A VISION OF THE LATTER DAY GLORIES – Charles Spurgeon
A Vision of the Latter-Day Glories
I. The Prophetic Vision
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” —Isaiah 2:2, Micah 4:1
The prophets of God were anciently called seers, for they had a supernatural sight which could pierce through the gloom of the future and behold the things which are not yet seen but which God has ordained for the last days. They frequently described what they saw with spiritual eyes in a manner that could be understood by the eyes of nature. The visions they received were so substantial that they could paint a picture with words, allowing us, too, to behold in open vision the glorious things which they beheld after a supernatural sort.
Let us imagine Isaiah as he stood upon Mount Zion. He looked around, and there were “the mountains that are round about Jerusalem,” far outstripping it in height, but yielding to Zion in glory. Dearer to his soul than even the snow-capped glories of Lebanon, which glittered afar off, was that little hill of Zion, for there upon its summit stood the temple—the shrine of the living God. It was the place of His delight, the home of song, the house of sacrifice, the great gathering place where the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord—to serve Jehovah, the God of Abraham.
Standing at the gate of that glorious temple, which had been built by the unmatched skill of Solomon, he looked into the future. He saw with tearful eyes the structure burned with fire. He beheld it cast down and the plow driven over its foundations. He saw the people carried away into Babylon and the nation cast off for a season.
But as he looked further, he beheld the temple rising from its ashes—glory outwardly diminished, but in reality, it was increased. He saw Messiah, Himself, in the form of a little baby carried into the second temple. He saw Him there and rejoiced. But before he could fully celebrate, his eyes glanced onward to the cross. He saw Messiah nailed to the tree. He beheld His back plowed and mangled with the whip. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,” said the prophet, and he paused to weep for the bleeding Prince of the House of David.
His eyes, however, were destined for a long period of sorrow, for he saw the invading hosts of the Romans setting up their standard of desolation in the city. He saw the holy city burned with fire and utterly destroyed. His spirit was almost broken within him. But once more, he soared through time with eagle wings, scanning the future with eagle eyes. He looked aloft and began to sing of the last days—the end of dispensations and of time! He saw Messiah once again on earth. He saw that little hill of Zion rising to the clouds—reaching to heaven itself! He beheld the New Jerusalem descending from above, God dwelling among men, and all the nations flowing to the tabernacle of the Most High God where they paid Him holy worship!
II. A Glorious Vision of the Future
Today, we will leave the avenue of troubles and trials through which the church has passed and is yet to pass. Instead, let us, by faith, come to the last days. May God help us as we indulge in a glorious vision of that which is to come—when “The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.” The prophet saw two things in his vision: the mountain exalted and the nations flowing to it.
Now, let us use our imagination for a moment. The picture before us can hardly be compared to anything except one of Martin’s magnificent paintings, in which he blends masses of light and shade, leaving the imagination free to soar to the greatest heights. The vision in our text is certainly greater than anything the preacher can utter, or that you can even conceive.
Imagine yourself at the foot of Mount Zion. As you stand there, you notice that it is but a very little hill. Bashan is far loftier, and Carmel and Sharon outshine it. As for Lebanon, Zion seems like a mere molehill, insignificant, despicable, and obscure compared to these towering mountains. Think of the Alps, the Andes, or the even mightier Himalayas. Zion, in comparison, seems quite small and unimpressive.
But wait—let the Spirit of God touch your eyes, and you shall see this small hill begin to grow! Up it rises, with the temple on its summit, until it surpasses Mount Tabor. It continues to grow, leaving Carmel, with its perpetual green, behind. It reaches higher still, until the snowy peaks of Lebanon are eclipsed. The hill keeps rising, drawing other mountains and hills into its fabric. Onward it climbs, until it pierces the clouds and rises above the Alps! The Himalayas seem to be drawn into its heart, and the greatest mountains of the earth appear to be but the roots of this eternal hill. The top of this mountain is now scarcely visible, as it stands infinitely higher than all the other mountains.
Do you see it now? There, far above, upon the lofty top, is not the eternal snow, but a pure crystal tableland, crowned with a gorgeous city—the metropolis of God, the royal palace of Jesus, the King! The sun is eclipsed by the light shining from this mountain. The moon ceases to shine, for there is no night. This hill, lifted high, illuminates the earth, and the nations of the saved walk in its light!
