Today’s Manna

"Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying, 'Your conflict is ended.' 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'

"Now is fulfilled the Saviour's prayer for his disciples, 'I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.' 'Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,' [Jude 24.] Christ presents to the Father the purchase of his blood, declaring, 'Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me.' 'Those that thou gavest me I have kept.' Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold his image, sin's discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!

"With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes his faithful ones to the 'joy of their Lord.' The Saviour's joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls that have been saved by his agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will be sharers in this joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ through their prayers, their labors, and loving sacrifice. As they gather about the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they behold those whom they have won for Christ, and see that one has gained others, and these still others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns at Jesus' feet, and praise him through the endless cycles of eternity." ¹