Evening, March 26

If we have been partakers with Jesus in His shame—we shall be sharers with Him in the luster which shall surround Him when He appears again in glory! Are you, beloved, one with Christ Jesus? Does a vital union knit you to Him? Then you are today with Him in His shame; you have taken up His cross, and gone with Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach; you shall doubtless be with Him when the cross is exchanged for the crown.

But judge yourself this evening; for if you are not with Him in regeneration, neither shall you be with Him when He shall come in His glory. If you start back from the black side of communion, you shall not understand its bright, its happy period, when the King shall come, and all His holy angels with Him. Come, my soul, if you are indeed His own beloved—you cannot be far from Him. If His friends and His neighbors are called together to see His glory, what of you are married to Him? Shall you be distant? Though it be a day of judgment—yet you cannot be far from that heart which, having admitted angels into intimacy, has admitted you into marriage union. Has He not said to you, O my soul, "I will betroth you unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness"? Have not His own lips said it, "I am married unto you, and My delight is in you"? If the angels, who are but friends and neighbors, shall be with Him, it is abundantly certain that His own beloved Hephzibah, in whom is all His delight, shall be near to Him, and sit at His right hand. Here is a morning star of hope for you, of such exceeding brilliance, that it may well light up the darkest and most desolate experience!

Courtesy of Grace Gems! Used by permission.