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REJOICE

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 18, 1861

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 18, No. 4.

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REJOICE.

By A. L. Guilford

Rejoice, ye travelers to mount Zion! But why should I rejoice, says one, when trouble, trials and disappointment, are my lot continually? How can I rejoice when everything turns against me? Well, afflicted one, you ought to rejoice that God has permitted you to live, and has given you the use of your rational powers, so that you can reason, and understand for what purpose he created you, and placed you upon his earth. You should rejoice that God has given you his revealed word, so that you may know how finally to escape the troubles of this life, by preparing for another state of existence, where there will be no sorrow, but where the inhabitants will be forever happy. Would not this be far better than never to exist? O yes, certainly it would. Then rejoice that God has seen fit to give you existence, and, as any one would do who would follow the dictates of reason, prepare by obeying your Creator for a better world than this, and not as many will do, rush headlong through life, not following what reason says to them, not regarding the wonderful offers of happiness and everlasting life by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rejoice ye way-worn travelers. Rejoice that time is short; that eternity is near; that the race is almost run. Do not faint by the way. Do not give up in despair, but struggle on, suffer on, a little longer. Experience tells us that a consciousness of earnestly striving to do right in all things will tend much to sweeten the bitter draught we may be called to drink. Rejoice that you can be made pure and holy by passing through the furnace of affliction. It is written that those who will be arrayed in white robes and stand before the throne of God, are those who have come up out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rejoice that there is one who knows all you have to bear, and is touched with the feeling of your infirmities, and is able and willing to help you in every trying hour. Yes, rejoice in Christ Jesus. Rejoice that you may suffer with Him who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Finally, in the language of the apostle I would say, "Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice."
A. L. GUILFORD.
Monroe, Wis.