the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions
August 25—Morning—Revelation 22:3-4
"His servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads."—Revelation 22:3-4.
Mark these characters, my soul. Jesus hath servants, and they are distinguished from the world. They "serve him." What is it to serve Christ? The prophet hath described. Free grace hath made them servants, in bringing them from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; and therefore he saith, in the Lord’s name," My servants shah eat, but ye shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; my servants shah rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart." How distinguishing these characters! God’s servants have the table of Jesus to sit down to; the bread of life, the bread of God, the living bread, which is Jesus himself, to feed upon. They shall drink also; for he that is their living bread is their living water also—even the water of life, of which whosoever drinketh shall thirst no more; "but it shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life." The servants of the Lord shall rejoice, and sing for joy of heart also. Yes, "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Neither is this all. The servants of the Lord shall "see his face." They do now, by faith in his word, in his ordinances, in his manifestations, visits, grace, providences. And, by and by, when this vail of covering, cast over all people, is totally taken down and removed at death, they shall have a glorious view of the King in his beauty by sight. Moreover, his name is said to be" in their foreheads." Yes, it is so; the image of Christ is impressed upon them, as" Holiness to the Lord" was engraven on the mitre of Aaron. "Beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." My soul, what sayest thou to these evidences? Are they thine? Canst thou take the comfort of them to thyself.
August 25—Evening—Acts 16:13
"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made."—Acts 16:13.
What, had they no church, no synagogue, no prayerhouse, in the city? Was it like another Athens, wholly given to idolatry? My soul, think of thy privileges, and learn rightly to prize them, and use them to the glory of the great Giver. It was" on the sabbath." What a mercy to poor fallen man is the sabbath? And yet what multitudes slight, despise, and never profit by it! My soul! think again, in this view also, of thy mercies; and bow down to the dust in the deepest humiliation of soul and body, that the sabbath is precious to thee. "Who made thee to differ from another?" By and by thou wilt enter into the everlasting sabbath of heaven. There is somewhat very interesting in what the apostle here saith of going out" by a river side." Probably it was in the recollection of the church, that in Babylon, where the people were captives, the Lord made the river Chebar famous for visions to one prophet, and Hiddekel to another. But, blessed be God! though our land is so sinful, we are not given up to captivity; and while many of the nations around have their churches turned into stables, amidst the din and horrors of war, our candlestick is not yet removed out of its place. Precious Jesus! wherever prayer is wont to be made by thy people, let my soul delight to be found. Let me hear thy voice inviting to communion: "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon." Yea, Lord, I would follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. I would follow thee to the assemblies of thy people. I would wait to see the goings of my God and King in his sanctuary. I would have my whole soul athirst for thee, as the hart for the cooling streams. And while I join thy people in the great congregation, where prayer is wont to be made, I pray thy grace, and the influences of thy blessed Spirit, to fire my soul with foretastes of that glorious assembly, which are keeping an eternal sabbath above, where the everlasting praises of God and of the Lamb will engage and fill my raptured soul with joy unspeakable and full of glory to all eternity.
