The Faithful Promiser Part 5

"There shall be no night there."--REV. xxi. 25.

A Nightless Heaven.

My soul! is it night with thee here? Art thou wearied with these midnight tossings on life's tumultuous sea? Be still! the day is breaking! soon shall thy Lord appear. "His going forth is prepared as the morning." That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light." Everlasting light! Wondrous secret of a nightless world!--the glories of a present G.o.d!--the everlasting light of the Three in One, quenching the radiance of all created orbs--superseding all material luminaries. "My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning!" The haven is nearing--star after star is quenched in more glorious effulgence--every bound over these dark waves is bringing thee nearer the eternal sh.o.r.e. Wilt thou not, then, humbly and patiently endure "weeping for the night," in the prospect of the "joy that cometh in the morning?" Strange realities! a world without night--a firmament without a sun; and, greater wonder still, _thyself_ in this world,--a joyful denizen of this nightless, sinless, sorrowless, tearless Heaven!--basking underneath the Fountain of uncreated light! No exhaustion of glorified body and spirit to require repose; no la.s.situde or weariness to suspend the ever-deepening song: "They _rest not_!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

30TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."--1 PETER v. 4.

A Crown of Life.

What! is the beggar to be "raised from the dunghill, set among princes, and made to inherit a throne of glory?" is dust and ashes, a puny rebel, a guilty traitor, to be pitied, pardoned, loved, exalted from the depths of despair, raised to the heights of Heaven--gifted with kingly honour--royally fed--royally clothed--royally attended--and, at last, royally crowned? O my soul, look forward with joyous emotion to that day of wonders, when He whose head shall be crowned with many crowns, shall be the dispenser of royal diadems to His people; and when they shall begin the joyful ascription of all eternity, "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us KINGS----; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Wilt thou not be among the number? Shall the princes and monarchs of the earth wade through seas of blood for a corruptible crown; and wilt thou permit thyself to lose the incorruptible, or barter it for some perishable nothings of earth? Oh! that thou wouldst awake to thy high destiny, and live up to thy transcendant privileges as the citizen of a Kingly Commonwealth, a member of the blood-royal of Heaven. What wouldst thou not sacrifice,--what effort wouldst thou grudge, if thou wert included at last in the gracious benediction, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world?"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

31ST DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"G.o.d himself shall be with them, and be their G.o.d. And G.o.d shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are pa.s.sed away."--REV. xxi. 3, 4.

The Vision and Fruition of G.o.d.

Glorious consummation! All the other glories of Heaven are but emanations from this glory that excelleth. Here is the focus and centre to which every ray of light converges. G.o.d is "all in all." Heaven _without G.o.d_!--it would send a thrill of dismay through the burning ranks of angels and archangels; it would dim every eye, and hush every harp, and change the whitest robe into sackcloth. And shall I then, indeed, "_see G.o.d_?" What! shall I gaze on these inscrutable glories, and live? Yes, G.o.d himself shall be with them, and be their G.o.d: they shall "_see his face_!" And not only the vision, but the _fruition_. Oh!

how does sin in my holiest moments damp the enjoyment of Him! It is the "pure in heart" alone who can "see," far more, who can enjoy "G.o.d." Even if he did reveal himself _now_, these eyes could never endure His intolerable brightness. But _then_, with a heart purified from corruption--a world where the taint of sin and the power of temptation never enters--the soul again a bright mirror, reflecting the lost image of the G.o.dhead--all the affections devoted to their original high destiny--the love of G.o.d the motive principle, the ruling pa.s.sion--the glory of G.o.d the undivided object and aim--the will no opposing or antagonist bias,--man will, for the first time, know all the blessedness of his chief end,--"to glorify G.o.d, and to enjoy Him for ever!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

All

The Promises of G.o.d

In Him

Are Yea and in Him

Amen.