III. The Sabbath Day — The Sermon
By Violet Miriam Beck
The sermon! Have you ever heard
Of the beasts of the prophets? Wondrous things,
With heads and horns and feet and wings;
Half a one animal, half a one bird,
Half a one lion, half a one man—
Imagine all combinations you can.
There's a ram which never touches the ground,
And a dragon never on earth to be found—
Such wonderful creatures in Daniel abound.
They symbolize kingdoms which rise and fall. There are stars which fall on a certain night,
And the moon, the full, did not give her light.
There are wars, and earthquakes, and plagues last
of all,
And other signs to tell us when
Messiah will come again. Then woe to the sinner, wicked and wild,
Who has rejected the love of the Saviour mild:
He will call on the mountains to bury him;
But the eyes of the judges are not dim—
Judgment is meted out to him. Satan, that wicked one, shall be bound
And cast in a bottomless pit in the ground. But those who have loved the Saviour good,
And have done to others as they should—
Have succored the orphans, lent to the poor,
And have turned none needy from their door—
Will receive their reward
At the hands of the Lord. “Inasmuch as ye did it to these,” He will say,
Ye have done it to Me. Let these come this way.” A sheep or a goat—which will you or I be,
When the judgment shall be pronounced finally? Dear Lord, unto Thee, unto Thee, in all truth,
We would come in the days of our youth,
Ere the dark days come and we know not where
There is rest for the soul.
Thou art sweet; Thou art fair.
Not out of fear, O, not out of fear
Do we turn to Thee here;
But because we love Thee we come to Thee,
In sincerity;
Because Thou hast loved us, and died to bless,
And bring unto us our happiness.