WITH GOLDEN GIRDLE GIRT

NO. 3555

PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 15TH, 1917.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON

“He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” — Revelation 1:13

BE assured, my brethren, the more real Jesus Christ is to us the more power there will be in our religion. Those men whose religion lies in believing certain doctrines, and contending for certain modes of expression, may be strong enough in bigotry, but they often fail entirely in developing the spirit of true Christianity. There may be minds so constituted that they can live under the power of an idea, and they might possibly be able to die for it. But these, I think, must be comparatively few. To draw out enthusiasm among men, there must generally be a man as leader and commander in whom the people can implicitly trust, to whom they will voluntarily tender obedience. Individual men have wrought wonders. The thoughts which they incarnated may have been in themselves strong, yet their strength was never so forcible as when the men who represented those thoughts were present to give them currency. Then the blood of the many was stirred, and every man’s heart beat high. The presence of Oliver Cromwell in a regiment was equal to any ten thousand men. He had only to appear, and all his soldiers felt so sure of victory, they would dash upon the cavaliers as some mighty tornado, driving them like chaff before the wind. The presence of Napoleon at any moment in a battle was almost sufficient to turn the scale. Let but “the little corporal” appear and wave his sword, and men seemed to lose all sense of their own personal danger, and rushed into the very mouth of death to gain the victory. In those old days of the Huguenots when they were warring for their liberties, what shouts there were, what beating of hearts, what a glamour of trumpets, what exultation, when Henry of Navarre came riding down the ranks! Then each man felt he had a giant’s arm, and, as he rode to battle, struck home for God and for the truth as he gave out his watchword, “Remember St. Bartholomew!”

Now the force of the religion of Jesus, under God the Holy Spirit, it seems to me, is never fully brought out except when our faith greets the Lord Jesus Christ as a person, and holds to him as a personal leader and commander, loving him and devoting ourselves to him as an ever-living, ever-gracious Friend. It is not by believing a set of ideas, and trying to be enthusiastic over them, that our courage rises or our prowess succeeds. Rather let us feel his presence, though we cannot see his face, and remembering that there is such an one as Jesus of Nazareth, who became a babe in Bethlehem for us; who lived, and toiled, and suffered for us; then laid bare his breast to the spear, and gave up his life for us. We grow strong when we thus think of him as our Savior, when his thorn — crowned head rises before our mind’s eye, when we look into that face so marred with shame, and pain, and cruelty, till we are constrained to cry out, “Oh! my Savior, I love thee, and for the love I bear thy name would fain learn what I can do to honor thee, and I will do it; point out to me how much of my substance I should place upon shine altar, and I will be glad to place it there put me into the place of suffering if needs be, and I will account it a place of honor; for if thou be there, I can look into thy dear face, and think that I am suffering for thee; fire shall be then like a bed of roses to me, and death itself seem sweeter far than life.”

We want to have more open testimony concerning the person of our Lord Jesus Christ; I am persuaded of that; and we have need, private Christians, to live more in fellowship with him, the Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus, who hath redeemed us from wrath, and through whose life we live. To him now — to him exclusively let all your thoughts be turned. Oh! that ye may discern the image which stood on that Lord’s Day clearly before the view of John, the eyes of your understanding being opened, and your whole soul being attent to the revelation. It is but one part of John’s description of our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven to which I propose to direct your attention. “He was girt about the breast a golden girdle.” What did this golden girdle signify? And what are the golden lessons to be gathered from it?

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I. The Golden Girdle.

What did it mean? It was designed, first, to set forth our lord’s excellence in all his offices. He is a prophet. The prophets of old were often girt about with leathern girdles; but our Savior wears a golden girdle, for he, above all other prophets, is vested with authority. What he declares and testifies is true; yea, it is pure truth, unalloyed with tradition or superstition. He makes no mistakes. There is no treachery to taint his teaching. Sitting at his feet, you may accept every word he utters as infallible. You need not raise a question about it. The girdle of golden truth is round about him. He is also a priest. The high priest of old wore a girdle of many colors for glory and for beauty. Our Lord Jesus Christ wears a girdle superior to this. It is of the pure gold, for among the priests he hath no peer. Of all the sons of Aaron, none could vie with him. hey must first offer a sacrifice for their own sins. They needed to wash their feet in the laver, and to be themselves touched with the cleansing blood. But Jesus Christ is without spot, or blemish, or any such thing.

