The Eternal Banqueting House

 

"He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love!"

Song of Solomon 2:4

"HE brought me!" All of grace! He justifies! He glorifies! The banqueting house is entered with shoutings, saying, "Grace, grace unto it!"

Believer, contemplate the journey ended, the course finished, the victory won. Seated at the marriage feast of the Lamb in glory, guest talking to guest with bounding hearts — recounting their Lord's dealings on earth — the watchword circulating from tongue to tongue, "He has done all things well!"

Angels and archangels, too, will be participants in that banquet of glory; and bright seraphs, who never knew what it was to have a heart of sin or to shed a tear of sorrow. But, for this reason, there will be one element of joy peculiar to the Redeemed, into which the other unfallen guests cannot enter — the "joy of contrast." How will this present world's "great tribulation" augment the bliss of a world at once sinless and sorrowless! How will earth's woe-worn cheek, and sin-stricken spirit, and tear-dimmed eye — enhance the glories of that perfect state, where there is not that symbol of sadness, nor the solitary trace of one lingering tear-drop!

My soul, seek often to ponder, in the midst of your days of sadness, the joys of that eternal banqueting house! "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain!"

One moment at that banquet table,
one crumb of the heavenly manna,
one draught from the river of life —
and all the bitter experiences of the valley of tears will be obliterated and forgotten!

Look upwards even now, and behold your dear Lord preparing for you this glorious "feast of fat things!" "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  (John 14:1-3)

~John MacDuff, excerpt from "The Night Watches"

The Last Amen

He which testifieth of these things saith, Surely I come quickly.  Amen.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.

Revelation 22:20-21

THE AMEN OF HOPE

God has written much to us concerning our hopes. He has filled our future with 'things hoped for;' and He has bidden us desire them, wait for them, pray for them. There is the hope of the kingdom, of the inheritance, of the glory; above all, there is 'the blessed hope' of the Lord's appearing. These hopes occupy large space in our expectations and prayers. They are still futurities; but they are certainties—bright and blessed beyond what eye has seen or ear heard. In our pleadings regarding these, we use the Amen of hope; realizing it as a hope that makes not ashamed. We say, 'Hallowed by Your name,' and we add the Amen of hope; 'Your kingdom come,' and we add the Amen of hope; 'Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,' and we add the Amen of hope. We hear the Lord's own voice from heaven saying, 'Surely I come quickly,' and we add with the apostle—Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen!
Are our Amens bright and big with hope? As we utter them on our knees before God, do thoughts of the glory fill us? Does that glory stand out before our eye as a certainty—a divinely revealed and divinely promised certainty—a certainty quite as great as that which rests over the past? Each time we utter the Amen in connection with these blessed futurities, does our hope kindle up anew—the hope calling up the Amen, and the Amen making the hope to shine out with fresh brightness? In anticipating such a future, how can we utter a cold, heartless, passive or despairing Amen? Let all our Amens be those of exulting hope!

THE AMEN OF JOY

There is joy set before us, even as before our Master; it is joy unspeakable and full of glory. It is joy springing both from the past and the future. It is the joy of conscious pardon; the joy of friendship with God; the joy of adoption and heirship; the joy of our whole new created being; the joy because of the blessedness in prospect. Past, present, and future—all furnish us with materials for joy. And in our thanksgivings for the past, we breathe out an Amen of joy; in our consciousness of present peace and heavenly favor, we repeat our Amen of joy; in our pleadings for larger blessing to ourselves and to our world, we say Amen with gladness; and in our pressing forward to the mark for the prize of our high calling, looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God, we say Amen and Amen with ever-deepening joy of heart.
How gladly should that word 'Amen!'come forth form our lips! Should it ever have a sorrowful sound? It seems so full of comfort and exultation, that one wonders how we can ever utter it with a sorrowful heart. There is no shade upon the objects in regard to which we utter the Amen; should it not then be a word of joy at all times? Are our Amens such? Do they speak of joy? Do they arise out of joy? Do they cherish and augment the joy? Is the word sweet to us because of the joy which it contains and utters? Many a poor, gloomy Amen have we spoken, belying our profession, and misusing the word. Let us be done with these. Let our Amens be songs—songs gushing up from the fullness of happy souls!

~excerpt from "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" by Horatius Bonar

Abundant Utterance

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.    Psalm 145:7

"They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness."  They shall pour forth grateful memories even as springs gush with water, plenteously, spontaneously, constantly, joyously.  The Lord's redeemed people having been filled with His great goodness, shall retain the happy recollection of it, and shall be moved often and often to utter those recollections.  Not content with a scanty mention of such amazing love, they shall go on to an abundant utterance of such dealings with them, and to compare notes of their experiences.

God has done nothing stintedly; all His goodness is great goodness, all worthy to be remembered, and suggestive of holy discourse.  Upon this subject there is no scarcity of matter, and when the heart is right there is no need to stop from want of facts to tell.  Oh, that there were more of these memories and utterances, for it is not meet that the goodness of the living God should be buried in the cemetery of silence, in the grave of ingratitude.

