greathappiness to spring of godly
parents, before we knew the meaning of language, thatsoftly sweetname of
Jesus Christ was sung in our ears. The kindness that we receivedin our
earliestdays was very much of it due to “Gentle Jesus,”ofwhom our mothers
taught us to sing. He found for us the first swaddling bands of love, and
watchedover our first sleep. Ah! Those poorchildren of the back streets—
children who are trained in infamy and blasphemy, how sad their start in life!
But some of us had greatadvantages, whichwere granted us of sovereign
grace by His dear pierced hand. We bless the Lord who savedour parents,
and, through saving them, sent to our trembling infancy a mine and a mint of
blessing. In our opening childhood we beganto understand for ourselves the
loving influence of an affectionate and anxious mother, and then golden
showers ofgrace fell on us from the love of Jesus. We recollect, some ofus,
those hours on the Sabbath, when mother would talk with us of heavenly
things, with tears in her eyes persuading her boy to give his heart to Jesus
early, and not to let his first days be spent in sin. We remember a wise and
prudent father, whose example and instruction all went the same way. The
comforts of our home—and they were many—we owedthem all to Jesus, for
His love made our parents what they were, and createda holy, happy
atmosphere around us. He might have left our father to frequent the
drunkard’s haunt, and might have suffered our mother to be what many
mothers are, unworthy of the name, and then our childhood would have been
utter wretchedness, andour home the nursery of vice. Education in crime
might have been ours; we might have been tutored for the gallows. Since that,
we have had to shift for ourselves, and have left the parental roof, but I, for
one, have been casting my thoughts back, to see if I could remember any good
thing that I have which I do not owe to the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not know
that I have anything that I cannotdistinctly trace to Him and His influence. I

have many Christian friends—mostvaluable friends I find them, but my
associationwith them commencedin the house of God, and the friendship
betweenus has been cementedby common service yielded to our blessed
Master. Many of you would hardly have had a friend in the world if it had not
been that Jesus introduced you to His disciples, and they have been the best
friends you have ever had, or ever will have. You used to know certainfine
fellows who calledthemselves your friends, and as long as you had a shilling to
bless yourself with, they stuck to you to have sixpence of it.
You know the style of their friendship, and you must now have serious doubts
as to its value. Well, they left you when you became Christians, and their
departure has been a very gainful loss to you. When they clearedout
altogether, you found that their removal was for your good, if not for their
own. But those friends you have made in Christ have been really helpful to
you. They have deeply sympathized with you, and as far as they could they
have helped you. Many have been carried through sharp trials by the help of
Christian hands. But, whateveryou may have to say on the point, I am
personally a debtor, over head and ears, to my Savior. What is there—I
repeatthe question—that I do not owe to Jesus? Iam againand again
thinking, and thinking, and thinking, but if anything which I call my ownis
worth having, I must trace it to Him. And are you not, dear friends, many of
you, compelled to say the same? Among the best things you have are your
Sabbaths, but they are His days—His resurrectiondays. Your Bible, too, is a
priceless treasure, but that is His Testament—His legacyoflove. The mercy
seatis a storehouse ofwealth, but He is that mercy seat, and His ownblood is
sprinkled on it. You have nothing, dear friend that you do not owe to Jesus,
the fountain of salvation. You are blessedin Him. I might single out another
class ofpersons, who, from quite anotherpoint of view, would be compelled to
say that they, also, have been blessedin Christ. They started in another way,
and were upon a road which led to death, but they have been rescued. Some of
you startedlife in the midst of an entirely worldly family. There was
kindness—parentalkindness, in the home, but it was unwise. Abundance of

temporal enjoyment was always supplied, but there was a very scanty
recognitionof anything like religion, and, indeed, no knowledge whateverof
personalpiety. It is little wonder that young persons, who are trained in a
godless manner, and allowedto do very much as they like, should plunge into
this sin, and into that. That some young men are savedis a specialmiracle, for
their circumstances make their ruin almost inevitable. I am addressing some
of my Christian brethren, who remember what liberty to sin was, and how
they availed themselves of it. They took large license to destroy themselves
under the pretence of seeing the world, and they were never content except
when they were gratifying their passions, andobeying the commands of the
devil. In their salvationthey have been blessedindeed. But you also who have
gone to no greatextent in open sin, you also have been signally blessedin
Christ by gracious and unmistakable conversion. In receiving the Lord Jesus
into your soul, what a change has been made! From what a bondage have you
been rescued!Into what a new life have you been brought! What new scenes
now open up before you! What new hopes, what new joys, what new
prospects, are all your own! Do I speak to some who plunged into the very
grossestsin, and yet can say, “But we are washed, but we are sanctified”?
Blessedbe our dear Master’s name for grace to such individuals! Such indeed
are blessedin Him. I know that I am addressing those who had in their
earliestdays the very worstexamples; who have been brought into the house
of God from the place where Satan’s seatis; who cannot, after years of
godliness, getout of their memory the recollectionofthe bad, depraved old
times of their youth. In your salvationJesus has workeda blesseddeed. You
could drink as others drank. You could fall into sins of uncleanness as others
did. Let us say very little about these open evils. I do not like to hear men talk
about their old sins as if they were adventures; they are a shame and a sorrow
to all right-minded persons. We humbly hint at them to the praise of the glory
of His grace, forgreatgrace it was in the case ofsome of us. Oh, but the day in
which you first knew that dear name, felt repentance melting your hard heart,
felt hope springing up in your formerly insensible spirit, began to see that
there was something nobler and better to live for than merely to gratify
sensualpassions, thatyou were an immortal spirit, and not meant to fatten
like the swine, but were createdto be a brother of the angels, and to be akin to
God Himself—that was a happy day—a day written in heaven, and made

bright with the light of sevendays! When Jesus changedyour nature, and
forgave your sins, and made you to be like Himself, you were indeed blessedin
Him. I want you now to look back again. I ought not to tire you, even if my
talk should seemdull and commonplace, because to recollectwhatGod has
given and to be gratefulconcerning it ought to be a sweet pastime to eachone
of us. It is not only a duty, but a recreationto be grateful. I do not know any
emotion which can give greaterjoy than that of thankfulness to the Most
High. Dearfriends, the Lord has greatlyblessedus in the name of Jesus in
times of very specialtrouble. I may not be able to describe your personal trial,
but I will take one as a specimen. Depressionofspirits comes upon the man.
He scarcelyknows how or why, but his soul melts because ofheaviness. There
is, at the back of his sadness, probably, some real trial; this he is very apt to
magnify, and make more of than need be, and also to ex
pect a dark and terrible calamity to come which will not come, but yet the
foreboding is as real a trial as if the catastrophe had actually occurred. The
poor despondent creature cannot endure himself, but almostgrows wearyof
life. Like the king of Israel, who had all that heart could wish—gardens, and
palaces, andsinging men and singing women—who had all the appurtenances,
both of folly and of wisdom, to make him happy, yet he cries, “Vanity of
vanities; all is vanity.” Nothing will cheerthis child of grief; he is downcast
and desolate. If you have ever gone through that experience, it has been a very
greatdelight to you when you have gotalone, and thought of your Lord Jesus,
whose everlasting love cannot ceasetowards you, whose fullness of grace
cannot be exhausted, whose powerand faithfulness will always stand you in
goodstead. If, by a sort of desperate resolve, you have castyourselfupon Him,
to sink or swim, to find everything in Him, or else to have nothing, you have
risen up a new man altogether. You have felt, “I can face the adversary, I can
meet the trial, for Jesus is mine.” Despairof spirit has fled when you have
leaned hard on the Cross-bearer. I have been one of the cave dwellers, and the
dark has shut me in, but Jesus has been my heaven below. I may have a
degree of heaviness about me, but still I trust in the Lord, and I am not afraid,

for the name of Jesus has causedme to be strong. Yes, “men shall be blessed
in Him” by the strength which He gives in the hour of need. You remember
the loss of that dear little child. How blessedyou were in Jesus whenHe came
and solacedyou! You remember your father’s death, or the loss of your
husband, or the death of the dearestearthly friend. Yes, then in such times
you knew how precious Christ could be, and how blessed you were in Him!
Some of you have passedthrough the desert of poverty. You have frequently
been very hard pressed, but still, though you cannot tell how, you have had
just enough. You are yet alive though death seemedcertain. You have been
“blessedin Him,” and so you have survived every storm. Some of you have
had little enough of earthly comfort, and yet you have not been unhappy. I
have sometimes admired a dog for his economicaluse ofcomforts. When it
has been a long, rainy day, the sun has just peepedout, and there has been a
gleamof sunlight on the floor; I have seenhim getup and wag his tail, and
shift his quarters so as to lie down where the bit of sunshine was. It is a fine
thing to have just that state of mind—never to go sullenly into the shadow, but
always cheerfully to acceptthe square yard of sunshine, and make the most of
it. There is something, after all, to be thankful for—something for which to
praise the name of God. And if the Lord Jesus Christhad taught us nothing
else but that—the practice of lying down wherever there is a trace of sunshine,
and, better still, of always finding sunshine in His dear name—I am sure we
are bound to say that we have been “blessedin Him.” Well, every year will
teachus more and more fully how blessedwe are in Jesus, and there will come
a day, the last of our earthly days, when we shall know on a higher scale how
blessedwe are in Him. One of the most pleasantscenes that ever I see is the
dying bed of a fine old Christian. I saw one but a few days ago, who, since I
was at his bedside, has entered into rest. It was very pleasantto talk with him
about what the Lord had done. He was ready to speak well of the dear name.
There was much selfdepreciation, but much more honoring of Christ by
testimony concerning support given in the hour of affliction and succorin the
time of need. Brother, you think it will be hard to die? You may not find it so.
One, when he was dying, said, “Is this dying? Why, it is worthwhile going
through all the troubles of life, even for death’s own sake, ifit is like this, for I
have such heavenly enjoyment as I never could have imagined.” Some of
God’s saints are very needlesslyanxious about dying. I knew one to whom it

was always a burden, and he went to bed one night, and he never woke any
more—thus answering his own fears, for he did not even know when he
passedaway, but died in his sleep. He was gone, gone, gone to heaven without
a pang. When you see how believers pass awayto be with their Lord in glory,
you have a commentary upon the words of my text—“Menshall be blessedin
Him.” But do you see them? Their spirits have ascendedunto God, their
Father. How full of bliss they are! Disembodiedthey are, but they are not
destroyed. Their poor earthly frames are still in the grave;yet are their
liberated spirits supremely blessed, for they are “foreverwith the Lord,” and
they are blessedin Him. Wait you but a very little while, and the trumpet shall
ring out from the angel’s mouth, “Awake, youdead, and come to judgement,”
and then shall men be blessedin Him, if indeed “in Him.” When the righteous,
restoredto their bodies, shall, in their perfect manhood, behold Him face to
face, and dwell with Him world without end, “men shall be blessedin Him.”
I do not feel satisfiedwith the style of my speechat this time, but we who
speak the Word are by no means masters of ourselves. I cannot rise to the
height of this great argument, and I do not think that, if I
were to try a hundred times, I could ever satisfymyself when speaking upon
this most divine theme. My Lord is the most blessedMasterthat ever a
servant had, and He has blessedme personally so unspeakably that, if I were
to bear my witness with the tongues of orators and angels by the space of a
century, yet must I cease fromthe task, and humbly confess—“Ihave not told
you the half—nor canI tell you even the tenth of how goodmy Well-beloved is
to me.” I suspectthat you are most of you of my mind, and say, “Neithercan
we tell either.” I sometimes tell you the story of what happened to me when I
declared, in a sermon, that, in the heaven of the grateful, I would sing the
loudest of them all, because I owedmore to the grace of Godthan anybody
else. I meant it not out of any sense ofsuperiority, but rather of inferiority.
One goodold soul, when I came down the pulpit stairs, remarkedto me, “You
have made a greatmistake in your sermon.” I answered, “No doubt I made a
dozen.” “No, but,” she said, “the greatmistake was this; you said that you

owedmore to Godthan anybody else, but you do not owe anything like so
much as I do. I have had more grace from Him than you have. I have been a
biggersinner than you ever were. I shall sing the loudest!” “Well, well,” I
thought, “I will not quarrel with her; it shall make me the more glad to find
myself outdone.” I found that all the Christians were much of the same mind.
Brethren, we will have it out when we get up yonder. But you shall praise
God, indeed, if you praise Him more than I will and you must be double
debtors to my Lord if you owe Him more than I do. If you are more unworthy
and more undeserving than I am, you must indeed be unworthy and
undeserving, and if His rich, free, sovereigngrace has exhibited itself more
fully in you than it has in unworthy me, it has indeed overflowedall its banks.
We will leave the loving contestfor the present, but when all the birds of
Paradise reachtheir nests above, there shall be a competition of adoring
praise, and all of us will do our bestto bless the name of the Lord. II. Our
secondhead was to be a practicalone; we canonly give a few minutes to it.
WE HAVE SEEN OTHER MEN BLESSED IN CHRIST. Our observation
confirms our experience. If this were the proper time, I could narrate many
instances—whichI could also confirm by producing the individuals— in
which men have been remarkably blessedin Christ. What socialchangeswe
have seenin those who have believed in Him! They have not been the same
persons;in many respects they are new. I have knownpersons at whose
houses I have visited—well, you could not have believed that the man who
lodged in the house, where he was first found, could ever have risen to occupy
a room in a house at all like that in which he came to reside. The room in
which I conversedwith him was a palace comparedto the dog-hole in which
he once existed. There was a change in his dwelling. There was a change in his
wife. You would hardly know the woman; she is so different from the
wretchedslut and slave who calledhim “husband” with a sigh and a sneer.
She is here now, sitting with him, and they are as happy as angels. I shall not
point them out, but they are as goodas any of you. We have known the case in
which, from rags—absolute rags—the coming of Christ into the soul has lifted
a man into competence, andrespectability, and position. Godliness has a gain
about it—an honest, worthy gain for the life which now is. It teaches men
habits of thrift, and prudence, and temperance, and delivers them from the
thralldom of drunkenness, and other vices, by which the major part of

