p. 811 | WEIGHTS by Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 17, 1901

WEIGHTS

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.

Weights are generally accounted as undesirable burdens. Sin is the weight which burdens our spirits and oppresses our souls. But we are entreated to lay aside the weight,—the sin which so easily besets us,—and to run with patience the race set before us. When David was about to fight the giant of Gath in the Valley of Elah, King Saul thought to do the young stripling great honor, as well as to render him a kindness, by putting the heavy armor of the king upon him. But the youth knew better than his royal master. The armor was bulky and heavy. He must be encumbered with no weights when he went to battle with the giant,—his only armor must be the protecting hand of Omnipotence. So we, when engaging in conflict with the giant Sin, need to put off every weight, and depend alone upon the shield of the Spirit.

But there is another kind of weight,—thank God,—the weight of glory. It is more mighty, more wonderful, more incomprehensible, than any other weight. The strongest adjectives in the language are summoned by the inspired writer as alone able fitly to describe this weight of glory.

Tell me, O thou man of God, before whose raptured eyes the vision of the glorified has passed, tell me, will the redeemed wear a crown of gold over there? Will a diadem of glory rest upon the immortal brow of the servants of Jesus? A weight of glory! What a strange word to use in connection with the word “glory”—a weight! Something vast and overwhelming. Ah, but the glory will be overwhelming. And how will this glory compare with anything of earth?

The answer of the inspired penman is that it will be “exceeding.” Yes; but has there been no glory that can compare with it in superlative grandeur? The glory of the kings of earth has, methinks, been termed “exceeding.” Is the glory of the redeemed to be like theirs? Like the notes of a mighty organ, I hear the answer rolling down the centuries: “The glory of heaven is far more exceeding.”

Ah, yes, but we are not yet satisfied. Earthly pomp and splendor and glory is so brief—so fading, so uncertain. The hand of the grim messenger but touches the brow with one of its chilling fingers, and the kingly vesture is exchanged for the shroud. The worm of corruption trails its loathsome body where but yesterday rested the coronet of the monarch. Will the glory of which you tell me, the reward promised to the saints of the Most High, fade and perish and come to naught like that of earth?

Listen, faithless questioner. The glory offered by the Most High to His children shall be exceeding, yea, far more exceeding; but best of all, it shall be eternal. No fading laurels there. The gold of that city shall not tarnish, the light of that country shall not grow dim. The twelve tremendous pearls of the twelve tremendous gates will never need burnishing. The glorious gems reposing in the jewel-casket of the King of the country, which He is reserving for His redeemed, will never lose their luster while the eternal ages roll away.

Sometimes we find ourselves longing, with foolish hearts, for the applause of men,—putting our trust in princes in whom there is no help. We forget our high calling, and seek to satisfy the hunger of our souls with the husks of worldly fame and emolument.

Awake, my soul! shall the glare of the baubles of earth eclipse thy sight and render thy vision dim for beholding the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which is thy promised inheritance? Like Esau, shall we sell our birth-right?

Let us oftener contemplate this “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Let us fix our eyes so steadfastly upon it that we shall become blind to the glitter of earth, and insensible to the allurements of sin.

Eye hath not seen the glories bright, O Church of God, laid up for thee,— The mansions fair, the gems of light, The golden fruitage of life's tree. Ear hath not heard nor heart conceived The hidden splendors of that place, But brighter than all else shall shine The glories of Emmanuel's face.