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The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 24

CHRIST'S COMMISSION

The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

Thursday, June 10, 1880

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, June 10, 1880

CHRIST'S COMMISSION.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
After the resurrection of Christ, before he ascended to Heaven, he gave to his disciples, and through them to all who should believe on his name to the end of time, this commission: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” God has claims upon the service of all,—men and women, youth and children; and the earlier they are led out of and away from themselves, and taught to engage in unselfish labor for others, the nearer will they come to fulfilling this holy commission. There is work for every one of us to do; not one is excused. Many select a course of life for themselves, without thought or reference to the glory of God; and yet they profess to be his servants, following his directions, when they are, in fact, only serving themselves.
Some are ever ready to make excuses for not giving more attention to matters pertaining to the cause of God. In the parable of the marriage supper, Christ mentions a class who, with one consent, began to make excuses. One had bought a piece of land, and must needs go and see it; another had purchased a yoke of oxen, and must prove them; another had married a wife, and therefore he could not accept the invitation. This parable illustrates the frivolous and vain excuses which are made by those who, if they would, might come to the marriage supper of the Lamb; and it also conveys a reproof to those who might be workers in the vineyard of the Lord, but who will not, because their temporal affairs are placed above things of eternal interest.
Christ left his exalted position as commander of all Heaven, and came to this world as man's Redeemer. While here he was not treated as a sovereign, or even as a benefactor. His life was a scene of continual self-denial and sacrifice for the good of others. Said he, “I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.” All was laid upon the altar. How can we better show our appreciation of the great sacrifice made by the Lamb of God than by following his example, and carrying forward the work which he commenced. All who remain inactive when there is so much to be done, will at last be found guilty before God. In the words of the poet,—
“Do something—do it soon—with all thy might; An angel's wing would droop if long at rest, And God himself, inactive, were no longer blest.”
Those who profess to believe the truth, but feel no burden for the souls of others, will be continually backsliding, and it will require time and strength on the part of the minister to keep them from making shipwreck of faith, when they should be laboring with all their might to present the way of life and salvation to their friends and neighbors. Hundreds of men and women who at the present time are professedly engaged in the work of God, are not doing one-tenth that they might do if they would only improve all the powers God has given them. Some are doing literally nothing for the truth, and by their example of indifference are bringing others into the same position of uselessness, and thus are scattering from Christ. This latter class includes by far the greater number. They are thinking and planning only for themselves. Fathers and mothers with their little ones around them make their little circle their world. Every power of their being is centered on “me and mine,” and they are becoming narrower and more circumscribed every year of their lives. They do not open their hearts to the grace and love of Christ, and liberalize their nature and ennoble their being by placing themselves in sympathy with their fellow-men.
Many who are now left to darkness and ruin could have been helped, had their brethren—common men and women—come to them with the love of Christ glowing in their hearts, and put forth personal efforts for them. Many are waiting to be thus personally addressed. Humble, earnest conversation with such persons, and prayer for them, heart being brought close to heart, would in most cases be wholly successful.
But instead of this, those who profess to be following their Saviour rest content with expressing a desire that some brother or minister may come and help them. Thus they neglect the very work that God has left for them to do. Just the way in which this work is to be done in every case cannot be rigidly prescribed, but as they come in closer connection with the world's Redeemer, ways and means will be suggested to their minds.
The true Christian is bent on doing good, not only to his own family, but to all who come within the sphere of his influence. Many ways of usefulness will open before the willing, aspiring, devoted soul, who wants to labor for the salvation of others, thus improving the only means God has provided whereby Christians can grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. The more such persons do, the more they will see to do, and the more earnest will they be to have a part in every good work for the up-building of the kingdom of Christ. It will be their meat and drink to benefit their fellow-men and glorify God.
Let this question come home to every heart, “How much owest thou unto my Lord?” Jesus, the Master, became poor that we might have eternal riches; he died that we might have life, immortal life. Should we not be willing to follow his example, and do for others as nearly as possible as he has done for us? In so doing, our own character will be disciplined and improved, our faith will grow stronger, our zeal will become more steady and earnest, our love for God and the truth and the souls for whom Christ died will become intensified, and precious souls will be saved as the result of our labors. What greater and more ennobling work can be engaged in, than seeking to attract souls to Christ. This has been successfully done time and again by ordinary men and women, not by the most learned, eloquent or wealthy, but by the true and faithful who do their work in simplicity. One soul thus reached may, in turn, bring an army into the service of Christ. But every worker must depend wholly and constantly upon Jesus Christ for wisdom and strength.
