THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND THE
REIGN IN RIGHTEOUSNESS*
By B. W.
Newton.
*This
writing is from a tract supplied by The Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony.
[Editors notes are incorporated throughout.]
The
Church at
David and Mary not yet raised
Resurrection is, at present, seen only
in Christ the Lord. He alone has risen into glory as "the Firstfruits."
"David," says the Apostle,
"hath not ascended into the heavens." The spirit*
of David is indeed with Christ in the paradise of God, there, together with the
spirits of all departed saints, comforted and blessed with joys unspeakable;
but David, as to the integrity of his person, that is, in body
as well as soul and spirit, is not there. He is still, as to this, numbered amongst
those "that have fallen asleep," whose "first-fruits" Christ is. All, therefore, that
[Note *
The spirit ascends to God at the time of death; the soul
descends into Hades-
in the
heart of the earth. See Acts 2: 31;
cf. Matt. 12: 40.]
Christ the Firstfruits
The
resurrection of the Lord Jesus is to us the manifested proof
that the mighty debt which He undertook to discharge on behalf of His believing
people has been fully paid. As the
Surety of His people, performing for them what they could not perform, and
bearing for them what they could not bear, Jesus lived and died. But as soon as He was able to say, "It is finished," the claim of Divine justice was
satisfied. The debt was fully paid: and
this was proved when He burst the prison of the grave,
where He had lain to fulfil the Scripture, and to show not only the reality of
His death, but also that death had no longer power against Him; for it could
not prey on Him. His holy body saw no
corruption. Death never had any power
against Him except as the Surety discharging the debt of His people. As soon, therefore, as that debt had been
discharged, death lost its title against those whose
Surety He was: and of this His resurrection afforded the manifested proof. It proved that every claim against them was
satisfied for ever.
Moreover,
the Lord Jesus rose as "the Firstfruits,"
that word being the pledge that all His believing people shall finally be
conformed to His heavenly likeness. In
Him, too, their new covenant Head, they have life. "Our life is hid
with Christ in God." In the
Epistle to the Ephesians we read of the exceeding working of God's mighty power
to us-ward who believe, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. This mighty power was towards us, because, in
raising Christ, it raised Him as our Head. Consequently, believers, though
personally on earth, are representatively in heaven. In Christ risen they are quickened; in Him
they are "raised up and made to sit in heavenly
places"; all this the result of His resurrection. By resurrection, too, He has entered as our
"Forerunner" within the vail, able to save to the uttermost those that come unto
God through Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Resurrection Precedes the
Righteous Reign
But
there is an hour coming when the life which is now hidden for us with Him in God,
will be no longer hidden, because the time of fruition and manifestation will
have come. But when,
and under what circumstances? We
know that the earth is, in the
Scripture, promised a period of millennial rest,*
when "nations shall learn war no more";
when converted Israel shall blossom, and bud, and fill the face of the world
with fruit when creation which now groaneth, shall
groan no longer; when the wolf and the lamb shall feed together; when Satan
shall be bound; when the Lord shall be King over all the earth, and His name alone
be exalted; when at last it shall be truly said, "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before
Him, all the earth. Say among the
Gentiles that the Lord reigneth:
the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge
the people righteously. Let the heavens
rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness
thereof. Let the field be joyful, and
all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the
Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth." (Psalm 96.) Blessed words! that shall be fulfilled in their season. But when the hour of their fulfilment comes,
what shall be the condition of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus? Will Abel and Abraham - will the patriarchs,
prophets, and apostles, and all who have followed them in the path of suffering
for Christ's sake, be shut out from the joy of that morning of life? Will their bodies be still left in the
corruption of death? or, will one of the first acts of
their Lord in the day of His manifested glory, be the calling from the grave
all who have suffered* for His name's sake,
that they might share His joy, and administer His power?
[*
Note the conditional promise or reigning with Christ at this time
which is attached to suffering for Christ and for righteousness sake,
which is not fulfilled by every regenerate believer. See. Romans 8:
17b; 2 Tim. 2: 12; Matt. 5: 10; Heb. 4: 11. Etc.]
