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SUBJECT: 5. Chapter 5: Maybe Nearer Than We Think
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Chapter 5: Maybe Nearer Than We Think
“Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not rest until he have finished the thing.”— Rth_3:18.
“He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waters thereof are still.”—Psa_107:29.
“He rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”—Mat_8:26.
“Calm me, my God, and keep me calm,
Soft resting on Thy breast;
Soothe me with holy hymn and psalm,
And bid my spirit rest.”
Horatius Bonar
That day may be much nearer than we think. He, our Lord Jesus, may be much closer in His return than any of us suspect.
“Some glorious morn—but when? Ah who shall say?
The steepest mountain will become a plain,
And the parched land be satisfied with rain.
The gates of brass all broken ; iron bars, Transfigured, form a ladder to the stars.
Rough places plain, and crooked ways all straight,
For him who with a patient heart can wait.
These things shall be on God’s appointed day:
It may not be to-morrow—yet it may.”
It is quite possible — yes, a stronger word can be used there —it is probable that our generation will see this great change in the order of things. Some of us may actually see Him coming down out of the blue.
The very darkness of the night speaks of the coming of the new day.
“It darkens to the dawning
More than in all the night;
Earth’s shadows cast an awning
Just round the gates of light.
“O’er the horizon nearest
Lie balanced light and shade,
And where the light is clearest The dark is darkest made.” (F. W. Robertson, of Brighton)
And now there’s another warming, helping bit here. We’ll put another log on the fire. When He does come, these loved ones of ours who are with Him now, they will come with Him.
Some day we will suddenly notice that the sun’s light at its noon- brightness has become a shadow. Startled, we shall look up to see a brighter shining above the sun.
There will be a break in the blue over our heads, and out of it will come the Lord Jesus Himself.
The brightness of His Person will outshine all else.
Then some very swift and very wondrous, though simple, transformations will take place. It’ll all be quicker than the words can be told.
These dear bodies of our loved ones that have been laid away will know the touch of a new life coming into them, as their former dwellers shall re-enter them and rise up into the presence of the Lord Jesus in the air.
“How can we know that the flowers will bloom,
When blue, and scarlet, and gold,
Lighting no more the forest’s gloom,
Lie slain by the frost and cold?
“How can we tell that the birds again
Will warble from leafy spray?
Garden, and copse, and wood, and fen,
Saw them all fly away.
“And yet, serenely, for bird and flower
We wait spring’s fragrant breath,
Faint hearts, shall we not trust His power
To lift the veil of death?”
How can we know this other spring is coming? Very simply. We have His Word pledged to us. And, under that, we have the yet more sacred pledge of His blood shed for us.
And beyond that we have the yet more joyous pledge of His new life rising up out of death and being lived for us. A three-fold cord that can’t be broken.
So the spring is coming, this new blessed Kingdom springtime, with its wondrous new life for those we’ve loved long since, and lost . . . but only for a little while.
Then we who are living, who have courteously waited, and given these loved ones precedence, then we too shall know a Divine change in our bodies, making them answer to a new law of gravitation upward.
And we shall all at once find ourselves up with Him and with them. And then with them and with Him we shall share in the blessed earthly ministry of the Kingdom time.
“Out of the chill and the shadow Into the thrill and the shine;
Out of the dearth and the famine
Into the fullness Divine.
Up from the strife and the battle
(Oft with the shameful defeat),
Up to the palm and the laurel,
Oh, but the rest will be sweet!
“Leaving the cloud and the tempest,
Reaching the balm and the cheer,
Finding the end of our sorrow,
Finding the end of our fear.
Seeing the face of the Master.
Yearned for in ‘distance and dream,’
Oh, for that rapture of gladness !
Oh, for that vision supreme!
“Meeting the dear ones departed,
Knowing them, clasping their hands,
All the beloved and true-hearted
There in the fairest of lands!
Sin evermore left behind us,
Pain nevermore to distress;
Changing the moan for the music,
Living the Saviour to bless.
“There we shall learn the sweet meanings
Hidden today from our eyes;
There we shall waken like children
Joyous at gift and surprise.
Come then, dear Lord, in the gloaming,
Or where the dawning is gray!
Take us to dwell in the presence—
Only Thyself lead the way.
“Out of the chill and the shadow,
Into the thrill and the shine!
Out of the dearth and the famine,
Into the fullness Divine.
Out of the sigh and the silence,
Into the deep-swelling song!
Out of the exile and bondage,
Into the home-gathered throng.” (Margaret E. Sangster.)
This is the throne view, the upper view, the fuller view. It fits this present sore time into its niche in the whole sweep of our Lord’s plan. And this wholly changes the outlook.
This is the view our loved ones have up in the Master’s presence. And we may have it and keep it, too, if we will. And so, many questions will be answered and much of the heartache eased.
“In the midst of you standeth One whom ye recognize not.”—Joh_1:26.
“Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples discerned not that it was Jesus.”—Joh_21:4.
“And lo, I am with you all the days.”—Mat_28:20.
“A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot;
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Fern’d grot—
The veriest school
Of peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not—
Not God! In gardens! When the eve is cool!
Nay, but I have a sign ;
’Tis very sure God walks in mine.”