poverty is occasioned. It is worth mentioning even such blessings as these, as
the poor little children know. They used to run awaywhen Father came in, for
they were afraid of him, but now, instead of that, they are watching for the
time when his work is done, to go toddling down the streetto meet dear
father, for the luxury of being brought home in his arms. Our Lord Jesus
Christ has blessedsome men and some women at such a rate that the devil
himself would not have the impudence to say it were not a blessing. Liar as
Satanis, he could not deny that godliness has brought sunshine where there
was none; the blessing has been too distinct and manifest for any to deny it.
What a moral change have we seenin some!They could not speak without an
oath, but the habit of profane swearing ended in a minute, and they have
never been tempted to it since. Rash, bad-tempered men, who would break up
the furniture of the house in their passion, have become as gentle as lambs.
Such furies usually become quiet, peaceable,and long-suffering; grace has a
marvelous influence upon the temper. Men of hot passions, thatused to give a
word and a blow—but generallythe blow first— now watchthemselves, and
guard againsttheir infirmity! They take a little time to think before they do
let fly a hard word or give a sharp look. The change that we have seenin some
men has been as complete as that which could have been workedby that
fabled mill, into which the legendsays that they put
old men, turned the handle, and ground them young again. Truly a far
greaterrenovation is workedin mind and heart where Jesus comes. Menare
“blessedin Him.” Then, as to mental blessing. What have we seen? This have
I seen;here is one case outof many. A young man, who had fallen into sin,
came to me in deep despair of mind. He was so desponding that his very face
bore witness to his misery. He wore the aspectof one who could not live much
longeras he then was. I had tried to set the gospelclearly before him on the
previous Sabbath, but he told me that he could not grasp it, for that by his sin
he had reduced his mind to such a state that he felt himself to be little better
than an idiot. He was not speaking nonsense either, for there are vices which
destroy the intellect. I told him that Jesus Christ could save idiots—that even

if his mind was in measure impaired as the result of sin, yet there was quite
enough mind left to be made glad with a sense of pardon, seeing there was
more than enough to make him heavy with a sense ofguilt. I cheeredthat
brother as best I could, but I could effectnothing by my own efforts. Soonthe
Lord Jesus Christ came to him, and he is now a happy, earnest, joyful
Christian. Not long ago he sent an offering of thanksgiving to God for having
lifted him up from the deeps into which he had fallen. I hope there is a long
life of real usefulness before him. We cannot mention one tenth of what we
personally know. Eternity will open a great book of record. I call upon the
spirits of the just made perfect to witness what the grace ofGod did for them;
I call upon parents here to tell the pleasing story of the conversionof their
sons and daughters, and I callupon those who watchfor their fellow men to
say whether they have not met with many cases in which men have been
blessedin Jesus, by being snatchedfrom betweenthe jaws of madness itself,
by the sweet, calming influence of the ever dear and blessedname of our
Redeemer. Yes, indeed and of a truth, men are, and shall be blessedin Him.
The practicalpoint is, brothers and sisters, since we want to do good, let us
preach up our Lord Jesus Christ as the sovereignbalm for every sinner’s
wound. If you want to be philanthropists, be Christians. If you would bless
your fellow men with the best of all blessings, conveyto them the knowledge of
Jesus Christ. Do not believe that there is anything you can do for your
children which will be more effectualthan teaching them about Jesus. Do not
think that anything in the workshopcansoften the vulgarities, silence the
blasphemies, and end the profanities of your fellow workmen, like setting
Jesus Christ before them. When the Moravianmissionaries first went to
Greenland, they tried to tell the Greenlanders about the existence of a God,
they spent some months in such preliminary subjects before they came to the
gospel, but they never gained the attention of the people. Discoursesupon
such necessarysubjects as the Godhead, and the immortality of the soul, and
the like were flavorless to the Greenlanders. It happened one day that one of
the missionaries, translating the gospelaccording to John, read out these
words, “Godso loved the world, that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that
whosoeverbelieves in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“What is that?” said the Greenlanders. “Whatis that? We never heard the
likes of that. Why have you not told us that before?” Nothing had been done

till the missionaries came to the gospelitself. Then they reachedthe
Greenlander’s heart—awakenedhis dormant intellect, and led him to Jesus.
Oh, let us keepon with the subject of Christ crucified! Whateverthere is not
in our shop window, let us always have Christ as the chief article of our
heavenly commerce. Whateverthere may lack of grace and beauty in our
speech, and our outward appearance, maythere be no lack of Jesus Christ, set
forth among the sons of men, for “men shall be blessedin Him,” and not
without Him. Greatschemes ofsocialismhave been tried and found lacking;
let us look to regenerationby the Son of God, and we shall not look in vain.
Nothing has come of newfangledpreaching, from the first day till now; but
never has the old faith of Jesus failed. Men have been blessedin Jesus, and
they shall be blessedin Him as long as the race shall exist. III. Lastly, this
whole matter is to extend till THE ENTIRE WORLD SHALL BE BLESSED
IN CHRIST. Even at this moment the whole world is the better for Christ.
But where He is best knownand loved, there is He the greatestblessing. What
snatchedmany an island of the southern sea from barbarism and
cannibalism? What, but Jesus Christ preachedamong them? Men have been
blessedin Him in Europe, America, Asia, and everywhere. Africa, and other
lands still plunged in barbarism, shall receive light from no other source but
that from which our fathers receivedit centuries ago—fromthe great Sun of
righteousness.
Men shall be blessedin Christ because where He comes oppressioncannot
live. You may tell me that the governorof such an empire is a despot. Oh, yes,
but despots cannotlong flourish where there is an open Bible. Tyrannies may
last a generationor two, but all the world knows that their time is short. They
will go down; they must go down where Christ is lifted up. That inspired Book
is a testimony for human liberty, louder than all others. It is a declarationof
the rights of men under King Jesus;despotism must fall before it sooneror
later. We, in this country, owe our liberties, beyond everything, to the
Christianity which is the outflow of a present Christ among us. Slavery? What
a plague it was upon the fair hands of our sisternation across the Atlantic!

The spot is washedaway, and it was true religion which forced the washing.
There would have been no freeing of the slaves from fetters if it had not been
for the Christianity which, after long silence, at lastspoke out, and when it
spoke, it was as when a lion roars. The Christianity of England is always
pleading for the slave, for the aborigine, for the downtrodden. Leave our
politicians alone, and we shall soonhave all the infamies alive again. Slavery
would be tolerated, if not encouraged, if there were not Christian souls upon
the watch. What saves us from war at this moment? What influence is it that
is always contrary to war, and always cries for peace?Why, it is the Christian
element among us which counts anything better than bloodshed! Let the
Christian element spread and it will be a powerto bless mankind. It shall, in
proportion as it spreads, put down evil, and fostergood. Already, many a
monopoly has been ended, and many a liberty has been gained. Much
religious intolerance has been subdued by the powerof Jesus Christ over His
people, and I do pray, dear friends, that we may live to see all nations more
manifestly affectedby the gospelofJesus Christ. May every nation be ruled
by just and righteous laws!May every nation be willing to submit exterior
disputes to the arbitration of justice! It will be so one day. The nations shall be
friends, and all men shall feel that they are members of one greatfamily. “Do
you unto others as you would that they should do to you,” is the sum of the
moral teaching of our divine Lord, and if that is followed, it will bring about a
halcyon era, the likes of which the world has never seen. If His Spirit will
come and renew men’s hearts, and teachthem to love and to obey the Lord
their God, then shall all nations callthe Redeemerblessed, and from every
corner of the whole earth, the song shall go up, “Blessing, andhonor, and
glory, and power, be unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
forever and ever!” Amen.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR
Verse 17

Psalms 72:17
His name shall endure for ever: His name shall be continued as long as the sun.
The name of Christ
I. The Saviour’s renown. For by “His name” we understand His renown.
1. The source from whence this renown is derived. It is from His proper and essential divinity;
from His condescending and efficacious sufferings; from His exaltation and mediatorial glory.
What is all other renown compared to His?
2. The permanence with which it is invested. We have seen much of the essential perpetuity of
our Saviour’s renown, from what has already transpired in the history and annals of the world. It
has endured the attack of heathenism when made under the elements of classic Greece or the
power of inferior Rome. It has endured the attack of modern infidelity, which uttered its hell-cry
from philosopher to king, and back again from king to philosopher, “Crush the wretch, crush the
wretch!”--by that wretch meaning the Redeemer, whose Cause and whose glory we plead.
II. The redeemer’s influence.
1. Its method. It is secured through His Spirit, His Word, His Church.
2. Its character--it is one of blessing and grace. The religion of Christ alone is the source alike of
national, of domestic, and of individual felicity.
3. Its extent--“All nations shall call Him blessed.” (James Parsons.)
The imperishable name
We apply these words to Christ, although their literal reference may point to another. What
reason have we to believe that Christ’s name will endure for ever?
I. He is the author of an immortal book. Men’s names come down through the centuries by
reason of the books they have written, although the time comes when the most enduring of these
become obsolete and pass away. Now, the Bible is Christ’s book. He is at once its Author and its
substance. But, unlike other books, it has imperishable elements.
1. Its doctrines are true to the immortal intellect.
2. Its precepts are true to the undying conscience.
3. Its provisions are true to the unquenchable aspirations.
II. He is the Founder of enduring institutions. Men’s names come down in institutions they have
founded. Christ has instituted the Lord’s Supper. And the Sunday commemorates Him.
III. He is the living Head of an undying family. Conclusion. Trust this name. (Homilist.)
The eternal name
It is the name of Jesus Christ. Text true of--
I. The religion sanctioned by His name.
1. There was never a time when it did not exist here on earth.
2. If it were destroyed no other religion would take its place.
3. If another could, by what means would you crush this?
4. And if it could be crushed, what would become of the world then: would life be worth living?

II. The honour of His name. As long as a redeemed sinner is to be found, so long will the honour
of Christ’s name endure. And so of--
III. The power of His name. For it alone gives peace, purity, triumph in death. Let all other
names perish, as they will: but this never. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The honour of the name of Christ
The language of this psalm cannot be confined to Solomon: it speaks of him only as he was in
office or character the type of Christ. The full meaning of the psalm belongs to Christ alone. By
the name of Christ, His chief greatness or excellency, His peculiar honour and glory, is meant.
Now, such glory has been given to Christ--
I. By God the Father.
1. In the eternal counsels.
2. At His baptism.
3. On the Mount Of Transfiguration.
4. By the Resurrection.
II. From the angels of God. Their knowledge, their security, have been furthered by Christ in His
redeeming work.
III. From the redeemed among men. Through their justification and sanctification they become
witnesses to the glory and greatness of the Redeemer. (J. Bannerman, D. D.)
Christ’s renown
By the name of Christ is signified His renown. Now, this prediction was uttered more than a
thousand years before the birth of Christ, and when deep obscurity rested upon all that pertained
to Him. And when He was born and had entered on His ministry, there was scarcely anything in
His condition or circumstances to justify the anticipation of His endless renown. He died
ignominiously forsaken of all His friends. But after His death their love revived, and they went
forth to preach His name. But still there seemed little probability that the name of their Master
should endure for ever. Yet so it has been. The triumphs of Christianity are all known. Time
rolled on, and the fame of Christ widened and spread. And His fame and renown are entirely
different from that which belongs to all others. For--
I. Where once Christ’s name has been known it has never been entirely rooted out. Even in the
place where the seven Churches of Asia withered under the curse of heaven, His name is not lost.
But other names, however great, are.
II. The knowledge which men have of Him is more intimate and particular than that which they
have of any of the great men of the past. How little we know of these ” how much we know of
Him.
III. And the knowledge of Him is possessed by all classes. Not the rich and educated alone, but
the poor and the common people know Him.
IV. And how different the feelings which we associate with Him from those which we have for
others. It is not mere admiration or respect, but we give Him our hearts. Every mention of His
name touches our deepest affections. What wonder that He should receive the homage of a
world! But what is He to us? That is the all-important question. Has such a friend, such a