Follows the Antichrists Reign
One
thing certainly is evident, that that day of gladness cannot be until the dark
day of evil described in the Epistle to the Thessalonians shall have first run
its course. The Apostle there teaches us
that the mystery of iniquity then working should continue to work silently,
until it should be at last manifested in all its fulness under "the man of sin," "the
wicked" or "lawless one." Now, without here inquiring who "the man of sin" is, this, at least, is manifest,
that the reign of righteousness and peace cannot be coincident with the reign
of "the man of sin." Men cannot at the same time obey Christ and
Satan. The nations cannot at the same
time bow down before Christ and before Antichrist. The mystery of iniquity and its head must
cease to be, before truth and righteousness triumph. To what then does this great head of iniquity
succumb? By what is he consumed? By "the brightness of the coming of the Lord,"
says the Apostle. Therefore the brightness
of the coming of the Lord Precedes and introduces
the reign of peace.
But
there is another event mentioned in this chapter as taking place at the coming
of the Lord. In the first verse the
Apostle speaks of "our "* "being together gathered
unto the Lord." "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." If, then, we are to be gathered to Him at His
coming (and the fourth chapter of the previous Epistle describes how) it is
evident that the resurrection of all* who shall
have believed in Christ up to the hour of His appearing, shall take place when
He comes to destroy the wicked one, and to introduce the glory of the
millennial age.
[* It should noted that the believers at Thessalonica were "exhorted" by the apostle to "walk worthy of God" and described later -
as a result of their strict compliance
to his wishes - will be "counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also
suffer." (1 Thess.
1:11 ; 2 Thess. 1: 5, 6,
etc. The all who shall
have believed in Christ, must therefore be limited to those who
can be truly described as the Thessalonians: the all
does not include all the regenerate.]
If,
indeed, the history of the earth were to terminate at the coming of the Lord to
destroy the wicked one, if there were to
be no reign of peace, no period when righteousness shall flourish in the earth,
then, doubtless, there would be no second period of resurrection, and
consequently there would be no FIRST resurrection. But if forgiven and converted Israel are to
be in the millennial earth "holiness unto the Lord,"
if the spared heathen are to receive through Israel the gospel of grace, if
Ethiopia shall then, at last, "stretch out her
hands unto God," and the millennium be the great harvest-time for
gathering souls into the heavenly garner, will they who shall be thus born
again through the word of truth, never be brought into resurrection glory? Will they never bear the heavenly likeness of
their Redeemer? Will they always remain
in an earthy, fallen body? No! this cannot be. Well,
then, if they are to be finally changed and glorified, there must be a second
period of resurrection unto [immortality] life; and this, Scripture uniformly teaches.
Revelation Chapter Twenty
In
this chapter we find the following passage: "I saw
thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word
of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the
rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with Him a thousand years."
The
obvious meaning of this solemn passage is frequently sought to be evaded
on the plea that the Revelation is a symbolic book. Now, what does this mean? Does it mean that, because symbols are
employed as the medium of instruction in the Revelation, therefore, no facts
are taught therein? It would
seem to be the thought of some that symbols and figurative language can
indicate nothing except that which is shadowy and impalpable. It seems to be imagined that plain and
intelligible facts can only be taught where no symbols and no figures are; and
that the presence of these is a sign that the interpretation may be as loose as
the symbols are supposed to be uncertain.
Yet does not such a thought impugn the wisdom of God, who has been
pleased in the Scriptures so frequently to employ figures and symbols; shall we
say that He intended that the trumpet should give an uncertain sound?
Facts more than Figures of
Speech
Literal
facts may be taught either by simple language, or by figurative language, or by
symbols. This is true both in Scripture
and in the ordinary intercourse of men.
