Earlier text: EditorialSOME SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.
In our last we presented the question asked by the disciples of our Lord in Matthew 24:3, and promised a reply. That question, or questions, for there are really three, are: "When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?" "These things" refers to the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem. This we need not stop to consider. The question we wish now to deal with is, Will there be signs preceding the coming of Christ so definite and distinct that we may know that his coming is near? This question is definitely answered in the record which Luke gives of the same conversation of our Lord and his disciples recorded in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. We there 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; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21: 25-27. Notice how widespread these signs are to be,—in the sidereal world, in the physical world, in the social world—everywhere. The greatest event ever witnessed by the universe will be heralded, so far as man is concerned, by universal omens and signs. But before we consider these signs let us notice the baselessness of one objection which is brought against the evidence drawn from the discourse of Christ as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. The objection is that all that is said in these chapters refers to the period of time which intervened between the time when the predictions were given and Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. Three things we will mention which forbid this interpretation: 1. The description of Christ's coming and the gathering of his people in Matt. 24: 29, 30, forbids such application. It is consistent as applied to Christ's second coming; it is utterly inconsistent as applied to the destruction of Jerusalem. 2. Among the things which precede the coming of Christ are wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Matt. 24: 6, 7. But this was impossible before Jerusalem was destroyed, as Rome then ruled the world, and for many years after this. What kingdoms or nations were there who rose against each other? 3. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. John wrote the Revelation subsequent to 90 A.D., twenty or more years after the destruction of Jerusalem, yet he gives the same signs which are given in Matt. 24: 29 as omens of the coming of the great day of God. Rev. 6: 13-18. Having established the fact that these predictions of our Lord in Luke 21: 25-27 do not refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, let us note some of the signs there given:— 1. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars. The account is more definite in Matt. 24: 29 and Mark 13: 24. The days of great tribulation under the persecuting power of the Papacy are presented as a feature of the prophecy. These645days are predicted in Dan. 7: 25, and several other prophecies. They are known as the 1260 days, or years, of the papal supremacy, beginning in 538 A.D. and ending in 1798. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened," says Matthew. The testimony of Mark 13: 24 makes it still more explicit, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened." This is the first prominent sign. The tribulation of the days ended before the days expired. Public sentiment revolted against the persecution for conscience' sake. In 1776 Maria Therese, empress of Austria, issued a decree tolerating all sects and religions, which had a vast influence in lifting from Christians the hand of persecution. In the same year the United Colonies of Great Britain in America declared themselves to be free and independent States. This new country opened its doors to the oppressed of all nations. Those who had been persecuted for conscience' sake found here what they had sought,—a church without a pope, and a State without a king. As expressed in another prophecy, "The earth helped the woman [the church]." Rev. 12: 16. Placing the date when the tribulation ceased in 1776, we have a period of time intervening, before the days ended in 1798, of twenty-two years. Now note the exactness of the prophecy concerning this first sign, the darkening of the sun. It comes "in those days, after that tribulation." Mark 13: 24. It also comes "immediately after the tribulation of those days." Matt. 24: 29. So that it matters not how many times the sun may have been darkened in the past, or subsequent to the closing of the 1260 years of tribulation, there must be a darkening of the sun within these twenty-two years, soon after they begin. And there was just such a darkening as this on May 19, 1780, just four years after the tribulation of the days ceased. Many authorities might be given; we will quote two or three and refer to others. Whittier, the poet, has given us a good picture of that time in his poem "Abraham Davenport":— "Twas on a 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, like the night
In day of which the Norland sagas tell,—
The twilight of the gods. The low-hung sky
Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim
Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs
The crater's sides from the red hell below.
