September 10

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. - Revelation 21:4.

THE deliverance here assured has four characters. First, It is divine. “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” He alone can do it, and he is able to do it; he is “the Father of mercies,” “the God of all grace,” “the God of all comfort.” “When he giveth quietness,” says Eliphaz, “who can make trouble? And when he hideth his face, who can behold him,- whether it be done against a nation, or a man only?” He can pardon the greatest guilt; he can subdue the most fearful corruptions; he can make all things new.

Secondly, The deliverance is future. It is not said God does, but “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Earth will always be distinguished from heaven. Whatever tabernacles we now rear, we shall soon have to take them down again; we shall soon hear a voice saying, “Arise and depart ye; this is not your rest.” There is a difference between the race and the goal. We are now running the race that is set before us, and we are required to run with patience; the crown is suspended on high. There is a difference between the warfare and the victory. We are now in the conflict; and, though it be the good fight of faith in which we are engaged, it is a trying one, and we often are led to say, “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air.” It is death that will proclaim the triumph and say the warfare is accomplished. There is a difference between the seed-time and the harvest. We are now sowing, and we are sowing in tears.

Thirdly, The deliverance is complete. God shall wipe away ALL tears. He wipes away some now, and, indeed, many now. In the course of our history and experience, how many has he already wiped away! But at what period here can a man say, “Well, now my troubles are all over; now the storm has spent all its fury; now serenity has returned”? Alas! “the clouds return after the rain,” and “deep calleth unto deep.” But then all the sources of distress will be dried up; then there will be “no more death, neither sorrow nor sighing, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.” Nothing shall be seen but joy and gladness, nothing heard but thanksgiving and the voice of melody; for “when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.”

Fourthly, It is certain. We are commanded to rejoice in hope. There are thousands who are doing this, whose hope will issue in the bitterest disappointment. But this cannot be the case with the hope of the believer. His “hope maketh not ashamed,” because it is founded on the word of Him that cannot lie. It is firmer in its basis than the earth or the heaven: heaven and earth may pass away, but his word shall not pass away. “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”