“Their priesthood ran through several bands
For mortal was their race.”
For mortal was their race.”

But Jesus is immortal, and about him he wears the golden girdle to show that he excels all the priests of Aaron’s line. As for those persons who, in modern times, pretend to be priests, our Lord Jesus Christ is not to be mentioned in the same day with them. They are all deceivers. If they knew the truth, they would understand that there is no class of priests now. All caste of priesthood is for ever abolished. Every man that fears God, and every woman, too, is a priest, according to the word which is written, “He hath made us kings and priests unto God.” The priesthood is common to all the saints, and not confined to some. But he wears a golden girdle among them. Their priesthood would be nothing without his. He hath made them priests. They derive their priesthood entirely from him, neither could they be acceptable before God if they were not accepted in the Beloved. He is a King as well as a prophet and a priest, and that girdle, being made of gold, signifies his supremacy over all other kings. He is mightier far than they; “the Lord mighty in battle. “King of Kings” is his name, and the burden of the music of heaven is this, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” The day shall come when he shall grasp his scepter and break the kingdoms of earth like potters’ vessels with his rod of iron. He is this day King of the Jews, but he shall openly be so proclaimed. In that day kings shall bow down before him, and he shall gather up sheaves of sceptres, while many crowns shall be upon his glorious brow. There is no kingdom like the kingdom of Christ. Other kingdoms and go like the hoar-frost of the morning, or the sheen upon the midnight waves; but his kingdom standeth for ever and ever; it shall endure from everlasting to everlasting. As Prophet, Priest, and King, he wears a girdle of gold to show his supremacy in office above all others.

The golden girdle, moreover, bears witness to his power and authority. Men were often girt with girdles when they received office. The Prophet Isaiah saith of Ediakim that he received a girdle of power and dominion. Keys were hung upon the girdle. The housewife’s girdle with her keys signified her authority over her servants. The keys at the girdle of great men signified their power in their various offices, and when we sometimes sing: —

“Lo, in his hand the sovereign keys
Of heaven, and death, and hell,”

we recognize this meaning of Christ’s golden girdle, that all power given unto him in heaven and in earth. He is the universal Lord. Up in heaven he enjoys an authority that is undisputed. Angels bow before him, and on the sea of glass they cast down their crowns and cry, “ Hallelujah!” Here on earth all Providence is ruled by the man whose hand was pierced. All this dispensation is an economy of mediatorial government, over which Jesus Christ presides. He putteth down one and setteth up another. He makes the wheels of Providence revolve. Everything occurreth according to his decree and purpose; in all things he ruleth, and he overruleth them for the good of his Church, even as Joseph governed Egypt for the good of the seed of Abraham. What a comfort it is, beloved, for us to think of the authority and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ! He who had not where to lay his head; he who was despised and rejected of men; he who was a working man — the carpenter’s son; he who felt the pangs of hunger, and endured the pains of weariness; he who was neglected, condemned, opposed, and cast out by his countrymen and his kinsmen it is he who is now undisputed Master and unrivalled Lord everywhere. No name so famous as that once branded with infamy, the name of Jesus. Whom sinful men rejected, holy angels now adore. On earth he was condemned and crucified; in heaven he is hailed with highest honor. Look up to that golden girdle. See how he descended, step by step, into the meanest depths of humiliation; then mark bow he ascended with rapid flight to the towering heights of exaltation. Follow him. With him take your lot. Be willing to be made of no repute in this day of reproach that you may be a partaker of his glory in the day of his appearing.

