"Everyone brings out the choice wine first . . . But You have saved the best until now!" John 2:10
The world gives its best first — and the worst comes afterwards!
It is so in all sinful pleasures: first exhilaration — and then bitter remorse.
It is so in the chase for wealth, power, and fame: gratification first — and then painful disappointment. At first money brings gladness — a sort of satisfaction. But as time rolls on and wealth increases — cares multiply, anxieties thicken, burdens grow heavier, and at last — the rich man finds that in all his riches, he has less satisfaction than he had in the days when he was a poor boy!
It is so in all mere worldly ambitions: the first cups of fame are sweet — but soon they pall upon the taste.
This truth holds especially in the sinful life: we need not deny that at the beginning, sin is sweet — but bitterness is found at the bottom of the cup!
In grace, however, this is reversed — the good wine is kept to the last! Christ Himself had humiliation, darkness, and the shame of the cross — and then exaltation, power, glory!
In Christian life, the same law holds:
First there comes bitterness — but out of the bitterness, sweetness flows.
There is first the deep sorrow of penitence — but this gives way to the blessed joy of forgiveness.
First there are self-denial and cross-bearing — but out of these experiences comes a holy peace which fills all the heart.
Sorrows are to be endured — but the good wine of comfort is poured into the emptied cup.
There is also a constant progression in the blessings of the divine life. We never get to the end of them! Indeed, we never get to the best! There is always something better yet to come. Christ keeps the really best wine to the very last — in Heaven! As sweet as Christ's peace now is to the Christian — he will never know the fullness of the love of God, until he gets home to the Father's house!
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J.R. Miller (1840 - 1912)
Prolific author and pastor of Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois, Rev. James Russell Miller served the USCC as a field agent in the Army of the Potomac and Army of the Cumberland.J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia. J.R. Miller D.D.'s lasting fame is through his over 50 books. Many are still in publication.
James Russell Miller (March 20, 1840 - July 2, 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
In 1857, James entered Beaver Academy and in 1862 he progressed to Westminster College, Pennsylvania, which he graduated in June, 1862. Then in the autumn of that year he entered the theological seminary of the United Presbyterian Church at Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mr. Miller resumed his interrupted studies at the Allegheny Theological Seminary in the fall of 1865 and completed them in the spring of 1867. That summer he accepted a call from the First United Presbyterian Church of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. He was ordained and installed on September 11, 1867.
J.R. Miller began contributing articles to religious papers while at Allegheny Seminary. This continued while he was at the First United, Bethany, and New Broadway churches. In 1875, Miller took over from Henry C. McCook, D.D. when the latter discontinued his weekly articles in The Presbyterian, which was published in Philadelphia.
Five years later, in 1880, Dr. Miller became assistant to the Editorial Secretary at the The Presbyterian Board of Publication, also in Philadelphia.