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(William Nicholson, 1862)
"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes!" Revelation 7:17
"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes!" Numerous are the sources of sorrow here on earth--but God will dry them all up in Heaven. There will be no mourning Christian to drop tears there, "for all sorrow and sighing shall flee away!" There is nothing in that happy residence to distress or annoy.
Jeremiah will utter no plaintive language there.
Transgressors will grieve the holy no more.
Bartimeus is the poor blind beggar no more.
Lazarus's sores have been replaced by immortal beauty.
The weeping widow is no longer crushed to the dust by the heavy hand of poverty.
The orphan child is no longer forsaken and homeless.
Pinching poverty and wasting disease are unknown.
The distressing complaint will never accost the ear, "I am sick!"
The sting of death and the terrors of the grave will never present themselves there.
There are no graves in the land of eternal life.
There is no death of friends there.
Martha and Mary go to no beloved brother's grave to weep.
Yonder, there is . . .
no deceitful heart,
no secret foe,
no fascinating world,
no artful Satan!
The former things have passed away, and the era of immortality has arrived.
God shall give them everything calculated to secure, continue, and increase their happiness. "He will lead them to springs of living water," which shall never be exhausted. A spring is termed living water, because constantly bubbling up, and running on. These "springs of living water" indicate endless sources of happiness, which Christ will supply to His redeemed people from His own infinite plenitude.
These eternal fountains will make an infinite variety for the enjoyments of the blessed. There will be no sameness, and therefore no weariness to the spirit. Every moment will open a new source of pleasure. And as God is infinite, so His attributes are infinite, and throughout infinity more and more of those attributes will be unveiled--and the discovery of each will be a new fountain of enjoyment. These sources will be ever-opening through all eternity--and yet, through all eternity, there will still remain, in the absolute perfections of the Godhead, an infinity of them still to be opened!
Such bliss is enough to make the Christian say, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" Philippians 1:23
(William Nicholson, 1862)
"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes!" Revelation 7:17
"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes!" Numerous are the sources of sorrow here on earth--but God will dry them all up in Heaven. There will be no mourning Christian to drop tears there, "for all sorrow and sighing shall flee away!" There is nothing in that happy residence to distress or annoy.
Jeremiah will utter no plaintive language there.
Transgressors will grieve the holy no more.
Bartimeus is the poor blind beggar no more.
Lazarus's sores have been replaced by immortal beauty.
The weeping widow is no longer crushed to the dust by the heavy hand of poverty.
The orphan child is no longer forsaken and homeless.
Pinching poverty and wasting disease are unknown.
The distressing complaint will never accost the ear, "I am sick!"
The sting of death and the terrors of the grave will never present themselves there.
There are no graves in the land of eternal life.
There is no death of friends there.
Martha and Mary go to no beloved brother's grave to weep.
Yonder, there is . . .
no deceitful heart,
no secret foe,
no fascinating world,
no artful Satan!
The former things have passed away, and the era of immortality has arrived.
God shall give them everything calculated to secure, continue, and increase their happiness. "He will lead them to springs of living water," which shall never be exhausted. A spring is termed living water, because constantly bubbling up, and running on. These "springs of living water" indicate endless sources of happiness, which Christ will supply to His redeemed people from His own infinite plenitude.
These eternal fountains will make an infinite variety for the enjoyments of the blessed. There will be no sameness, and therefore no weariness to the spirit. Every moment will open a new source of pleasure. And as God is infinite, so His attributes are infinite, and throughout infinity more and more of those attributes will be unveiled--and the discovery of each will be a new fountain of enjoyment. These sources will be ever-opening through all eternity--and yet, through all eternity, there will still remain, in the absolute perfections of the Godhead, an infinity of them still to be opened!
Such bliss is enough to make the Christian say, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" Philippians 1:23
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