Girt thus about with a golden girdle, we have a vivid representation of his activity. The girdle was used by the Easterns to bind up their long flowing robes. The Hebrew did not usually wear a girdle indoors. It was only when on a journey, or when engaged in some manual labor that he thus adjusted his attire. So our Lord’s having a golden girdle signifies that he is still ready to serve his servants, to engage on their behalf. You remember how he once took towel and girded himself. That was with kind intent to wash their feet. Now it is no more with a linen towel, but with a girdle of gold that he prepares himself to work on the behalf of his beloved. He stands not in heaven with flowing garments, as though all work were done, but he stands there girt about the breast that he may be ready still, and show himself strong con behalf of his people. Be this your comfort now, Jesus has not forgotten to plead for you before his Father’s throne. He never holds his peace, and never will. As long as you have a cause to plead, Christ will be your intercessor. Whatsoever you want, he is waiting to supply. As long as you have a sin to confess, Christ will be your advocate with the’ Father to purge your guilt and purify your souls. As long as you are persecuted on earth, there will be a Christ to represent you in heaven. As long as you are in this vale of tears, he, with golden girdle girt, will be the angel of God’s presence to succor and to save you. In all your afflictions he was afflicted, and he will still bear and carry you as in the days of old. Oh! my brethren, how people do sometimes talk about the Christian Church, as if Jesus Christ, who died for us, were still dead!

What gloomy forebodings I have read during the last few months! Not that I have believed a word, or taken dreams for disasters. I have not even credited their sadness with over-much sincerity. I rather thought they wrote for a party purpose, with motives of policy. Were we to believe half we read, Protestantism, in a few years, would become vestige. We might have the Pope preaching in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Not a few would be doomed to burn in Smithfield, and know not what pains and penalties we shall be subject to. Evidently the Church of Christ is quite unable to take care of herself. Unless she be provided with so many hundreds or thousands of pounds, she must go to the dogs; for money, the love of which used to be the root of all evil, somehow or other, is found out to be the root of all good. As for the good men who have prayed earnestly and worked so zealously, they are all going to leave off praying, and preaching too, when the State pay is stopped. So all the piety towards God, and all the good will towards men, will come to an end. Well, I suppose this would be very likely if Jesus Christ were dead, but as long as he is alive, I think he is quite able to take care of the golden candlesticks himself; and the Church of God will probably be no worse in the next few years than it has been in the years that have passed. Nay, I will venture to prophesy that the less help she seeks from the world, and the more she leans upon her God, the brighter will her future be. Should the very foundations of society be shaken, and the worst calamities befall us, such as hope will never come, yet over the ashes of all earthly renown and government patronage, the supernal splendor of immortal Church of God would glow forth with clearer brilliance and brighter glory. Long has she been like a ship tossed with tempest, and not comforted. She has ploughed her way, and the spray that has broken over her has been blood-red with martyr’s gore, but she has still kept on her course towards her desired haven. He that is with her is greater than all they that be against her. So shall it be till the world’s end. Look, then, beloved, to the golden girdle of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as you perceive that he is still active to maintain his own cause, to deliver his people and to prosper his Church, you need not be afraid. And does not the golden girdle imply his enduring love? The breast was of old time, and still is among ourselves, supposed to be the dwelling-place of the affections. What, think ye, is the ruling passion in the heart of Christ? What is it that inflames the bosom of him who was once the Man of Sorrows, but now is lying of kings and Lord of fords He is girt about the breast with a girdle of gold. Me never ceases to love his people. The girdle is an endless thing; it goes right round a man. Christ’s heart always keeps within the sacred circle of undiminished, unchanging, undying affection for all whom his Father gave him, for all whom he bought with his precious blood. Never doubt the faithfulness of Christ to you, beloved, since faithfulness is the girdle of his loins. Never think that a promise will fail, or that the covenant will be broken. Trusting in him, you will never be suffered to perish. It cannot be. While he wears that golden girdle he cannot prove faithless. That heavenly decoration is a goodly order. Invested therewith, he cannot forget or prove untrue to those whom he has engaged to protect. Though heaven and earth shall pass away, not one word of grace shall fall to the ground. The sun and moon shall expire; dim with age, they will cease to shed their light abroad, but the love of Jesus Christ shall be as fresh and new as in the day of his espousals, and as delicious as when you first tasted of it. Yours shall it be for over and ever to inherit and enjoy.

