THE BELIEVER'S AIM AND HOPE by
Thomas Reed How beautiful and glorious is
the plan of human redemption! Angels may well desire to look
into it. At the birth of our Immanuel
they declared its gracious design, even that of bringing glory to
God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will towards
man. The apostle felt the happy effect
of this salvation in his own soul when he could say, for to
me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Jesus is the eternal
spring of light, life and glory. He made all things and by him
all things are held together. Dead souls are quickened to a
life of faith and holiness. by His almighty power, and through
Him they are preserved in the midst of a wicked world, unto
His everlasting kingdom. O my soul, is Jesus the source
of your spiritual life? Am I looking to Him, and living
upon Him daily by faith? Have I learned that by nature
I am dead in trespasses and that of myself I am unable to do anything
that is pleasing unto God, that I may have a form of godliness
and a name to live, while destitute of saving grace. This religious
complexion of my character may arise from education, the force
of example, or a self-righteous principle. But this is not spiritual
life. With every exterior of devotion
I may be spiritually dead. Can I, in such a state, say with
the Apostle, to me to live as Christ? Surely not. If I am truly quickened by the
Spirit of Christ, Christ will be the acknowledged source of
my life. As I derive all my powers from
Him, so will those powers be devoted to His glory. I shall
love Him with a supreme affection. Blessed Jesus, graciously communicate
your saving strength to my soul. Raise me from a death in sin
to a life of righteousness. Enlighten my dark mind, warm
my cold affections, melt my hard heart, subdue my stubborn will,
and make me a new creature, that I may walk before you in newness
of life. Jesus is the great example to
his people. He that says he abides in him
ought himself so to walk, even as he walked. He left us an example,
that we should follow his steps. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk in him. Let that mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. If you love me, keep my commandments. Follow me. O that I may have
grace to set the Lord always before me, and to contemplate
the meek and lowly Saviour with increasing admiration, until
my soul is transformed into His likeness. While treading in His
steps and copying His example, I shall enjoy the light of His
countenance and the consolation of his spirit. For the precious
promise is, If any man loves me, he will keep my word, and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him." The great end and aim of the believer's
life is to promote the glory of Jesus. Paul declared to the
Philippians that the one object of all his labors and sufferings
was, that Christ might be magnified in his body, whether it be by
life or death. And then he adds, For to me,
to live is Christ, to die is gain. Those who love the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity will be anxious to glorify him with
their bodies, and their spirits, which are his. all their desire
will be to Him, and the glory of His name. Is this my happy
experience? Am I seeking to promote the interest
of the Redeemer's kingdom? Do I esteem every enjoyment joyless,
which is not sweetened by His love, and every effort useless,
which is not connected with His glory? If Jesus is the author
of my spiritual life, light and fruitfulness, if He is the great
example ever present to my mind, if the promotion of His glory
is the one aim of my united powers, then may I say with the Apostle,
to me to live is Christ. What object so noble, what end
so glorious, as thus to live, simply and entirely, to Him who
is Lord of lords and King of kings. While thus living, I may
join with Paul in his happy experience, and say, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in
me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me. While thus living, I may scripturally
take the full comfort of His joyful expectation, and exclaim,
To me to die is gain. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. For He has said, Because I live
YOU SHALL LIVE ALSO. WHERE I AM, THERE YOU SHALL BE
ALSO. FATHER, I WILL THAT THEY ALSO
WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN ME BE WITH ME WHERE I AM, THAT THEY MAY
BEHOLD MY GLORY. GLORIOUS HOPE. BLESSED EXPECTATION. TO EVERY HUMBLE BELIEVER, DEATH
WILL BE EVERLASTING GAIN. It is only a quick transition
from earth to heaven. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. No wonder, then, that the apostle
longed to be dissolved, that he might be with Christ. How
happy is the death of every true believer in Jesus! That dreadful
sting, which gives death all its terror, was extracted by
the Savior. When, expiring on the cross,
he exclaimed, It is finished! He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. Through death he destroyed him
that has the power of death, that is, the devil. No dire foreboding,
no agonizing fears of approaching dissolution, rend the heart of
the humble believer, or accelerate the wasting disease, Hope bears
up the air of glory amid all his sufferings. Faith pierces
the veil which hides the heavenly world from mortal eyes, while
love burns brighter as it reaches the source from where it came.
O my soul, are you prepared to die? Have you fled for refuge
to lay hold on the hope set before you in the gospel? Are you washed
from your sins? through the blood of the Lamb?
Have you experienced a new and divine change? Have you passed
from darkness into light, and from Satan unto God? O blessed
Saviour, perform in me all the good pleasure of Your goodness,
and the work of faith with power. Death is gain to the believer.
because it will increase his knowledge beyond all that he
can now conceive. Here we see as through a glass,
darkly. We behold spiritual objects as
in a mirror, through the medium of natural things. But in heaven
we shall behold the adorable Savior, not as now veiled under
figures and emblems, but face to face. We shall see him as
he is. and be made like him in the beauty
of holiness. Oh, what a vision will that be!
