One evil after another starts up in this heart of mine, and I might well be discouraged and cast down; but the answer to all is, "Did not God give me to Christ before the foundation of the world?" A Peter might curse and swear, and deny Christ, but " having loved his own, he loved them unto the end." He is up there in heaven as a Savior God-as the One who can pour out peace and joy. I can say, " He is on the throne of God for me, He knows what a price He paid for me." But is it because He loves me that He leaves me down here as a sheep for Satan to drive and harass? Yes, because He will break down all that is not of Himself in my heart. But having loved His own, He loves to the end.
He cannot be in heaven without revealing to us now that He wants us there; wants us all around the throne. What would it be if, after all the travail of His soul, there were no saved ones there? What! if He who sits upon the throne were to see all the seats around it vacant? What were We worth when Christ picked us up? What are we in self worth now? Nothing at all. But we are united to Christ, and He never forgets His own, given Him by the Father before the foundation of the world. He has prepared their glory-not on the ground of their worth-but on the ground of what passed between Him and the Father, when we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.