III. The Church’s Ascendancy
This is the magnificent picture described in our text. The church, once a little hill, has grown and will continue to rise until it becomes the mightiest force in the world. In ancient times, the church was like Mount Zion, a very little hill. What did the nations see when they looked upon it? A humble man with 12 disciples. But that little hill grew, and thousands were baptized in the name of Christ. It grew again and became mighty. The stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, began to break kingdoms into pieces. Now, in this day, the hill of Zion stands tall. Yet, compared to the colossal systems of idolatry, it is still but small. The Hindu and the Chinese turn to Christianity and say, “It is an infant of yesterday. Ours is the religion of ages.”
But we reply, “Your mountain crumbles, and your hill dissolves. Our hill of Zion has been growing and has life within it. And grow it shall, grow it must—until all the systems of idolatry become less than nothing before it. False gods will be cast down, and mighty systems of idolatry will be overthrown. This mountain shall rise above them all!”
IV. The Church’s Prominence
The church is destined to become pre-eminently conspicuous. The thoughts of men are more engaged upon the religion of Christ now than ever before. Every other system is growing old. The followers of these religions know it—Mohammed’s followers, once so vigorous, now grow feeble. The idolatries of the past are fading, and their missionary efforts are increasingly ineffective. But the Christian religion is growing stronger, more visible, and more influential each day.
The gates of Japan, once closed, are now open to the gospel. Soon, the trumpet voice of the gospel will be heard there, and the name of Jesus, the Son of the Highest, will be proclaimed by His servants. This mountain is rising higher and higher, and it will soon be visible in every hamlet of the world. The name of Christ will be known and feared, from the deserts of Africa to the icy lands of Lapland.
This mountain will be visible everywhere, unlike the star of the north, which cannot be seen in the south, or the cross of the south, which must give way before the northern star. This mountain will rise contrary to nature, visible in every land and every sea. It will shine in clear, cloudless radiance, gladdening the people of the earth.
V. The Church’s Supremacy
The church of Christ is destined to become a mighty, awe-inspiring force. It is to be exalted above all other powers, and all the kingdoms of this world will eventually bow before it. Although Christ’s church is often despised today, the day is coming when men will bow before the name of Christ. The cross will command universal homage, and the name of Jesus will make the nations of the earth prostrate before Him.
In that day, the church will not only reign over kings, but kings will bow before her. The time will come when Christ’s church will possess absolute supremacy, reigning over all nations and rulers. Her scepter will be like a rod of iron, breaking empires into pieces, and she will say, “Overturn! Overturn! Overturn! Until He comes, whose right it is.”
VI. The Church’s Triumph
The church is destined to become the universal monarchy. What Alexander fought for, what Caesar died to obtain, and what Napoleon sought to achieve—Christ shall have. The whole earth will come to worship and bow down before the Lord, our Maker. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
VII. How Will This Be Done?
How will the church reach this exalted position? There are three key elements to ensure the church’s growth and ultimate triumph.
The Individual Exertion of Every Christian: Every Christian’s effort, though small, contributes to the growing mountain of Zion. Just as, in ancient times, men built mounds by contributing small stones, today each Christian should aim to bring others to Christ. In this way, the church grows continually.
The Living Influence Within the Church: The church of Christ differs from all other mountains in that she has within her a living influence—the truth and grace of God. This living power will cause her to grow and expand until she overtakes every other power.
The Second Coming of Christ: The final and most powerful way the church will be exalted is through the second coming of Christ. When He returns, He will complete the work that the church has begun, establishing His kingdom over all the earth.
VIII. A Call to Action
Let us, then, commit ourselves to the work of building this great mountain. Each day, let us labor to bring others to Christ and to contribute to the growth of the kingdom. Let us look forward with joy to the day when Christ returns and establishes His rule over all nations.
May God bless us as we strive together, for the glory of His name and the advancement of His kingdom!
A Vision of the Latter-Day Glories
I. The Advent of Christ and the Church’s Rise
No, a Jew shall become a very prince among men, firstborn in the church of God! Then shall the fullness of the Gentiles be converted, and all kindreds and people shall serve the Son of David. Mark this: the church is to rise first, and when the church has risen to eminence and greatness, the nations will flow unto her. Her rising will not be owing to the nations but to the advent of Christ. After she has become great, conspicuous, and supreme, then will the nations flow to her!
I am looking for the advent of Christ—it is this that cheers me in the battle of life, the battle and cause of Christ. I look for Christ to come, somewhat as John Bunyan described the battle of Captain Credence with Diabolus. The inhabitants of the town of Mansoul fought hard to protect their city from the prince of darkness, and at last, a pitched battle was fought outside the walls. The captains and the brave men of arms fought all day until their swords were knitted to their hands with blood. Many weary hours were spent trying to drive back the Diabolians. The battle seemed to waver in the balance—sometimes victory was on the side of faith, but at times, triumph seemed to hover over the crest of the prince of hell!