An Indian may come to me and say in simple language, "I desire to make peace with thee" or he may
use figurative language and say, "Let us
bury our weapons beneath the tree of peace"; or he may say nothing,
but, silently, in symbolic action, may dig a grave beneath an olive tree, and
there deposit his bow and his battle-axe: the modes of communication are in the
three cases different, but the same substantial fact is conveyed by all, viz.,
his desire to make peace with me. Nor is it otherwise in Scripture. Thus, the future restoration and union of the
twelve tribes of Israel (which when accomplished will be a literal fact) is
taught sometimes in simple language, as when we read in Jeremiah 50: 4: "In those days,
and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the
Lord their God. They shall ask the way
to
"Souls" - "Live."
But
now to return to the passage quoted from the Revelation: the Apostle saw in the
vision thrones occupied by persons who sat thereon, and to them "judgment " (that is,
authority to rule) "was given." "I saw thrones,
and they sat on them, and judgment was given unto them." He saw, also, those who had suffered for the
name of Jesus under Antichrist, in a
disembodied state, for it is said he saw their "souls"**; but it is added, he saw them "live," that is, became repossessed of their bodies. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not (ouk ezesan) until the thousand years were finished.
[*Such
is the right reading in this passage.]
[* Note
again that it is the SOUL that is raised at the time of
resurrection. That is, when
spirit, soul and body are reunited.]
Let
us suppose that to ourselves such a vision had been sent, suppose that we had
seen those whom we had first beheld in a condition of death, LIVE and
reign with Christ, should we have needed to be told we had
seen a resurrection? I
think not. But what if we had also
heard an authoritative voice that said,
"THIS
IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION."
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years,"
could we have doubted, after hearing this solemn comment of God? I say comment, for these words were spoken,
not so much to show that "resurrection"
was taught in the preceding vision, as to show what resurrection it
was, and what was the blessedness and honour pertaining to those who were included
therein.
Observe,
also, these words: "They" (the [suffering] saints)
"LIVED and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. But
the rest of the dead LIVED NOT until the thousand years were finished." Few, I suppose, will doubt that the last
clause of this passage refers to the general resurrection described at the
close of this chapter. If, then, the
word "LIVE," as applied in the last
clause to the wicked dead, means resurrection, can we arbitrarily attach
another meaning to the same word in the first clause, and say it does not mean
resurrection? No principle that at
present guides us in the interpretation of language would remain, if such
licence as this were allowed.
And
if a resurrection unto life be not taught in the passage we have been
considering, what evidence is there of there being any resurrection at all? The same arguments that nullify the force of
the words LIVE and RESURRECTION in this passage,
would nullify these words, or any like words in any other part of Scripture. The reasons urged against "resurrection" meaning "resurrection" in the central part of this
chapter, tell with equal force against that solemn passage which described the
last resurrection at the close of this chapter.
The doctrines of a first and of a
last resurrection stand or fall together. If the
first be a mere figure of speech, so is the other. Surely we must beware of explaining away on
neologian principles, the "true sayings of God." Does it not approach very
nearly to the sin described in the concluding chapter of this book? (see Rev. 22: 19).
It
has frequently been said of late that the words, "THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION," indicate not
a resurrection of Persons but of principles.
The principles of the martyrs, which
will, as it were, have died out, are, it is said, to be revived in great power
at the commencement of the millennium; and this is termed a resurrection.
But
does not such an interpretation as this lack the very semblance of
plausibility? For, in the first place,
how can the principles of the martyrs be said to die out, when we know that
during the whole antichristian period, on to its very end, they will be
manifested in a power unequalled by any thing that has been seen among Christ's
servants since the Apostles died? And,
secondly, how can the distinctive principles of the
martyrs be found in the millennium seeing that then the time of the Truth's
sufferings will have passed, and, consequently, martyrdom will have ceased to
be?
Moreover,
is it not said that they who are raised in the first resurrection shall be made
priests and kings unto God and unto Christ?
We can understand this of persons, but how could principles
be made kings and priests unto God? Is
it not also said that over those who rise in the first resurrection, the second
death shall have no power? Can we speak
of principles being subject to the second death? Can principles be cast into the lake of
fire? And if the first resurrection be a
resurrection of principles, why is not the last resurrection a resurrection of
principles too?
