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TOPIC: MacDuff, John - The Rainbow in the Clouds (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 12. THE BLESSED HOPE
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12. THE BLESSED HOPE
"That blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Tit_2:1
What a bright rainbow for a stormed-wreathed sky! Hope is a joyous emotion! Poetry sings of it; music warbles its lofty aspirations; but alas! how often does it weave fantastic visions then vanish! "In the morning" the flowers of life are flourishing and growing up; "in the evening" a mysterious blight comes; they lie withered garlands at our feet! The longing apparitions of the whole life seem realized; one wave of calamity overtakes us, and washes all away!
But, there is one "blessed hope" beyond the possibility of blight or decay; "The hope of the glory of God," the "Hope which makes not ashamed;" "the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior!"
If we long on earth for the return of an absent friend or brother, separated from us for a season, by intervening oceans or continent; if we count the weeks or months until we welcome him back again to the parental home, how should the Christian long for the return of the "Brother of brothers," the Friend of friends: "I will come again," is His own gracious promise, "To receive you unto Myself!" Oh happy day! when He shall be "glorified in His saints;" when His people will suffer no more, and sin no more. No more couches of sickness, or aching hearts; or fevered brows; no more opened graves, or bitter tears; and, better than all, no more guilty estrangements and traitorous unholy hearts! It will be the bridal day of the soul. The body slumbering in the dust will be reunited a glorified body to a redeemed spirit. The grave shall be forever spoiled; death swallowed up in eternal victory. "So shall we be forever with the Lord."
Reader, do you "love His appearing?" Are you looking with eager expectant attitude of those who are "looking for, and hastening unto the coming of God." "Yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come!" If you are a child of the covenant, having conscious filial nearness to the Throne of grace, you need not dread the Throne of glory! True, He is the "great God," but He is "our Savior." It is a "Kinsman Redeemer" who is ordained to "judge the world in righteousness." Yes! turn your eye oftener towards this bright Rainbow spanning a glorious future; for remember, it is "to them who look for Him," that He shall "appear the second time without sin unto salvation!" "That blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Tit_2:1
What a bright rainbow for a stormed-wreathed sky! Hope is a joyous emotion! Poetry sings of it; music warbles its lofty aspirations; but alas! how often does it weave fantastic visions then vanish! "In the morning" the flowers of life are flourishing and growing up; "in the evening" a mysterious blight comes; they lie withered garlands at our feet! The longing apparitions of the whole life seem realized; one wave of calamity overtakes us, and washes all away!
But, there is one "blessed hope" beyond the possibility of blight or decay; "The hope of the glory of God," the "Hope which makes not ashamed;" "the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior!"
If we long on earth for the return of an absent friend or brother, separated from us for a season, by intervening oceans or continent; if we count the weeks or months until we welcome him back again to the parental home, how should the Christian long for the return of the "Brother of brothers," the Friend of friends: "I will come again," is His own gracious promise, "To receive you unto Myself!" Oh happy day! when He shall be "glorified in His saints;" when His people will suffer no more, and sin no more. No more couches of sickness, or aching hearts; or fevered brows; no more opened graves, or bitter tears; and, better than all, no more guilty estrangements and traitorous unholy hearts! It will be the bridal day of the soul. The body slumbering in the dust will be reunited a glorified body to a redeemed spirit. The grave shall be forever spoiled; death swallowed up in eternal victory. "So shall we be forever with the Lord."