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sound of labor died;
Men prayed and women wept; all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky." Says Webster's Unabridged Dictionary in its "Explanatory and Pronouncing Vocabulary of Noted Names," etc.:— The dark day, May 19, 1780, so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day, extending over all New England. In some places, persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. . . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known. The Boston Gazette of May 22, 1780, says:— The printers acknowledge their incapacity of describing the phenomenon which appeared in that town on Friday last. It grew darker and darker until nearly one o'clock, when it became so dark the inhabitants were obliged to quit their business, and they had to dine by the light of the candle. Dr. Tenney, in 1785, wrote to the Historical Society concerning it. He says:— Although the uncommon darkness which attracted the attention of all ranks of people in this part of the country on the 19th of May, 1780, was a phenomenon which several gentleman of considerable literary abilities have endeavored to solve, yet I believe you will agree with me that no satisfactory solution has yet appeared. Herschel, the great astronomer, says:— The dark day in Northern America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain. See also "Tract 379—Life of Edward Lee," American Tract Society; "Robert Sears' Guide to Knowledge," New York, 1844; "Our First Century," pp. 88-96, and many other authorities. "And the moon shall not give her light." Matt. 24: 29; Rev. 6: 12. Some of the above authorities also refer to the darkening of the moon, which occurred the following night. The sun could not have been eclipsed, for the moon was in the full; but though it was full moon it gave no light; the darkness was impenetrable, so that, as one writer says, a sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eye was equally invisible with the blackest velvet. At times the moon appeared, and when it did another writer says it "had the appearance of blood." These God-given signs appeared as predicted. "When these things begin to come to pass [says our Lord], then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke 21: 28. But another sign is yet to follow,—"And the stars shall fall from heaven." Matt. 24: 29; Rev. 6: 13. As to the time when this took-place, we will let the historian answer. Many now are living who will testify to the truth of the following testimonies, the first from Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, the second from Henry Dana Ward in the New York Journal of Commerce of November 14, 1833, the next day after the meteoric shower, or falling stars, occurred:— The extent of the shower of 1833 was such as to cover no inconsiderable part of the earth's surface, from the middle of the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west; and from the northern coast of South America to the undefined regions among the British possessions on the north, the exhibition was visible, and everywhere presented nearly the same appearance. This is no longer to be regarded as a terrestrial, but as a celestial, phenomenon; and shooting stars are now to be no more viewed as casual productions of the upper regions of the atmosphere, but as visitants from other worlds, or from the planetary voids. No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose, like that of yesterday morning. A prophet 1,800 years ago foretold it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understanding stars falling to mean falling stars; or "hoi asteres tou ouranou epesen teos geos," in the only sense in which it is possible to be literally true. Here are three signs of the Lord's coming, in the sun, moon, and stars, using the latter term as it is commonly used. From these signs our Saviour presents the following parable in Matt. 24: 32-35; Mark 13: 28-31; Luke 21: 29-33. The language is similar in all; we quote the former:— "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." We will consider this passage in our next. THE WORD OF TRUTH THE WAY TO HEAVEN.
By Mrs. E. G. White
WE are to present the truth as it is in Jesus, made fragrant and attractive by the grace and the courtesy that characterized the life of Christ. Godliness is to be an ornament to the life, as well as the saving salt of character. Why do those who claim to be advanced in knowledge, make themselves objectionable, and bring the truth into disrepute? It is because the truth has not been permitted to sanctify their unholy dispositions. Those who misrepresent the truth are harsh, unsympathetic, and denunciatory. They climb upon the judgment seat, as though they had been ordained to measure character, and lord it over God's heritage. In their uncourteous ways, they make it manifest that love is not in their hearts, and they do not know the plague spot of their own souls. They do not keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, nor value the soul as Christ's purchased possession, although they are charged with treating Christ as they treat the least of his little ones. What is it that constitutes the loveliness of the soul?