1st Corinthians,
Chapter 15.
But
the Revelation is not the only book in which the doctrine of the first
resurrection is taught. In this chapter
which is specially devoted to the subject of
resurrection, we find a passage which expressly treats of the order
of resurrection. "Every one in his own order: Christ the FIRST-fruits; AFTERWARD
(epeita) they that are
Christ's at His coming; THEN (or NEXT,
eita not tote) cometh the end." The words translated afterwards,
and then or next (epeita and eita) are what are called "particles of sequence," that is, they indicate succession of events at
certain intervals, as when we say, first, second, third. Accordingly, in this passage we are taught
that the order of resurrection is, first, Christ's own resurrection: secondly,
the resurrection of those who are
Christ's at His coming: thirdly, the
resurrection of those who live between that coming and the time when the last
enemy, Death, is destroyed; which event, both here, and in the Revelation, is said to be at the close of Christ's
millennial reign; after which, "He that
sitteth upon the throne saith, Behold, I make all things new."
Unless,
therefore, we can obliterate the words "AFTERWARD"
and "NEXT," we must acknowledge
that there are two distinct periods in which the saints will rise in life
; one when Christ (having, according to Daniel 7,
been brought before the Ancient of Days and formally assumed the sovereignty of
earth) shall come forth to put down all enemies; the other, when that object
shall have been effected by the destruction of death, the last enemy.* Thus both the commencement and the end of the
millennial reign of Christ, that is to say, the period when He shall come forth
in order to subjugate all enemies, and the period when He
shall have subjugated all enemies, will alike be marked by a
putting forth of that glorious power, whereby, as Son of the living God, He
will quicken and bring into His own heavenly likeness those of His servants
whom death will for a season have grasped. If, then, there were no other passage but this
in the Corinthians, we should be constrained to say that there is a first
resurrection. I scarcely need point
out the accordance of this passage with that in the Revelation.
[* Regenerate believers are shown to
rise after the Millennial Age by a
separation being made at that time: "If any was not found in the book of life, he
was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev.
20: 15).]
In the Fifth Chapter of John, verses 24-29
we find a passage in which the first resurrection is referred to in
contradistinction with the last. The 25th. verse speaks of the first
resurrection, and the 29th. verse of the general resurrection; but as these
verses, in order to their being properly understood, should not be separated
from their context, it will be needful to consider the whole passage.
In the 24th. verse of the fifth
chapter of John we find these words:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into judgment (krisiw), but is passed from death unto life." This verse speaks of the power put forth
through the preached gospel; the word that Jesus was then preaching, not in the
power of His manifested glory, but in humiliation, as the sower
going forth to sow. By that word
believers were and are quickened as
to their souls, "born again,"
says the Apostle, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, BY THE WORD OF GOD. And this is the word which by the gospel is
preached unto you." But this
blessed word, which when received bringeth our souls unto life, reacheth not our bodies. Death still preys upon them, and the outward
condition of believers contrasts sorrowfully with that of the "new man" within. But it shall not always be so. The quickening power of life that is in the
Lord Jesus has reached the
souls, and shall reach
the bodies of His saints. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now
is, when the dead (hoi nekroi, the dead in
body) shall hear the VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD ; and they that hear shall live."