In days of yore, moreover, the girdle was the place where the Eastern kept his money; it was his purse. Some of the Orientals keep their cash in their turbans; in our Savior’s day it was carried in the girdle. When our Lord speaks in Matthew about his disciples going without purse or scrip, he mentions there that they are not to — carry silver or gold in their girdles. This golden girdle, then to use a simple word, may represent the purse of the Lord Jesus, and we infer from its being golden that it is full of wealth unequalled, and riches unsurpassed. Jesus Christ bears about him all the available supplies that can be needed by his people. What a multitude of people he has to support, for on him all his saints do depend. They have been drawing upon him all their lives long, and so they always will. They are gentlemen commoners,” as one used to say, upon the bounty of God’s Providence. We are pensioners upon the beneficence of our Lord Jesus Christ; he has supplied us hitherto until now. Oh! how much grace you and I have wanted to keep us from starving, from sinking, from going down to the pit! And we have had all we needed! In fearful temptations, our foot has not slipped. We have passed through many trials, but without being crushed. Arduous has been our service; but as our day our strength has been. We should long ago have broken any earthly bank, and drained the exchequer; but Christ has been to us like an ever-flowing fountain, a well-head, a redundant source, communicating enough and to spare. What a purse! What ready relief for every emergency Christ has ever at command! Oh! brethren, have you little grace? Whose fault is it? Not your Lord’s. Oh! you that have no spending money! you who are full of doubts and fears! you who have slender comfort and little joy! you who are saying, like the elder son in the parable, “Thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends “! — whose fault is it? Does not your Father say, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is shine”? It you are poor in spiritual things, you make yourselves poor, singe, Christ is yours; and with him all things are yours. Do enjoy what God has given you. Take the good that God provides. Seek to live up to your privileges. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice! As that golden girdle gleams from afar, say in your spirit: —

“Since Christ is rich, can I be poor?
What can I want besides?”

And now let me briefly point out to you :

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II. The Golden Lessons to be gathered from these five meanings of the golden girdle.

It will refresh your memories if I remind you that we showed how the golden girdle set forth the excellency of Christ in all his offices. The golden lesson, then, is — Admire him in all his offices. He that loves Christ will never be tired of hearing about him. Doubtless when Jacob’s sons came back and told him that Joseph was lord over all Egypt, after hearing the story once, the old man would be sure to say, “Oh! tell me that again! I will be bound to say that as he sat in that tent of his, he would ask first one and then another to tell the tale; so would he try to pump them with questions. “Tell me, Judah, now how did he look? Has he grown stouter or thinner since the day he left me, and I never thought to see or hear of him any more? Tell me, Simeon, did he sit on a throne? Was he really like a king? Tell me, Levi, what did the Egyptians seem to think of him? Had they a high estimation of his character? Tell me, Zebulon, how did he speak? In what terms did he speak of his old father? Was there a tear in his eye when he referred to Benjamin, your other brother, the little one whom his father would not spare? “ Surely I might draw that picture without being suspected of exaggeration. It would be all true. He loved his son so dearly and doted upon him so fondly that he could not know too much; nay, he could not know enough about him. Anybody that had anything to tell about Joseph would be sure to be welcome . So with every renewed heart. If there is anything to be learned about Jesus, you will want to know it. Dear brethren, let us cultivate this spirit more and more. Let us live in the study of the life of Jesus. These are things the angels desire to look into. Do you not desire to look into them too? Watch your Master. Let your experience, as it alters and ripens, reveal to your fresh beauties in your Lord. As you turn over page, after page, of Scripture, search after Jesus in it as men search after gold, and be not content unless you see your Savior’s face revealed in every page.