—It is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Jesus said, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." If the things of nature are so clothed in loveliness by our Heavenly Father, shall not the soul be clothed in more desirable beauty? Through the merits and virtues of Jesus Christ, the soul may wear the image of Him who created man in His own likeness. It is holiness of life and Christlikeness of character that constitute the beauty of the soul. Through sin the divine image in man has been marred, and Satan has placed upon the soul the stamp of his own image and character; for it has been Satan's purpose to obliterate the image of God in man, so that man should not occupy the mansions that Jesus has gone to prepare for those who love him. Through apostasy Satan lost heaven, and he is determined that the human race, whom he has led to transgress the law of God, shall not enjoy the pure and inexpressible glory from which he is shut out. The Lord Jesus came to earth that he might recreate the image of God in man. He says to the repenting sinner, "A new heart will I give you." "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." He who abides in Christ, and has Christ abiding in his heart by faith, cannot retain the same unlovely traits of character as were made manifest in his life before he had a connection with Christ. Christ came to save men from their sins, not in their sins. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." "We then as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive646not the grace of God in vain." "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Christ came to the world that we might become new creatures, created after the similitude of his own character; that we might have purity like the purity of God, have perfection like his perfection. In the work of regeneration, the original loveliness begins to be restored. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted to the soul, and the image of the divine begins to shine forth. "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is plainly declared that a change takes place in the character of the human agent. In the Christian life we are not assured that we shall be freed from trials, but that grace will be given us to bear them. We are individually called to go through temptations and trials, but the object for which they are permitted to come upon us is that we may be perfected in grace and love, that the image of selfishness may disappear, and the image of Christ appear in our characters, as we advance from glory to glory, from character to character, following on to know the Lord. The soul polluted by sin, through divine power is recreated after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness. Ushered into the Christian life we no longer complain of darkness; for we have the light of life and joy which Christ said would be in all who abide in him. "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." In place of having less love as we advance in the Christian life, we are to have love that will increase more and more until our love is perfected; and where there is perfect love, there is full joy. We can be happy when we see God in everything. When we can see him in affliction, we have comfort and solace in our sorrow. When the sunshine of prosperity smiles, we recognize that the blessing flows from the fountain of life, and when trial and affliction are ours, we realize that the hand of the Lord is in all our perplexities, and thus we come to understand that sunshine and shadow are needful to perfect the character of the believer, and give him the true joy of perfect trust in God; for through faith he looks beyond the things that are seen to the things that are unseen. He says, "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Praise God, we have a divine road to heaven. We need not depend upon the conjectures and opinions of men, but upon the infallible decision of the word of God. The word of the infinite God is true, and cannot be distorted to suit men's pleasure, or be turned aside to suit the inclinations of the unsanctified soul. No man can safely judge the word of the supreme Ruler of the universe. In it is his revealed will. In it we have a guide to the world of bliss, to eternal life. The road to life is summed up in the knowledge of God. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." SUNDAY AND TEMPERANCE.
By W. N. Glenn
At a recent temperance meeting in this city a minister made the assertion that temperance and Sunday observance were so intimately connected as to be practically inseparable. The sentiment was seconded by a leading member of the W. C. T. U., and apparently indorsed by the majority of the audience. This was all in support of a pretext for demanding the Sunday closing of the San Francisco Midwinter Fair as a temperance measure. It would seem that a second thought is all that is necessary to dispel such a vagary from an unprejudiced mind, and a mere reminder of well-known facts will certainly convince reasonable people of the fallacy of the assumption of such Sunday enthusiasm. It is a fact that the most ultra temperance people known to history have not been believers in Sunday sacredness at all, and the same is true to-day. The prophet Jeremiah was sent by the Lord to rebuke the people of Judah and Jerusalem for their utter neglect of his commandments, and in contrast with their action he cites the steadfast example of the Rechabites: "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment; notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me." Jer. 35:14. This shows that there was a people in that remote age who persistently abstained from intoxicating liquors without any