TIME AND ITS STORY by Geo. E. Price

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 17, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 58.

TIME AND ITS STORY.

By Geo. E. Price

BY GEO. E. PRICE.

(Concluded.)

XIII. THE CLOSING HOUR OF NIGHT—THE COMING DAY.

Oh, who will heed the warning sent from God? The conflict hastens fast; about us draw The cords that soon must lead us to decide. Will we cut loose from all this world of sin, And firmly stand for God and for his truth? Oh, blessed such! No harm can them befall, Nor any plague come near their safe abode. God's seal upon their foreheads, they can stand, While others fall beneath the plagues of God. Not so the wicked. Now has come their turn, Who ate the good of earth and drank its sweet, Who hurled loud imprecations on the few Who chose to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. Oh, howl, ye faithless shepherds of the flock! Howl ye who trusted your poor souls to them. Have they preserved them 'gainst the day of God? Oh, howl, ye vain professors! Now has come The day of vengeance on your guilty heads. Ye now can see it is not harmless sport To trouble those so precious in God's sight, Who touched are as the apple of his eye. O vain, deluding pastors, that have taught The law of God abolished at the cross! Ye now can see that God's eye has discerned Your inmost thought, and watched your every move. All words you wrote, or spoke from sacred desk, Have borne their fruit; around you see the souls, The harvest of your work, whose flesh consumes While standing on their feet, in abject woe, And eyes and tongue consume within their heads. Ah, fain would ye escape the wrath of God, Which now descends in torrents on your heads, Unmixed with mercy that ye long have spurned! What now avails your silver and your gold To comfort ye who lose eternal life? Now fall ye down, confessing loud the love That God has manifest by mighty deeds To those ye thought to kill did they not bow To heavy laws that ye had made, to force Their conscience in obedience to your will. What now avails the image that ye made, Commanding all to worship, or the mark That all must wear or forfeit earthly rights? Oh, vain these thoughts, for now ye see the men Whom ye despised on earth, exalted high, And ye condemned who thought to rule the world!

XIV.

Give ear, all ye to whom this message comes, As voice of warning from Almighty God. Why look ye to the things of this vain world? Why set your heart on gaudy things of earth, When ye can well obtain the heavenly crowns Placed on your heads by hands that bled for you? We are commanded to obey that law Which forces mark of beast on all the world; Why not this spurn as from the pit of lies, Usurping God's true Sabbath from its place? The great rewards ought surely tempt your souls, Though life wears out beneath the cross ye bear. A reign for endless years upon the earth, Made pure and spotless from the stains of sin, And matchless love enjoying all the while— Oh, surely this is worth all trials here! And why lament that cares are pressing hard? Why should we mourn as those without a hope? Is it worth while to leave the cause of truth And throw contempt on all we now hold dear, Because the world commands it at our hands? Why fear their wrath before the wrath of God? Is their wrath heavy as the seven plagues, Poured out unmixed on all who do these deeds? Oh, let us have respect to the reward Promised to all o'ercomers at the last!

What could be surer than His promised word To be with us down even to the end? And with us who will fear, though hell oppose Our keeping all of His eternal laws? Apace the day draws on when we will stand On sea of glass, and with the harps of God Shall praise our Saviour for the victory O'er beast's infernal mark and image vile. Great day! how fast it hastens, and how fast We nearer draw to our eternal home! See there the jasper walls, the streets of gold. Oh, how they glitter 'neath the beauteous light That shines from out the glory of the Lord! Immortal made, we walk with him in white; We see his countenance, and hear his words, Not merely for a day or for a year, But through the ages of eternity.