April 19

Joint-heirs with Christ. — ROMANS VIII. 17.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. — REV. III. 21.

EACH of the epistles to the seven churches closes with a promise to "him that overcometh." Our text, which concludes the series and sums up the whole, contains the royal promise. — the Christian who perseveres to the end is to share in Christ's dominion. The believer receives the fulfilment of the promise in part in this world; already he is a member of the kingdom of God, and in virtue of his relation to Christ, himself a king. But this is only the potency and promise of what is to be.

The way to kingship is through conflict; the king is one who has overcome. Christ himself won his throne, though it was his by right. We must follow in his steps. Our foes are in many respects different from his. They are different from those of the Asiatic Christians to whom the promise was addressed; but they are none the less real. Satan appears in different guise in different ages, but the purpose of his warfare is the same. Our enemies are on every side, — in the sinful world about us, in the evil that lurks in our own hearts; but our Lord is mightier than Satan. Courage, friends! look onward and upward! The struggle is hard, but it is worth the pains. We are on the winning side. After the battle comes the crown. By and by we shall sit with Christ upon his throne.

Lewis F. Hearn

'T is God's all-animating voice That calls thee from on high; 'T is his own hand presents the prize To thine aspiring eye.

PHILIP DODDRIDGE.