Saviour, no beauty in our eyes? God forbid that we should refuse Him that love which He asks
for, and so richly merits from us. (J. W. Adams, D. D.)
His name shall endure
I. Why may the influence of Christ’s name be expected to endure for ever?
1. Because He is the greatest benefactor the world has ever seen.
2. Because He is a mighty conqueror. He achieved victory, notwithstanding fearful odds. Look at
two periods in the history of the Church. Look at the first three centuries. Emperors and rulers
combined to exterminate this new sect. The most determined means were adopted. Religious
teachers were put to death or cast into prison. Bibles were gathered together in response to
several edicts and burned in different squares and market places. Did these succeed? The very
means adopted to destroy the new faith were the means blessed of God for perpetuating it.
Religious teachers were scattered over the then known world. To their amazement, I can well
believe, they found that God had been preparing the world for their coming. Magnificent roads
had been made, so that they could pass easily from town to town. The Greek language was
spoken so that they could address the people in their own tongue. Verily it was only in the
“fulness of time” that God “sent forth His Son.” If you wish to see triumph in connection with
the preaching of the Gospel, study the first three centuries of the Gospel history. Look at the last
century of the history of the Church. In that century you see the history and the triumph of
missions.
II. How is Christ’s name to be perpetuated?
1. In the hearts of His people. Take Christ and His teaching out of song. Take Christ and His
Cross out of poetry, and you take away their very heart and soul and life. No teacher has ever
received such tribute as Christ has done. The fact that you have the best geniuses in song, and
poetry, and painting, laying their offerings at His feet is one of the most convincing arguments in
favour of my text--“His name shall endure for ever.”
2. By the character of His people. This is one thing that scepticism can never explain away. The
maxims and the example of the world can never produce a holy life. It takes Christianity to do
that. A holy life is therefore one of the best means by which the influence of Christ’s name can
be perpetuated in this world.
3. By the ordinances of the Church. (W. S. Goodall, M. A.)
Christ--His enduring name
I. The name of Jesus Our Saviour is fitted to endure.
1. By virtue of the law which connects memory with greatness. The great are remembered--great
kings, great heroes, great sages, great saints--while the crowd must be forgotten. Jesus does not
refuse to be commemorated according to this standard. He does not struggle indeed for fame, but
for usefulness; but when He says, “Come unto Me,” “Follow Me,” He presupposes transcendent
greatness. Even on the human side the greatness of Jesus is unexampled, the greatness of
knowledge, of wisdom, of purity, of benevolence, of devotion--such greatness as amounts to
absolute perfection.
2. By virtue of the law which connects memory with service.
3. By virtue of the law which connects memory with suffering. Even destroyers and conquerors
are better remembered by disaster than by victory--as Alexander by his premature death, Caesar

by his assassination, and Napoleon by his exile. How much more have the great benefactors of
our race had their memories embalmed by suffering; so that they are cherished as their works and
endurances have cost them dear. But how imperfect is every such image of the connection
between the Saviour’s sufferings and the enduring of His name! All others were born to suffer, if
not in that form in some other; they were sinners, and could not escape even by labour and
service to mankind. But Jesus was above this doom, and stooped to meet it--stooped from a
height beyond all parallel. “Though He was rich,” etc. “The Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto,.” etc.
II. It is destined to endure.
1. The name of Jesus is identified with the existence of the Church. Take it away, and the Church
falls. Christianity is obliterated, or sinks in fragmental Take it away, and there is no pardon, no
sanctification, no fellowship with God, according to His own word, “No man cometh unto the
Father but by Me.”
2. The name of Jesus Christ is hound up with the history and prospects of mankind. This name is
a key to the history of the world. It is not without reason that history is divided into two great
periods, before Christ and after Christ.
3. The Saviour’s name is destined to endure, because it is committed to the watchful care of the
Godhead. God the Father sees here the brightest manifestation of Himself, for He thus reveals
the fulness of power, the depth of wisdom, the beauty of holiness, the tender radiance of mercy,
all shining in the face of Jesus Christ. The continued display of this glory to men and angels is
the last end of redemption, the fulfilment by the Father of the prayer of the Son, “Glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” Shall this last prayer, then, be defeated? Shall these
supreme manifestations of God, which, pent up from everlasting days, have at last broken forth
upon the universe, be recalled? And shall the word of promise that has gone out of His mouth be
made void” I will make Thy name to be remembered in all generations”? (John Cairns, D. D.)
The universality and perpetuity of Christ’s reign
Buddha is reported to have said that he did not expect his religion to last more than 5,000 years.
(W. J. Dawson.)
Voltaire said he lived in the twilight of Christianity. He meant a lie; he spoke the truth. He did
live in its twilight; but it was the twilight before the morning; not the twilight of the evening, as
he meant to say; for the morning comes, when the light of the sun shall break upon us in its truest
glory. The scorners have said that we should soon forget to honour Christ, and that one day no
man should acknowledge Him. “His name shall endure for ever.” (Footsteps of Truth.)
And men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed.
What history owes to Jesus Christ
I. The moral and social benefit. We need to take the simplest, plainest facts that lie upon the
surface of history, to see what a revelation was implied in the entrance of Christian ideas into
such a world as this. It brought, for one thing, a totally new idea of man himself, as a being of
infinite dignity and immortal worth; it taught that every man’s soul, even the humblest, poorest,
and the most defiled, was made in God’s image, is capable of eternal life, and has an infinite
value--a value that made worth while God’s own Son’s dying to redeem it. It brought back to
men’s minds the sense of responsibility to God--an idea that had never been possessed, or had
been altogether or almost altogether lost. It brought into the world a new spirit of love and

charity, something wonderful in the eyes of those heathen as they saw institutions spring up
round about them that they had never thought or heard of in heathenism before. It flashed into
men’s souls a new moral ideal, and set up a standard of truth, and integrity, and purity, which has
acted as an elevating force on moral conception in the world till this hour. It restored woman to
her rightful place by man’s side as his spiritual helpmate and equal, and created that best of
God’s blessings on earth, the Christian home, where children are reared in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord. It taught the slave his spiritual freedom as a member of the Kingdom of
God, gave him a place there in Christ’s kingdom as an equal with his own master, and struck at
the foundations of slavery by its doctrine of the natural brotherhood and the dignity of man. It
created self-respect, a sense of duty in the use of one’s powers for self-support and for the benefit
of others. It urged to honest labour. “Let him that stole steal no more,” etc. And in a myriad
ways, by direct teaching, by the protest of holy lives, by its gentle spirit, it struck at the evils and
the corruptions and the malpractices and the cruelties of the time.
II. The religious debt to Jesus. It was Christianity that overthrew the reign of those gods and
goddesses of Greece and Rome, and swept them so completely from the path of history that no
one, even in his wildest imagination, now dreams of the possibility of their revival. It was
Christianity that, still maintaining something of its youthful energy, laid hold of these rough
barbarian people in the Middle Ages and trained them to some kind of civilization and moral life.
It was Christianity that in England and Scotland lighted the light that by and by spread its
radiance through every part of the country. It is Christianity that to-day is teaching the nations to
burn their idols, to cease their horrid practices, to take on them the obligations of moral and
civilized existence. Whatever blessings or hopes we trace to our religion, whatever light it
imparts to our minds or cheer to cur hearts, whatever power there is in it to sustain holiness or
conquer sin, all that we owe to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
III. The eternal benefits. “Jesus hath abolished death,” we read, “and hath brought life and
immortality to light through His Gospel.” And what was better, He not only taught men the way
of life, but stood there Himself, the great medium of return to God. He stood there not only
teaching men what the way of life was, but He Himself was there to place their feet in its paths.
He not only taught us about God, but showed us how to be at peace with Him--brought us back
to God, from whom we had wandered, and reconciled us with God. He not only warned us of the
dangers and the evils of the life of sin, of the ruin, the destruction which sin brought with it, of
the alienation, the estrangement from the life of God that was in sin; but He united Himself there
with us, with His infinite mercy in our lone, and lost, and condemned condition, took upon
Himself there, on His own soul, that burden we could not for ourselves bear, and through His
cross and passion opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. (James Orr, D. D.)
The benefits of Christianity
I. The benefits which Christianity conveys to the communities among whom it is preached.
1. It has diffused among all classes of men the knowledge of God. “Nothing,” says the son of
Sirach, “is so much worth as a mind well instructed”; but there is no knowledge like that which
respects the character of God, our obligations to Him, and expectations from Him. It is the only
effectual source of right conduct, and of true comfort, in every state and condition of human life.
2. Christianity has greatly purified and reformed the manners of men. Some of those vices which
marked and disgraced the character of heathen nations are scarcely known but by their name; and
others, which were openly practised in the face of day, are now hid in obscurity and darkness. On

the other hand, some virtues, of the obligation of which the heathens had no apprehension, are
not only to be found in the character of real Christians, but have risen into such general credit
and esteem as to influence the conduct of many who, in other respects, feel but little of the power
of religion.
3. Christianity has promoted among men a spirit of humanity and benevolence, unknown to the
heathen world.
4. Christianity has contributed essentially to the safety and prosperity of society.
II. The benefits which it conveys to the individuals who believe and embrace it.
1. It effectuates their conversion to God, and to the obedience of His will.
2. The effects of Christianity upon the Christian’s state of mind are not less important and happy
than its influence upon his character; it restores him to peace with God, and to hope in Him. (A.
Duncan.)
Blessed in Him
I. A singular condition.
1. By nature, men are not blessed. The trail of the old serpent is everywhere.
2. The text promises that men shall be delivered from the curse, that they shall be uplifted from
their natural unhappiness, that they shall be rescued from their doubtful or their hopeful
questioning, and shall even come to be blessed. God shall pronounce them blessed. He shall set
upon them the bread seal of Divine approbation; and with that seal there shall come streaming
into their hearts the sweetness of intense delight, which shall give them experimentally a blessing
to their own conscious enjoyment.
3. Let me tell you what Christ does for a man who is really in Him, and then you will see how He
is blessed.
II. A wide statement.
1. To make this wide statement true requires breadth of number. The text says, “Men shall be
blessed in Him,” that is to say, the most of men, innumerable myriads of men shall get the
blessing that Jesus purchased by His death on the cross.
2. It implies great width of variety. “Men”--not merely kings or noblemen, but “Men shall be
blessed in Him.” Men--not working men, or thinking men, or fighting men, or this sort of men,
or the other sort of men, but men of all sorts--“Men shall be blessed in Him.” It is a delightful
thought that Christ is as much fitted to one rank and one class of persons as to another.
3. Our text indicates length of period: “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Men have been blessed in
Him; these many centuries, Christ has shone with all the radiance of omnipotent love upon this
poor fallen world, but His light is as full as ever; and, however long this dispensation shall last,
“Men shall be blessed in Him.”
4. The text suggests fulness of sufficiency concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a
wonderful depth of meaning in this passage when it says, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” “Oh!”
says one, “Men shall be blessed by philosophy, or by Christ and philosophy.” Not at all; it is,
“Men shall be blessed in Him.” “But they shall be blessed in Him through trade and commerce
and the like.” Not so; “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Have not we, who are half a century old,
heard a great number of theories about how the millennium is to be brought about? I remember

that, at one time, free trade was to bring it, but it did not; and nothing will over make men
blessed unless they get into Christ: “Men shall be blessed in Him.”
III. The full assurance expressed in the text. It is a grand thing to get a sentence like this with a
“shall” in it: “Men shall be blessed in Him.” It is not “perhaps they may be,”but, “Men shall be
blessed in Him.” Not, “perchance they may be blessed under certain conditions”; but, “Men shall
be blessed in Him.”
1. They shall not try Him and fail.
2. They shall not desire Him and be denied.
3. They shall come to Christ and get the blessing.
IV. Now, with all your hearts, think of my text with a personal appropriation: “Men shall be
blessed in Him.” Are you blessed in Christ? Will you personally answer the question? Do not
pass it round, and say to yourself, “No doubt there are many who think that they are blessed, and
who are not.” Never mind about them; for the present moment, ask this question of yourself,
“Am I blessed in Christ?” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jesus: all blessing and all blest
I. We ourselves are living witnesses that men are blessed in Christ. You and I do not pretend to
be great sages, famous philosophers, or learned divines; but we feel when a pin pricks us, or
when a dog bites us. We have sense enough to know when a thing tastes well or ill in the eating.
We know chalk from cheese, as the proverb hath it. We know somewhat about our own wants;
and we also know when we get those wants supplied. We bear witness that we have been blessed
in Him. How much, how deeply, how long, and in how many ways we have been blessed in
Him, I will not undertake to say; but this I will say most emphatically, for many of you now
present, we have in verity, beyond all question, been blessed in Jesus to the highest degree, and
of this we are sure. We believe--and faith grasps the first blessing--that we have received a great
blessing in Christ by the removal of a curse which otherwise must have rested upon us. If He had
accomplished nothing but the bearing away of our sin into the wilderness--as the scapegoat of
old bore away the iniquity of Israel--He would have done enough to set our tongues for ever
praising Him. He has lifted from the world the weight of the eternal curses; therefore, let all the
bells of our cities ring out His honour, and all the voices of the village sing forth His praise. The
negative being removed, we have had a positive actual experience of blessing, for God has
blessed us in Christ Jesus, and we know that none are more blest than we are. We are now not at
all the men that we used to be as to our inward feelings.
II. We have seen other men blessed in Christ.
1. What social changes we have seen in those who have believed in Him! He has blessed some
men and some women at such a rate that the devil himself would not have the impudence to say
it was not a blessing. Liar as Satan is, he could not deny that godliness has brought sunshine
where there was none: the blessing has been too distinct and manifest for any to deny it.
2. What a moral change have we seen in some! They could not speak without an oath, but the
habit of profane swearing ended in a minute, and they have never been tempted to it since. Rash,
bad-tempered men, who would break up the furniture of the house in their passion, have become
as gentle as lambs. Such furies usually become quiet, peaceable, and long-suffering: grace has a
marvellous influence upon the temper.

