THE OBJECT

 

NOVEMBER 13

THE OBJECT
 
"Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty:
  they shall behold the land that is very far off."
                                               Isaiah 33:17
 
 
Few things try the true Christian,
   more than his lack of the presence of Christ.
 
If we can but realize that Jesus is with us,
  if his love is shed abroad in our hearts, and
  the light of his countenance shines upon us,
   then we are happy and all is well.
 
But often, very often, and for long seasons,
  we have to walk by faith and not by sight.
 
Believing when we do not see,
  when we do not feel,
  when we do not enjoy.
 
Jesus has won our love.
He has taken away our hearts.
So that, if we do not enjoy him,
  we are not satisfied with anything.
 
Consequently, one of the great attractions
  of THE BETTER LAND is,
  that there we "shall see the King in his beauty;"
"we shall see him as he is;"
"and so shall we ever be with the Lord!"
 
 
What will the first sight of Jesus be!
 
What joy, what unutterable pleasure will it impart!
 
Blessed be God, there will never be a last sight of him! 
 
Suppose such a thing:
  why it would silence the harps of angels, and
  stop the songs of saints.
 
Heaven would be clothed with sackcloth, and
  the only sound heard within its
  crystal walls would be weeping, wailing,
    and indescribable sounds of woe.
 
To see Jesus for the last time!
O terrible thought!
 But it cannot be;
  through millions of ages 
  we shall gaze on his beauties,
  and eternity will be occupied in admiring,
     adoring, and enjoying his infinite glories.
 
 
Yes, Jesus will be the object that will
fix the eye,
nourish the heart, and
tune the tongue forever!
 
I shall see him
whose head was crowned with thorns,
whose face was marred more than any man's,
whose heart was broken by extreme agony and pain.
 
But how different then!
Crowned with glory!
Robed in majesty!
Infinitely happy!
 
 
"And they shall see his face; and
  his name shall be in their foreheads." Revelation 22:4
 

JAMES SMITH 1869