THE WINNING OF MARGARET.
By Fannie E. Bolton
“No, My dear child,” said the missionary. “The Lord Himself has said that there should be signs of His coming. Turn to Luke 21:25, 26, and read His own statement.” Bertha read: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” “You are all, no doubt, aware of the increase of earthquakes and calamities by land and sea. The droughts, floods, famines, and fires that have made havoc in all countries are God’s signs that the earth waxes old, and that our redemption draws nigh.” “But can God warn men in no other way?” asked Margaret. “Yes; to those who will hear His messenger of peace, a messenger of peace is sent; but to those who will not hear, His judgments come. When the judgments of the Lord are in the land, the wicked learn righteousness.” “Will the dear Lord Himself come, or is His coming spiritual, as I have heard some argue?” asked Mrs. Donaldson. “It is Himself, His own dear self, who will appear. Please read John 14:1–3.” “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also!” “O, how precious is that scripture to me!” said grandma. “To think that He has gone to prepare a place for me. I shall never feel in the way; for He will prepare for me a place.” “To further answer the question as to the personal advent of our Lord, let us read 2 Thess. 4:16, 17: ‘The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’” “My husband and father and our beloved dead will be with the company who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air,” said Mrs. Donaldson. “Yes; those whom our enemy, death, has severed from us, will be united to us in the eternal union there is in Christ Jesus. It will then be proved that love can not lose its own. What a day that will be of heavenly joy and earthly anguish! Then the hymn will be proved true— ‘We shall sleep, but not forever,
There will be a glorious dawn;
We shall wake to weep, no, never,
On the resurrection morn.’ Then will be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’” “Praise the Lord!” exclaimed grandma. “And will every one see the coming of Jesus?” “Every eye shall see Him,” says John. “I wonder how it will look,” said Margaret. “Jesus says, ‘For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.’ And no wonder His coming will be thus glorious; for then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and all His holy angels will be with Him.” “How many angels do you suppose there are?” asked Bertha. “John, who saw them in holy vision, says that there are ten thousand thousands of thousands. The whole firmament will be bright with angelic forms, and the earth will be dumb before that spectacle of heavenly majesty. The sign of the Son of man will be unspeakably bright. What a sight will the coming of the Lord present! The dead will be called forth from land and sea, and will stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army. The living and the dead will be changed and glorified. The faces we have seen in the pallor of death will bloom with immortal beauty, and we which are alive and remain will reflect the image of Jesus, and be caught up in angels’ arms to share the glory which Christ had with the Father before the worlds were made.” “O, that wondrous, unknown journey,
Past the blazing worlds on high!
We shall greet the happy planets
As our train goes sweeping by.
All the worlds through space will know it,
When, no longer sad and lone,
We shall sing with harping angels,
And the Lord reclaims His own.” “This is grand and awful,” exclaimed Bertha. “But tell me why you think it is near at hand.” “Read from the twenty-eighth to the thirty-first verse of the twenty-first chapter of Luke,” said the missionary. Bertha read: “‘And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And He spake to them a parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.’” “Of what things is He speaking?” asked Ralph. “Of the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars, the distress of nations, the disturbances of nature, that Christ foretold as signs of His coming. Matthew speaks of these same signs, and definitely locates the darkening of the sun. Please read Matt. 24:29.” Ralph read: “‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.’” “This verse tells when the sun was to be darkened, and Rev. 6:12 tells the manner in which it would occur: ‘And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.’” “Has all this taken place?” asked Ralph. “It has,” said the missionary. “The sun was darkened ‘in those days’ of which Jesus is speaking, namely, before the close of the 1,260 years known as the Dark Ages, when the people of God were under persecution. After the persecution, but just before the close of the days, in 1780, the sun was darkened. Fowls went to roost in the morning, cattle came lowing home from the pasture, candles were lighted at noonday, and the general impression was that the day of doom was near at hand. Whittier wrote of it in this way:— “’Twas on the May day of the far old year,
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,
Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness. . . .
