January 30

"Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling." — Hebrews 3:1

THE Apostle is here speaking of believers; how beautiful and striking the description he gives of them! Observe

THE DIGNIFIED APPELLATION. — He calls them

Brethren. The church of God is a family; united, happy, spiritual, peaceful, and honorable. It is now divided; part is in heaven and part on earth. Christians are assimilated to the same likeness, interested in the same righteousness, animated by the same affection, guided by the same rules, destined to the same home. He styles them

Holy. They are set apart for holy purposes, possessed of holy qualities, influenced by holy motives, partakers of holy joys, and bound for a holy place. Their principles, dispositions, secret thoughts, and the development of their character, are connected with holiness. He speaks of them as

Partakers of the heavenly calling. Contemplate its nature; it is the calling of the Spirit, addressed to the heart. It is a sovereign, honorable, and high calling. Consider its property, "heavenly." In its origin, efficacy, tendency, and termination, it is heavenly. Look at its participation, believers are "partakers" of it. This is something more than a profession. Religion is personal and experimental in its character. Am I a partaker of it? Do I feel heaven begun in my heart? Aspire, my soul, to this honor; see the world's vanity, emptiness, and delusions. Were every dew-drop a diamond, every atom a world, and every world filled with gold, all would not satisfy the boundless desires of the immortal soul.

How blest the sacred tie that binds, In sweet communion, kindred minds! How swift the heavenly course they run, Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes are one!

To each the soul of each how dear! What tender love, what holy fear! How doth the generous flame within Refine from earth, and cleanse from sin!

Nor shall the glowing flame expire, When dimly burns frail nature's fire; Then shall they meet in realms above, A heaven of joy, a heaven of love.