MORNING
"Fellow citizens with the saints."
Ephesians 2:19
What is meant by our being citizens in heaven? It means that we are under heaven's government. Christ the king of heaven
reigns in our hearts; our daily prayer is, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The proclamations issued
from the throne of glory are freely received by us: the decrees of the Great King we cheerfully obey. Then as citizens of
the New Jerusalem, we share heaven's honours. The glory which belongs to beatified saints belongs to us, for we are already
sons of God, already princes of the blood imperial; already we wear the spotless robe of Jesus' righteousness; already we
have angels for our servitors, saints for our companions, Christ for our Brother, God for our Father, and a crown of immortality
for our reward. We share the honours of citizenship, for we have come to the general assembly and Church of the first-born
whose names are written in heaven. As citizens, we have common rights to all the property of heaven. Ours are its gates of
pearl and walls of chrysolite; ours the azure light of the city that needs no candle nor light of the sun; ours the river
of the water of life, and the twelve manner of fruits which grow on the trees planted on the banks thereof; there is nought
in heaven that belongeth not to us. "Things present, or things to come," all are ours. Also as citizens of heaven
we enjoy its delights. Do they there rejoice over sinners that repent--prodigals that have returned? So do we. Do they chant
the glories of triumphant grace? We do the same. Do they cast their crowns at Jesus' feet? Such honours as we have we cast
there too. Are they charmed with his smile? It is not less sweet to us who dwell below. Do they look forward, waiting for
his second advent? We also look and long for his appearing. If, then, we are thus citizens of heaven, let our walk and actions
be consistent with our high dignity.
EVENING
"And the evening and the morning were the first day."
Genesis 1:5
The evening was "darkness" and the morning was "light," and yet the two together are called by
the name that is given to the light alone! This is somewhat remarkable, but it has an exact analogy in spiritual experience.
In every believer there is darkness and light, and yet he is not to be named a sinner because there is sin in him, but he
is to be named a saint because he possesses some degree of holiness. This will be a most comforting thought to those who are
mourning their infirmities, and who ask, "Can I be a child of God while there is so much darkness in me?" Yes; for
you, like the day, take not your name from the evening, but from the morning; and you are spoken of in the word of God as
if you were even now perfectly holy as you will be soon. You are called the child of light, though there is darkness in you
still. You are named after what is the predominating quality in the sight of God, which will one day be the only principle
remaining. Observe that the evening comes first. Naturally we are darkness first in order of time, and the gloom is often
first in our mournful apprehension, driving us to cry out in deep humiliation, "God be merciful to me, a sinner."
The place of the morning is second, it dawns when grace overcomes nature. It is a blessed aphorism of John Bunyan, "That
which is last, lasts forever." That which is first, yields in due season to the last; but nothing comes after the last.
So that though you are naturally darkness, when once you become light in the Lord, there is no evening to follow; "thy
sun shall no more go down." The first day in this life is an evening and a morning; but the second day, when we shall
be with God, forever, shall be a day with no evening, but one, sacred, high, eternal noon.
