“An hour with my God,” says the hymn, “will make up for it all.” So it will; but what will an eternity with our God be, forever to behold him smiling, for ever to dwell in him!
“Abide in me.” That is heaven on earth. “Abide in me is all the heaven we shall want in heaven. He is preparing the place now, making it ready for us above, and here below making us ready for it. Courage, then, brethren, courage; let us not fret about the way; our heads are towards home. We are not outwardbound vessels, thank God; every wind that blows is bringing us nearer to our native land. Our tents are frail, we often pitch and strike them, but we nightly pitch them “A day’s march nearer home.”
Be of good cheer, soldier, the battle must soon end; and that bloodstained banner, when it shall wave so high, and that shout of triumph, when it shall thrill from so many thousand lips, and that grand assembly of heroes, all of them made more than conquerors, and the sight of the King in his beauty, riding in the chariot of his triumph, paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem, and the acclamations of spirits glorified, and the shouts and paeans of cherubims and seraphims - all these shall make up for all the fightings of today....
From a sermon entitled "Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled," delivered January 20, 1867. Image by Noah under Creative Commons License.
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