GLASGOW, 17th Feb.1886.
DEAR SISTERS 'in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience
of Jesus Christ' !
Do you not hear the Master saying, as He points
downwards to our earth and to your dwelling, 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth! but
I am going to awaken him out of his sleep.' Your brother shall rise again, and
that day is coming nearer and nearer. Very likely you may be ready to say in
your mourning, 'Lord, if Thou hadst only shown us this or that, we might have
been better prepared for the stroke!' Martha and Mary had each of them, her 'If
Thou' —but Jesus quietly put that 'if ' aside, and turned their thoughts
to their Lord's gracious purpose in it all. 'Said I not unto thee that, if thou
wilt believe (for I do not ask thee to feel at present that
nothing could be better than what has happened, but simply to believe it
is so), thou shalt see the glory of God?
What a glorious morning will the
Resurrection be! Not a tear, not a regret, nothing but joy and praise and
thanksgiving as we meet one risen friend after another restored to us in
everlasting health and holy beauty, with our Elder Brother in the midst smiling
on us with infinite affection as He reminds us, 'Said I not unto thee that,
if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God? '—Yours
truly, with deepest sympathy,
ANDREW A. BONAR
Transcribed from Reminiscences of Andrew A.Bonar D.D.
first published
LONDON, HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
27 Paternoster
Row
1895
HTML transcription files copyright © 2001-2006.
Jane Newble
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