3. Then, as to mental blessing. What have we seen? This have I seen: here is one case out of
many. A young man, who had fallen into sin, came to me in deep despair of mind. He was so
desponding that his very face bore witness to his misery. I had tried to set the Gospel clearly
before him on the previous Sabbath, but he told me that he could not grasp it, for that by his sin
he had reduced his mind to such a state that he felt himself to be little better than an idiot. He was
not speaking nonsense either, for there are vices which destroy the intellect. I told him that Jesus
Christ could save idiots--that even if his mind was in measure impaired as the result of sin, yet
there was quite enough mind left to be made glad with a sense of pardon, seeing there was more
than enough to make him heavy with a sense of guilt. I cheered that brother as best I could, but I
could effect nothing by my own efforts. Soon the Lord Jesus Christ came to him, and he is now a
happy, earnest, joyful Christian.
III. This whole matter is to extend till the entire world shall be blessed in Christ. Even at this
moment the whom world is the better for Christ. But where He is best known and loved, there is
He the greatest blessing. What snatched many an island of the southern sea from barbarism and
cannibalism? What but Jesus Christ preached among them? Men have been blessed in Him in
Europe, America, Asia, and everywhere. Africa, and other lands still plunged in barbarism, shall
receive light from no other source but that from which our fathers received it centuries ago--from
the great Sun of Righteousness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ’s Kingdom: its progress and prospects
I. The perpetuity of Christ’s kingdom extending from age to age throughout all generations; for it
is in connection with it that “His name shall endure for ever, and be continued as long as the
sun.” Where are the mighty monarchies of the ancient world--the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian-
-that seemed to have taken deep root in the earth, and, matured by ages of vigour, to bid fair for
perpetuity? Even the more modern States of Greece and Rome have undergone a complete
change, and their ancient characters are sought in vain in the regions they once emblazoned with
glory. Nor has the higher and less vulgar authority of wisdom and legislation been more stable.
The schools of ancient philosophy have passed away, and the tenets of their sages have solved
for us none of the hard questions suggested by reason and conscience: one great name after
another dies from the memory of fleeting generations, as the stars fade with the rising morn.
II. The felicity of this kingdom: “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Whatever blessings have
descended on the human race since the fall, have been communicated through the mediation of
Christ; for thus only, we are taught, can a holy God have friendly intercourse with man. But the
blessings that specially mark His kingdom are of a spiritual nature, and can be rightly estimated
only by a spiritual mind.
III. The destined universal extension of the Kingdom of Christ: “all nations shall call Him
blessed.” And why, asks the infidel, was not this kingdom, and the revelation that makes it
known, universal from the beginning? Why did the God of the whole earth confine His favour
for many ages to the descendants of Abraham, and, leaving other nations in
that, overlooking and despising the great, populous, enlightened empires of the ancient world, He
expended all His treasures on a people remarkable only for a bigoted and exclusive superstition?
Is this system of favouritism worthy the Sovereign of the universe, the Father of mankind? But
not to insist on arguments which, it may be said, are fitted to silence rather than satisfy, it is an
important fact, never to be forgotten, that Divine revelation was originally universal, without
limitation or selection, commensurate with the necessity that called it forth; none of the progeny

of Adam being exempted from the promise of a Redeemer who should bruise the serpent’s head,
given to our first parents as a sacred trust for the benefit of mankind. The truths embodied in
these facts were designed to regulate the faith, worship, and hopes of all mankind; and, had they
been faithfully preserved, the blessings of the true religion would have been in every man’s
possession. It was the careless forgetfulness of these things, and the wilful preference of darkness
to light, that introduced idolatry and wickedness into the world. If Divine revelation was not
universal in ancient times, those who incurred the loss must bear the blame. For though the
promise declared that “all nations should be blessed in Him,” though the Saviour’s parting
command enjoined that His “Gospel should be preached to all the world and to every creature,”
have His disciples as yet acquitted themselves of the charge assigned to them in the realization of
this purpose? If the Gospel be not universal, who, we ask, are answerable for this loss? where
falls the blame of this delinquency? The commission given to them is continued with us--the
promises that supported them are those we rest upon--the purposes of God wait on us still for
their accomplishment; and those to whom He commits the fulfilment of His will, are no other
than the reclaimed sinners who, like us, have passed from death into life, who stand obedient to
His call, who are ready to start to any service in which His interests demand their activity. (H.
Grey, D. D.)
DAVID GUZIK
(15-17) The exaltation of the Greater King.
And He shall live;
And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him;
Prayer also will be made for Him continually,
And daily He shall be praised.
There will be an abundance of grain in the earth,
On the top of the mountains;
Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon;
And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
His name shall endure forever;
His name shall continue as long as the sun.
And men shall be blessedin Him;
All nations shall call Him blessed.
a. He shall live: Commentators debate if the He spoken of here refers to the ransomed man of
the previous lines or of the King who ransomed him. Since the previous lines speak of a
multitude redeemed and this He speaks of One, and because the following lines fit much better
with the King, we regard He shall live as both a wish and a declaration for the King.
i. “How little this might mean is obvious from the address, ‘O king, live forever’, in the book of
Daniel; yet also how much, can be seen from the Messianic prophecies and from the way these
were understood in New Testament times.” (Kidner)
ii. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Solomon wrote things regarding Messiah the King that were
perhaps beyond his own understanding. It’s possible he never knew how wonderful it would be

to say of the King of Kings who laid down His life as a sacrifice for sins that after three days in
the tomb all would see and say, He shall live.
b. The gold of Sheba will be given to Him: The Greater King would receive gifts and honor and
praise. In turn He would bestow great blessing on the earth (an abundance of grain in the
earth) and upon His people (those of the city shall flourish).
i. “Poor as God’s people usually are, the era will surely arrive when the richest of the rich will
count it all joy to lay their treasures at Jesus’ feet.” (Spurgeon)
ii. Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon: “It shall yield such abundance of corn, that the ears, being
thick, and high, and full of corn, shall, when they are shaken with the wind, make a noise not
unlike that which the tops of the trees of Lebanon sometimes make upon the like occasion.”
(Poole)
iii. “Gold, grain, and fruit were ancient measures of prosperity. So this is a way of saying that
under the reign of Jesus there will be prosperity of every conceivable kind.” (Boice)
c. Prayer also will be made for Him continually: We can think of how prayer could and would
be offered for an earthly king, but we don’t often think of believers praying for Jesus Messiah.
i. We can say that we pray for Jesus when we pray for one of His people. There is a sense in
which we pray for Jesus when we pray for the spread of His gospel.
d. His name shall endure forever: Solomon sensed that this Greater Son of David, the Greater
King, would be more than a great man. He and His fame, and greatness of His character, would
endure forever.
i. “We see on the shore of time the wrecks of the Caesars, the relics of the Moguls, and the last
remnants of the Ottomans. Charlemagne, Maximilian, Napoleon, how they flit like shadows
before us! They were and are not; but Jesus for ever is.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “The perpetuity, which he conceived of as belonging to a family and an office, really belongs
to the One King, Jesus Christ, whose Name is above every name, and will blossom anew in fresh
revelations of its infinite contents, not only while the sun shines, but when its fires are cold and
its light quenched.” (Maclaren)
e. Menshall be blessedin Him; all nations shall call Him blessed: Solomon recognized that
this King of Kings was not only the fulfillment of the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7:11-
16. He was also the fulfillment of the great promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3: In you
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
i. “Christ is all blessing. When you have written down his name, you have pointed to the fountain
from which all blessings flow.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “To us the song of this psalm is a prophecy of hope. We have seen the King, and we know the
perfect Kingdom must come, for God cannot be defeated.” (Morgan)
iii. Psalm 72 speaks powerfully of the kingdom of the King of Kings and speaks of it in terms of
His personal rule, not ruling through an institution such as the Church. “In this Psalm, at least,
we see a personal monarch, and he is the central figure, the focus of all the glory; not his servant,
but himself do we see possessing the dominion and dispensing the government. Personal
pronouns referring to our great King are constantly occurring in this Psalm; he has dominion,
kings fall down before him,: and serve him; for he delivers; he spares, he saves, he lives, and
daily is he praised.” (Spurgeon)

ALEXANDER MCLAREN
The last part of the psalm (Psalms 72:16-17) recurs to petitions for the growth of the nation and
the perpetual flourishing of the king’s name. The fertility of the land and the increase of its
people are the psalmist’s desires, which are also certainties, as expressed in Psalms 72:16. He
sees in imagination the whole land waving with abundant harvests, which reach even to the tops
of the mountains, and rustle in the summer air, with a sound like the cedars of Lebanon, when
they move their layers of greenness to the breeze. The word rendered above "abundance" is
doubtful; but there does not seem to be in the psalmist’s mind the contrast which he is often
supposed to be expressing, beautiful and true as it is, between the small beginnings and the
magnificent end of the kingdom on earth. The mountains are here thought of as lofty and barren.
If waving harvests clothe their gaunt sides, how will the vales laugh in plentiful crops! As the
earth yields her increase, so the people of the king shall be multiplied, and from all his cities they
shall spring forth abundant as grass. That figure would bear much expansion; for what could
more beautifully set forth rapidity of growth, close-knit community, multiplication of units, and
absorption of these in a lovely whole, than the picture of a meadow clothed with its grassy
carpet? Such hopes had only partial fulfilment in Israel. Nor have they had adequate fulfilment
up till now. But they lie on the horizon of the future, and they shall one day be reached. Much
that is dim is treasured in them. There may be a renovated world, from which the curse of
barrenness has been banished. There shall be a swift increase of the subjects of the King, until
the earlier hope of the psalm is fulfilled, and all nations shall serve him.
But bright as are the poet’s visions concerning the kingdom, his last gaze is fastened on its king,
and he prays that his name may last forever, and may send forth shoots as long as the sun shines
in the sky. He probably meant no more than a prayer for the continual duration of the dynasty,
and his conception of the name as sending forth shoots was probably that of its being perpetuated
in descendants. But, as has been already noticed, the perpetuity, which he conceived of as
belonging to a family and an office, really belongs to the One King, Jesus Christ, whose Name is
above every name, and will blossom anew in fresh revelations of its infinite contents, not only
while the sun shines, but when its fires are cold and its light quenched. The psalmist’s last desire
is that the ancient promise to the fathers may be fulfilled in the King, their descendant, in whom
men shall bless themselves. So full of blessedness may He seem to all men, that they shall take
Him for the very type of felicity, and desire to be even as He is! In men’s relation to Christ the
phrase assumes a deeper meaning still: and though that is not intended by the psalmist, and is not
the exposition of his words, it still is true that in Christ all blessings for humanity are stored, and
that therefore if men are to be truly blessed they must plunge themselves into Him, and in Him
find all that they need for blessedness and nobility of life and character. If He is our supreme
type of whatsoever things are fair and of good report, and if we have bowed ourselves to Him
because He has delivered us from death, then we share in His life, and all His blessings are
parted among us.

The last part of the psalm (Psalms 72:16-17) recurs to petitions for the growth of the nation and
the perpetual flourishing of the king’s name. The fertility of the land and the increase of its
people are the psalmist’s desires, which are also certainties, as expressed in Psalms 72:16. He
sees in imagination the whole land waving with abundant harvests, which reach even to the tops
of the mountains, and rustle in the summer air, with a sound like the cedars of Lebanon, when
they move their layers of greenness to the breeze. The word rendered above "abundance" is
doubtful; but there does not seem to be in the psalmist’s mind the contrast which he is often
supposed to be expressing, beautiful and true as it is, between the small beginnings and the
magnificent end of the kingdom on earth. The mountains are here thought of as lofty and barren.
If waving harvests clothe their gaunt sides, how will the vales laugh in plentiful crops! As the
earth yields her increase, so the people of the king shall be multiplied, and from all his cities they
shall spring forth abundant as grass. That figure would bear much expansion; for what could
more beautifully set forth rapidity of growth, close-knit community, multiplication of units, and
absorption of these in a lovely whole, than the picture of a meadow clothed with its grassy
carpet? Such hopes had only partial fulfilment in Israel. Nor have they had adequate fulfilment
up till now. But they lie on the horizon of the future, and they shall one day be reached. Much
that is dim is treasured in them. There may be a renovated world, from which the curse of
barrenness has been banished. There shall be a swift increase of the subjects of the King, until
the earlier hope of the psalm is fulfilled, and all nations shall serve him.
But bright as are the poet’s visions concerning the kingdom, his last gaze is fastened on its king,
and he prays that his name may last forever, and may send forth shoots as long as the sun shines
in the sky. He probably meant no more than a prayer for the continual duration of the dynasty,
and his conception of the name as sending forth shoots was probably that of its being perpetuated
in descendants. But, as has been already noticed, the perpetuity, which he conceived of as
belonging to a family and an office, really belongs to the One King, Jesus Christ, whose Name is
above every name, and will blossom anew in fresh revelations of its infinite contents, not only
while the sun shines, but when its fires are cold and its light quenched. The psalmist’s last desire
is that the ancient promise to the fathers may be fulfilled in the King, their descendant, in whom
men shall bless themselves. So full of blessedness may He seem to all men, that they shall take
Him for the very type of felicity, and desire to be even as He is! In men’s relation to Christ the
phrase assumes a deeper meaning still: and though that is not intended by the psalmist, and is not
the exposition of his words, it still is true that in Christ all blessings for humanity are stored, and
that therefore if men are to be truly blessed they must plunge themselves into Him, and in Him
find all that they need for blessedness and nobility of life and character. If He is our supreme
type of whatsoever things are fair and of good report, and if we have bowed ourselves to Him
because He has delivered us from death, then we share in His life, and all His blessings are
parted among us.
DISCOURSE: 621
THE PERPETUITY AND EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM
Psalms 72:17. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun:
and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

