March 10 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"You have come ... to the spirits of the righteous made perfect." (Hebrews 12:22–23).

Devotional

That the saints will recognize and have communion with each other immediately on their entrance into glory is, we think, clear from these words, when tallying the privileges of the released believers. We indulge the fond hope, therefore, that if death should remove us before the coming of the Lord, we shall meet, know, and have delightful communion with our friends who departed this life in Jesus.

But the recognition and the communion must necessarily not be so perfect and full as that when Christ shall appear. Then the risen saints will cluster together around the person and in the kingdom of their Lord; since neither we nor they will have attained our state of full knowledge and capacity until that great event take place, and the "blessed hope" is realized.

We argue the recognition of the saints from the fact of the perfection of knowledge to which the coming glory will advance us. Our dear Lord reminds his saints that they will be equal to the angels. They know each other. It would seem impossible, living together for so many years, that they would not. If then the saints are equal to them at all, they must also have this sweet privilege. And is it reasonable to suppose that in every other respect our knowledge will be perfected except this one particular? Shall we possess an element of mental power here which we will lose in a progression towards perfection, and, consequently, shall not possess in an even higher degree hereafter? Assuredly not.

When the dead in Christ shall rise at his coming, therefore, every intellectual faculty will be enlarged, and not only retaining all our former, but also increasing the amount by a larger degree of additional knowledge, we shall know fully, even as we are fully known (1 Cor. 13:12).

The perfection of happiness, which glorification implies, involves this blessing. What a rich source of high and holy delight the communion of saints supplies, even in our present state! How it elevates, chastens, expands, and soothes the mind and heart, so much beclouded by care and chafed by sorrow! But heaven will perfect this bliss. Does this not heighten the beauty of the prospect for you? Does it not strengthen your expectation of the scene?

Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love:
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.

Before our Father's throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims, are one,
our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.

This glorious hope revives
our courage by the way,
while each in expectation lives,
and longs to see the Day.

From sorrow, toil and pain—
and sin!—we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.

(John Fawcett, 1782)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.