“WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND?” REV. VI, 17.
By E. S. LANE.
Oh! who shall stand in that awful day?
When the heavens and earth shall pass away;
When the voice of Jehovah in mighty power
Shall herald the close of probation’s hour;
And God shall his might and wrath display,
In the great and terrible burning day;
When the kingdom of those shall be terribly dark,
Who worship the beast or receive his mark;
And the worshippers then shall be covered o’er,
With a burning and noisome, and grievous sore;
When the seas shall roll in a purple flood,
And the fountains and rivers be turned to blood;
When the sun looks down in his fiery wrath,
And scorches the flesh in his burning path;
When the pitchy streams and the brimstone mix,
And the land shall be turned into burning pitch;
While the horrid oaths and blasphemies then
Shall be uttered and heard from the lips of men
Still unrepenting their awful sin,
While drinking the waves of destruction in:
And shall call for the mountains and rocks to hide
From the terrible wrath of the Crucified;
When the hail and the brimstone tinged with blood,
Shall seethe and hiss in the angry flood;
For the earth shall be deluged with burning sleet,
When the elements melt with fervent heat.
Then a voice shall be heard from the great white [throne,
And echo repeat, It is done, is done;
When the islands and mountains are fleeing away,
Who, who shall stand in that awful day? It is he in whose mouth there is found no guile,
Who is cheered by the Saviour’s approving smile,
Whose hands are clean, and whose heart is pure,
It is he alone who will stand secure;
Who has calmly endured the world’s cold frown,
Yet refusing to lay his armor down;
Whose eye has been fixed on the Coming One,
And will soon hear the plaudit pronounced, “Well
done!” ’Tis the sanctified throng all cleansed from sin;
Through the gates of the city they’ll enter in;
Yea its portals blest will be opened wide,
To all of the tested and purified,
And when that great wrath-storm shall burst on the [world,
And his banner of vengeance on earth be unfurled,
And sinners shall fall in Jehovah’s hand,
Such, such in that day, will be able to stand;
For the blessed hope with its unseen power,
Will sustain and soothe in that trying hour. But beyond these dark scenes of conflict and sin,
Shall the new earth’s glory be ushered in,
Where the river of Eden will softly glide,
With the Life-giving tree on its either side,
And will flow once more among Eden bowers,
And the earth yield her paradise fruits and flowers:
And the city of God which the righteous awaits—
With its twelve foundations and pearly gates—
With its beautiful pathways all paved with gold,
Will be filled with glory, and bliss untold,
For the nations their glory and honor will bring,
And rejoice in the presence of Christ their king;
Yea the earth be touched by his powerful hand,
And the righteous behold it a purified land:
Where the trees shall be clothed with a living green,
And nothing of sickness and death be seen;
And nothing shall ever know blight or decay,
For the former dark earth-scenes have passed away;
Where the millions of ransomed ones ever will dwell,
And their songs of redemption unceasingly swell,
And the choirs of God in the beautiful lands,
Long shall enjoy the work of their hands.