9And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for You created all things;
by Your will they exist, and came to be.”
“If we would have our souls set as a pearl in the fair ring of heavenly courtiers that compass the Lamb’s throne, let us praise God as they do.” (Trapp)
“2. But as they fall before the throne in humility, you will note that they express their gratitude. It is said they cast their crowns before the throne. They know where they got them from, and they know to whom to ascribe the praise. Their crowns are their own, and, therefore, they wear them on their heads; their crowns were Jesu’s gift, and, therefore, they cast them at his feet. They wear their crown, for he hath made them kings, and they cannot refuse the dignity; but they cast the crown at his feet, for they are only kings by right received from him, and acknowledge him thus to be King of kings and Lord of lords. It was a custom, you know, in imperial Rome, for those kings who held dominion under the emperor, on certain occasions to take off their crowns and lay them down before the emperor, so that when he bade them put them on again, they had fully recognised that their rights of kingship flowed only through him. So do they who are before the throne. With what rapture, with what joy, with what delight, do they cast their crowns there! To think they have a crown, and a crown to cast before him! Brothers and sisters, I am afraid when you and I get any graces, or have been made useful in Christ’s cause, we are glad for the thing’s sake; but we are not right, if so; we should be glad because we have something to cast at his feet. Have you faith? I must thank him for faith, I must lay it at his feet, and say, “Jesu, use my faith for thy glory, for thou art its author and finisher.” If you and I shall by divine grace persevere to the end, and shall arrive at heaven, it will be a joy to think that we are saved, but we will lay it all at the door of love divine. Will you wear a crown, believer? Will you accept jot or tittle of the glory? O no, ye will each of ye disown anything like the Arminian’s proud boast of free self-will. It will be grace, grace, grace alone in heaven. There will be no division and no discord in that eternal hymn. We will cast our crowns at once before him, and we will say, “Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the praise.” We imitate them, then, in this— in our gratitude mingled with humility,” (Spurgeon)
"the world was not created but for David; and one says for Moses; and Rabbi Jochanan says for the Messiah;''
which last is truest. (Gill)
Will you cast our crowns at once before him?
Blessings, David
No comments:
Post a Comment