| Christian Life and Doctrine | November 1950 |
“Songs in the Night”
NOVEMBER 1
He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.—Psalm 110:7
AS WE look into the Word for testimony upon the subject, we find that our dear Master did indeed learn certain lessons of experience; as the apostle declares, he “learned obedience in the things which he suffered.” Not that he had ever been disobedient to the Father’s will, but that his testing at the time that he came into the world to do the Father’s will was of a character and of an intensity such as never before had been brought to him nor any other creature. His obedience attested his love to the Father, attested his faith in the Father’s love and justice; and in all these things he fully approved himself of the Father; he overcame every trial, he drank frequently of the brook of wisdom, in connection with these lessons. Moreover, it was expedient that he, to be the great High Priest of mankind, should be touched with a feeling of their infirmities, and therefore that he should be tempted in all points like as his followers are tested—along the line of personality, of self-will; along the line of worldly ambition; along the line of faith and trust; along all the lines of obedience to God’s plan. He drank deeply of the cup, and rejoicingly said, “The cup which my Father hath poured for me, shall I not drink it?”—Z 1902-13 (Hymn 155)
NOVEMBER 2
The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few.—Luke 10:2
THE more of the spirit of love we possess the greater is our likeness to God’s dear Son, our Redeemer, and the more will we be fitted and prepared for a share with him in his heavenly glories. If, therefore, the Lord permits us to do some little service in the present harvest, or to bear some burdens in the heat of the day, or if he grants us the privilege of successfully contending against the great Adversary and his servants, and hinders us from being stung or “hurt” by their words or looks or deeds, and if he grants us opportunities for helping others out of soul-sickness by administering the good medicine of the present truth, let us rejoice in these privileges and opportunities; but let us rejoice still more that under the Lord’s providence we are his children, begotten of his Spirit—that our names have been recorded as members of his family, and that by and by we may expect to be joint-heirs with our Elder Brother. Yea, in these good hopes we will rejoice.—Z 1900-236 (Hymn 245)
NOVEMBER 3
Through this man [Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.—Acts 13:38
SO IT is today. The Lord leaves his people free from restraints; free from threats; free from compulsion; to the intent that they may present their bodies living sacrifices day by day. Now, as then, whoever grows cold may discontinue his sacrificing, but he himself will be the loser. We want to keep distinctly before our minds that while God condemns sin, and while his people have no liberty in this respect, but are obligated to do their best to withstand sin, it is different in the matter of sacrifice. The Lord is calling for free-will offerings, and whatever is not given with a hearty good will, yea, with an earnest desire, with zeal, may as well be kept—hut the rewards promised to those who imitate the spirit of the Master and his devotion will be lost also.—Z 1902-150 (Hymn 36)
NOVEMBER 4
Be ye thankful.—Colossians 3:15
UNTHANKFULNESS is unholiness, lack of that proper appreciation which would lead to a full consecration of life and every interest and affair to the Lord—regardless of what reward he may bestow. The “exceeding great and precious promises” of God’s Word are not given to inspire thankfulness and consecration, for they are given only to the thankful and consecrated who already have presented themselves living sacrifices to God. “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom,” God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit,” which is granted only to the consecrated. These promises are to strengthen and nerve us and to enable us to “overcome,” in fulfillment of our covenant of consecration.—Z 1900-333 (Hymn 324)
NOVEMBER 5
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.—II Timothy 2:3
HAD the incident of the sacrificing not been thus followed by some trying experiences, who knows but that the Apostle Paul might have felt a little self-gratification, such as would be natural to any man who, having honors thrust upon him, had voluntarily renounced them. He might have been disposed to glory in the strength of character; but his experiences led him in an opposite direction—as he himself subsequently wrote, “I will glory in tribulation.” All of the Lord’s faithful ones can learn good lessons here; can learn to trust to the Lord’s providences in all of their affairs—not only in those which seem to go favorably, but in those also which apparently are working disadvantage and disaster. The Lord said concerning Paul, when declaring that he was a chosen vessel for his service, “I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” From this lesson we may draw the inference that when the Lord’s servants are permitted to suffer for his name’s sake (not for wrongdoing, not for anger, malice, hatred, strife, evil-speaking, etc., but for his sake) it is an attestation of the Lord’s favor, in the acceptance of his sacrifice—as in the type, Abel’s sacrifice was accepted with fire.—Z 1902-154 (Hymn 13)
NOVEMBER 6
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding.—Luke 12:35,36
