Elsie and Her Loved Ones Page 6

  CHAPTER VI

  THE next day was the Sabbath, and all who were not needed in the sickroom attended church in the morning. In the afternoon, accordingto their old custom, they assembled together as a Bible class, thecaptain—as the oldest—being the leader. The subject was the NewJerusalem, its beauties, its delights, and the character and bliss ofits inhabitants. “They will be very happy there,” said the captain. “InIsaiah we read, ‘Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart....Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall notbe remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice in thatwhich I create: for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and herpeople a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people:and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voiceof crying.’ Mother, can you give us a text from the New Testamentteaching that there is no weeping in heaven?”

  “Yes,” replied Grandma Elsie; “in the twenty-first chapter and fourthverse of Revelation we read: ‘And God shall wipe away all tears fromtheir eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, norcrying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former thingsare passed away.’ It was sin,” she said, “that brought sorrow, pain,sickness and death into the world: there will be none of any of them inthe New Jerusalem.”

  “Will some one give us a Bible description of the New Jerusalem?” askedthe captain.

  “I will read it, father,” said Grace. “‘And he carried me away in thespirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, theholy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the gloryof God; and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even likea jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, andhad twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names writtenthereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children ofIsrael: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the souththree gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city hadtwelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of theLamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city,and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured thecity with the reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadthand the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof,an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of aman, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was ofjasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And thefoundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner ofprecious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire;the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx;the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; theninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; thetwelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; everyseveral gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was puregold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: forthe Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the cityhad no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for theglory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Andthe nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: andthe kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. Andthe gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be nonight there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nationsinto it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing thatdefileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: butthey which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.’”

  “What a beautiful, glorious city it will be!” she exclaimed, when shehad finished.

  “Yes,” said her father, “God grant we may all be numbered among itscitizens.”

  “‘Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the greatGod and our Saviour, Jesus Christ,’” quoted Mr. Leland. “We may welllook for it with joyful longing. May the goodness and love of God leadus all to repentance, make us all His devoted, faithful servants.”

  “And He will be the same Jesus who gave His life for us,” said GrandmaElsie, in a voice tremulous with emotion. “The angels said to thosewho were gazing up after Him as He was taken up into heaven and acloud received Him out of their sight, ‘Ye men of Galilee, why standye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from youinto heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go intoheaven.’”

  “Yes,” said Harold, “and we are told in Thessalonians, the Lord Himselfshall descend from heaven; in Revelation, ‘Behold, He cometh withclouds; and every eye shall see Him.’ And Matthew tells us, ‘The Son ofMan shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him.’”

  “And we shall see Him, know Him and be conformed to His image,” saidMrs. Travilla in joyous tones. “‘It doth not yet appear what we shallbe: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; forwe shall see Him as He is.’”

  “What a delightful thought!” exclaimed her daughter, Mrs. Leland. “Oh,it is strange that we can ever be so taken up as we are with worldlymatters. Do you think, captain, that His second coming is near?”

  “There are many things which make that seem probable,” replied CaptainRaymond. “Don’t you think that we should try to live as if it might beany day—or indeed at any moment?”

  “I certainly do,” she answered; “especially as death may take us intoHis presence at any moment.”

  “Yes, that is true,” he answered; “and we should all strive to liveas when death comes we shall wish we had. Live near to Him—to Hishonor and glory—that whenever He shall come we may be found ready. Hetells us, ‘Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord dothcome.... Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Sonof Man cometh.’ That warning word ‘watch’ is repeated again and again.‘Watch, therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein theSon of Man cometh.’”

  “‘Be ye also ready,’” repeated little Elsie reflectively. “Papa, pleasetell us just how to get ready—just what we must do.”

  “Give ourselves to the Lord Jesus who says, ‘Him that cometh unto meI will in no wise cast out.’ ‘God so loved the world that He gave Hisonly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,but have everlasting life.’ ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thoushalt be saved.’”

  “Doesn’t everybody believe that it’s all true about Him, papa?” askedNed.

  “It is not enough to believe simply that Jesus lived in this worldyears ago, and died the cruel death of crucifixion; we must believealso that He was God as well as man; for otherwise He could not saveus; had He been only a man His death would not have atoned for the sinsof the world—or of all in it who have believed or will believe on Him.But the Bible tells us these things as plainly as words can speak. Inthe first chapter of John’s Gospel we are told, ‘In the beginning wasthe Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same wasin the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Himwas not anything made that was made.’ And Jesus Himself said, ‘I and myfather are one.’”

  “Yes,” said Mrs. Leland, “it is incomprehensible to me how any one canprofess to believe the Bible to be the Word of God and yet deny thedivinity of Christ—so plainly is that taught in it again and again.”