NONEof the Prophets, except Isaiah, have written so copiously and so plainly respecting Christ
as David. His prophecies are very frequently referred to in the New Testament; and their
accomplishment in Jesus is frequently asserted, incontestably proved, and copiously illustrated.
The psalm before us was most probably the last that David penned. It was written at the close of
his life, on occasion of Solomon’s coronation. The dying monarch hearing that his son Adonijah
had usurped his throne, gave immediate orders that Solomon should be anointed with the holy
oil, and placed upon the throne, and be proclaimed king throughout all his dominions; that by
this means his oath to Bathsheba, respecting the succession of Solomon, might be fulfilled, and
the nation be rescued from the calamities in which a disputed succession might involve it [Note:
1 Kings 1:33-35.]. The psalm begins with a prayer for Solomon, and proceeds to foretell the
peace, glory, extent, duration, and happiness of his government. But beyond, a doubt, a greater
than Solomon is here: the Messiah himself is manifestly referred to; and the words of our text
must be considered as describing his kingdom:
I. Its perpetuity—
[The names, not of the Jewish monarchs only, but also of many heroes of antiquity, have been
handed down to us, and probably will be transmitted to the latest generations. But there are
several points of view in which the remembrance of Jesus’ name differs widely from that of any
other person whatever.
It is transmitted to us in a way of filiation.—Other names come down to us by means of historic
records: but that of our blessed Lord “is continued,” or propagated (as the word means) in the
same way as the name of a father is continued in his children. Children were born to him by the
preaching of his Gospel; and, after him, were called Christians: from that period, others have
risen up, in constant succession, to perpetuate his name: nor shall the line ever be broken:
“instead of the fathers there shall be children, who shall make his name to be remembered in all
generations [Note: Psalms 45:16-17; Psalms 145:4-6.].”
It is heard with the same regard that it ever was.—There was a time when the name of C ζsar or
of Alexander made whole nations tremble: but who fears them now? What is their love or their
hatred unto us? What is Solomon himself to us? We admire his character; but for his person we
have no regard. But it is not thus with the sacred name of jesus. We tremble at it with a holy awe;
we love it, as expressing all that is amiable and endearing. We dread his displeasure above all
things, and covet his favour more than life itself. And as long as the sun shall continue its course,
so long shall the name of Jesus be venerated and adored.
It “endures” in spite of all the endeavours that have been made to blot out the remembrance of it
from under heaven.—No sooner was the name of Jesus exalted by the preaching of the Apostles,
than the rulers exerted all their power to suppress it: they beat and imprisoned the preachers, and
menaced them with yet severer punishment, if they should presume to speak any more in his
name [Note: Acts 4:17-18; Acts 5:28; Acts 5:40.]. Thus also, in all subsequent ages, “the
potentates of the earth have taken counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed,
saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us [Note: Psalms 2:2.].”
What name, like that of Jesus, is proscribed at this day? We may descant upon the virtues of
ancient sages; and the more light we can throw upon their characters, the more acceptable we
shall be in every company: but let us speak of Jesus, let us set forth his transcendent excellencies,
and expatiate upon all the wonders of his love, and we shall excite in our hearers nothing but
disgust. But has this confederacy prevailed to banish his name? No; rather, “the more his people
have been afflicted, the more they have grown and multiplied:” and however earth and hell may

combine their efforts to efface his memory, or diminish his influence, “He who sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh at them, and have them in derision [Note: Psalms 2:4.].”]
II. Its excellency—
[The administration of Solomon was attended with great benefit to his people: and such a king as
he must be considered as a rich blessing to any nation. But there are many benefits which it is not
in the power of any king to communicate. What can a creature do to mitigate our pains, or to
rescue us from the dominion of unbridled lusts? It is otherwise with the Lord Jesus: he can
impart to his subjects whatever blessings they need, for body or for soul, for time or for eternity.
Do we desire the pardon of our sins? We may be “justified freely through his blood [Note:
Romans 5:9.].” Do we long for peace of conscience? He has left it to his subjects as a legacy
[Note: John 14:27.], and gives them “a peace which passeth all understanding [Note: Philippians
4:7.].” Do we stand in need of strength? “Through him we shall be enabled to do all things
[Note: Philippians 4:13.].” Do we extend our desires to all the glory of heaven? “In him we may
be saved with an everlasting salvation [Note: Isaiah 45:17.].” It is not ufficient to say that the
subjects of Christ’s kingdom may be thus blessed; for they actually are so: there is not one in all
his dominions who is not thus highly favoured. If we consult the prophets, they declare this
uniformly; and represent them all as saying, “In the Lord have I righteousness and strength
[Note: Isaiah 45:24-25.].” If we consult the Apostles, they declare, that every blessing we enjoy
is “in him, even in him;” yea, that “in him we are blessed with all spiritual and eternal blessings
[Note: Ephesians 1:3-13. where it is repeated at least eight times. Strange that any should
overlook this truth.].”]
III. Its universality—
[The greatest monarchs of this world hare had a very limited sway: and many who have been
called their subjects have been so rather in name than in reality. But Christ’s dominion shall be
strictly and literally universal: “the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of the
Lord and of his Christ [Note: Revelation 11:15.].” Already there are some of all nations who
submit to his government. We may go to the most uncultivated parts of the earth, where human
nature seems but little elevated above the beasts, and there we shall find some who acknowledge
him as their sovereign Lord. But his dominion is certainly at present very limited. There is a time
however coming, when “all nations shall call him blessed.” The rich and great shall take upon
them his yoke: according as it is said, “All kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall
serve him [Note: ver. 10, 11.].” The poor and mean also shall devote themselves to his service,
according to that prediction, “Holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the horses
[Note: Zechariah 14:9; Zechariah 14:20-21].” Thus shall “all know the Lord, from the least even
to the greatest [Note: Jeremiah 31:34.].” As at this present time all the subjects of his kingdom
are blessing and adoring him as the one author of all their happiness, so, at a future period, shall
“every knee bow to him, and every tongue confess [Note: Romans 14:11.];” and “the whole earth
shall be filled with his glory [Note: ver. 19.].” But it is not till the day of judgment that the full
accomplishment of this prophecy shall be seen. Then “a multitude that no man can number, of all
nations and kindreds, and people and tongues, shall stand before him, and cry with united voices,
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! Salvation to our God, and to the Lamb for ever [Note:
Revelation 5:11-12; Revelation 7:9-10.]!”]
We cannot more profitably improve this subject, than by inquiring,
1. What blessings have we received from Christ?

[If we be indeed subjects of his kingdom, it cannot fail but that we must have received many
blessings at his hands. Has he then “blessed us” with the pardon of our sins? Has he filled us
with joy and peace in believing? Has he endued us with grace and strength to subdue our
spiritual enemies? and transformed us into his own image in righteousness and true holiness?
This is the criterion whereby we must judge of our interest in him: for he cannot be a Saviour to
us, unless he save us from the dominion, as well as from the guilt, of all our sins.]
2. What is the disposition of our minds towards him?
[Can we possibly be partakers of his benefits, and feel no disposition to “bless his name?” Surely
a grateful sense of his goodness must characterise those who are so greatly indebted to him. To
those who believe, he is, and must be, precious — — —]
DISCOURSE: 621

DISCOURSE: 621

“BLESSED IN HIM” NO. 2451
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1896.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 7, 1886.
“Men shall be blessed in Him.” Psalm 72:17.

I wish that I could speak at my very best concerning the glorious Him who is mentioned in the
text, but I have hardly got into full working order after my season of rest. One’s voice becomes
rusty, like an unused key, and one does not, at first, feel quite at ease in speaking after a time of
comparative quietude. Do not, however, think that my subject is a poor one—if there are defects
in my discourse, remember that it will only be the speaker who is poverty-stricken—not the great
King and Lord of whom he is speaking. “Men shall be blessed in Him.” O sirs, if one had the
tongues of men, and of angels, and if one could only, for once, use that speech which it is not
lawful for a man to utter—those words which Paul tells us that he heard when he was caught up
to the third heaven—if we could even speak as never man yet spoke, we could not fully set forth
all the glories of Him of whom this text speaks! David’s thoughts, doubtless, rested in part upon
Solomon when he said, “Men shall be blessed in him”—and our Lord, Himself, spoke of
Solomon in all his glory. But what poor stuff is human glory at the very highest! The, “Him,”
mentioned in the text, the higher and the greater Solomon who is truly meant in these words, has
a real glory—not of earthly pomp and fading tinsel, nor of gold and pearls, and precious stones,
but the more excellent glory of character, and the true beauty of holiness. In Him all divine
excellences are blended. I cannot hope to set Him forth as He deserves. I cannot tell you all His
virtues, and His glories, but, oh, He is very dear to many of us! His name is engraved on the
fleshy tablets of our hearts, and when we lie upon our last bed, and all other things shall be
forgotten in the decay of nature, we shall still remember that dear name which is above every
name! The contemplation of our Savior’s blessed person shall then absorb every faculty of our
being! “Men shall be blessed in Him,” the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of man, the
Savior, the Redeemer, the God over all, blessed forever, who is also bone of our bone, and flesh
of our flesh! As I should fail altogether to speak of Him as He deserves, I will not attempt the
impossible task, but will try to speak of men being blessed in Him. That is a note a little lower. If
we cannot reach the highest octave, we may attain to a lower one. Yet, while we speak of the
blessing that comes from Him, let us still think of Him from whom the blessing comes, and let us
remember that as all blessings come from Him, it is because all blessings are laid up in Him—
because every conceivable good is stored up in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, “and of His
fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” I. My first remark concerning the text is that
it makes mention of AN AMAZING CONDITION— “Men shall be blessed in Him.” It is an
amazing condition to be blessed, for, by nature, men are not blessed. We are born under a curse.
Our first father turned aside the blessing when he disobeyed God’s command and, in the early
dawn of the day of our race, he darkened our sky once and for all. The curve still abides upon
man, that in the sweat of his face he shall eat bread, and upon woman, that in sorrow she shall
bring forth children. How much woe lies in the curse that falls upon us in consequence of our
own personal sin! “Who slew all these”—these comforts and joys of life? Oftentimes, they have
been slain by a man’s own hands through his own sin, or through the sins of those who surround
him. The trail of the old serpent is everywhere! You cannot open your eyes without discovering
that man is not blessed, but oftentimes abides under the curse. Put that truth of God down before
you, and then read the text, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Apart from Him, they are accursed!
They wring their hands, and
2 “Blessed in Him” Sermon #2451
2 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 42
wish they had never been born—and some sigh and sorrow almost without ceasing. Man is born
to trouble, as the sparks fly upward, and it is an amazing thing that any man should be blessed—

so amazing, that no man is ever blessed until he comes to be connected with the Lord Jesus
Christ—“Men shall be blessed in Him.” Many people who forget all about the curse,
nevertheless acknowledge that they are unhappy. Go up and down among the whole race of men,
and how few you will find really happy! I believe that none are truly happy until they are in
Christ, but even if they were happy, that is not the word that is used in our text. It does not say,
“Men shall be happy in Him.” It gives us a fuller, deeper, richer word than that— “Men shall be
blessed in Him.” To be happier may be a thing of time, and of this world only. I do not mean that
the happiness may not be true and real, but still, compared with all that the word, “blessed,”
implies, the word, “happy,” has no eternity, no depth, no fullness, and no force in it! So that,
even if men were happy, they would not come up to the fullness of the promise in our text. But,
alas, the mass of men are unhappy—sighing for this, and mourning for that—never blessed, but
only hoping to be so. The text, therefore, comes in with its sweet silvery ring, telling that men
shall cease to be unhappy, and that they shall rise even above merely being happy—they shall
come to be “blessed in Him.” I regret to say that there is a third class of people who, when they
rise above the curse, and are not absolutely unhappy, yet nevertheless are in a state of doubt and
hesitation. We could not positively say that they are cursed, for we hope that some part of the
blessing has fallen upon them. We may not call them unhappy, yet we know that they are not
eminently happy. They hope that they are saved, or they trust that they shall be safe at the last,
but they are not sure that the blessings of salvation are already theirs. Our text does not say that,
in Christ, this condition of luminous haze, if I may so call it—this condition of doubt and
uncertainty is all that is to be attained. No, but it says, “Men shall be blessed in Him”—and no
man can call himself truly blessed till he knows that he is blessed, till he is sure of it, till he has
passed the period of dubious questioning, till he has come out of the miry and boggy country of
hesitation and doubt, and stands upon the firm ground of full assurance, so that he can say, “I am
God’s child. The Father’s love is fixed upon me; I have a part and portion in the covenant of
grace—I am saved.” Now it is to that blessed condition that the text directs our thoughts—it
promises that men shall be delivered from the curse, that they shall be lifted up from their natural
unhappiness, that they shall be rescued from their doubtful or their hopeful questioning—and
shall even come to be blessed! God shall pronounce them blessed! He shall set upon them the
broad seal of divine approbation, and call them blessed! And with that seal there shall come
streaming into their hearts the sweetness of intense delight which shall give them experimentally
a blessing to their own conscious enjoyment! Let me tell you what Christ does for a man who is
really in Him, and then you will see how he is blessed. The man who comes to Christ by faith,
and truly trusts Christ has all the past rectified. All his sins, whatever they may have been, are
pardoned in a moment as soon as he believes in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. His iniquities are
blotted out, and are as if they had never been committed. As the cloud passes away, and is no
more to be seen, so the thick clouds of our sins are dispersed by Christ as soon as we believe in
Him! Nor will they ever return to darken our sky. The forgiveness which God gives is not
temporary, but eternal! Once pardoned, you are pardoned forever—the act of divine amnesty and
oblivion stands fast forever and ever! Is not that man truly blessed, then, who is made free from
sin? David says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” This is
the blessedness which Christ gives to those who are in Him, that, as for the past, in its entirety,
with all its blackness, with all its aggravated sin, He has taken it upon Himself, and borne the
penalty due on account of it—He makes a clean sweep of it, and says of the man who trusts in
Him, “Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven you; go in peace.” That is one part of the

