Are We Willing?

Who is it that will come one day, and whom every eye shall see? The Lord Jesus, the Savior of sinners; the Judge of all men! Every eye shall see Him. My eye shall see Him too! Will it be with fear and terror that I shall behold the King of kings coming to judgment? Or will my gaze be that of admiration and love for my adorable Redeemer? 

All Christians rejoice in the expectation of His second coming, when faith shall be turned to sight. How can we fear the realization of our fondest hopes, the accomplishment of our best desires? The more we look to Jesus now, by faith, the less shall we fear death and judgment. For how, indeed, can we fear to meet our best and dearest Friend? 

Paul assures us that there is a crown which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give at His coming to all who love His appearing. Let us not shrink, then, from meditation on the glorious coming of Christ, but rather look for and expect it as the end of all our sins, sufferings and trials and the beginning of perfect and eternal happiness! Let us ask ourselves, "Are we willing this very night to leave all on earth, and go to Jesus?" 

If we could really see Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and saying to us this very night, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world!" I am quite sure that nothing on earth could detain us! 

 [Maria Sandberg] 

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Revelation 1:7 ... Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Revelation 22:20 ...  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

John 17:24 ...  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.❤

No Longer Will There Be Any Curse!

Our beautiful world, filled with the wonderful works of God, bears evident traces that it is not what it was created at first. It bears everywhere, the marks of a great change which change is accounted for in the Bible by the fall of Adam. God made everything very good, but man sinned, and the curse came upon himself and the whole creation! 

Though still beautiful, yet how much is its beauty marred and defaced! Now, thorns and thistles spring up, where once were only lovely flowers and sweet fruits. The wild beasts of the forest, though still beautiful in outward form now possess violent and ferocious dispositions, and the beasts of burden groan under the tyranny of man. 

Man, himself is subject to labor and toil, to sorrow and sickness and death. Even his most innocent enjoyments are marred by sin! But thanks be to God, the promise of deliverance from the curse sounds in our ears in this blessed Scripture, "No longer will there be any curse!" Where then, is this land of blessing and perfection? It is that Paradise which Christ has gone to prepare for His people; that "Rest which remains for the people of God." 

Here on earth, even our very blessings are mixed with signs of the curse. But there shall be no more curse in our Heavenly home: no more toil and labor, no more weariness and faintness, no more hunger or thirst, no more bitter cold or burning heat, no more disappointment, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more sickness, no more death! In Heaven there shall be no more curse, but all will be the perfection of bliss. Who can conceive the happiness of such a state? 

For this, the whole creation groans and travails in pain, eagerly waiting for its consummation. Let us, then, who have such exceedingly great and precious promises, when sighing under the effects of the curse in any of its forms gladly turn our thoughts to meditate on Heaven's glorious realities! And when admiring the beautiful works of God, which still exist to show us what they once were, let us also turn our thoughts to the greater beauty and glory of our Paradise above! 

 [Maria Sandberg] 

Revelation 22:3 ... And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: ❤

It is a Heavenly Grace!

What a view do we here obtain of the humility of those glorious and sinless beings, the angels of God! They "fall on their faces before the throne" when they worship God. How humble, then, ought we to be, who are not pure and sinless creatures but vile and sinful dust and ashes, who have forgotten God, and insulted Him times without number! Humble, indeed, we ought to be, yet we are proud; we dislike humility, except so far as God graciously teaches us. 

Oh! it is He alone who can humble our proud hearts, and thus prepare us for the worship of Heaven. This He does by means of providential chastening's and afflictions. His design in them is to humble us and prepare us for glory. And shall we shrink from the process? No, let us lay our proud souls at His feet, imploring Him to undertake the gracious work of teaching us humility. Let us not fear the needful discipline. God is a tender Father; He only wants to make His creatures truly happy. 

