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Counsels for the Church
The Reward of the Faithful
My brother, my sister, I urge you to prepare for the coming of
Christ in the clouds of heaven. Day by day cast the love of the world
out of your hearts. Understand by experience what it means to have
fellowship with Christ. Prepare for the judgment, that when Christ
shall come, to be admired in all them that believe, you may be among
those who will meet Him in peace. In that day the redeemed will shine
forth in the glory of the Father and the Son. The angels, touching their
golden harps, will welcome the King and His trophies of victory—
those who have been washed and made white in the blood of the
Lamb. A song of triumph will peal forth, filling all heaven. Christ
has conquered. He enters the heavenly courts, accompanied by His
redeemed ones, the witnesses that His mission of suffering and sacrifice
has not been in vain.
The resurrection and ascension of our Lord is a sure evidence of
the triumph of the saints of God over death and the grave, and a pledge
that heaven is open to those who wash their robes of character and
make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus ascended to the
Father as a representative of the human race, and God will bring those
who reflect His image to behold and share with Him His glory.
There are homes for the pilgrims of earth. There are robes for the
righteous, with crowns of glory and palms of victory. All that has
perplexed us in the providences of God will in the world to come be
made plain. The things hard to be understood will then find explana-
tion. The mysteries of grace will unfold before us. Where our finite
minds discovered only confusion and broken promises, we shall see
the most perfect and beautiful harmony. We shall know that infinite
love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying. As we realize
the tender care of Him who makes all things work together for our
good, we shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. In the home of
the redeemed there will be no tears, no funeral trains, no badges of
mourning. “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that
dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.”
Isaiah 33:24
. One rich
tide of happiness will flow and deepen as eternity rolls on.
It will not be long till we shall see Him in whom our hopes of
eternal life are centered. And in His presence, all the trials and suf-