blessedness of those who are in Christ—the past is all forgiven. At the same time, the man who
is in Christ receives present favor. As soon as we truly believe in Jesus, there steals over our
heart a delicious sense of rest according to His gracious invitation and promise, “Come unto Me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And as we go on to serve the
Lord, and take His yoke upon us, and learn of Him, we find rest for our souls, for His yoke is
Sermon #2451 “Blessed in Him” 3
Volume 42 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 3
easy, and His burden is light. I believe that, oftentimes, a child of God, when he realizes his
union to Christ, feels so blessed that he does not know of anything that could make him more
blessed than he is! He says, “I am perfectly content with my Lord, and with what I am in Him.
With myself, I am always dissatisfied, and always groaning because I cannot entirely conquer
sin, but with my Savior I am always satisfied! I am triumphant in Him, and rejoicing in Him,
indeed, blessed in Him.” Some of you know what a blessed thing it is to be a child of God, and
an heir of heaven—how blessed it is to have the throne of grace, to where you can take your
troubles, and to have a Helper who is strong enough to deliver you. I spoke, the other day, with a
Christian friend, and I said to him, “My life sometimes seems to be like that of a man walking
upon a tight rope. The walk of faith is very mysterious—one false step, or one slip, and where
would we be?” My friend replied, “Yes, it is so, no doubt. But then, underneath are the
everlasting arms.” Ah, that is a blessed addition to the figure—there is no slipping off the rope
on which God calls us to walk, but if there were, underneath are the everlasting arms, and all is
well! And the Christian, when he knows that, and lives as one should live who is in Christ, is,
even now, a truly blessed man! But that is not all, for he who believes in Christ has his future
guaranteed. He does not know how long he shall live, and he does not want to know, for his
Father knows. God knows all that you and I may wish to know—and as He knows it, it is better
than our knowing it! Whether our life is long or short, He will be with us unto the end. And as
our days, our strength shall be. He will sanctify to us every trial we meet, and nothing shall, by
any means, harm us. He will bring us safely to our journey’s end, and we shall go through the
cold death stream without a fear! We shall rise triumphant on the shore of the hill country on the
other side, and we shall behold our Savior’s face without a veil between forever and forever! All
this is an absolute certainty if we are the children of God, for it is not possible that one of the
divine family should perish—that one bought with the blood of Christ should ever be cast away!
He will keep His own, and preserve them even to the end. Are they not blessed, then, and is not
the text full of sweetness as to this amazing condition, “Men shall be blessed in Him”? Where
are you, you blessed men and women? Where are you? Come and enjoy your blessedness! Do
not be ashamed to be happy! I believe that some Christians are a little frightened at themselves
when they find that they are full of joy, and if, perhaps, they should ever break through the rules
of decorum, and express their joy, then they turn crimson! It was not thus with the saints of old,
for sometimes they spoke and sang so loudly of the joy of their hearts that even their adversaries
said, “The Lord has done great things for them,” and they replied, “The Lord has done great
things for us; therefore we are glad!” And again they lifted up their hallelujahs. Then were their
mouths filled with laughter, and their tongues with singing. So let it be with you, for you are,
indeed, a blessed people if you are in Christ! II. Having thus dwelt upon this amazing condition,
I now give you another keyword. The text says, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” This is A WIDE
STATEMENT. Oftentimes, the greatest truths of God lie in the shortest sentences. There is a
great mass of truth within the compass of these few words—“Men shall be blessed in Him.”

There are only six words, here, but to make the wide statement true requires breadth of number.
You could not well say, “Men shall be blessed in Him,” if those to be blessed were a very few. It
is not possible that the election of grace should consist of a few scores of persons making up an
especially favored denomination—otherwise the psalmist would not speak after this wide
fashion, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” The Holy Spirit is not given to exaggeration, and He
would have put it, “A few men will be blessed in Him.” But here there is nothing of the kind! It
is, “Men shall be blessed in Him,” meaning the great mass of the human race, vast multitudes of
the sons of Adam! I believe that when this dispensation comes to an end, notwithstanding all the
dreary centuries that have passed, Christ shall have the pre-eminence as to numbers as well as in
every other respect—and that the multitudes who shall be saved by Him shall far transcend those
who have rejected His mercy. The text says, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” That is to say, the
most of men, innumerable myriads of men shall get the blessing that Jesus purchased by His
death on the cross. But when the text says, “Men shall be blessed in Him,” it implies great width
of variety. “Men”—not merely kings or noblemen, but, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Men—
not working men, or thinking men, or fighting men, or this sort of men, or the other sort of men,
but men of all sorts—“Men shall be
blessed in Him.” It is a delightful thought that Christ is as much fitted to one rank, and one class
of persons as to another— “While grace is offered to the prince, The poor may take their share.
No mortal has a just pretense, To perish in despair.” Christ is the Christ of the multitude! His
Father says of Him, “I have exalted One chosen out of the people,” but He is equally the Christ
of the most refined and eclectic. He comes with equal grace to those who stand in the highest or
the lowest earthly position. “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Of course, the word, “men,” includes
women and children—it means the human race! “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Do not,
therefore, let anyone say, “I am a strange, odd person,” for the text puts in this little-big word,
“men,” which takes you in, whoever you may be! If you come to Christ, you are included in this
promise, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” So that there is a width of variety implied here. Our
text also indicates length of period. “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Men have been blessed in
Him these many centuries, Christ has shone with all the radiance of omnipotent love upon this
poor fallen world, but His light is as full as ever, and however long this dispensation shall last,
“Men shall be blessed in Him.” Though some of those men are, perhaps, gray with years, and
decrepit through age, yet the promise still stands, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” And while that
verse has the word, “shall,” in it, why should not the grayest head receive the divine blessing?
Why should not a man who is on the borders of the grave yet lay hold of this blessed text, and
say, “I will trust Him in whom men shall be blessed”? Further, the text suggests fullness of
sufficiency concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a wonderful depth of meaning in this
passage when it says, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” “Oh,” says one, “men shall he blessed by
philosophy, or by Christ and philosophy!” Not at all. It is, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” “But
they shall be blessed in Him through trade, and commerce, and the like.” Not so! “Men shall be
blessed in Him.” Have we not, who are half a century old, heard a great number of theories about
how the millennium is to be brought about? I remember that at one time free trade was to bring
it, but it did not! And nothing will ever make men blessed unless they get into Christ—“Men
shall be blessed in Him.” The quacks are crying up this remedy, and that, nostrums old, and
new—but there is only one true Physician of souls! It is the Christ of God who alone has the

balm that will cure the disease of sin! When He is received, the world shall be blessed. But as
long as He is rejected, the curse will still remain upon the sons of men. “Men shall be blessed in
Him.” Oh, that our fellow men would receive Him! Oh, that they would bow down before the
Crucified, and acknowledge Him as their Lord and Savior! Oh, that all would look up to His
wounds, still visible in His glory, and put their trust in Him! Then should come that glorious time
when wars shall cease to the ends of the earth, and every evil shall be put away. His unsuffering
kingdom must yet come! Oh, that it might come speedily! But it can only come through Himself,
not by any other means. “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Anything short of trusting in Him will
end in eternal failure! You have noted, dear friends, these two things, the amazing or, singular
condition, and the wide statement. III. Now I want to dwell for a minute or two, for the
exaltation of our Lord, upon THE FULL ASSURANCE which is expressed in this text—“Men
shall be blessed in Him.” The prophet speaks here, my brothers and sisters, in a very positive
manner. There is no quiver in his voice, there is no hesitancy about his speech. I am afraid that at
the present moment there are some, even of godly men, who tremble for the ark of the Lord, and
the hand of Uzzah is visible here and there! But the ark of the covenant of the Lord needs no
steadying hand from you or from me—the cause of God is always safe in His own keeping. The
cause of the truth of God is always secure, for God preserves it. Let us not be afraid; neither let
us be discouraged. It is a grand thing to get a sentence like this with a, “shall,” in it—“Men shall
be blessed in Him. “It is not, “perhaps they may be,” but, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Not,
“perhaps they may be blessed under certain conditions,” but, “Men shall be blessed in Him.”
This means, in the first place, they shall not try Him and fail. There never was a man who came
to Christ who failed to get a blessing from Him! There never was one who believed in Jesus, and
yielded himself up to the gracious sway of the Prince of Love who did not get a blessing from
Him. I have never met with a Christian yet, who, in life or in death, has said, “I have been
disappointed in Christ. He has deceived me. I sought and hoped for blessedness, but I have
missed it.” Never can this be truly said! “Men shall be blessed in Him.” If they really come to
Him, they shall not miss this blessedness. No, I go further, and say that they shall not desire
Him, and be denied. There was never a soul that desired to be blessed in Christ, and was willing
to yield itself up to Christ, that Christ did ever reject! There is no one in hell who can truthfully
say, “I came to Jesus, and He spurned me.” And there never shall be one such, for it is written,
“Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.” The foot that was nailed to the cross never
spurned a sinner yet! The hand that was pierced never pushed away a penitent! Christ is all
invitation—there is no rejection about Him—He constantly bids sinners come to Him, and this
text is true for you, whoever you may be, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” I am glad to go as far
as that, and to say that none who ever came to Christ failed to get a blessing from Him—and that
none who desire to come to Him have ever been denied by Him! But I am going still further.
“Men shall be blessed in Him,” that is to say, they shall come to Christ, and get the blessing.
Some, alas, will not come to Him. But, O sirs, if any of you refuse to come, do not make any
mistake about the matter! You think that by refusing His invitation you will thwart Christ, and
defeat the purposes of God, but that is absurd! The King’s wedding feast shall be furnished with
guests—and if you who are bid will not come, there are others who will! He will send His
servants out into the highways and hedges to compel others to come in, that His house may be
filled! Do not imagine that the result of the death of Christ depends upon you, and that it is in

your power to prevent the accomplishment of the almighty purposes of the Savior’s love! No,
no! “He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” If you believe not, I
must say to you what Christ said to the Jews, “You believe not, because you are not of His
sheep.” His sheep hear His voice, and He knows them, and they follow Him, and He gives them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. “All that the Father gives Me,” He says, “shall come to
Me.” Not one of those whom God has given to His Son shall be left to perish! They shall all
come to Him, and so the text shall be fulfilled, “Men shall be blessed in Him.” Do not imagine
that when Jesus hung there on yonder bloody tree, and groaned away His life for men, He was
dying at a whim! There was at the back of Him the eternal purpose, and the covenant that cannot
be changed—and the invincible One who, without violating the will of men, can yet achieve the
will of God, making men willing in the day of His power—turning them from darkness to light,
and from the power of sin and Satan unto God! Be of good courage, my brothers and sisters—
the consequences of redemption are not left in jeopardy! Those results which God has purposed
will, to the last jot and tittle, be fulfilled. “Men shall be blessed in Him.” It is not to me a
question whether Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God—she shall do it, though I may not
live to see it. It is not to me a question whether the kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ—they must become His! Let us work in this confidence,
and believe every promise in this blessed book. If we get down-hearted, and full of fear, we are
unworthy of our Lord. If we served a temporal prince with limited power, we might talk with
bated breath, but the banner that gleams on high, above our ranks, is the banner of the Lord God
omnipotent— and the shout that shall be heard at the last, is this—“Alleluia! For the Lord God
omnipotent reigns!” I ask you—Is it not very natural that He should reign? If He really is
omnipotent, are not all the certainties as well as the probabilities in favor of His universal
dominion? Must He not reign? Yes, says the Spirit, “He shall reign forever and ever.” “Men shall
be blessed in Him.” There is the tone of full assurance about this blessed prophecy! Therefore,
let us rejoice and praise the name of the Lord. IV. Now, lastly, I want you with all your hearts to
think of my text with A PERSONAL APPROPRIATION—“Men shall be blessed in Him.” Dear
hearers, are you blessed in Christ? Will you answer the question personally? Do not pass it
around, and say to yourself, “No doubt there are many who think that they are blessed who are
not.” Never mind about them! For the present moment, ask this question of yourself, “Am I
blessed in
Christ?” Some people think that they have Christ as their Savior, but their religion brings them
no blessedness. They go to church or to chapel very regularly. They are, apparently, a good sort
of people, but a part of their religion consists in being, on the whole, as comfortably miserable as
they can! As to anything like blessedness, that does not enter into their minds. Now, if my
religion did not make me really happy, I would seriously question whether I was a possessor of
the religion of the happy God, for “Men shall be blessed in Him.” “Oh,” says one, “but we have
so many trials and troubles!” Ah, that we have! Do you know a man or woman who does not
have any? I should like you to mark all the doors in London where people live who have not any
trouble—it will not cost you much for chalk! There is nobody without trouble! If a man could be
without trouble, he would be without a blessing, for in this world one of the rarest blessings—
one of the richest, truest blessings that God ever sends to His children is adversity! He sends

more blessings upon the black horse than He ever sends upon the gray one! It is the messenger of
sorrow who often brings the choicest jewels to our door. Ah, there is many a woman who has not
left her bed these dozen years, or had a fair night of rest all that long time who is truly blessed!
There is many a man who is as poor as poverty can make him, shivering in the cold, tonight, and
scarcely knowing where to find another bit of coal to keep his little fire alight—yet he is blessed!
If it were necessary, I could get some of you to stand up and testify that though you have very
little of this world’s joys, and very little of temporal goods, yet you can say, “Yes, I am blessed, I
am blessed indeed— “‘I would not change my best estate, For all that earth calls good or great!
And while my faith can keep her hold I envy not the sinner’s gold.’” Well, you have that
blessedness, then, enjoy it! What would you think of a man who went thirsty when he had a well
in his back yard? What would you think of a person who always went about povertystricken
though he had millions in the bank? Think of Mr. Vanderbilt standing in the street, and asking
passers-by for a half-penny! Yet I have seen children of God act like that in spiritual things. A
little boy came up to me in an Italian town, and asked me to give him a soldo—he meant a half-
penny. He was quite a moneyed man, for he had a farthing in his pocket! He took it out, and
showed it to me, and he seemed delighted with it. But then he said that it was the only one he had
in the world. You might think, from the way some persons act, that they had about a farthing’s
worth of faith, but that is all they have. Is it not so? O you who have Christ and God, this world
and worlds to come, and whom God has pronounced blessed—what? Are you going to live the
starveling life of the unblessed and the unsaved? I pray you, do not! Gentlemen, live according to
your quality! Peers of the upper house—for you are such if you are born-again—I beseech you,
act in accordance with your true nobility. Has not Christ made you princes and kings? And has
He not said that you shall reign with Him forever and ever? Look up, then! Lift up your heads,
and say, “Yes, He has blessed me, and I am blessed, indeed! My poor spirit dances for joy
because of Him!”— “‘My heart it does leap at the sound of His name.’” “But,” says one, “I have
never enjoyed that.” My dear friend, if you can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you may enjoy
it! To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to trust yourself with Him just as you are—to cast your
guilty soul on Him. Oh, that you would do it! That one act will mark your passing from the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. That one act will be the means of your coming
into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and your life shall be totally changed from that
time forth so that you shall joy in God by Jesus Christ our Lord! “Men shall be blessed in Him.”
Are you to be one of those men? God grant that you may be! The Lord add His blessing, for
Jesus’ sake! Amen.
HYMNS FROM “OUR OWN HYMN BOOK”—72 (SONG I), 436, 438.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 72.
This is a Psalm which relates to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, not as the Man of sorrows,
but as the King of glory—not as David, struggling to secure the throne—but as Solomon, seated
upon it, and reigning in peace. Verse 1. Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your
righteousness unto the king’s son. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both a King and the Son of a King.
He is King of kings, and, therefore, our Sovereign by His own native right. But He is also our

