p. 87 | CHARLES P. WHITFORD by Charles P. Whitford

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 7, 1869

CHARLES P. WHITFORD

By Charles P. Whitford

From Bro. Whitford.

DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: There is a home, thank the Lord, where the weary shall find rest. I feel that amid earth's manifold disquietudes, its crosses, and its losses, that I can with joy look forward to that blessed hour when there shall be no more sin, and therefore no more sorrow. And when I think of that blessed time, when God shall terminate the tears of a weeping world, my heart cries out, “Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly.” Will not our chief ground of rejoicing then be, that there will be no more sin to cause them? Then every tear shall be wiped from every eye, and then may I be permitted to know all that is comprehended in the holy beatitude, how “blessed,” indeed, are “the pure in heart,” who are to “see God.”

When I look at the world, I find that its pleasures are fading, its hopes delusive, its friendships perishable. Hence I am solemnly and habitually impressed by the surpassing magnitude of “the things not seen.”

For more than a year I have been striving to live nearer to Jesus, and then I shall live near all his people, looking forward to that blessed time when we shall see eye to eye.

I have passed through many temptations and struggles with the enemy; but I feel as if I had passed through a refining fire, and to-day finds me, not with a greater abundance of joy than I have often experienced in my Christian warfare, but with a greater degree of knowledge of godliness, for which I most heartily thank my Father in Heaven. I am weary of this earth, and long to be with my blessed Redeemer and all the saints. It rejoices my heart to know that we are rapidly nearing the heavenly harbor, where stormy seas and angry waves foam no more; where all will be peace, love, and joy, forever and ever.

Shall we meet on that happy shore?

CHARLES P. WHITFORD

Addison, Vt.