As I travel from Maine to Washington Territory, and see the many cities and towns which have never heard the warning message, my heart is burdened. We must devise more thorough and extensive plans in order to obey the divine commission and reach every creature. Our own family, village, or neighborhood is not all the world. If every member of the church would work in any branch suited to his capability, much more might be done than is now being done to obey the command of the Master. “But,” says one, “I do not know of anything I can do in the work of God. I am willing to work, but what can I do?” To such we would say, Go to God; he will teach you. He who prays successfully will labor tirelessly for the salvation of souls. There are many things that persons may do if they only have a mind to work. There are many who will not go to church to hear the truth preached. By personal efforts in simplicity and wisdom these might be persuaded to turn their feet to the house of God. Conviction may fasten upon their minds the first time they hear a discourse upon present truth. Should your solicitations be refused, do not be discouraged. Persevere till success crowns your efforts.
Our sisters are doing comparatively nothing, when they might do very much. Christ is searching the life and character for fruit, and he finds many professed Christians, like the fruitless fig-tree, bearing nothing but leaves. The sisters can work efficiently in obtaining subscribers for our periodicals, in this way bringing the light before many minds. The distribution of tracts, and the work of Christian canvassers and colporters, can be done as well by our sisters as by our brethren. Satan is busy in this department of his work, scattering literature which is debasing the morals and poisoning the minds of the young. Infidel publications are scattered broadcast throughout the land. Why should not every member of the church be as deeply interested in sending forth publications that will elevate the minds of the people, and bring the truth directly before them? These papers and tracts are for the light of the world, and have often been instrumental in converting souls. Our publications are now sowing the gospel seed, and are instrumental in bringing as many souls to Christ as the preached word. Whole churches have been raised up as the result of their circulation. In this work every disciple of Christ can act a part. Let the leaflets and tracts, the papers and books, go in every direction. Carry with you, wherever you go, a package of select tracts, which you can hand out as you have opportunity. Sell what you can, and lend or give them away as the case may seem to require. Important results will follow.
Another work in which all may engage is gathering children and youth into the Sabbath-school. The young may in this way labor efficiently for the dear Saviour. They may shape the destinies of souls. They may do a work for the church and the world the extent and greatness of which will never be known until the day of final accounts, when the “Well done” is spoken to the good and faithful.
Sisters, do not become weary of vigilant missionary labor. This is a work you may all engage in successfully, if you will but connect with God. Before writing letters of inquiry, always lift up your heart to God in prayer that you may be successful in gathering some wild branches which may be grafted into the true vine, and bear fruit to the glory of God. All who with humble hearts take part in this work, will be continually educating themselves as workers in the vineyard of the Lord.
Our ministers should not give all their powers to preaching discourses, and let the work end there. They should instruct the members of the church how to take hold of and successfully carry forward this branch of the work, which is to our tract and missionary society like a wheel within a wheel. The movement of this inner wheel keeps in healthful, powerful action the outer wheel. Let this inner wheel cease its action, and the result will be seen in diminished life and activity in the tract and missionary society.
It is a mystery to me how any can be indifferent and careless in reference to the souls of their fellow-men in these last days. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” says the commandment. Can we do this, and have no special interest in their salvation? There is work to be done for those who know not the truth, just such work as was done for you when you were in darkness. It is too late to sleep, too late to become indolent do-nothings. To every one the Householder has given a work. Let us go forward, and not backward. We want a new conversion daily. We want the love of Jesus throbbing in our hearts, that we may be instrumental in saving many souls.
No one who loves Jesus can long retain the divine favor, if he feels no burden for sinners around him. If coldness and indifference have crept over your spiritual senses, and your interest for those who are perishing in their sins is decreasing, it is time you were converted. Your best course will be to engage at once in personal efforts to save others. In blessing them, you will yourself be blessed. No matter how heavy the crosses you must bear to do this, the blood and agonies of the Son of God appeal to you to work on, to sow beside all waters. The rich promises of the word of God are for the workers, the good and faithful. “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him.” “He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.”
The Christian has an inexhaustible supply of strength from which to draw, if he will only take God at his word, and with living faith claim the blessings he so much needs. Few have so closely studied the Bible, and contemplated the great work involved in the plan of salvation, that they can comprehend their responsibility to their fellow-men. Those who profess Christ and yet indulge in sloth and indolence know not how many will be lost through their failure to conform to the principles laid down in the word of God. And they know not how many they might have been the means of bringing under the blood-stained banner of Christ, if they had only taken up their cross and followed him wherever he might lead. It is to those, and those only, who are engaged in carrying forward the commission of our Saviour, that the blessed “Well done” will be spoken, and upon whose brows crowns of immortal glory will be placed.

