the Fourth Week after Easter
Daily Devotionals
Mornings and Evenings with Jesus
When he shall appear, we shall he like him; for we shall see him as he is. - 1 John 3:2.
AND thus the likeness secures the vision, and not the vision the likeness. In the manner in which he expresses himself, many have supposed the former to be a consequence of the latter,-that we shall be made like him by seeing him as he is. But what change will take place in the Christian after he sees him? The one is mentioned here, not as the consequence, but as the proof. We shall be like him; and, as an evidence of it, we shall see him as he is, which we could not do unless we had been made previously like him.
The word “for” is frequently used not as a cause but as evidential. Thus, we say, “Spring is come, for the birds are singing.” The singing of the birds does not bring the spring, but shows that it is come. Our blessed Saviour uses the word when referring to the solemnities of the last day. He says to those on his right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was a-hungered, and ye gave me meat.” Well, the greatest favour the Saviour could ask for his disciples while upon earth was, that they might be with him where he was, to behold his glory. Many followed him to see him. The Greeks said, “Sirs, we would see Jesus.” Zaccheus ran before the multitude and climbed up into a sycamore-tree in order to behold him, for he was to pass that way. Perhaps we have all sometimes been ready to envy those who saw him, heard him, and were familiar with him, while here. Well, Christians,-
“Well, we shall quickly pass the night
To the fair coasts of perfect light;
Then shall our joyful senses rove
O’er the dear object of our love.”
We naturally wish to see persons of unparalleled greatness and mental capacity.
“Oh that those lips had language! life has pass’d
With me but roughly since I heard thee last.
Those lips are thine; thine own sweet smile I see,-
The same that oft in childhood solaced me.”
Well, all the “sons of God” shall “see the King in his beauty.” We have often seen him in his works, in his word, and in his ordinances. But we shall see him as he is, in the very nature in which he was born, in which he suffered and died. We have some precious views of him now by faith. But we shall not always depend upon testimony, nor upon his own testimony concerning himself. No, we shall see him as he is. When Simeon viewed him as a babe merely, he looked at him, and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” When the Queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth to see the wisdom of Solomon, she said, “It was a true report I heard in mine own land: howbeit, I believed not the words until I came and mine own eyes had seen it; and behold, the one-half had not been told me.”
What then will it be with regard to the disciples of Christ, when they shall “be like him, and shall see him as he is”? This was the conviction and apprehension of John and his fellow-disciples. They knew this; and, notwithstanding their ignorance of other things, they knew that they should “see him as he is.” And they knew it, not only as a truth to be believed, but also to be appropriated, so that they could apply it to themselves.
In me is thine help. - Hosea 13:9.
THOUGH man’s destruction is entirely of himself, his salvation is exclusively of the Lord. “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself,” says God, “but in me is thine help.” First, Help the most gracious in its source. From whence did this scheme arise? Deity could not be constrained to do it; and as to merit, alas! we are not worthy of the least of all his mercies; all our desert was on the other side. Nor has desire had any influence; help was provided before we had any being; and he who made the provision in all its extent has revealed it, and awakened attention to it, and now says, “Come, for all things are ready.” Well, therefore, may the Apostle say, “According to his mercy he saved us,” and “by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Secondly, Help the most wonderful in its procurement. Not only is the agency entirely the Lord’s, but he accomplishes the thing in a way the most peculiar, and so as to induce the Church to exclaim, “It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” Here is unfolded the manifold wisdom of God; here he has “abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence.” God does not save us by the mere volition of his will or by the exertion of his power. But we see the “Word made flesh and dwelling among us;” we see the Lord of life and glory suffering for sin; we see him who knew no sin made a sin-offering for us, that we “who have no righteousness might be made the righteousness of God in him;” we see him in the manger, in the garden, on the cross, and we hear him exclaim, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Thirdly, Help the most suitable in its supply. Is light adapted to the eye? melody to the ear? food to the taste? so do the blessings of the gospel correspond with all our wants, and woes, and weaknesses. Here is wisdom for the ignorant, pardon for the offending, renovation for the depraved, strength for the weak, riches for the poor, a sun for our darkness, a shield in our danger.
Fourthly, Help the most efficient. He who speaks in righteousness is mighty to save, able to save unto the uttermost. His blood cleanseth from all sin; his righteousness justifies the ungodly; his grace turns the heart of stone to flesh; his power upholds the believer and carries him through all his dangers triumphantly, so that he can say with the Apostle, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.”
Lastly, Help the most extensive and accessible. In no place in the Scriptures are any excluded from participating in this help, unless they exclude themselves from it. Everywhere the language of Scripture is, “Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.” “Let him take hold of my strength,” says God; therefore Dr. Watts sings-
“No mortal has a just pretence
To perish in despair.”