Sovereign Prince as the Son of God. Oh, that the Lord would visibly give into His hands power
over all the people of the earth! “Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness
unto the king’s Son.” 2. He shall judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with
judgement. It is the peculiar characteristic of the reigning Christ that He has His eyes chiefly
upon the poor. Most princes rule in the interest of the great ones around them, but our King rules
for the good of the poor of His people. 3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the
little hills, by righteousness. The reign of Christ is the reign of righteousness, the rule of true
uprightness; and consequently it is the reign of peace, love and joy. Oh that His gentle rule were
acknowledged by all the kings of this world! 4. He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall
save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. This is the King we want
to reign over us! Oh, that the day were come for Him to take the crowns from all other heads,
and to wear them on His own! And to take all scepters from other hands, and gather sheaves of
them beneath His arms, and to be universally proclaimed, “King of kings, and Lord of lords”!
Then would the world’s loud hallelujahs rise as with the sound of mighty thunders. O God, how
long shall it be before this glorious King takes to Himself the power that is His by right? 5. They
shall fear You as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. All other kings,
and princes, and rulers pass away. Our King, alone, has an everlasting kingdom. Where are the
dynasties that have ruled over vast empires? They have passed almost out of remembrance, but
the promise to our King still abides—“They shall fear You as long as the sun and moon endure,
throughout all generations.” 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers
that water the earth. The reign of Christ, even now, is to the poor dispirited sons of men like rain
upon the mown grass! And when He shall come in His glory, as He will shortly come, His
coming shall be as blessed to this world as the gentle showers are to the grass that is newly
mown. 7, 8. In His days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the
moon endures. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of
the earth. This is God’s decree. As surely as He has set His King upon His holy hill of Zion, so
surely will He make Him to “have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of
the earth.” I do, therefore, expect greater glory for the cross of Christ than any that the world has
hitherto seen. The crescent shall wane and fade away in eternal night, but the light of the cross of
Christ shall burn brighter and brighter unto endless day! 9, 10. They that dwell in the wilderness
shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles
shall bring presents. Commerce with all its wealth shall yet lend its homage to the Savior. And
every ship that crosses the sea shall yet bear its cargo of praise unto His glorious name. 10. The
kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Their barbaric splendor shall find a higher glory in
being consecrated to the King of kings! 11. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations
shall serve Him that has no helper. That is what we look for as the true recognition of religion.
The true recognition of religion in a State is not the setting up of some favored sect to be
indulged above the rest—there is something better than that reserved for the Christ of God! He
must have the first place all the world over—“All kings shall fall down before Him: all nations
shall serve Him.” 12. For He shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that
has no helper.
Again I remind you that this is the distinguishing mark of the Christ of God, that He has a special
eye to the poor and needy. 13-15. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of

the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be
in His sight. And He shall live. With all our hearts we cry, “Long live the King!” And our King
shall live forever—to Him alone of all kings may it be truly said, “O King, live forever!” “He
shall live”— 15. And to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer, also, shall be made for
Him continually; and daily shall He be praised. One of the marks of sovereignty is the king’s
visage upon the coinage of the realm, and the use of His name in public prayer. And Christ
claims this homage of all His followers—“Prayer, also, shall be made for Him continually; and
daily shall He be praised.” 16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the
mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass
of the earth. The cause of Christ in the earth may be so reduced as to be only comparable to a
handful of corn, and that handful of corn may be, as it were, sown on the bleak mountainside; yet
it shall grow and increase until it fills the whole earth! His kingdom is without end! 17-19. His
name shall endure forever: His name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be
blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who only does wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name forever; and let the whole
earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen. Is not that double Amen the very mark of the
Christ? Often when He preached, He commenced His sermons with, “Amen, Amen.” That is,
“Verily, verily, I say unto you.” He is God’s great “Amen, the faithful and true Witness.” But
interpreting the word in the other sense, do not you and I most heartily say, “Amen,” and again,
“Amen,” to this royal prayer? “Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.” 20. The prayers of
David the son of Jesse are ended. This is the end of the second great division of the Book of the
Psalms. It is therefore most appropriately closed with this verse—“The prayers of David the son
of Jesse are ended.” But I think that David, when he had reached this point, felt that he could not
ask for anything more than he had already requested in this great petition. If the whole earth
should be full of the glory of God, the psalmist would then have gained the utmost that he could
desire! Is it not so with us, also? If the name and the glory of Christ did but cover the whole
earth, what more could we wish for? What more could we ask of God? Till that blessed
consummation is reached, let us keep on praying, “Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.”
THE ETERNAL NAME NO. 27
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH EVENING, MAY 27, 1855, BY THE REV. C. H.
SPURGEON, AT EXETER HALL, STRAND.
“His name shall endure forever.” Psalm 72:17.
NO one here requires to be told that this is the name of Jesus Christ, which “shall endure
forever.” Men have said of many of their works, “They shall endure forever,” but how much
have they been disappointed! In the age succeeding the flood, they made the brick, they gathered
the slime, and when they had piled old Babel’s tower, they said, “This shall last forever.” But

God confounded their language. They finished it not. By His lightenings, He destroyed it and left
it a monument of their folly. Old Pharaoh and the Egyptian monarchs heaped up their pyramids,
and they said, “They shall stand forever,” and so indeed they do stand, but the time is
approaching when age shall devour even these. So with all the proudest works of man, whether
they have been his temples or his monarchs, he has written “everlasting” on them, but God has
ordained their end and they have passed away. The most stable things have been evanescent as
shadows and the bubbles of an hour, speedily destroyed at God’s bidding. Where is Nineveh and
where is Babylon? Where the cities of Persia? Where are the high places of Edom? Where are
Moab and the princes of Ammon? Where are the temples or the heroes of Greece? Where are the
millions that passed from the gates of Thebes? Where are the hosts of Xerxes or where the vast
armies of the Roman emperors? Have they not passed away? And though in their pride they said,
“This monarchy is an everlasting one—this queen of the seven hills shall be called the eternal
city,” its pride is dimmed and she who sat alone and said, “I shall be no widow, but a queen
forever,” she has fallen, has fallen, and in a little while she shall sink like a millstone in the
flood, her name being a curse and a byword, and her site the habitation of dragons and of owls.
Man calls his work eternal— God calls them fleeting. Man conceives that they are built of
rock—God says, “Nay, sand. Or worse than that—they are air.” Man says he erects them for
eternity—God blows but for a moment and where are they? Like baseless fabrics of a vision,
they are passed and gone forever. It is pleasant, then, to find that there is one thing which is to
last forever. Concerning that one thing we hope to speak tonight, if God will enable me to preach
and you to hear, “His name shall endure forever.” First, the religion sanctified by His name shall
endure forever. Secondly, the honor of His name shall endure forever. And thirdly, the saving,
comforting power of His name shall endure forever. I. First, THE RELIGION OF THE NAME
OF JESUS IS TO ENDURE FOREVER. When impostors forged their delusions, they had hopes
that peradventure they might, in some distant age, carry the world before them. And if they saw a
few followers gather around their standard, who offered incense at their shrine, then they smiled
and said, “My religion shall outshine the stars and last through eternity.” But how mistaken have
they been! How many false systems have started up and passed away! Why, some of us have
seen, even in our short lifetime, sects that rose like Jonah’s gourd in a single night and passed
away just as swiftly. We, too, have beheld prophets rise, who have had their hour, yes, they have
had their day, as dogs all have, but like the dogs, their day has passed away and the impostor,
where is he? And the arch-deceiver, where is he? Gone and ceased. Specially might I say this of
the various systems of infidelity. Within a hundred and fifty years, how has the boasted power of
reason changed! It has piled up one thing, and then in another day it has laughed at its own
handiwork, demolished its own castle, and constructed another, and the next day, a third. It has a
thousand dresses. Once it came forth like a fool with its bells, heralded by Voltaire. Then it came
out a braggart bully, like
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Tom Paine. Then it changed its course and assumed another shape, till finally we have it in the
base, bestial secularism of the present day, which looks for nothing but the earth, keeps its nose
upon the ground, and like the beast, thinks this world is enough or looks for another through
seeking this. Why, before one hair on this head shall be grey, the last secularist shall have passed

away. Before many of us are fifty years of age, a new infidelity shall come and to those who say,
“Where will saints be?” we can turn round and say, “Where are you?” And they will answer,
“We have altered our names.” They will have altered their name, assumed a fresh shape, put on a
new form of evil, but still their nature will be the same, opposing Christ and endeavoring to
blaspheme His truths. On all their systems of religion, or non-religion, for that is a system too, it
may be written, “Evanescent—fading as the flower, fleeting as the meteor, frail and unreal as a
vapor.” But of Christ’s religion it shall be said, “His name shall endure forever.” Let me now say
a few things—not to prove it, for that I do not wish to do—but to give you some hints whereby
possibly I may one day prove it to other people, that Jesus Christ’s religion must inevitably
endure forever. And first, we ask those who think it shall pass away, when was there a time when
it did not exist? We ask them whether they can point their finger to a period when the religion of
Jesus was an unheardof thing. “Yes,” they will reply, “before the days of Christ and His
apostles.” But we answer, “Nay, Bethlehem was not the birthplace of the Gospel, though Jesus
was born there, there was a Gospel long before the birth of Jesus and a preached one, too,
although not preached in all its simplicity and plainness, as we hear it now. There was a Gospel
in the wilderness of Sinai, although it might be confused with the smoke of the incense and only
to be seen through slaughtered victims, yet there was a Gospel there.” Yes, more, we take them
back to the fair trees of Eden, where the fruits perpetually ripened and summer always rested,
and amid these groves we tell them there was a Gospel, and we let them hear the voice of God,
as He spoke to rebellious man and said, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.”
And having taken them thus far back, we ask, “Where were false religions born? Where was
their cradle?” They point us to Mecca, or they turn their fingers to Rome, or they speak of
Confucius, or the dogmas of Buddha. But we say, you only go back to a distant obscurity. We
take you to the primeval age. We direct you to the days of purity. We take you back to the time
when Adam first trod the earth and then we ask you whether it is not likely that as the first-born,
it will not also be the last to die? And as it was born so early and still exists, whilst a thousand
ephemera have become extinct, whether it does not look most probable, that when all others shall
have perished like the bubble upon the wave, this one, only, shall swim, like a good ship upon
the ocean and still shall bear its myriad souls, not to the land of shades, but across the river of
death to the plains of heaven? We ask next, supposing Christ’s Gospel to become extinct, what
religion is to supplant it? We inquire of the wise man who says Christianity is soon to die, “Pray,
sir, what religion are we to have in its stead? Are we to have the delusions of the heathen, who
bow before their gods and worship images of wood and stone? Will you have the orgies of
Baechus, or the obscenities of Venus? Would you see your daughters once more bowing down
before Thammuz, or performing obscene rites as of old?” Nay, you would not endure such
things. You would say, “It would not be tolerated by civilized men.” “Then what would you
have? Would you have Romanism and its superstition?” You will say, “No, God help us, never.”
They may do what they please with Britain, but she is too wise to take old Popery back again
while Smithfield lasts and there is one of the signs of martyrs there. Ay, while there breathes a
man who marks himself a freeman and swears by the constitution of Old England, we cannot
take Popery back again. She may be rampant with her superstitions and her priestcraft, but with
one consent my hearers reply, “We will not have Popery.” Then what will you choose? Shall it
be Mohammedanism? Will you choose that, with all its fables, its wickedness, and
lasciviousness? I will not tell you of it. Nor will I mention the accursed imposture of the West
that has lately arisen. We will not allow Polygamy, while there are men to be found who love the
social circle and cannot see it invaded. We would not wish, when God has given to man one

