This thought of glory overwhelms us; it is a "weight of glory." To be
ever with one another is blessedness; to be ever with the Lord is
glory. To be free from this body of sin and death is deliverance; to
wear the likeness of our glorified Lord is transfiguration--wonderful,
dazzling, glorious!
Is it any wonder, then, if our meditation is sweet when we reflect
upon "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ," "who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself?" No wonder the apostle
calls it "a blessed hope." It sustains the heart of the aged Christian
who has "fought a good fight" and finished his course. It also helps
the young disciple to "run with patience" the race that is set before
him.
"This same Jesus shall come again." How? "In like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven." "Behold he cometh with clouds," and with
"ten thousand of his saints." And why does he come? To take his weary
children home. "I will come again and receive you unto myself."
"Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
[Illustration]
XIX.
_The Conclusion._
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter."
We have meditated upon the names of Christ, and have found in them a
sweet significance. Jehovah Tsidkenu satisfied the demands of the
broken law, making us righteous in the sight of God. Jehovah Shalom
gave a peace which even this tumultuous world cannot take from us.
Jehovah Nissi leads us forth to battle against our mighty foes, and
always gives us the victory; "thanks be to God!" Jehovah Rophi healeth
all our diseases with marvelous skill: even the broken heart is not
beyond his power, for his own word declares, "He healeth the broken in
heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Jehovah Jireh quiets all our
fears for the future, for his name is sufficient pledge that he will
supply all our need. Jehovah Shammah completes and crowns our joy, for
in his presence is fullness of joy; "his presence is salvation."
We have rejoiced in "the earnest of our inheritance." Glimpses of
glory before the time have made us homesick. His "perfect work" has
filled our minds with amazement as we meditated upon our adoption,
justification, sanctification and redemption. The thoughts of his
chastenings were not painful, because we knew a blessing was concealed
in the blow. His compassion for the multitude seemed to us a sweet
thought; but as we learned something more about his sympathy with all
his "sanctified ones," and his deep personal love for each individual
Christian, our hearts melted within us, and drawing nearer to this
great heart of love, we joyfully exclaimed, "This is my Beloved, and
this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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