THE SIFTING OF PETER.

By H. W. Longfellow

“Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Luke 22:31.
In St. Luke's Gospel we are told How Peter, in the days of old, Was sifted; And now, though ages intervene, Sin is the same, while time and scene Are shifted.
Satan desires us, great and small, As wheat to sift us, and we all Are tempted; Not one, however rich or great, Is by his station or estate Exempted.
No house so safely guarded is But he, by some device of his, Can enter; No heart hath armor so complete But he can pierce, with arrows fleet, Its center.
For all at last the cock will crow Who hear the warning voice, but go Unheeding, Till thrice and more they have denied The Man of sorrows, crucified And bleeding.
One look of that pale, suffering face Will make us feel the deep disgrace Of weakness; We shall be sifted till the strength Of self-conceit be changed at length To meekness.
Wounds of the soul, though healed, will ache; The reddening scars remain, and make Confession; Lost innocence returns no more; We are not what we were before Transgression.
But noble souls, through dust and heat, Rise from disaster and defeat The stronger, And conscious still of the divine Within them, lie on earth supine No longer.
—H. W. Longfellow, in Harper's Magazine.

WHAT ROMANISM IS DOING.

By Wm. Penniman

BY WM. PENNIMAN.
We have quoted quite largely from Catholic authorities to show that their opposition to the common-school system is wide-spread, if not universal, and that they are fully determined, to educate the people in their own way.
The Catholic Columbian, edited under the immediate supervision of the Right Reverend Bishop of Columbus, Ohio, says:—
“Our judgment of purely secular schools is, that they are unfit for Catholic children, and that Catholic parents cannot be allowed the sacraments, who choose to send their children to them when they could make use of Catholic schools.”
Again, the Tablet says:—
“The organization of schools, their entire internal arrangement, the choice and regulation of studies, and the selection, appointment, and dismissal of teachers, belong exclusively to the spiritual authority.”
The Boston Advertiser affirms:—
“Catholics would not be satisfied with the public schools, even if the Protestant Bible and every vestige of religious teaching were banished from them.”
The Western Tablet, of Chicago, declares:—
“It is a principle of the Catholic Church, laid down and enforced by several of her councils, and especially by the Council of Trent, that her pastors are to direct and watch over the education of the children of her communion. This principle has ever been maintained and acted upon. Religion is by the Catholic Church considered an essential branch of education, and without religion she conceives no real education possible.”
The Celt, the Catholic paper of Buffalo, said:—
“Better languish and die under the red flag of England, than to live and beget children of perdition under the flag of a proselytizing Republic.”
Brownson, “the great apostle of American popery,” said:—
“Our enemies rely upon godless schools, State education, as a means of checking the progress of Catholicity. We must admit they have laid their plans with infernal skill. The result will not meet their anticipations, however. The attention of the Catholic world has been directed to this subject by those whom God hath sent to rule over us, and a struggle which will end in victory for the church, has begun between Catholicity and the State, to see who shall have the child.”
One more extract of more recent date, and we are done with this part of the subject. The St. Louis Globe Democrat, of Dec. 2, 1879, represents Father Scully in his violent denunciation of the public-school system as saying:—