reference to Sunday observance. But let us follow these Rechabites down to more modern times. From McClintock & Strong's "Ecclesiastical Cyclopædia" we learn that Benjamin of Tudela, in the twelfth century, mentions that near El Jubar he found Jews who were called Rechabites. They were said to number 100,000, followed farming and stock raising, and abstained from wine and flesh. A later traveler, Dr. Wolff, gives a more detailed report. In 1829 he was told by the Jews of Jerusalem and Yemen that he would find the Rechabites of Jeremiah 35 living near Mecca. When he came near Senaa he found a tribe, called Beni-Khaibr, who identified themselves with the sons of Jonadab. He conversed with one of them, named Musa, and reports his conversation as follows:— I asked him, "Whose descendants are you?" Musa answered, "Come, and I will show you," and read from an Arabic Bible the words of Jer. 35:5-11. He then went on: "Come, and you will find us 60,000 in number. You see the words of the prophet have been fulfilled: Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me forever." In a later journal (1839) Dr. Wolff mentions a second interview with Musa, and describes them as "keeping strictly to the old rule." Later still is a paper on "Recent Notices of the Rechabites," by Signor Pierotti, read at the Cambridge meeting of the British Association in 1862. He met a tribe calling themselves by that name near the Dead Sea. They had a Hebrew Bible, and told the same story as had been told to Dr. Wolff some thirty years before. But the "Ecclesiastical Cyclopædia" adds to these testimonies that abstinence from intoxicating liquors "ceases to be remarkable in Arabia, where no one drinks wine, and where, among the strongholds of Islam, it could probably not be obtained without danger and difficulty." Furthermore, it is a well-known fact, emphasized and held up to conspicuous observation by temperance advocates and statisticians, that the inhabitants of heathen countries are not nearly so much addicted to strong drink as those of the so-called Christian countries, under whose influence and teaching alone is the Sunday promulgated as the Sabbath of the Lord. And it is also well known that in heathen countries the crime of drunkenness is constantly being increased by contact with the traders and speculators from those "Christian" and Sunday-observing countries that enforce the intoxicating beverages upon the people, sometimes at the point of the bayonet. All history, past and current, stands as an emphatic denial of the assumption that Sunday observance is in any degree connected with abstinence from intoxicating liquors. The Arab, the Hindu, the Chinese, the African, the Pacific islanders, and the aborigines of North and South America, associating Sunday observance with the results of their connection with Christianity, might more appropriately assume that it was the cause of their stumbling into the gutter. Sunday observance as a temperance measure has made rather a sorry record. The most effective temperance movements in history have not been intimately connected with Sunday observance. But those temperance people whose temperance efforts are evidently mere stepping-stones to Sunday laws might learn right in their own midst that "temperance in all things" has no connection whatever with Sunday observance. There is a people, represented in this city by several hundred—perhaps a thousand in all—who are practically the most ultra temperance people in the country, yet they do not observe Sunday at all. Many of them have been Sunday observers in the past, and were as conscientious and consistent in so doing as any others, yet many of them testify that it was not until they had changed their belief in this respect and assumed their present religious attitude that they really learned what true temperance is. They can point to many staunch Sunday observers who would fain enforce such observance by law, but are themselves not only users of intoxicating liquors but actually engaged in the traffic. THE TESTING TIME.
By The Sunlight
TRAVELERS tell us of a tree in tropical countries the inner parts of which are sometimes eaten out by ants, while the bark and leaves remain apparently as fresh as ever; and it is not till the tornado comes and sweeps it down that its weakness is discovered. But the storm did not make the tree weak; it only revealed how weak it was, and its feebleness was the result of the gnawing of insects through a long course of time. In like manner, if we let our characters be honeycombed by constant neglect of common duty, or by647daily indulgence in secret sin, or by habitual yielding to some temptation, we cannot expect anything else than ruin when the testing hour shall come.—The Sunlight. OBSTACLES TO THE GOSPEL.