Does the, girdle indicate his power and authority? The golden lesson is that ye trust him. If all power is his, lean on him. We do not lean on Christ enough. The remark of the Church was, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved? “ Lean on him. He will never sink under your weight. All the burdens that men ever had to carry, Christ carried, and he certainly will carry yours. There can be no wars and lightings that perplex you which did not perplex him, for in the great fight which comprehended yourselves, and the great warfare for all his saints, he overcame. Nothing, then, can be difficult to him. How often we weary ourselves with walking when we might ride — I mean, we carry our troubles when we might take them to Christ. We fret, and groan, and cry, and our difficulties do not get any the less, but when we leave them with him who careth for us, and begin to trust, like a child trusts its father, how light of heart and how strong of spirit we become! The Lord give us to watch that golden girdle carefully, and as we see the power of Jesus Christ may we come to lean upon that power, and trust him at all times.

Or did the golden girdle signify his activity? The golden lesson is that we imitate him. Christ is in heaven, and yet he wears a girdle. Christian, always keep your girdle round your loins. “Stand, therefore, with your loins girt about,” says the Apostle, “ and your lamps trimmed.” This is not the place for the Christian to unbind. Heaven is the place of rest for us; not this world of temptation and of sin. Still, stand ready to suffer or to serve. At the Master’s gate watch and wait to do his bidding. Never, on week-days, and much less on Sabbath days, let your spirits be out of order for Christian service. We ought so to live that, if called to die at any minute, we should not need to say a prayer — ready for heaven, ready for a life of service or for a death of glory. The true way for a Christian to live in this world is to be always as he would wish to be if Christ came at that moment, and there is a way of living that style simply depending upon the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, and then going out into daily service for him, moved by love to him, Saying to him, “ Lord, show me what thou wouldst have me to do.” I wish we always were as I have thus said we always should be. The Lord can teach us; let us ask him to teach us the lesson.

We told you, moreover, that the golden girdle indicated his enduring love, inasmuch as it is girt about his breast. Well, then, the golden lesson is, let us love him in return. Let us wear the golden girdle too. Oh! beloved, love him with all your heart, and soul; and strength. Let no rival come between you and Jesus. Keep your heart chaste for the Well-Beloved. My greatest longing is that I may present you as a chaste virgin unto Christ, that there may be nothing by way of error in respect to doctrine or to holiness of life that may disturb the full union of your souls with Jesus. Oh! to see that golden girdle, and an we see it to feel that he has belted us about after the self-same manner! “ I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.” I am not the world’s, nor is the world for me; but I belong to Jesus, and Jesus belongs to me. May that be the deep feeling and the truthful expression of every one of you.

And then does the golden girdle suggest to is the wealth of Christ, as being his purse, let it be our golden lesson to rejoice in him. If he be so rich, and all that he is, and all that he has belongs to us, bring hither your choicest music and let your souls be glad in the name of the Lord. Why art thou bowed down? Why distressed? Has thy Lord withdrawn, or has he changed; is he deaf, or is his arm shortened that he cannot deliver? Nay, but let the children of God be joyful in their King. If you cannot be glad in what is created, be glad in the Creator himself. If you cannot drink of the streams, go and drink of the fountain-head; the water is sweeter and better there. Blessed wreck which makes us lose everything and cling to our God, for the loss will be a gain if we get nearer to God, love him better, and prize his friendship more.

Ah! me, the day will come when those of you who love not Christ will have to look on him, and you will see that golden girdle then, but it will bring no comfort to you; you despised him, hence in that girdle there will be no love to you, no blessing for you, no power for you. But what will there be? Why, that very girdle, since it is made of faithfulness, will show him faithful to his threatenings. Those who hear Christ preached and reject him will find that word true, “He that believeth not shall be damned.” Nothing but condemnation can be the lot of the man who contemns pardon, and treats forgiveness with contempt. When simply to trust Christ saves the soul, to distrust him is the direst and most damnable of sins. It is suicidal. Unbeliever, thou refuses to pass through the only door that can lead thee to heaven. Well, man if thou never enter there, thy blood be on thine own head. Oh! that grace may lead thee just now to seek salvation! The man with the golden girdle can save thee, and none but he. Look to him. Behold him as he hangs upon the tree with hands and feet fastened there. Look and trust — trust and live. The Lord incline your hearts to espouse and not eschew his rich mercy, for his own dear name’s sake. Amen.