THEN FACE TO FACE by D. T. T.

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 16, 1867

THEN FACE TO FACE.

By D. T. T.

Yes, face to face with the Lord! To see the King in his beauty; to see him as he is; to see his face; to be with him where he is, that we may behold his glory; to be forever with the Lord,—this, this will be the sum of all blessedness. His smile now enlightens the city of gold, and gives to Heaven its worth. Paradise would not be paradise without him. Not the glitter or the glory, but the Lord. Not the diamond and the topaz, but the Lord. Not the green, new earth, or the flowers that never hear of winter, but the Lord. Not the snowy robes, or the seraph’s song, but the Lord. He will be the brightest star in all the heavenly dome, the unsetting Sun whose fadeless lustre will attract and dazzle all immortal eyes. One look at his matchless person, when the golden clouds return him to earth again, will transform us into his image; to what perfection of likeness unto him shall they attain who gaze on his face in rapture endless and sublime? To lay hands on his sacred person, as did John the Immerseer; to pillow one’s head under the same roof with him, as did Lazarus of Bethany; to sit at the same table with him, as did Zaccheus of Jericho; to kneel at his feet and learn and adore, as did Mary; to feel his holy hand laid upon the person, as did sinking Peter; to walk by his side, as did the two who went with him to Emmaus; to lean upon his bosom, as did the beloved John,—were a privilege and a joy indeed. To anoint him for his burial; to bedew his worn feet with tears, and wipe them with her raven hair, and then print them all over with kisses, as did a tender, believing woman; to clasp him in the arms, and smooth down the thorn-pierced, dead brow of the dear Son of God, as did Joseph of Arimathea,—were a holier, tearful delight, a love to do Him honor.

But what were all these compared with being with him amid the splendors of his kingly metropolis, the New Jerusalem—our meeting-place the eternal throne, our meeting-time the eternal day? All the gathered good of eternity will be there, but our Lord alone will make a full Heaven. Well does Rutherford exclaim, “Oh, that He would draw aside the curtains, and that the King would come out of his gallery and his palace, that I might see him. What would I not give to waive time, that lieth betwixt Christ and me, that we might once meet. I cannot think but that at the first sight I shall have of that most lovely and fairest face, love will come out of his two eyes and fill me with astonishment. I would but desire to stand at the outer sides of the gates of the New Jerusalem, and look through a hole in the door and see Christ’s face. Oh, for the coming of the Bridegroom!”

But the redeemed shall have a nearer view than this. Their place is before the throne. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Then face to face,—

“For ever with the Lord! Amen; so let it be. Life from the dead is in that word— ’Tis Immortality!”

—D. T. T., in World’s Crisis.