“Remember that this school [referring to the parochial school of Boston] has the blessing of our Holy Father the Pope, that it has the sanction of him who is the representative of Jesus Christ upon the earth; that he is watching over it and praying for it to-day. We are stronger now than we ever were; if our school was strong a few days ago, it is immensely stronger now; if it was a power the other day, it is a still greater power to-day. It is time, my friends, that the children of the Catholic Church should receive their rights and their inheritance to the faith, and they should be brought up in the arms and hands of their holy mother, the Catholic Church. She is the one that will frame them to be better citizens by far—ten thousand million times—than they will by going to the public schools. Where there is education without God, there is a death-blow struck, not only at the child, but at the home and the country, and time will tell all; time will change everything. There is an old saying, ‘Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamus in illis,’ which is, Times change, and we change with them. That is what you in this country will find out. It is history, and you will have to rejoice yet, because you will see the day when that which I am doing here for you now, the same plan will be adopted in other parishes and carried out, not only for the good of the individual parish, but for the good of the whole country.”
Quotations might be multiplied to an indefinite extent to show the opposition of popery to our common schools. This opposition pervades the entire Catholic priesthood of America. Absolution is refused to parents who patronize the common schools; and this, according to the Catholic creed, consigns them to endless perdition. A Latin work of thirty-two pages, indorsed by eleven bishops, has been published as a guide to the priests in these matters. Romanism teaches that perjury, falsehood, equivocation, and even stealing, are admissible, and may be practiced for the benefit of the Roman Catholic Church.
Popery is corrupting the sources of intelligence by perverting history. This has been done in the schools in New York. An edition of Appleton’s Cyclopedia, by the work of a Jesuit priest, has been made to favor popery. “Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary” has not escaped their hands.
There are now in the United States 5,989 priests, 24 Catholic seminaries, 663 colleges and academies, 1,136 ecclesiastical students, and 2,246 parochial schools, containing 405,234 pupils. The diocese of Baltimore has 84 parochial schools, with 15,000 pupils; Cincinnati 140, with 25,000 pupils; St. Louis 106, with 25,000 pupils; New York 83, with 33,000 pupils. The estimated Catholic population of the United States is 6,143,222. (See Saddler’s Catholic Directory for 1880, p. 22.)
Joseph Cook, in his lecture on the political power of Romanism in American cities, published in the New York Independent of Feb. 26, 1880, says:—
“In the parochial schools the children among the 6,000,000 of the American population will receive only such an education as will leave them fit to become political and ecclesiastical tools of the Romish priesthood. America cannot allow Vaticanism through parochial schools to cripple and degrade 6,000,000 of her population without suffering severely in other members of the body politic. I am no alarmist, and I do not think Rome is destined to conquer the United States, but she may conquer one limb of our body politic, and thus give trouble to our whole organization.”
These admissions in regard to the increasing power of Romanism from one who no doubt advocates the doctrine of a temporal millennium, tell on the side of truth. It seems, however, that Mr. Cook has some reason to be alarmed, as the increase of the Roman Catholic population in this country in the last twenty years has been about 2,800,000; that of the priests, 3,754; that of the churches and chapels, 4,022. The gain in priests and churches still continues. (See New York Witness of May 20, 1880.)

DO ALL FOR GOD.

The practical life of the Christian comprehends three distinct elements; viz., working, fighting, and suffering. We have to do the will of God in our business; this is working. We have to oppose our bosom sin, and to resist temptation; this is fighting. We have, finally, to endure with cheerfulness and submission whatever cross the Lord Jesus pleases to lay upon us; this is suffering. And to be right in the practical department of the Christian life is summed up in these three things: to work devoutly, to fight manfully, and to suffer patiently. Each man's wisdom and happiness must consist in doing, as well as his faculties will admit, the work which God sets him. And the true motive lifts up the humblest duties into a higher atmosphere, and refines away their earthliness, and glorifies them. “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ.”—Selected.