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THERE are very many good people who are solicitous for the progress of the gospel, and who show their interest by attempts to remove the "obstacles that are in the way of its progress." One great obstacle is intemperance, and therefore these good people are using all the means in their power to make people temperate, so that the gospel may have a fair chance with them. Now there is not the least question that intemperance is a gigantic evil, but it is not the only evil in the world. It is true that no drunkard shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but it is just as true that no covetous man, no railer, no blasphemer, no deceiver, no impure person, no envious person, no thinker of evil, shall have any inheritance therein. Impatience will shut a person out of heaven as surely as intemperance, and it is very certain that there are many more impatient people than there are drunkards. Pride is an abomination in the sight of the Lord, and will shut one out of heaven as surely as intemperance, and while the number of drinkers is legion, the number of those who are filled with pride is vastly greater. These are obstacles to the spread of the gospel, as well as is intemperance. "But it is easier to get rid of these things than it is to get rid of intemperance." Then why are they not diminishing? It is very common to hear of the ineffectual attempts of the drunkard to overcome his appetite for drink. Broken temperance pledges are so numerous that some people are even beginning to have doubts about the power of the pledge to save a man. The idea quite generally obtains that there is a peculiar untrustworthiness about a drunkard. It is thought that his word is not so good as that of other men. Suppose the matter be tested. Let it become as popular to sign pledges to abstain from impatient speech, from talking about one's neighbors, or from thinking evil, and it would be seen that the promises of other people besides the drunkards are not good for much. There would be such a host of broken pledges as was never dreamed of in all the efforts to reclaim drunkards. It is also quite common to speak of the slavery of drink. The drunkard is pitied or despised as a slave, by those who never in their lives had any desire to use strong drink, but who have been bound as with fetters of steel by pride, selfishness, lust, impatience, covetousness, deceit, envy, evil speaking, or evil thinking. These people will make the same excuses for themselves that the drunkard does. They have tried many times to overcome their evil habits, but in vain. They have never put a pledge upon paper, but they have promised themselves and others times without number, that they will reform. Yet they never have. And so they have fallen back upon the old excuse that some allowance must be made for their peculiar natures. No, all the slaves are not found in the grogshops. We are not by any means seeking to belittle the evil of intemperance. But we are trying to help somebody to look at things with a better sense of their proportion. It seems as though anyone who stops to think over the matter will be convinced that it is just as easy for the drunkard to stop his drinking as it is for the covetous man to overcome his love for money, or for the impatient man to master his temper. Therefore these, and other things that have been mentioned, are as much obstacles in the way of the gospel as intemperance is. The trouble is that some things show off more than others, and look worse. Fashion, which in such matters is denominated "public sentiment," regards some kinds of sin as much worse than others. A man could not be admitted into the "best society" if he were a common drunkard, whereas impatience at home and with his employees, such love of money as would lead him, through his agent, to wring the last penny from a widow, ambition, lust, and pride, would none of them affect his standing in the least. Indeed, pride is quite generally counted as a virtue, although there is no other sin that finds such hearty condemnation in the Bible. A person may even be a church member "in good and regular standing," who is impatient, covetous, lustful, envious, given somewhat to gossip, and very much to evil thinking; but not if he is a drunkard, because drunkenness "brings a reproach upon the church." We do not say this to apologize for the drunkard, but to set sharply before the reader the unequal way which people have of looking at things. Well, what shall be done? how shall all these obstacles be removed from the way of648the gospel? Just give the gospel a chance, and it will show you how to remove obstacles. Quit trying to remove obstacles from the way of the gospel, and turn your attention to the gospel itself. Preach the word without apology or compromise, and see what it can do. The only thing that the gospel is in the world for is to remove obstacles. Drunkenness is a sin, just the same as hosts of other things, and the gospel is for the purpose of saving men from sin. Moreover, it is the power of God unto salvation. And it does thorough work upon a man. It saves him from intemperance, but it does more. It makes him an entirely new man. It does not save him from drinking habits to let him go to perdition through pride. It makes him complete, after the image of Him who created him. Christ is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. There is no soul so low that Christ will not stoop to touch him, and he is able to raise up everyone whom he reaches. Then let him work. Hold him up before the world. Do not think to accomplish with the power of man that which can be accomplished only with the power of God. Remember that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual, and that they are "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. 10: 4, 5. Therefore, let no one who loves his fellow-men, and who would do them good, waste his time in anything less than making known to them "the riches of the glory of this mystery," which is "Christ in you the hope of glory," and let us preach him, "warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Col. 1: 27, 28. SELF-EXALTATION.