But just as the sun was setting, trumpets were heard in the distance—Prince Emmanuel was coming! With trumpets sounding and banners flying, and while the men of Mansoul passed onwards, sword in hand, Emmanuel attacked their foes in the rear. Getting the enemy between them, they went on, driving their enemies at the point of their swords until, at last, trampling over their dead bodies, they met. Hand in hand, the victorious church saluted its victorious Lord!
Even so must it be. We must fight on daily and hourly. And when we think the battle is almost decided against us, we shall hear the trumpet of the archangel and the voice of God. He shall come—the Prince of the kings of the earth! At His name, with terror they shall melt, and like snow driven before the wind from the bare side of Salmon, they shall fly away. And we, the church militant, trampling over them, shall salute our Lord, shouting, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!”
II. The Nations Flowing to the Mountain
Thus, I have explained the first part of the text. The second part of the text we have to consider is this sentence—“And all nations shall flow unto it.” Here is a figure, perhaps not so sublime, but quite as beautiful as the first. Still, endeavor to retain in your minds the picture of this stupendous mountain reaching above the clouds, seen by all mankind—in either hemisphere—a wonder of nature which could not be accomplished by the ordinary rules of art, but which divine wisdom will be able to perform.
Well, wonder of wonders, you see all the nations of the earth converging to this great mountain, as to a common center! Once a year, all the people of Israel were desirous to go to the little hill of Zion. And now, once and for all, you see not just Israel, but all the nations of the earth coming to this great hill of Zion to worship the Most High God! The white sails are on the Atlantic, and the ships are dying before the wind, even as the bird flits through the sky. What do they bear? What is their noble cargo? Lo, they come from far, bringing the sons and daughters of Zion from the ends of the earth!
See there the camels, the great caravan passing over the pathless desert? What are these, and what is their costly freight? Lo, they are bringing the daughters of God and the sons of Zion up to the Most High God to worship Him! From all parts of the earth, you see them coming—from the freezing cold and from the burning heat, from the far-off islands of the sea and from the barren sands they come. They come, all converging towards the great center of their high and holy worship!
This we are not to understand literally, but as a figure of the great spiritual fact that all the souls of men shall tend to Christ and to union with His church! Again, I beg you carefully to observe the figure. It does not say they shall come to it, but they shall “flow unto it.” Understand the metaphor. It implies, first, their number. Now our churches are increased; converts drop into the churches—drop after drop, the pool is filled. But in those days, they shall flow into it! Now, it is but the pouring out of water from the bucket. Then, it shall be as the rolling of the waterfall from the hillside—it shall flow into it.
Now, our converts, however numerous, are comparatively few. But then, a nation shall be born in a day! The people shall renounce their gods all at once. Whole nations shall, all of a sudden, by an irresistible impulse, flow into the church—not one by one, but in one vast mass! The power of God shall be seen in bringing whole nations into the church of God!
You have seen the river flowing onward to the sea with its banks all swollen, bearing its enormous contribution to the boundless ocean. So shall it be in the last days—each nation shall be like a river rolling towards the foot of this great mountain, the church of the living God! Happy, happy, happy day, when India and China, with their teeming myriads, and all the nations of the earth with their multitude of tongues, shall flow into the mountain of God!
But the text conveys the idea not only of numbers, but of—(I know the exact word, but then I do not like to use it, for fear some should not know the meaning of it). It means that the nations of the earth shall come willingly to it—spontaneously. That was the word I wanted to use. But why should we use big words when we might find little ones? They are to come willingly to Christ. Not to be driven, not to be pumped up, not to be forced to it, but to be brought up by the Word of the Lord to pay Him willing homage!
They are to flow to it. Just as the river naturally flows downhill, by no other force than that which is its nature, so shall the grace of God be so mightily given to the sons of men that no acts of Parliament, no state churches, no armies will be used to make a forced conversion! “The nations shall flow unto it.” Of themselves, made willing in the day of God’s power, they shall flow to it!
Whenever the church of God is increased by unwilling converts, it loses strength. Whenever men join the church because of oppression, which would drive them to make a profession of religion, they do not flow—the church is weakened, not strengthened. But in those days, the converts shall be voluntarily won—they shall come in willingly by divine grace. They shall flow unto it!
But yet again, this represents the power of the work of conversion. They “shall flow unto it.” Imagine an idiot endeavoring to stop the river Thames. He gets a boat, and there he stands, trying to push back the stream. He objects to it flowing towards the sea, and with his hands, he tries to put it back. Would you not soon hear laughter along the banks? Ah, fool, to attempt to stop the stream! Now, the word “flow” here conveys just that idea. “The nations shall flow unto it.” The secularist may rise up and say, “Oh, why be converted to this fanatical religion? Look to the things of time!” The false priests may rise with all their anger to defy Christ and try to keep their slaves. But all their attempts to stop conversion will be like an idiot trying to drive back a mighty stream with his puny hands. “All nations shall flow unto it.”