wife, that he should drag in twenty, as the companions of that one. We cannot prefer
Mormonism. We will not and we shall not. Then what shall we have in the place of
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Christianity? “Infidelity!” you cry, do you, sirs? And would you have that? Then what would be
the consequence? What do many of them promote? Communist views and the real disruption of
all society as at present established. Would you desire reigns of terror here, as they had in
France? Do you wish to see all society shattered and men wandering like monster icebergs on the
sea, dashing against each other and being at last utterly destroyed? God save us from Infidelity!
What can you have, then? Nothing. There is nothing to supplant Christianity. What religion shall
overcome it? There is not one to be compared with it. If we tread the globe round and search
from Britain to Japan, there shall be no religion found, so just to God, so safe to man. We ask
the enemy once more, suppose a religion were to be found which would be preferable to the one
we love, by what means would you crush ours? How would you get rid of the religion of Jesus?
And how would you extinguish His name? Surely, sirs, you would never think of the old practice
of persecution, would you? Would you once more try the efficacy of stakes and fires, to burn out
the name of Jesus? Would you try racks and thumbscrews? Would you give us the boots and
instruments of torture? Try it, sirs and you shall not quench Christianity. Each martyr, dipping
his finger in his blood, would write its honors upon the heavens as he died, and the very flame
that mounted up to heaven would emblazon the skies with the name of Jesus. Persecution has
been tried. Turn to the Alps. Let the valleys of Piedmont speak. Let Switzerland testify. Let
France, with its St. Bartholomew. Let England with all its massacres, speak. And if you have not
crushed it yet, shall you hope to do it? Shall you? Nay, a thousand are to be found and ten
thousand if it were necessary, who are willing to march to the stake tomorrow, and when they are
burned, if you could take up their hearts, you would see engraved upon each of them the name of
Jesus. “His name shall endure forever,” for how can you destroy our love to it? “Ah! but,” you
say, “we would try gentler means than that.” Well, what would you attempt? Would you invent a
better religion? We bid you do it and let us hear it. We have not yet so much as believed you
capable of such a discovery. What then? Would you wake up one that would deceive us and lead
us astray? We bid you do it, for it is not possible to deceive the elect. You may deceive the
multitude, but God’s elect shall not be led astray. They have tried us. Have they not given us
Popery? Have they not assailed us with Puseyism? Are they not tempting us with wholesale
Arminianism, by the wholesale? And do we therefore renounce God’s truth? No. We have taken
this for our motto and by it we will stand. “The Bible, the whole Bible. and nothing but the
Bible,” is still the religion of Protestants, and the selfsame truth which moved the lips of
Chrysostom, the old doctrine that ravished the heart of Augustine, the old faith which Athanasius
declared, the good old doctrine that Calvin preached, is our Gospel now, and God helping us, we
will stand by it till we die. How will you quench it? If you wish to do it, where can you find the
means? It is not in your power. Aha! Aha! Aha! We laugh you to scorn. But you will quench it,
will you? You will try it, do you say? And you hope you will accomplish your purpose? Yes, I
know you will, when you have annihilated the sun, when you have quenched the moon with
drops of your tears, when you have dried up the sea with your drinking. Then shall you do it.
And yet you say you will. And next, I ask you, suppose you did, what would become of the

world then? Ah! were I eloquent tonight, I might perhaps tell you. If I could borrow the language
of a Robert Hall I might hang the world in mourning. I might make the sea the great chief
mourner, with its dirge of howling pain and its wild death-march of disordered waves. I might
clothe all nature—not in robes of green, but in garments of somber blackness. I would bid
hurricanes howl the solemn wailing—that death shriek of a world—for what would become of
us, if we should lose the Gospel? As for me, I tell you fairly, I would cry, “Let me be gone!” I
would have no wish to be here without my Lord. And if the Gospel is not true, I should bless
God to annihilate me this instant, for I would not care to live if you could destroy the name of
Jesus Christ. But that would not be all, that only one man should be miserable, for there are
thousands and thousands who can speak as I do. Again, what would become of civilization if
you could take Christianity away? Where would be the hope of a perpetual peace? Where
governments? Where your Sabbath-schools? Where all your
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societies? Where everything that ameliorates the condition of man, reforms his manners, and
moralizes his character? Where? Let echo answer, “Where?” “They would be gone and not a
scrap of them would be left.” And where, O men, would be your hope of heaven? And where the
knowledge of eternity? Where a help across the river death? Where a heaven? And where bliss
everlasting? All were gone if His name did not endure forever. But we are sure of it, we know it,
we affirm it, we declare it. We believe and always will, that “His name shall endure forever”—
ay, forever! Let who will, try to stop it. This is my first point. I shall have to speak with rather
bated breath upon the second, although I feel so warm within as well as without, that I would to
God I could speak with all my strength as I might do. II. But secondly, as His religion, so THE
HONOR OF HIS NAME IS TO LAST FOREVER. Voltaire said he lived in the twilight of
Christianity. He meant a lie. He spoke the truth. He did live in its twilight, but it was the twilight
before the morning—not the twilight of the evening, as he meant to say. For the morning comes,
when the light of the sun shall break upon us in its truest glory. The scorners have said that we
should soon forget to honor Christ and that one day no man should acknowledge Him. Now, we
assert again, in the words of my text, “His name shall endure forever,” as to the honor of it. Yes,
I will tell you how long it will endure. As long as on this earth there is a sinner, who has been
reclaimed by omnipotent grace, Christ’s name shall endure. As long as there is a Mary, ready to
wash His feet with tears and wipe them with the hair of her head. As long as there breathes a
chief of sinners, who has washed himself in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. As
long as there exists a Christian, who has put his faith in Jesus and found Him his delight, his
refuge, his stay, his shield, his song, and his joy, there will be no fear that Jesus’ name will cease
to be heard. We can never give up that name. We let the Unitarian take his gospel without a
Godhead in it. We let him deny Jesus Christ. But as long as Christians—true Christians, live, as
long as we taste that the Lord is gracious, have manifestations of His love, sights of His face,
whispers of His mercy, assurances of His affection, promises of His grace, hopes of His blessing,
we cannot cease to honor His name. But if all these were gone, if we were to cease to sing His
praise, would Jesus Christ’s name be forgotten then? No. The stones would sing, the hills would
be an orchestra, the mountains would skip like rams, and the little hills like lambs. For is He not
their Creator? And if the lips of all mortals were dumb at once, there are creatures enough in this

wide world besides. Why, the sun would lead the chorus. The moon would play upon her silver
harp and sweetly sing to her music. Stars would dance in their measured courses. The shoreless
depths of ether would become the home of songs and the void immensity would burst out into
one great shout, “You are the glorious Son of God! Great is Your majesty and infinite Your
power!” Can Christ’s name be forgotten? No. It is painted on the skies. It is written on the
floods. The winds whisper it. The tempests howl it. The seas chant it. The stars shine it. The
beasts low it. The thunders proclaim it. Earth shouts it. Heaven echoes it. But if that were all
gone, if this great universe should all subside in God, just as a moment’s foam subsides into the
wave that bears it and is lost forever, would His name be forgotten then? No. Turn your eyes up
yonder. See heaven’s terra firma, “Who are these that are arrayed in white and whence came
they?” “These are they that came out of great tribulation; they have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb; therefore they are before the throne of God, and
praise him day and night in his temple.” And if these were gone, if the last harp of the glorified
had been touched with the last fingers, if the last praise of the saints had ceased, if the last
hallelujah had echoed through the then deserted vaults of heaven, for they would be gloomy
then—if the last immortal had been buried in his grave, if graves there might be for immortals—
would His praise cease then? No, by heaven, no. For yonder stand the angels. They, too, sing His
glory. To Him the cherubim and seraphim do cry without ceasing, when they mention His name
in that thrice holy chorus, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of armies.” But if even these were
perished—if angels had been swept away, if the wing of seraph never flapped the ether, if the
voice of the cherub never sung his flaming sonnet, if the living creatures ceased their everlasting
chorus, if the measured symphonies of glory were extinct in silence, would His name then be
lost? Ah! no. For as God upon the throne, He sits, the everlasting One, the Father, Son, and Holy
Sermon #27 The Eternal Name
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Ghost. And if the universe were all annihilated, still would His name be heard, for the Father
would hear it and the Spirit would hear it, and deeply engraven on immortal marble in the rocks
of ages, it would stand—Jesus the Son of God, co-equal with His Father. “His name shall endure
forever.” III. And so shall the power of His name. Do you inquire what this is? Let me tell you.
Do you see yonder thief hanging upon the cross? Behold the fiends at the foot thereof, with open
mouths, charming themselves with the sweet thought that another soul shall give them meat in
hell. Behold the death-bird, fluttering his wings o’er the poor wretch’s head. Vengeance passes
by and stamps him for her own. Deep on his breast is written “a condemned sinner.” On his brow
is the clammy sweat, expressed from him by agony and death. Look in his heart, it is filthy with
the crust of years of sin. The smoke of lust is hanging within, in black festoons of darkness. His
whole heart is hell condensed. Now, look at him. He is dying. One foot seems to be in hell, the
other hangs tottering in life, only kept by a nail. There is a power in Jesus’ eye. That thief looks,
he whispers, “Lord, remember me.” Turn your eye again there. Do you see that thief? Where is
the clammy sweat? It is not there. Where is that horrid anguish? Is it not there. Positively there is
a smile upon his lips. The fiends of hell, where are they? There are none, but a bright seraph is
present, with his wings outspread and his hands ready to snatch that soul, now a precious jewel,
and bear it aloft to the palace of the great King. Look within his heart, it is white with purity.
Look at his breast, it is no longer written “condemned,” but “justified.” Look in the book of life,

his name is graven there. Look on Jesus’ heart, there on one of the precious stones, He bears that
poor thief’s name. Yea, once more, look! See that bright one amid the glorified, clearer than the
sun and fair as the moon? That is the thief! That is the power of Jesus and that power shall
endure forever. He who saved the thief can save the last man who shall ever live. For still,
“There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged
beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoic’d to see That fountain in his day; O may I there, tho’ vile as he, Wash all
my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb! That precious blood Shall never lose its power, Till all the ransom’d church of
God Is saved to sin no more.”
His powerful name shall endure forever. Nor is that all the power of His name. Let me take you
to another scene and you shall witness somewhat else. There on that deathbed lies a saint. No
gloom is on his brow, no terror on his face. Weakly, but placidly he smiles. He groans perhaps,
but yet he sings. He sighs now and then, but more often he shouts. Stand by him. “My brother,
what makes you look in death’s face with such joy?” “Jesus,” he whispers. What makes you so
placid and so calm? “The name of Jesus.” See, he forgets everything! Ask him a question. He
cannot answer it—he does not understand you. Still he smiles. His wife comes, inquiring, “Do
you know my name?” He answers, “No.” His dearest friend requests him to remember his
intimacy. “I know you not,” he says. Whisper in his ear, “Do you know the name of Jesus?” and
his eyes flash glory and his face beams heaven. His lips speak sonnets and his heart bursts with
eternity, for he hears the name of Jesus and that name shall endure forever. He who landed one in
heaven will land me there. Come on, death! I will mention Christ’s name there. O grave! This
shall be
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my glory, the name of Jesus! Hell dog! This shall be your death, for the sting of death is
extracted— Christ our Lord. “His name shall endure forever.” I had a hundred particulars to give
you, but my voice fails, so I had better stop. You will not require more of me tonight. You
perceive the difficulty I feel in speaking each word. May God send it home to your souls! I am
not particularly anxious about my own name, whether that shall endure forever or not, provided
it is recorded in my Master’s book. George Whitefield, when asked whether he would found a
denomination, said, “No, brother John Wesley may do as he pleases, but let my name perish. Let
Christ’s name last forever.” Amen to that! Let my name perish, but let Christ’s name last forever.
I shall be quite contented for you to go away and forget me. I have not seen the faces of half of
you again, I dare say. You may never be persuaded to step within the walls of an conventicle.
You will think it perhaps not respectable enough to come to a Baptist meeting. Well, I do not say

we are a very respectable people, we don’t profess to be, but this one thing we do profess, we
love our Bibles. And if it is not respectable to do so, we do not care to be had in esteem. But we
do not know that we are so disreputable, after all, for I believe, if I may state my own opinion,
that if Protestant Christendom were counted out of that door, not merely every real Christian, but
every professor, I believe the PaedoBaptists would have no very great majority to boast of. We
are not, after all, such a very small disreputable sect. Regard us in England we may be, but take
America, Jamaica, the West Indies, and include those who are Baptists in principle, though not
openly so, and we surrender to none, not even to the Established Church of this country, in
numbers. That, however, we care very little about. For I say of the Baptist name, let it perish,
but let Christ’s name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be
a Baptist living. I hope they will soon be gone. You will say, “Why?” Because when everybody
else sees Baptism by immersion, we shall be immersed into all sects and our sect will be gone.
Once give us the predominance and we are not a sect any longer. A man may be a Churchman, a
Wesleyan, or an Independent, and yet be a Baptist. So that I say I hope the Baptist name will
soon perish, but let Christ’s name last forever. Yea, and yet again, much as I love dear old
England, I do not believe she will ever perish. No, Britain! You shall never perish, for the flag of
old England is nailed to the mast by the prayers of Christians, by the efforts of Sunday schools
and her pious men. But I say, let even England’s name perish. Let her be merged in one great
brotherhood. Let us have no England, and no France, and no Russia, and no Turkey, but let us
have Christendom. And I say heartily, from my soul, let nations and national distinctions perish,
but let Christ’s name last forever. Perhaps there is only one thing on earth that I love better than
the last I have mentioned, and that is the pure doctrine of unadulterated Calvinism. But if that is
wrong, if there is anything in that which is false, I for one say let that perish too and let Christ’s
name last forever. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus, “Crown Him Lord of all!” You will not hear me say
anything else. These are my last words in Exeter Hall for this time. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! “Crown
Him Lord of all.”

Jesus was the source of blessedness

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Jesus was the source of blessedness