Observe the words, "voice (phone) of
the Son of God." This is not
the word which He preached in humiliation, a word often rejected and despised;
that which the Apostle calls "the weak thing
(to asthenes) of God,
the foolishness of preaching." "Voice"
is a word denoting authority and manifested power, as when at the grave of
Lazarus, "He cried with a loud VOICE,
Lazarus, come forth." And
when He shall descend from heaven with a shout, it is with the VOICE of
the archangel, and with the trump of God. Jesus spake of the hour when this glorious
power is to be manifested, as future: "The hour is
coming." He said not this of the word of reconciliation which He
was preaching, that was present; but the hour when death
shall be effectually triumphed over in the grave is even yet not come. We still wait for it in hope.*
Nevertheless, although the
appointed hour for the full display of that power whereby
death is triumphed over is yet not come, yet the power whereby this is to be
effected was present in the earth when Jesus was present in the earth, He being
Himself the resurrection and the life,"One in Whom all fulness
dwells." There is no form,
no character of glorious power, that shall in the ages to come be displayed in
Jesus glorified, that was not present in Jesus rejected, therefore, He adds the
words, "now is." "The hour is
coming, and now is." Of
these last words the grave of Lazarus supplied the evidence; the scene there
witnessed being the pledge to us that the same mighty voice that called Lazarus
from the grave, shall soon be heard by every saint that sleeps. Then death shall cease to sever those that
have known and loved one another in Christ, and all be
happy, and all be perfect, because all shall alike bear the image of their
Lord. But observe,
all the dead are not spoken of as raised at that hour. On
the contrary, the concluding words of this verse put an express limitation -
"THEY THAT HEAR shall live" - as if all the dead would not
then hear that voice of power. Nor
will they. "The rest of
the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished."
[* The First Resurrection is a hope
and not a certainty for every regenerate believer: "Others were tortured (Gk. beaten
to death) not accepting their deliverance; that
they might obtain a better resurrection"
(Heb. 11: 35b). And again: "If by any means I may attain
unto the resurrection [out] from the dead" - literally the out-resurrection out from the dead. See Greek. Phil. 3: 11. It should be noted that this
select resurrection was the object for which the Apostle Paul sought to
attain unto. Furthermore, there are
those in the churches who cannot hear this truth; hence the words
repeated by the Holy Spirit: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches: (Rev. 2: 7, 11, 17, 29;
3: 6, 13, 22.]
Judgment Exercised.
And
see how clearly this intervening period of the Lord's millennial reign is
referred to in this passage. After He has spoken of the first resurrection
in verse 25, but before He
speaks of the general resurrection in verse 29,
He says that the Father had "given Him authority
to exercise judgment also" (i.e.,
kingly rule), "because He is the Son of
[* Here, more than the imputed
righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ is implied: it is blatantly
obvious that a standard of personal righteousness
is required also:- "Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter" (Matt. 7:
21); "For I say unto you [disciples], that except your
righteousness shall exceed ... ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt. 5: 20); Repentance and humility
are also prerequisites in specified cases: "Except
ye turn, and become as little children, ye [disciples] shall in no wise
enter into ..." (Matt. 18: 3).]
Out from Among the Dead.
Nor
is the indirect evidence of Scripture less conclusive as to the truth of a FIRST
resurrection. How, if there were not
a resurrection of special and
distinctive privilege, could we explain the words of our Lord, in Luke 20:. 35? "They that shall
be counted worthy to obtain that age
(aionos) and the
resurrection from the dead." Here a resurrection is spoken of that cannot
be universal, for it will be attained
only by those who shall be "counted worthy.
It must therefore be distinguishing and
peculiar. So also in the Epistle to the
Philippians, the Apostle says, "If by any means I
might attain unto the resurrection [out] from the dead." He could not thus speak of the general
resurrection, inasmuch as all must then arise. His words could only apply to a resurrection [of reward]
that is distinguishing and
peculiar which the first resurrection is. Observe too, the expression FROM (ek,
out of, or from among)
the dead - anastasis he ek nekron.
It is not the same expression as "resurrection of the dead," anastasis ton nekron. Accordingly, it is never used of the general
resurrection. Indeed, such words could
only be applied to a resurrection that is distinguishing and peculiar. When we say of any that they have been taken
out of an assembled multitude, our words
imply selection: they imply that those
not thus selected are left behind -[in Hades, the place of the
dead, (Matt.16:18; Acts 2: 27)]. The word anastasis is once used in Scripture in its primary sense of rising again, in
the sense in which one rises after a fall. "Behold, this
child is set for the fall and rising again (anastasin) of many in
The
reason why it is never applied to the quickening of the soul is obvious. In that case, there is a new creation,
not the rising again of anything that in any sense existed previously. Accordingly, in Ephesians, we read of the
"NEW MAN
which after God is CREATED in righteousness," and similar
expressions are used in the Colossians. Now, "creation"
and "resurrection" are contrasted
exercises of Divine power, and therefore we never find "resurrection" applied to the quickening of the
soul.
