October 22Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? — Matt. 20:22.
The courage of the Lord in the narrow way fills us with admiration. What a strong character was His! He had no thought of turning back; He was intent upon accomplishing His Father's will—upon sacrificing Himself in the interest of others. A noble pattern the Apostles saw before them—greatness in humility, victory through service. It is well that we should have clearly before our minds that unless we partake of His cup, we can have no share in His Kingdom of glory. Let us then count all things else as loss and dross to obtain this necessary experience. As it comes to us let us not be fearful, nor think strange of the fiery trials that shall try us, as though some strange thing had happened unto us. On the contrary, even hereunto were we called, that we might now suffer with the Lord and by and by be with Him in the Kingdom—Z '04, 138, 139 (R 3362). A cup symbolizes experiences of bliss and woe. Though, generally speaking, our Lord's cup consisted of His experiences from Jordan to Calvary, yet in its extreme sense the cup represents the shame and disgrace heaped upon Him as one excommunicated and outlawed, dying under the sentence of blasphemy and rebellion. If we are His, we are privileged to undergo like experiences. Of ourselves we are not able to do this, but a faithful use of the Spirit, Word and providences of God will give us the necessary faith, hope, love and obedience that will make us willing and thus able to drink the Lord's cup with Him—P '36, 111. Parallel passages: John 4:6; 11:33, 34; 12:27; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 2 Cor. 1:5; Phil. 2:7, 8; Heb. 4:15; 5:7; 12:2, 3; Rom. 6:1-11; 8:10, 17; 1 Cor. 15:29-34; 2 Cor. 4:8-10; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24; 2 Tim. 2:10-12; Heb. 13:10-13; 1 Pet. 2:21-23; 4:12-14. Hymns: 322, 5, 350, 134, 279, 299, 326. Poems of Dawn, 282: "And There Was a Great Calm." Tower Reading: Z '14, 382 (R 5599). Questions: Have I drunk of His cup this week? How? Why? What helped or hindered? With what results? |
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"AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM"
AS the green waves bear on their crest
The foam, and ever shoreward come,
So, moving surely to our rest,
Slowly we all like bits of foam
Come drifting home.
He whom we loved has reached the shore
In peace; and all the billows vast—
The stormy waves of life that bore
Him on—have ceased their strife at last.
The storm is past!
We thought, because the waves of life
Were high and rough, the end would be
'Mid scenes of tumult and of strife,
As mighty billows of the sea
Break loud and free.
But there was calm instead! The waves
Of life were stilled, and up the strand
Slipped noiselessly, as ocean laves
In quietness the silver sand,
An ending grand!
How sweet to know his weary life
At last to rest and quiet wore!
Oh, may we all, through peace or strife,
Be gathered on that silver shore
For evermore!
AS the green waves bear on their crest
The foam, and ever shoreward come,
So, moving surely to our rest,
Slowly we all like bits of foam
Come drifting home.
He whom we loved has reached the shore
In peace; and all the billows vast—
The stormy waves of life that bore
Him on—have ceased their strife at last.
The storm is past!
We thought, because the waves of life
Were high and rough, the end would be
'Mid scenes of tumult and of strife,
As mighty billows of the sea
Break loud and free.
But there was calm instead! The waves
Of life were stilled, and up the strand
Slipped noiselessly, as ocean laves
In quietness the silver sand,
An ending grand!
How sweet to know his weary life
At last to rest and quiet wore!
Oh, may we all, through peace or strife,
Be gathered on that silver shore
For evermore!
