Time of Trouble
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both at hand—the opening of endless day to the righteous, the settling
down of eternal night to the wicked.”
As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, the veil sep-
arating them from the unseen seems almost withdrawn. The heavens
glow with the dawning of eternal day, and like the melody of angel
songs the words fall upon the ear: “Stand fast to your allegiance. Help
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is coming.” Christ, the almighty Victor, holds out to His weary soldiers
a crown of immortal glory; and His voice comes from the gates ajar:
“Lo, I am with you. Be not afraid. I am acquainted with all your
sorrows; I have borne your griefs. You are not warring against untried
enemies. I have fought the battle in your behalf, and in My name you
are more than conquerors.”
The precious Saviour will send help just when we need it. The way
to heaven is consecrated by His footprints. Every thorn that wounds
our feet has wounded His. Every cross that we are called to bear He
has borne before us. The Lord permits conflicts, to prepare the soul
for peace. The time of trouble is a fearful ordeal for God’s people; but
it is the time for every true believer to look up, and by faith he may
see the bow of promise encircling him.
“The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing
unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall
obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I,
even I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest
be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be
made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker; ... and hast feared
continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he
were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The
captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not
die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. But I am the Lord thy
God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is
His name. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered
thee in the shadow of Mine hand.”
Isaiah 51:11-16
.
“Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with
wine: Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the
cause of His people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of
trembling, even the dregs of the cup of My fury; thou shalt no more
drink it again: but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee;
which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou
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