Morning, August 3, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“And its lamp is the Lamb.” — Revelation 21:23

Quietly contemplate the Lamb as the light of heaven. Light in Scripture is the symbol of joy. The joy of the saints in heaven is encompassed in this: Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, and glorified us: we are here entirely through the Lord Jesus. Each one of these thoughts shall be to them like a cluster of the grapes of the promised land. Light is also the source of beauty. Nothing of beauty is left when light is gone. Without light no radiance flashes from the sapphire, no peaceful gleam proceeds from the pearl; and likewise, all the beauty of the saints above comes from Jesus. As planets, they reflect the light of the Sun of Righteousness; they live as beams proceeding from the central star. If he withdrew, they must die; if his glory were veiled, their glory must expire. Light is also the symbol of knowledge. In heaven, our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus himself will be its fountain. Difficult, but God-ordered circumstances, never understood before, will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh! what disclosures there will be and what glorifying of the God of love! Light also means revelation. Light reveals. In this world, it doesn’t yet appear what we shall be. God’s people are a concealed people, but when Christ receives his people into heaven, he will touch them with the wand of his own love, and change them into the image of his revealed glory. They were poor and miserable, but what a transformation! They were stained with sin, but one touch of his finger, and they are bright as the sun, and clear as crystal. Oh! what a revelation! All this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of radiant splendor, Jesus shall be the center and soul of it all. Oh! to be present and to see him in his own light, the King of kings, and Lord of lords!

My notes:  One of the most difficult terms in Spurgeon’s devotion today was “dark providences;” “Dark providences, never understood before, will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb.” Hopefully, “Difficult, but God-ordered circumstances” is a good interpretation.  God certainly provides for our spiritual growth though trying, “dark” situations.  Even Christ was perfected (matured) through suffering.