We shall taste real happiness, only as we possess in any degree this heavenly grace of humility. It is a heavenly grace, for it is, as we see here, the disposition of the inhabitants of Heaven. It is a heavenly grace, for it brings into our souls a portion of the happiness of Heaven. 

Oh! let us not be afraid to lie low at the foot of the cross! The valley of humiliation is a pleasant and a fruitful place: there the smiles of the reconciled countenance of our God are seen; there fellowship with Jesus is felt; there love to man flourishes; there the painful and trembling feelings of pride and selfishness are mortified. It is, however, only in Heaven that we shall attain to the perfection of this grace of humility, when we shall fully know ourselves, our vileness, our unworthiness, and what we owe to redeeming grace and love. 

Then only shall we be truly humble; then only shall we be truly happy. Then shall we bid farewell to the misery of sin and taste the enjoyment of full conformity to the Divine image of Jesus! 

[Maria Sandberg] 

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Revelation 7:11 ... And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

 Matthew 5:3 ... Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.❤

All Happiness and Satisfaction is Comprehended in This!

What a promise is this! We shall see the face of God and the Lamb who was slain for us! We shall see the face of God in Christ! We shall see Jesus, who having not seen, we love! All happiness, all satisfaction is comprehended in this! Long have we believed, though we have not seen; long have we desired the glorious vision of Him whom our souls love then shall it be realized! We shall see His face! If it has been our great delight here below to hear of His loveliness and beauty, and to have a spiritual sense of His presence what will it be to see the substance of our hope! Yet this happiness will most assuredly be ours: we shall see His face! 

While we meditate on this hope, may it exercise its transforming power upon us, and conform us now to the image of Christ! "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory!" (2 Corinthians 3:18)  

If we hope hereafter to see His face, we must now be, in some measure, changed into the same image. The same holy character must be formed in us, which was in Christ Jesus. He has set us an example, that we should walk in His steps; in His steps of humility, of self-denial, of devotion, of love to God and men, and of zeal for the glory of God. Are we treading in these steps? Do we bear His image now? In one sense, all, both just and unjust, will see the face of Christ; but if we would see His face with joy, and continue in the everlasting vision of it we must bear the image of Christ now. 

Let us come down from the mount of heavenly meditation, retaining this truth in our memories; and resolved henceforth to seek more earnestly the grace and help of the Holy Spirit, by whom we shall be conformed to the likeness of our Savior! 

[Maria Sandberg] 

 Revelation 22:4 ... And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

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Jesus Knows

It is a great consolation to the Christian to know that his Savior is omniscient that He knows his every thought,  his every desire,  his every motive,  everything concerning him.

For, although he is conscious of much imperfection and sin, he is conscious also of the sincerity of his desire after holiness and for the glory of God. And his Savior knows this too. He can appeal to that Omniscient One, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and can say, "Lord, You know all things! You know that I love You!" And he hears the sweet response, "I know your works, your labor, your patient endurance. You have persevered and have endured hardships, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary!"

Jesus knows what others do not. He knows the difficulties you have to encounter, both from within and from without. He knows all the temptations you have to suffer. He knows the amount of labor and patient endurance those things cost. Oh! let this encourage you on your way to the kingdom of glory; Jesus knows all your trials along the way!

Great stress is here laid upon the patient endurance of the saints. Christ especially notices their patient labor, their continuance in well-doing, their going on from year to year in their labor of love, for His name's sake. He knows, too, that it is not their own glory which they are seeking, but His. He says, "I know that you have labored for My name's sake!"

 

Jesus knows that you have not become weary, that you have persevered, that you are persevering, and that you will persevere unto the end. From His throne in glory, where He has provided a place for you to sit with Him, He says, "I know your works, your labor, your patient endurance. You have persevered and have endured hardships, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary!" (Revelation 2:2-3)

[Maria Sandberg]

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Psalm 139:1-3 ... O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

 

 

Hebrews 4:15 ... For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

 

 

Matthew 25:23 ... His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.❤