Octavius Winslow, 1856 (edited for
today's reader by Larry E. Wilson, 2010)
Bible Verse
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Rom. 8:29).
Devotional
The Son of God sustains the relation of the Elder Brother to us. He is emphatically the "Firstborn." In another place we read, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things" (Heb. 2:14). He is our "Brother born for adversity" (Prov. 17:17).
Our relation to him as our Brother is evidenced by our conformity to him as our model. We do not have any valid claim to relationship which does not spring from a resemblance to his image. The features may be weak and indistinctly visible, yet one line of holiness, one true feature, drawn upon the heart by the Holy Spirit, proves our fraternal relationship to him the "Firstborn."
And how large the brotherhood!—"many brothers." What the relative proportion of the church is to the world—how many will be saved—is a speculative and profitless question. But this we know—the number will be vast, countless (Rev. 7:9). The one family of God is composed of "many brothers."
They are not all of the same judgment in all matters, but they are all of the same spirit. The unity of the family of God is not ecclesiastical nor geographical, it is spiritual and essential. It is the "unity of the Spirit" (Eph. 4:3). Begotten of one Father in the nature of the Elder Brother through the regenerating grace of the one Spirit, all the saints of God constitute one church, one family, one brotherhood—essentially and indivisibly one.
Nor is this relationship difficult to recognize. Take an illustration. Two brothers in the Lord of different sections of the church, and of disagreement on some points of truth, meet and converse together. Each wonders how, with the Word of God in his hand, the other does not read it as he reads it, and interpret it as he interprets it. But they drop their points of difference, and take up their points of agreement. They speak of Jesus Christ—the Christ who loves them both, and whom they both love. They talk of the one Master whom they serve, of their common labors, and of their infirmities, trials and temptations, discouragements, failures, and successes. They speak of the heaven to which they are journeying—of their Father's house, in which they will dwell together for ever. They kneel in prayer. They cast themselves before the cross. The oil of gladness anoints them. Their hearts are broken. Their spirits are humbled. Their souls are blended. They rise and feel more deeply and more strongly than ever that they both belong to the same family, are both of the "many brothers" of whom the Son of God is the "Firstborn," their Elder Brother.
Oh, blessed unity! What perfect uniformity of creed, what strict conformity of ritual, what sameness of denominational relation, is for a moment to be compared with this? Do you, my reader, have this evidence that you belong to the "many brothers"?
The church's one Foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is his new creation
by water and the Word:
from heav'n he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.
Elect from ev'ry nation,
yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses,
partakes one holy food.
And to one hope she presses,
with ev'ry grace endued.
Though with a scornful wonder
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, "How long?"
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.
The church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord to defend,
to guide, sustain and cherish
is with her to the end;
though there be those who hate her,
and false sons in her pale,
against or foe or traitor
she ever shall prevail.
'Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.
(Samuel J. Stone, 1866)
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 2011.
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