BE NOT DECEIVED.

By M. Wood

BY M. WOOD.
Jesus says, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Paul, writing by inspiration, adds, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal 6:7. Before revealing to his disciples the destruction of the temple, and the nature and extent of the calamities that should precede that event, together with the signs of his coming to Judgment and of the end of the world, the Saviour says, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” He looks down the stream of time with an omniscient eye, and beholds the world filled with the deceptions of Satan; and he charges his people to beware, lest they also be deceived and finally lost.
The Bible is a book of warnings, admonitions, and exhortations; but of all the warnings handed down to the people of God, none are more important than this: “Be not deceived.” This is peculiarly applicable to the present generation; for Satan, knowing that his time is limited, and that his career draws rapidly to a close, is working with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. His work of deception commenced with those pure, holy, and sinless beings that sang praises before the throne of the great Jehovah. They were deceived into the belief that with Satan at their head they could possess the very citadel of Jehovah’s empire. A rebellion broke out, and they were thrust out of Heaven.
No sooner were Adam and Eve placed in the garden in all their innocency, perfect and pure, than Satan came to tempt and to deceive them. Thus all the sin and iniquity, crime, misery, woe, poverty, distress, sickness, and death, and final destruction from the presence of the Almighty, are the result of man’s being deluded by the arch-deceiver. He commenced his career upon the earth by deceiving the representatives of the human family. His last work, just prior to his being cast into the lake of fire, is to deceive the nations (after the thousand years), which are in the four quarters of the earth. See Rev. 20:7–10.
“Be not deceived,” says Paul. “Take heed that no man deceive you,” says Jesus. Had the prophet whom God anciently sent from Judah to Bethel, where Jeroboam, king of Israel, was offering sacrifice to Baal, followed the instructions which God gave him, he would not have forfeited his life. But the man of God was deceived by one representing himself to be a prophet. God had told his servant to eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that he came; but the persuasive argument used by the false prophet, added to his own natural hunger and thirst, induced him to believe a lie. As the result, he lost his life. Now the man of God ought to have known that God would not give a commandment by one, and then nullify it by another. So to-day, men ought not to be wise above that which is written.
Take, also, the case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They were famous in the congregation, men of renown, leaders in Israel; and yet they were deceived in themselves, and deceived those who looked to them for instruction in righteousness. And for choosing darkness rather than light,—for murmuring against God and those whom he had placed at the head of his people,—the earth opened and swallowed them up, with their wives and their children, and all that pertained to them. See Num. 16.
Take the case of Lot’s family. Angels were sent from Heaven to rescue them from the destruction of Sodom; but some had become so contaminated with the Sodomites, that they had no pleasure in the truth, but preferred to believe a lie; and when the Lord rained fire upon unrighteous Sodom, those members of Lot’s family who were deceived, perished in the flames. Jesus says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” She left Sodom in company with her husband and two daughters, their flight being hastened by angels. Evidently she intended to pursue the journey in obedience to the command of the angels; but she ran well only for a season. When well out of the doomed city, she had time for mature deliberation; and reasoning the matter with herself, doubtless much after the manner that people now reason upon unpopular points of doctrine as taught in God’s word, she ignored the divine instruction just given, and turned and cast a wishful eye toward Sodom. For this act of disobedience she became a monument of God’s displeasure.
To-day there are scores of individuals who profess to have left the world, and to be journeying toward that “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God;” but their faces, like that of Lot’s wife, are turned toward Sodom, and instead of following the leadings of the Spirit, like ancient Israel, they are sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt. They possess the form without the power. Many even in the ranks of those who are looking for the speedy advent of Christ, feel perfectly at ease in Zion. They have a theoretical knowledge of the truth, and profess to love the Lord; but in works they deny him. They have feasted so long upon doctrinal themes, that they have lost all relish for the practical and experimental part of the religion of the Bible. They settle back upon the truth, feeling that they are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; they are utterly deceived in themselves, knowing not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. To all such the testimony of the faithful and true Witness is, “Buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.”
If we would stand the test of the refining process, we must possess those rare virtues and graces which ever characterized the life of Christ. By being hearers of the word, and not doers, we deceive ourselves. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” It is a fearful thing, dear reader, to fall into the hands of the living God.
We are in the midst of the perils of the last days. The time of trouble is just before us; and it behooves every child of God to seek righteousness, to seek meekness. “It may be [it is barely possible],” says the prophet, “ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Many are asleep in sin; they are deceived in regard to their spiritual condition. Our eternal interests are at stake; our lives are in jeopardy. “It is high time to awake out of sleep. . . . The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”
There are sinners in the church. The voice of the watchman should be heard at all times, preaching the word, reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine. It is no time to handle the word of God deceitfully, nor the soul-stirring truths for these last days with the tips of our fingers; for Jesus is coming. Our days of probation are closing up with fearful rapidity. The sands of time are about run out, and God’s people must be aroused from their lukewarmness. What shall be done? Let the prophet answer: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
Many deep-thinking men and women are kept from espousing the cause of Christ by the inconsistent course of some professed disciples of Jesus. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” “Be not deceived;” the stumbling-blocks shall be consumed with the wicked (Zeph. 1:3), therefore, let “no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in his brother’s way,” lest in the Judgment he be weighed in the balance and found wanting.
God says to the watchman upon the walls of Zion, “Show my people their transgression.” This does not mean that he who professes to be the servant of the blessed Master, should mislead the flock, and cause them to stumble and fall over his own preconceived notions of right. It does not mean that he should both do and teach those things which are displeasing to God, and contrary to the rules and regulations of our highest earthly authority. The present is no time to trifle with God’s work, and deceive the people, by catering to their taste, feeding them with milk and honey, when they need that which, to the sinner, is as unpalatable as gall and wormwood. If we have a present truth, let the people hear it. Saints and sinners, ministers and people, need to be sanctified through the truth. They need to have line upon line, precept upon precept, until they become fully established in the principles and doctrines of Christ as taught in the Bible, and advocated by the remnant of Israel.
Honest souls are starving for the whole truth; and in order to become strong, healthy men and women in Christ, they must be fed with meat in due season. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing;” but “woe unto them that . . . put darkness for light, and light for darkness.” They are represented as blind leaders of the blind; “and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Paul says, “From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” And he further tells us that his speech and his preaching “was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”
May God give us all, ministers and people, a spirit of self-examination, that we may not be deceived in ourselves.