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barn-yard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed, and looked homeward; bats on leathern
wings
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;
Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky.’ That night the moon had the appearance of blood.” “Were there no signs to be seen at a later date save those of the distress of nations, and the earthquakes, famines, etc.?” asked Ralph. “Yes; the stars were to fall from heaven ‘even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.’ Rev. 6:13. In 1833 it seemed as if millions of stars were falling from one certain point in the heavens, from Gamma Leonis, in the bend of the sickle. I have met many a hoary-headed spectator to the scene. These old men and women assure me that everybody thought the end of the world was at hand. The distress of the people was very great, especially in the South, among the slaves. The extent of the shower covered almost the whole world, and it has been believed from that time to this that it was a sign of the day of God.” “What is the next sign to be fulfilled before Christ shall come?” asked Bertha. “There is no other sign given in this line of prophecy. The next event described is the passing away of the heaven as a scroll when it is rolled together, and the removing of every island and mountain, and the immediate appearing of Him from whom men will desire to hide away. The Lord says, ‘This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.’ Jesus says, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.’” “If indeed the Word of God is true, we are living in the last days. It is a glad but overwhelming thought,” said Margaret. “Sir, I would like to have a further talk with you,” said Ralph. “If you can show me the harmony of some other questions that have troubled me concerning the Bible, I will no longer be an unbeliever, but will accept Christ as my Saviour, wash my sins in His blood, accept the wedding-garment, that I may not be ashamed at His coming.” “I feel that the voice of truth has spoken to my soul to-night. O, sir, how may a soul find acceptance with God? My sins have long burdened my heart. Tell me, what shall I do to be saved?” said Margaret. “‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ The Lord says: ‘Come unto10Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden; and I will give you rest. . . . And ye shall find rest unto your souls.’ Just take the Lord at His word. Surrender yourself and your all to God, and He will accept you. Appropriate His spotless righteousness. By faith you are justified before God, and have peace with Him; for ‘there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’” “I do surrender,” said Margaret, bursting into tears. “I will lay my burden at the feet of Him who died for my sins. I realize the power of the Son of God to heal the wounds of the soul.” “Bless the Lord!” said grandma. “I feel as Simeon must have felt when he saw the infant Jesus, and said, ‘Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.’” “O, that I too might be clothed with Christ’s righteousness!” said Bertha. “I shall yet be able to say, ‘Here am I, and the children which Thou hast given me,’” said Mrs. Donaldson. “Sir, the Lord has sent you to this house with good tidings of salvation.” “Let us lift up our heads and rejoice; for our redemption draweth nigh. It will not be long before we shall be with our blessed Lord, not long before the sorrow and strife of earth is over. Let us turn our eyes away from the bitter trials of earth, from its turmoil and bloodshed, and look upon the city of our solemnities, and the land of far distances. There all tears will be wiped from our eyes, and the former things shall not come upon the heart.” Said Mrs. Donaldson: “Let us to whom God has given this precious light, hasten forth to those who are in darkness, in perplexity, and sorrow. This glorious truth will be as an open window toward heaven. All around us are hearts that ache. There are those who are bereaved by death, pressed by disaster, weighted with care, scourged by sorrow. To these we may go with the oil of joy, with the garment of praise, with the tidings of a present and eternal Deliverer.” “Yes,” said Margaret, “I will devote my life henceforth to telling the glad tidings, I have found the Lord, the desire of my heart.” “Ye did na know when ye came to the house that ye were coming for the winning of Margaret,” said grandma. “Poor bairn, how she did sigh the day! We little dreamed how soon would come deliverance. May the Lord use her and all of us for the winning of His own. I can pray as never before, ‘Thy kingdom come.’” “Before we separate, let us join in singing, ‘All hail the power of Jesus’ name.’ Erelong we shall join the hosts above in singing His everlasting praise.” FANNIE E. BOLTON.