Moreover,
quickening of the soul must in every case precede the resurrection
spoken of in the passages above quoted.
Nor
could the expression "church of the firstborn ones" (ekklesia ton protokon)
be explained unless there were a first resurrection. Christ is called "The firstborn from the dead," because He has first risen into
glory. On the same ground a part
of the church are called, "The church of the
firstborn," because they precede another part of the church, who will in due time follow: and form in the new
heavens and new earth, which will be created after the millennial heavens and earth have passed away. One glorified church for ever.
Old
Testament Passages.
And
if we turn to the Old Testament, how conclusive the evidence there! In the last chapter of Zechariah, for example, we are taught respecting the coming of
the "Day of the Lord," and how it will
usher in the long promised blessing to
His feet (the feet of the Lord) shall stand in that day upon the Mount of 0lives, ... the
Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee." No one, I suppose, will affirm that the saints
who thus accompany the Lord. when He stands upon the
Again,
in Daniel 7 where the Son of Man is seen to
receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that
all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him," we are also
taught that "the saints of the high places shall
take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever":
and again, "judgment was given to the saints of
the high places ; and the time came that the saints
possessed the kingdom." Shall
we say that those who will thus reign together with Christ from the "high" or "heavenly
places" are disembodied saints? If not, there must be a first resurrection.
"Death
is Swallowed up in Victory."
Again,
observe the quotation from Isaiah in the fifteenth
chapter of the first of Corinthians. The Apostle is speaking of the time when
"the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory." These words,"Death is swallowed up in victory" - are a quotation
from Isaiah 25. But in what connexion do they there occur? They occur in a passage which describes the
final forgiveness and blessing of
In
the succeeding chapter too, a chapter devoted to the description of forgiven
[*Such
is the proper rendering of this passage.]
And
do we doubt that at present all creation groaneth? "The whole
creation," says the Apostle, "groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." When, then, is this groan to cease? When is creation to be delivered? At "the manifestation (or rather 'revelation,' apokalupsis) of the sons of God." Such is the statement of the Apostle in the
eighth of Romans. Shall we reject it?
Our
appointed hope, therefore, is not resurrection only, but resurrection
accompanied with certain circumstances of joy and triumph in earth and
heaven, which, by God's appointment, throw an added halo of blessing
around that hour of life. The coming of
the Lord to "reign gloriously," and to
fill the earth with the blessings of truth, and righteousness, and peace; the
destruction of the great human head of evil-Antichrist; the binding of Satan;
the conversion of Israel, and subsequently of the nations; the release of
creation from its groan; these, and like events are, together with
our own resurrection, our appointed
objects of expectation and hope. And
remember, it is God who appoints these objects, and therefore, it is not for us
to substitute for them any self-chosen objects. Truth
only sanctifies. "Sanctify them through
Thy truth; Thy word is truth." Our expectations are to be guided, not
by our own conjectures, but by Scripture. If God had bidden us wait for the general
resurrection as our hope, then what would have been the right sanctifying
object of expectation. But if He has not commanded us this; If He has
commanded us instead to wait for the joy of the millennial morning, when the
heavens shall rejoice and the earth be glad; if He has been pleased to describe
the character of the glory that is then to be ours, and has made the
commencement of the day of the joy of Israel, His people, the moment also of
our being raised into glory, shall we
venture to despise these things, and say that they will never be ours; and
persist in expecting things that God has told us not to expect - cancelling, as
it were, the promise of His holy Word.
-------
HIS PLAN
When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ,
And He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been
Had He had His way, and I see
How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there,
And I would not yield my will -
Will there be grief in my Saviour's eyes,
Grief, though He loves me still ?
He would have me rich, and I stand there poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.
Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break
With tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands
I shall bow my uncrowned head.
Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mould me now
To the pattern Thou hast planned !
- MARTHA SNELL
NICHOLSON
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