"And shall sing of thy righteousness."  They shall say and then sing.  And what is the theme which impels them to leave the pulpit for the orchestra?  What do they sing of?  They sing of that righteousness which is the sinner's terror, which even good men mention with deep solemnity.  Righteousness received by gospel light is in reality the secret foundation of the believer's hope.  God's covenant of grace is our strong consolation, because He who made it is righteous, and will not run back from it.  Since Jesus died as our substitute, righteousness requires and secures the salvation of all the redeemed.  This attribute is our best friend, and therefore we sing of it.

Modern thinkers would fain expunge the idea of righteousness from their notion of God; but converted men would not.  It is a sign of growth in sanctification when we rejoice in the justice, rectitude, and holiness of our God.  Even a rebel may rejoice in mercy, which he looks upon as laxity; but a loyal subject rejoices when he learns that God is so just that not even to save His own elect would He consent to violate the righteousness of His moral government.  Few men will shout for joy at the righteousness of Jehovah, but those who do so are His chosen, in whom His soul delighteth.

~excerpt from "The Treasury of David" by Charles H. Spurgeon

Showers of Blessing

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.  My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.   Deuteronomy 32:1-2

In this chapter, Moses left the children of Israel a song, reminding them not to forsake God.  Read it!  It's wonderful!

In the introduction which we have here, Moses appeals to heaven and earth concerning the truth of what he was about to say to a rebellious nation.  Surely the heavens and the earth are more faithful than a careless and indifferent people, for "they continue to this day according to God's ordinances."

The doctrine is compared to rain.  Sometimes rain comes as a judgment.  To the rebellious, God's Word is a savor of death unto death; but to all who receive it in the right way, it is a savor of life unto life, a refreshing dew.

"My speech shall distil as dew."  The Word of God is apt to do us good when it comes to us quietly and gently, when we see the beauty and glory of it, when the power of it sinks into our hearts, and when we love and admire God's mercy and grace in sending it to us like the small rain upon the tender grass.

As we think on these things, let us seek to let God's Word sink into our hearts and soften them like the rain softens the earth so that we may be more faithful and more fruitful in God's kingdom.

~Moments of Meditation gleaned from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

A Diadem of Beauty

In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,  Isaiah 28:5

"And a diadem of beauty." He is the beauty of Israel, even beauty itself. He is beautiful in his Godhead, as equal with the Father in power and glory; he is beautiful in his complex Person as God-man Mediator, God and man in one glorious Person; he is beautiful in his covenant characters, in his finished work, in his resurrection power, in his glorious ascension, in his all-prevailing intercession, now before the throne, and in his own glorification with all the offices he bears, for the sake of and in behalf of all his dear people, though now seated at his own Father's right hand, clothed in majesty and power, there to reign and rule till all his and his people's enemies are made his footstool; and all for the sake of a remnant, or a residue the world despises.

They are a highly-favoured few; and when faith is in act and exercise, the soul can then sing, "How great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!" And also, "This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem." "His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely." So that this diadem is of greater glory and beauty than any Eastern tissue, however costly it might be decorated; for that would be but a poor perishing thing at the best, a thing which would afford no relief in pain or sickness, and must be parted with in death. But this diadem of beauty you must die to fully enjoy. Faith brings a measure of its enjoyment even now; for there is to be an earnest, a foretaste, a drop; but not the boundless ocean."

And now, poor, harassed, afflicted, tempest-tossed and comfortless child of God, what do you think of the drunken Ephraimites now, with their fat pastures, prize bulls, full purses, and bloated cheeks? Can you join them in their revelry, their toasts and cheers around their bottles and jingling glasses, clothed with a crown of pride, all their conversation showing that they are sacrificing to their own net, and burning incense to their own drag? Do you envy them? I know you do not if you have tasted the wormwood and gall of a wounded conscience and are now living in the enjoyment of the pardon of sin and living in sweet anticipation of a crown of glory; and your joy will far exceed, or at least outlive, the carnal joys of the worldling, though decked out with a fulsome display of pride, which will end in smoke, darkness, confusion, disappointment, and black despair.

The Ephraimite's crown perishes before night. What a state many are left to get into just as the night of death approaches after a life of ease, indulgence, extravagance, and sin, their former satisfaction now A Crown of Glory and a Diadem of Beauty denied them and no hope as regards the future. How solemn! And thousands are in this state, never having been enlisted under the Lord's banner, never once being engaged in the battle against self and sin, it being their former pride to glory in their shame; but it now perishes, while on the heads of the righteous the crown of glory outlasts time and is ever new and fresh; not a few withering leaves, but a crown of glory that fadeth not away; the earnest of which the Lord is pleased to bestow, as he sees good, on his own poor despised remnant in their present time state, to encourage their drooping spirits and to enable them to hope to the end for the salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. The glorious beauty of these deluded Ephraimites is not to be compared with the diadem of beauty of the poor afflicted family of God, who are made beautiful in him who is the constituted Beauty of Israel. 

So, my dear friends, ours is not such a hard lot as we often think it is, when, through the power of unbelief, we give way to fretfulness and peevishness and a whole mass of wretchedness that we are so often the subjects of. But let the Lord once discover himself, then does your countenance proclaim it and you feel happy as a prince. You are indeed made kings and priests to offer up spiritual sacrifices, and he accepts the fruit of the lips, which consists in praise and thanksgiving for his boundless grace and beauty. "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." Amen.

~excerpt from a sermon Preached by J. C. Philpot at Providence Chapel, Oakham, February 24th, 1861