By Eliza H. Morton
To EXALT is to magnify, to extol, and to sound the praises of. Satan magnified himself when he sought to be like the Most High, and it is natural for the human heart to delight in self-exaltation. Satan's great object is and ever has been to lead individuals and nations to exalt themselves. Rome magnified itself when it gave sentence of death against Jesus Christ and thus stood up against the Prince of princes. France exalted itself when the Bible was discarded, and the existence of the Deity denied. The Papacy magnified itself by exalting the pope "above all that is called God or that is worshiped." Individuals exalt themselves whenever they seek positions of honor, or in any way call attention to self. But if the Lord magnifies a man or woman as he did Joshua in the sight of all Israel (Josh. 3:7), it is all right, for it is for His own glory. Christ, though equal with the Father, "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name." If we are Christ's servants, then it becomes us to exalt our Master and ignore self, waiting until in God's own good time we are exalted by him, for we read that "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." The meek of the earth magnify the Lord with thanksgiving. They magnify God's law and make it honorable, and, if permitted to hold positions of responsibility in connection with God's work in the earth, they magnify their office but not themselves. We may exalt God's word and his name, and, if Christ abides in us by faith, we may magnify him continually in our bodies. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."
North Deering, Me. IF WE COULD SEE.
By Fannie Bolton
If we could see the path where we are led,
Though it seem rough and thorny to our feet,
And know as God knows all, how comforted
Would be our hearts, knowing God's will is sweet!
If we could rise above the path of grief,
And see as God sees, we should choose as he,
And take the path that he has given, if
We knew it all, if we could only see. If we could only see, we would not go
Mourning toward Zion, though the path might be
A path of thorn, and filled with many a woe,
We would go singing, if we could but see.
We'd lift life's burden with a brave delight,
And know our cross was love's own cross, and be
Happy in God, knowing his plans were right,
If only we could know it all and see. For we should see the Master in the way
Holding our hand, and leading every step;
We would not murmur, pull from him, and say,
"We've only cause to weep as we have wept."
Oh no, the thorns would suddenly have bloom,
And our hard cross would suddenly grow light;
For Jesus' presence would dispel our gloom,
And joyful lips would say, "Praise God, 'tis right." But we may see, aye, see by faith the path,
And we may hear the Master's voice to-day,
And we may know the love for us he hath,
And we may feel his presence in the way,
And we may choose with him the path of grief,
And yield our will, and find God's joy relief;
Yes, we may see and sing in sorrow, if
We will but see with hearts that do believe. For here's his word, he doth not willingly
Afflict our souls and grieve the sons of men.
He hath a path divine to choose for thee,
Whereby to lead to heaven's joys again.
The furnace is not made to burn away
The gold of life, but to consume the dross,
And now thou mayst behold by faith to-day
The gain of what has seemed but bitter'st loss. Like as a father pities, so doth God;
He hears thee on his heart continually,
And if thou art smitten with some chastening rod,
Oh, thou wouldst choose it too if thou couldst see;
For if thy wound be probed, it is the hand
Of the Physician does it to relieve
Of some corruption, and thou'lt understand
His love to thee in this if thou'lt believe. O soul bless God, who dealeth lovingly,
Answering thy selfish prayers by firm denial.
O soul bless God that he doth choose for thee
The path of suffering and of fiery trial.
'Tis love most true, and 'twill be sweet and real
When thou hast answered "yes" to all his plan,
And let him shape thy soul to his ideal,
And make thee like him, pure and meek and grand. Then thou wilt nestle to his heart as one
His mother comforteth, and see the stroke
His heart bears for thee, suffering to atone
For thy rebellion when his dear heart broke.
And thy grief will be grief not for thy woe,
But for his grief, and he will comfort thee,
And say, "Weep not, oh, mourn not, weep not so;
I knew thou'dst choose this path if thou couldst see." Then faith sees, yes, and, oh, how beautiful
Is that dark path illumined by his love!
And souls that see by faith grow dutiful,
And meekly walk beside his feet, and of
The Master learn, and see before
Heaven's glory, Christ alone in majesty,
And sing and praise in rapture, and adore,
And choose the path that by faith's eye they see. Trusting Jesus Through Uncertainty
"I SEE not a step before me,
And I would not if I could,
For I know that to those whom Jesus loves,
There can happen only good."