"Caught up to share
The triumph of our Lord."
2. The source of the greatest spiritual blessings is above.—When Christ ascended into the heavens He received gifts for men; and from His lofty throne He delights to distribute those gifts to the needy sons of men. Thence we receive pardon, the conscious favour of God, holiness of character, comfort in every time of distress, and hope to light the pathway of the future. Of all the blessings laid up for us above, the highest and the best is that which in itself includes all others—the gift of the Holy Ghost. All, all we want is there.
3. The heavenly home is above.—There is the abode of peace and purity; there temptation has no power, and suffering and sorrow can never enter; there the Saviour reveals His glories and diffuses the joy of His radiant presence; there all the members of the Father’s family assemble from every part of the globe, never more to separate. The soul, burdened with the cares of life, and troubled with multiplied disappointments, yearns for the rest of the heavenly home. The things on the earth can never satisfy the wants of the soul; they are unsuited to it; they are beneath it; and, liberated from their trammels by the resurrection power of the Christ, it seeks its true happiness above the stars.
III. The paramount duty of the soul to aspire to the highest good.—Seek, set “your affections on things above” (ver. 1). A similar expression repeated for the emphasis. You are not only to seek heaven, but also to think heaven. The understanding must be engaged in duly estimating the value of heavenly things, the will in preferring them above all things earthly, the affections in embracing them as the objects to be most evidently desired and loved; in fact, all the powers of the soul must be constantly exercised in the search. The soul, raised from the death of sin, is ever responding to the attractive influence of its risen Lord. “Being thus already risen, every motion of grace is the struggle of the soul for the final consummation—the bird is caged, but the wings are free to flutter within their prison.” The soul is now willing, cheerfully and faithfully, to follow the call of duty, whatever it may entail.
“Oft where she leads, thy blood must mark thy footsteps;
Oft where she leads, thy head must bear the storm,
And thy shrunk form endure heat, cold, and hunger;
But she will guide thee up to noble heights,
Which he who gains seems native of the sky;
While earthly things lie stretched beneath his feet,
Diminished, shrunk, and valueless.”
Lessons.—1. The soul is endowed with vast powers and capable of the highest destiny. 2. It is sad to witness thousands whose souls rise no higher than the things on the earth. 3. The soul can realise its highest aspirations only as it is risen with Christ.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES.
Ver. 1. Seeking the Things Above.
I. Contemplate the sublime object—the state of future blessedness of believers. 1. The perfection of character they exhibit. 2. The exercises in which they shall be engaged. 3. The happiness in which they participate. 4. The friendships they share.
II. The conduct enjoined upon us.—“Seek those things.” 1. Implies belief in their existence. 2. That attention is directed much towards them. 3. Set our attachment upon them. 4. Use diligent and persevering exertions to obtain them.