III. The Great Vision of the Future
What an idea it is! Oh, take your stand today, like prophets of the Lord, and look into the future! Today, the church appears like the dry bed of a torrent. Here I stand, and I see a little water flowing in a secret and thread-like stream among the stones. So little is it that I can scarcely detect it! But I take the glass of prophecy, I look far onward, and I see a rolling mass of water such as is sometimes seen in the rapid rivers of Africa. And there it is, coming with thundering sound! Wait for a few more years, and that torrent, like Kishon’s mighty river, sweeping all before it, shall fill this dry bed and swell on and on and on, with tumultuous waves of joy, till it meets the ocean of Christ’s universal reign, and loses itself in God!
Here you see, then, you have more than your imagination can grasp! This stupendous mountain and all the nations of the earth—vast numbers, with immense force—spontaneously coming up to the house of the living God!
IV. A Practical Call to Action
Now, I shall close with a practical address, brief and earnest. Is it not a great subject for praise that the nations of the earth may flow to the hill of God and to His house? If I were to tell you that all the nations of Europe were climbing the sides of the Alps, you would ask me, “What benefit do they gain thereby?” They must pass over the slippery fields of ice, and they may lose their lives in the midst of the bottomless chasms, overhung by mighty precipices. They may suddenly be overwhelmed and buried in the all-destroying avalanche, and, should they reach the summit, they must fall down exhausted! What is there that men should covet in those barren heights? Rarefied air and cold would soon destroy them, should they attempt to exist there.”
Ah, but it is not so with God’s hill! There shall be no snow upon its summit, but the warmth and light of Jehovah’s love! There shall be no chasms in its side wherein souls may be destroyed, for there shall be a way—a highway. The unclean shall not pass over it, but a way so easy that the wayfaring man shall not err therein! The mountains of which we read in Scripture were such that, if they were accessible, no one would desire to climb them. There were boundaries set round about Sinai, but had there been no boundaries, who would have wished to ascend it—a mountain that burned with fire and upon which there was a sound as of a trumpet waxing exceedingly loud and long?
No, brothers and sisters, we have not come to a mountain like Sinai with its supernatural thunders. We have not come to a hill bare, barren, and bleak, and difficult to climb like the mountains of earth. But the hill of God, though it is a high hill, is a hill up which, on hands and knees, the humble penitent may readily ascend! You are come to a mountain which is not forbidden to you! There are no boundaries set about it to keep you off, but you are freely bid and freely invited to come to it. And the God who invited you will give you grace to come! If He has given you the will to come, He will give you grace to climb the sides of the hill until you reach its upper glories and stand on its summit, transported with delight!
V. A Final Appeal to the Sinner
While I am talking about the nations that will flow to Christ, might we not weep to think that there are so many in this congregation who are not flowing to Christ but are going from Him? Ah, soul, what are the splendors of the Millennium to you if you are His enemy? For when He tramples His foes in His hot displeasure, your blood shall stain His garments, even as the garments of the wine pressers are stained with the blood of the grape! Tremble, sinner, for the advent of Christ must be your destruction, though it shall be the church’s joy and comfort!
You say, “Come quickly.” Know you not that to you the day of the Lord is darkness and not light? For that day burns as an oven, and those who are proud and do wickedly shall be as stubble, and the fire shall consume them with burning heat.
Oh, you people who today hear the words of Jesus! You are now invited to come to the mountain of His church, on which stands His cross and His throne! You weary, heavy-laden, sin-destroyed souls—you who know and feel your need of Jesus—you who weep because of sin—you are bid to come now to Christ’s cross—to look to Him who shed His blood for the ungodly! And looking to Him, you shall find peace and rest!
When He comes with rainbow wreath and robes of storm, you shall be able to see Him, not with alarm and terror, but with joy and gladness, for you shall say, “Here He is, the man who died for me has come to claim me! He who bought me has come to receive me! My judge Is my Redeemer and I will rejoice in Him!”
Oh, turn, you English heathens—turn unto God! You inhabitants of London, some of you as vile as the inhabitants of Sodom, turn, turn to God! O Lord Jesus! By Your grace, turn every one of us to Yourself! Bring in Your elect! Let Your redeemed rejoice in You! And then, let the fullness of the nations flow unto You, and Yours shall be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.