the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Mornings and Evenings with Jesus
We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as He is. - 1 John 3:2.
THIS knowledge of appropriation is most desirable. It has been possessed by ordinary Christians without number. And cannot we too say, with John, “We know that we have passed from death into life, because we love the brethren”? The grand inquiry, therefore, is, whether this will be our blessedness; whether this destination will be our own. We have often been told that we should exercise candour in religion, because we all hope for the same heaven, which thing indeed is very false.
All hope for a heaven, but all do not hope for the same heaven. No; the heaven that many are hoping for is not the heaven here referred to by the Apostle John,-a heaven arising from the likeness, vision, and presence of the blessed Saviour. We should not fail to observe the words which immediately follow our motto:-“And every man that hath this hope purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Alas, there are many who will not find this blessed state and abode of the righteous.
Of all the passions, none are so soothing as hope; and nothing is so dreadful as the disappointment of it, especially when confidence has been great, and the object to be realized is great also. Solomon says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Therefore, let us ever remember the words of our Saviour, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” We cannot have treasure in heaven unless our hearts are there also. Those, therefore, who have this hope, should highly prize it, make use of it and employ it continually. Let us call to mind the words of Watts:-
“A hope so much divine
May trials well endure;
May purge our souls from sense and sin,
As Christ our Lord is pure;”
How supporting is this assurance of hope! Oh, how it can sweeten the bitter cup of life, and soothe the mind under the heaviest trials and disappointments! How it can illuminate the gloom and light up the valley of the shadow of death! It was fabulously said by one of old, that “if a man walked by a myrtle walking-staff, he would never be weary.” Let us take the staff of the gospel in our hand and hold it fast, and we shall not grow weary in our journey to heaven. Yea, “we shall run and not be weary, and walk and not faint.” But if the valley be unattractive, and if even Jordan rolls between, let us ever remember that there-
“Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
Stand, dressed in living green;
“There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers.”
Oh, may we, when we come to die, realize this, and then we shall say, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” Time flies, life diminishes, and we shall soon be in the condition of the mariner who leaves his native land,-as the vessel advances, the land disappears; but our condition in this respect is infinitely more important. Time is rapidly passing away, and we shall soon leap into the stream that will bear us away to the tribunal of Jehovah. Oh to have a well-grounded hope of interest in that dear Saviour, a hope full of immortality!-to have the full assurance of hope, and to be enabled to say, with David, as we look forward, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness;” and with John, “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
The Messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. - Malachi 3:1.
THESE words unquestionably refer to the Messiah, and here let us observe the character under which he is here presented to our notice. He is described in three ways- First, By his person, “THE LORD.” Here the word used signifies authority and dominion, and how fully this applies to him. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He was to be “Ruler in Israel,” and the “King of saints,” and he was to be the “Governor among the nations.” And though all power is given to him as Mediator, yet if it be true that “all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made,” he must have had a previous claim to the dominion before he acquired this by obedience and suffering unto death.
Secondly, He is described by his office, “the Messenger of the covenant.” This covenant means the covenant of grace, “ordered in all things and sure,” to which David fled for refuge and solace in the hour of his distress, and he found it all his salvation and all his desire. From his various relations to it, he is called the covenant itself. He is the “Mediator,” the “Surety,” and the “Messenger” of the covenant, because he was not only to procure and to possess its blessings, but to bestow them. And, in order to this, it was necessary that he should announce them and make them known. And he did, and made a full disclosure of all these treasures, and prefaced all his invitations with the announcement of his commission from the Father. “All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him.” “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
When he is spoken of as the “Messenger of the covenant,” this is his inferior title; but this, so far from detracting from his glory as “the Lord,” displays it, magnifies it, because it shows us his infinite condescension and grace. And his people will never suffer his glory to be injured in their esteem by his goodness.
Thirdly, He is described by the estimation in which he was holden: “Whom ye delight in.” This will apply even to the carnal Jews. They were mistaken in him, they viewed him as a temporal Messiah, and under this mistaken notion of him, they did “seek” him, and “delighted” in him. But it applies always, and in a much nobler sense, to the Spiritual Jews.
He was desired and delighted in by all the people of God, from the beginning. Thus the patriarchs embraced the promises concerning him. “Abraham desired to see his day; he saw it, and was glad.” “Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” The earlier Jews were alive to this; they were ever seeking after and looking for a better country, that is, an “heavenly.” They were exclaiming, “Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!”
To seek him and to delight in him will always characterise the redeemed- those who believe in him; for “to them that believe he is precious.” All that is desirable, all that is delightful to us we find in him. If in darkness, he is our “sun;” if in danger, he is our “shield;” if exposed, he is our “refuge;” if diseased, he is our “physician;” if naked, he is our “righteousness;” and if perishing for want, he is our “bread,” and the “water of life,” and he is “all and in all.”
Let the hearts of them rejoice, therefore, that seek the Lord.
