Ezekiel 37:24-25 - Homiletics

Christ the King.

I. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS A GLORIOUS FACT . In Ezekiel it is only predicted. To Christians it is an accomplished fact. Christ has come and has realized the ideal of ancient prophecy.

1. He is of the line of David . He was welcomed as the Son of David ( Luke 18:38 ). He gathers up the old traditions of Israel's golden age, and lifts their promises to a higher fulfillment.

2. He is a Shepherd . Aristotle quoted Homer to show that the true king should be a shepherd. Christ rules tenderly and with regard to the welfare of his people, not like the cruel, selfish, despotic monarchs of heathen empires.

3. He is God's Servant . Therefore

II. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS A CENTER OF UNITY . "And they all shall have one Shepherd." Judah and Israel are to have but one King, and are to be united under the reign of this new David. "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart," etc. ( Isaiah 11:13 ) The supreme advantage of the institution of a monarchy is that it cements the people under it into a consolidated unity. Christ is the Head of the body, and as such he harmonizes the movements of all the limbs. It is strange that Christendom should be broken up into innumerable mutually antagonistic factions. But Christ is not responsible for those divisions. On the contrary, it is just the loss of Christ in the Churches that leads to their severance.

III. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS AN INSPIRATION FOR OBEDIENCE . "They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes to do them." It is more difficult to obey an abstract law than to serve a living person. Christianity by no means gives us a dispensation from the obligation of obedience. Our Lord expects his disciples to "exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" ( Matthew 5:20 ), and it is possible to do this by his new method. No longer painfully toiling along the dreary road of formal legalism, Christians are inspired by an enthusiasm for their Master which fires their love and zeal to do or suffer on his behalf; and this glorious, loving service of Christ is just the obedience and righteousness transformed into a new and attractive shape.

IV. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS A FOUNDATION OF SOLID PROSPERITY . Under the new David the people will live at peace in the possession of their land. The service of Christ introduces all Christians to a splendid inheritance. The Christian life is not a wild knight-errantry. It is the enjoyment of a happy and peaceful kingdom. When Christ's reign is universal, society will be happy and prosperous. Even now inward peace and rich treasures of Divine grace are the portion of his people on earth, while they are cheered with the prospect of entering into a wonderful "inheritance of the saints in light" when the present life is over.

V. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST IS TO BE ETERNAL . "My Servant David shall be their Prince forever." The reign of Christ was never so widespread as it is in this nineteenth century. His sun dawned nearly two thousand years ago. It is still climbing to its meridian. Sunset Christ shall never have. The Light of the world is the light of the ages—"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever" ( Hebrews 13:8 ).