Part 11 – The Blessed Hope
But, oh, my beloved brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Oh, it’s such a joy to remind you that as saints of God, we are journeying toward a sorrowless city and a sorrowless future. Revelation 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” And It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
Years ago, tears flowed down my cheeks as I heard that little homeless Jew as he sang,
“The sands have been washed in the footprints
Of the Stranger on Galilee’s shore –
And the voice that subdued the rough billows
Will be beard in Judea no more.
But the path of that lone Galilean
With joy I will follow today;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way.
“There are so many hills to climb upward,
I often am longing for rest;
But He who appoints me my pathway,
Knows just what is needful and best.
I know in His Word He hath promised
That my strength ‘it shall be as my day’;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way.”
