Our Hope of Heaven by L. D. Santee

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 24, 1866

Our Hope of Heaven.

By L. D. Santee

Who that has walked in the forest when the autumn leaves are falling, has not felt a thrill of sadness at the evidences of decay and desolation, and has not realized the truth of the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "We do all fade as a leaf." Our brightest pleasures are marred by the thought that they must soon pass away. Our dearest friends are torn from us by the cruel power of the destroyer.

“There is no flock, however watched and tended, But one dead lamb is there; There is no home, however well defended, But has its vacant chair.”

But Jesus will soon take away death, and him that hath the power of death. Under his mild reign the desert shall blossom as the rose, and the earth be filled with the glory of God, even as the waters cover the sea. Jesus is soon coming; let this be our song in the house of our pilgrimage. Our deliverer will shortly appear. We shall then hail him with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Then, farewell to mortality; yes, a long farewell to pain and suffering. Then shall we ever be with the Lord. We shall eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and bathe in the river whose waters are clear as crystal. How we shall rejoice to know that sorrow and sighing have fled away! When we shall be healed of our degeneracy by the leaves of the tree of life, and feel all the freshness and vigor of youth, how our eyes will glow, and our hearts thrill with the thought that it is forever!

L. D. SANTEE.

Gridley, Ill.