Who can describe the glorified person of our Immanuel? Who can paint the resplendent
sun of righteousness, whose beams gladden and illuminate all the
realms above? The apostles were favored with
a glimpse of his glory on Mount Tabor, when the Savior shone
as the sun. and when his clothing was white
as the light? John was permitted to enjoy a
rich display of the Redeemer's glory when in exile in the Isle
of Patmos. And how faintly does human language
set forth the glories of that Being, from whose presence the
heaven and earth shall flee away, who inhabits eternity? If all
created glories are thrown into the shade, when Jesus is revealed
to the soul, while dwelling in a house of clay? How will they
be lost amid those radiant perfections which shall hereafter be revealed,
when the believer, admitted into the Saviour's presence, shall
behold all heaven unveiled to his sight? Well might the Apostle
count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus his Lord. O BLESSED SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND
TRUTH, GIVE ME AN INCREASING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS AND THE GLORIES
OF HIS KINGDOM. IMPART UNTO ME A SPIRITUAL, EXPERIMENTAL
KNOWLEDGE OF THAT LOVE OF CHRIST WHICH PASSES KNOWLEDGE, THAT
I MAY BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. Death will be
gained to the believer because it will increase his holiness.
Here on earth We have to contend with an evil nature, although
subdued by Almighty Grace, and changed in a considerable degree
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet the Canaanites are
still in the land. The remainders of corruption
require continual watchfulness and circumspection, lest they
increase and regain their former possession of the heart. Sin,
still dwelling in the believer, causes that warfare, which must
never cease until this body of death is laid in the grave, never
more to harass the disembodied spirit encircled with heavenly
glory. O, that I may daily hunger and
thirst after righteousness! I want to be holy, as God is
holy, to have my will swallowed up in His. I feel sin daily working
within me. But oh, may I hate and abhor
it! May I ever feel it to be my grief,
my burden, and my cross, and rejoice at every victory obtained
over it through the blood of the Lamb! How unspeakably blessed
must Heaven be, where sin can gain no admittance, where every
object shall administer the purest felicity! and where Jesus himself
will be the eternal source of joy. Death must, then, indeed
be gain to the believer, for it shall put him in complete
possession of everlasting happiness. Here on earth we groan, being
burdened. Here we live in an enemy's country,
through which we must pass, contending every inch of our way to Zion. Here we live as in a great hospital,
between the dying and the dead. Here we are surrounded with all
kinds of natural and moral evils, flowing from that poisoned source,
the fall of man. Here we must drink the bitter
waters of Mara, made still more bitter by our love of ease, our
lack of resignation to the will of God, our selfishness of spirit,
our rebelliousness of heart to his disposals. The believer,
it is true, experiences daily mercies which compass him about,
for the Lord will not forsake his inheritance in the waste-howling
wilderness. His supplies, like the ancient
manna, are continually falling around his tent. He has light
in his dwelling, and can, therefore, rejoice in the Lord, and joy
in the God of his salvation. He glories in tribulation for
Christ's sake, and, like the martyr of old, can kiss the faggot,
which, as another chariot of fire, is appointed to convey
his soul to heaven. But still, his happiness is greatly
interrupted through the vestiges of indwelling sin, the wickedness
of mankind. and the malice of Satan. He therefore
looks forward with joyful expectation to that glorious period, when
his happy spirit will take its station near the throne of his
beloved Saviour, and rejoices in hope of the glory of God. How strange that dying sinful
worms of the earth should ridicule and despise such a hope and end
as this! O Almighty Spirit, descend into
my soul, banish everything which is contrary to your holy nature,
and obstructive to my spiritual progress towards the realms of
bliss. Fill me with light and love,
with joy and peace. Take me under your guardian care. Guide me, by your unerring hand,
through all the dangerous mazes of this mortal state. until brought
to the full fruition of your glorious Godhead, through the
all-sufficient merits of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. How happy is the dying saint,
whose sins are all forgiven! With joy he passes Jordan's flood,
upheld by hopes of heaven. The Saviour whom he truly loved,
now cheers him by his grace. A glory gilds his dying bed,
And beams upon his face. Ecstatic joy and heavenly bliss
Swell his enraptured heart. He views the promised land of
rest, And pants for his depart. Terror and dread are both unknown,
Sweet peace and hope appear, To guide the blessed traveller
home And all his footstep cheer. angels of light attendant wait,
his spirit to convey, beyond this drear abode of night, to
realms of endless day. O may I live the life of faith,
abound in holy love, until death shall bear my joyful soul to
Zion's courts above.