From J. C. Philpot's Daily Portions
December 16 "Beloved of God, called to be saints." Romans 1:7 The very word "saint" has become, through man's
perverseness and wickedness, a word of reproach and contempt. But God will
honor it, let men dishonor it as they please. God has put a crown of glory
upon it, let men despise it as they may. There is no privilege or blessing
that God can confer so great and glorious as to crown you with the title of
'saint'. He might have given you titles without number; he might have
showered riches upon your head in the greatest profusion; rank, fame,
talent, beauty, health--all might have been poured at your feet; but what
would all these be compared to making you a saint of God? But what is it to be a saint? It is to be sanctified by
God the Father, set apart for himself, to show forth his praise. It is to be
washed in the atoning blood and clothed in the justifying righteousness of
the Son, and to be regenerated by the Spirit of God. It is to be introduced
into a new world by being delivered from the power of darkness and
translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. What heart can conceive or tongue express the state of
blessedness to which the despised saints of God are advanced even in this
present time state! They are sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty; jewels
in Jesus' mediatorial crown; members of his mystical body, and as such
united to him by indissoluble ties; pillars in the temple of God which shall
go no more out; sheep redeemed by precious blood; virgin souls espoused to
the Lord the Lamb. They are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, and
mansions of glory are prepared for them beyond the skies. There they shall
sit as overcomers with Christ on his throne, and there they shall sing upon
harps of gold the praises of a Three-One God to all eternity.