Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

July 12– Evening

by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“[The Lord will bring us into] His heavenly kingdom.”.” 

—2 Timothy 4:18

The heavenly city of the great King is a place of active service. Ransomed spirits serve him day and night in his temple. They never cease to fulfill the good pleasure of their King. They always “rest” in the sense that they are free from other obligations and concerns, but they never “rest” in the sense of being inactive. Jerusalem is the golden place of communion with God and all of His people. We will sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in eternal fellowship. We will hold high conversation with the noble army of the elect angels who reign with him and who, by his love and powerful arm, has brought them safely home.

We will not sing solos in heaven, but in chorus will we praise our King. Heaven is a place of victory achieved. Dear Christian, whenever you achieve a victory over your lusts– whenever after hard struggling you have laid a temptation dead at your feet— you have in that hour a foretaste of the joy that awaits you. The time will come when the Lord will soon put Satan under your feet, and you will find yourself more than a conqueror through him who has loved you.

Paradise is a place of security. When you enjoy the full assurance of faith, you have the pledge of that glorious security which will be yours when you are a perfect citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem. O my sweet home, Jerusalem; you are the happy harbor of my soul! Even now I give thanks to him who has taught me to long for you. And, when I arrive in the Eternal City, I will shout even more loudly that I possess you.

“My soul has tasted of the grapes, and now it longs to go
Where my dear Lord his vineyard keeps, and all the clusters grow.
Upon the true and living vine my famished soul would feast
And banquet on the fruit divine as his everlasting guest.” [M&E]