SCENES OF THE BIBLE.

By L. D. Santee

BY ELD. L. D. SANTEE.
The word of God! it hath the power to waken Strong yearnings, like the sailors for the shore; How does it thrill our hearts with figures taken From that bright world where sin is known no more!
How sweet compared with this world's toils and failings, Its tears and death, its mystery and crime, Its sadness like some broken harps wild wailing, Its mourners weeping where the death-bells chime!
But turn we from the worn earth's troubled story To see through prophet's pen those mansions fair, To look with raptured eye on scenes of glory, To list, with ear entranced, Heaven's music rare.
We see warm hues of endless summers coming; We see our loved, we catch the long-hushed tone; We see glad ripples o'er life's river running,— That crystal river flowing 'neath the throne.
Our wants unsatisfied, our spirits pining, Are gone for aye, no more to come to mind; But like some gorgeous cloud with no dark lining, We, with the blessed, endless joy shall find.
Not all the fancies of the soul in dreaming, Can bring to mind such living pictures bright As endless day through Heaven's arches gleaming, That radiant glory with the Lamb its light.
O'er dome, and minaret, and fluted column, And streets of gold, a softened glory lies; While white-robed angels, with their faces solemn, Bathe in the silvery dews of Paradise.
So do we prize the book whose thrilling story Unveils those joys unseen to eyes of men; Sweeter than tales of earthly love and glory, Sweeter than tongue e'er told, e'er wrote by pen.
Humbly and thankfully we bear life's sorrow, Glad for that home the blessed ones await, Hoping and longing for that glorious morrow When Christ shall open wide the pearly gate.
Continue reading: A WOE COMING UPON SOME WHO DESIRE THE DAY OF THE LORD