July 13.
"When the fruit is brought forth (marg. is
ripe), immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is
come."—Mark iv. 29.
Here we have a ray of heavenly light cast upon many
dealings of God, which men are ready to call very dark. We see useful
lives suddenly brought to a close; we see the Christian pastor taken
away in the midst of a most important work ; the Christian statesman
removed from his place of high hope and promise for good; the Christian
soldier falling before the fight was done, and perhaps, most mysterious
of all to our natural sight, the faithful, tender, holy, Christian
mother taken away from a large family of little ones whom she was
leading straight to Jesus ! and these things seem utter darkness to us
till we consider not our loss, but their gain. They were
taken away not when we needed them least, or could best spare them, but
" when the fruit was brought forth." The Lord watches the
progress of the seed He sowed, the blade, the ear, the full corn in the
ear; in some, the full corn presents so rich a harvest of beauty, that
we dread the day of reaping! but He watches it, and even because of its
ripeness, "when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he
putteth in the sickle," and gathers it home, safely, surely, speedily
home!
July 14.
"Blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let
the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen."—Ps. lxxii.
19.
There is a glorious day yet before us, when this
prayer, which is also a prophecy, shall be accomplished, and this earth
shall be filled with the glory of the Lord as it has never yet been. We
ask not how this shall be; we simply believe, that because the
Lord has said it, He will do it to His own eternal praise and glory. The
thought is to the believer a source of unspeakable joy and comfort; such
comfort, as it must have been to the Jewish believer of the elder
Church, to look forward to a Saviour yet to be revealed, of whom the
prophets spoke, and the typical services gave promise. And thus do we
look for His second coming, which will make this sin-blighted world full
of His glory; rejoicing in the thought that our Saviour, who was
rejected and despised among men, will in that day reign as King of kings
and Lord of lords in an inconceivably glorious kingdom, where all the
prophecies shall be seen and known to be true, finding their full
accomplishment in ways perhaps which we little dream of.
"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such
things, he diligent, that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot
and blameless," 2 Pet. iii. 14.
"He shall reign from pole to pole With illimitable
sway; He shall reign when as a scroll Heaven and earth shall pass away!"
July 15.
"Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb."—Rev. vii. 10..
This high song of praise is even now swelling forth
in the upper sanctuary, beyond that blue firmament which veils from our
feeble eyes the great glory of heaven. They are singing it there as none
upon earth can do, for only those who have reached their heavenly rest
can tell how great is the salvation with which God has saved them. Many
whom we have heard of, many, perhaps, whom we have known and loved are
there; old and young, they have finished their course, whether longer or
shorter, with joy, and they now know what great things God hath prepared
for those that love Him. To Him and to the Lamb do they ascribe all the
glory of their salvation; they make no distinction, for the love of God
is the love of the Lamb of God ; but we may well take note, that the
name by which in heaven they praise God the Son, is in itself the
recognition of His great work of redemption in dying for them. Even
there, in His kingdom above, He is the Lamb that was slain, "the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sins of the world." When we have followed some
loved one to the grave, how does it revive our mourning hearts to hear,
as from above, this voice of praise coming to us across the great gulf
of separation; to hear the dear Christian friend with whom we have taken
sweet counsel, singing now to the golden harp the wonderful salvation
which God has wrought, and praising in heaven, as formerly with feeble
tongue on earth, Him who has finished all this great work of redemption;
"the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood."