Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: December 8th

Where I am, there shall also my servant be. - John 12:26.

AND this is heaven. Now, we understand this by a twofold reference,-by a reference to his divine nature, and by a reference to his human nature. If he referred to his human nature only, he was not there when he spake these words. But his ascension was near. He said, “The hour is come that the Son of man shall be glorified.” It was near; it was certain as if it had already taken place. He therefore viewed it as present, and said, “Where I am, there shall also my servant be.” If he referred to his divine nature, he was already there when he thus spake. He said, therefore, to the Jews, “No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven,” who was actually there then.

There is no inconsistency in this. It is expressive of a grand promise to believers of union and communion with, the Saviour,-a promise of their entering into the same state, place, and enjoyment, and having the same employment too. It is a description of heaven. One essential part of heaven will be the presence of the Saviour, for that indeed constitutes heaven. Our Saviour, therefore, said to the thief, “This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” And, said the apostle, “Absent from the body and present with the Lord.” It was Paul’s attraction. This made him say, “I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” “Better” than being bound? “Better” than fighting with beasts at Ephesus? “Better” than having the sentence of death passed on himself? Oh, no; that was not his meaning; but it was “far better” than all the service of God below, than all the Sabbaths, than all the sacraments, than all the “communion of saints.” “I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” And does not this imply a state of immediate consciousness? Otherwise, the apostle would have preferred holding intercourse with his Saviour here, being employed in his blessed service,- instructing the ignorant, reclaiming the vicious, and proclaiming his word. Would he not have preferred all this to ages of senselessness in the grave? It is in vain to say that these ages would seem but a moment; for we are not inquiring about how he would feel after the event, but how he would feel in the prospect of it,- and how he would feel if both were presented to him and addressed to his option. Is this an attraction to us? No man will be forced into a heaven which he dislikes, into a heaven which he cannot enjoy; and a holy heaven cannot be enjoyed but by holy persons.

A spiritual heaven can only be enjoyed by spiritual people; a Christian heaven can only be hoped for by those who love Christ, and who place all their happiness in the enjoyment of his presence. Some can say, Christ is precious; he is my salvation and all my desire; it is enough for me to be where he is:-

“I cannot live contented here

Without some glimpses of thy face;

And heaven, without thy presence there,

Would be a dark and tiresome place.”

Our Saviour well knew the disposition of his people, and the estimation in which he was held by them. He well knew what would be congenial with their feelings, and he describes heaven accordingly:-“Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.” If a little enjoyment of his presence in the closet, in the sanctuary, at his table, has induced us to say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here,” what will it be to be “forever with the Lord”? “In his presence there is fulness of joy,” and the enjoyment of it then will be pure, uninterrupted, and eternal.

Thou hast holden me by my right hand. - Psalms 73:23.

THAT is, thou hast sustained me, and supported me when I was ready to fall, or ready to faint, or ready to sink. As Watts expresses it:

“Thine arm of mercy held me up,

When sinking in despair.”

This is the promise: “I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness;” and this is the Christian’s prayer: “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” This is the humiliating concession: “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;” and this is the gracious intimation: “The Lord upholdeth him with his hand.” And here is the grateful acknowledgment: “When I said, My foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.” This is the experience: “My soul followeth hard after God, thy right hand upholdeth me.”

Where is the Christian that does not need this sustaining mercy? who does not “groan, being burdened” by cares, by fears, by toils, by disappointments, by afflictions (personal and relative), by a sense of guilt and unworthiness, and continual imperfection? And what is our own strength but perfect weakness? We know it, and are daily convinced of it. Therefore, not only from faith but experience we know the truth of the Saviour’s words, “Without me ye can do nothing.”

We are as a branch severed from the vine; but when we are weak then are we strong, because, distrusting ourselves, we trust in another, rely on another, and find that in the “Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength;” that “the eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Were God to leave us, were God to let go our hand for a moment, we could no more stand than a new-born infant- we could no more stand than a staff when the hand is taken away. But though this is the truth, it is equally true, as Jude says, that “he is able to keep us from falling.”

Even with such hearts as ours, even in such a world as this, we are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”

Asaph does not here say, “He has exempted me as I passed through life; the trials which have befallen others have passed by me.” No; says he, “I have been tried, but he has not left nor forsaken me. I have been in trouble, but he has been ever with me.” And we should learn, from the experience of this good man, to give God the glory for all he has done for us. We should say with Paul, “By the grace of God, I continue to this day;” and with Samuel, “Hitherto, the Lord hath helped us.”

It would be a poor business to look back upon life without connecting it with God; but nothing can be more pleasing and encouraging than to review life in connection with him, and his interpositions of Providence and grace in our behalf. The Christian can say, “The Lord helped me at that time. I remember well at another time, a snare was laid for my feet, but the snare was discovered, and I escaped. I did not think that, in this situation, I should have been helped; but at the moment I cried, thou answeredst me, and thou strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.”

Therefore this conclusion now will be drawn, “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”