WE ARE to remember that every stewardship brings with it weighty responsibilities, and while such resp9nsibilities are not to he shirked, neither are any of them to be undertaken lightly, without appreciating the fact that every one who becomes a steward of the household of faith has thereby a larger degree of responsibility, not only toward the household, but toward the Master of the house, from whom comes every commission. And every servant is to remember that unfaithfulness would surely lead to his removal, even as every manifestation of humble faithfulness on his part will endear him to the Master and to every faithful member of the household, and imply his continuance in the service until the Master shall say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”—Z 1900-25 (Hymn 230)
NOVEMBER 7
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.—Psalm 34:7
OUR trials and difficulties are not to be esteemed as the results of divine carelessness in respect to our interests, but as the outworking of divine providence for our good. Those who are able to view the matter from this standpoint are thus enabled to learn some of the very best and most helpful of life’s lessons, and are thereby prepared for the glorious things coming; whereas those who allow faith to falter in times of trial, and who will walk with the Lord and have confidence in him only when they are the recipients of miraculous favors, are correspondingly weak, and correspondingly unprepared for the kingdom. And as these lessons are necessary to the individual, so they are necessary also for the church as a whole, as in the case of James and the church in our lesson. So far as James was concerned, it could matter little to him which way the Lord effected his “escape” if, in the Lord’s wisdom, he had finished his course, perfected his character, and stood the test. As for the church, it could learn an important lesson; namely, that God, while pleased to use the apostles and various agencies in the prosecution of his work, was not at all dependent upon them, but that one or all of them could be dropped out, and yet the Lord be thoroughly competent to manage his own work and to accomplish all the gracious promises of his Word.—Z 1902-138 (Hymn 294)
NOVEMBER 8
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.—Luke 2:32
OUR text sets forth the thought that Christ is the light of the world. Not yet is the Sun of Righteousness shining in glory, and dispelling earth’s darkness; not yet is it enlightening all the Gentiles; not yet has Christ become the glory of his people Israel. He is, nevertheless, all through this Gospel age, a great light to all whose eyes are opened that they may see it. This light is still shining in the darkness and the darkness comprehends it not; but blessed are our eyes, for they see; and correspondingly the responsibility of the light is with us. Let us walk as children of light, even before the day dawns, rejoicing also in the blessings that are ultimately to come to all the families of the earth through God’s Anointed.—Z 1902-191 (Hymn 315)
NOVEMBER 9
It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.—I Samuel 3:18
WHOEVER is faithful in speaking the Word of God from the Bible will have less and less attention from the worldly-wise. An ever-increasing number of people are thinking of the works of creation as having come about by processes of evolution. More and more they are thinking that the Bible is not the Word of God; but that the apostles were merely deluded men, deceived men; that Jesus himself did not know what he was doing. They think that he was a good man, that doubtless God himself was with him, because of the good that flowed from his teaching. And yet they think that they could give forth better wisdom—these great teachers who would like to make a new Bible after their own heart. In our own day, the worldly-wise are looking from the wrong standpoint. They are looking in the wrong direction, they are not looking to see the new dispensation now coming in. They will not recognize what is now taking place until the sunlight of truth begins to flood the world. Then, turning about, they will perceive the real Sun of Righteousness, and begin to grasp the whole situation. We are glad that they will turn about and take a view of matters from a different standpoint. But all who are God’s true children are ready to receive God’s message from whatever source it may come to them.—Z 1913-253 (Hymn 112)
NOVEMBER 10
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.—Psalm 1:3
THIS is literally true, though not perhaps, in the way in which the world might view the subject. But what is. it that such a child of God doeth? What is his aim? What is his object in life? Wealth, fame, worldly honors? No, none of these. His aim, that which he doeth, that which he seeketh, is to glorify his Heavenly Father and eventually to attain to the glory, honor, and immortality which God has promised to them that love him. If the Christian but attain these objects, surely all his experiences will have been prosperous, and that abundantly. What matters it to him if under divine providence he was permitted to err in judgment respecting some business venture, so that instead of earthly prosperity it brought financial loss, if it worked out spiritual gain? To this blessed man the loss was prosperity, and he proved the truth of the divine promise that all things shall work together for his good. Under such a promise, under such guidance of divine wisdom in his affairs, guaranteeing him just such experiences, trials, difficulties, earthly disappointments and disadvantages as will, under the Lord’s providence, bring him richest blessing in the attainment of the great prize of the future which he seeks, and for which every other thing, interest, hope, and aim has been sacrificed, how could any be considered otherwise than prospered? Surely indeed, all that he doeth shall prosper—not because of his own wisdom, not because of infallibility in the management of his affairs, but because his infallible Lord is supervising his interests, and outworking them for good to him.—Z 1900-283 (Hymn 325)
NOVEMBER 11
Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?—I Corinthians 4:7
WE ARE co-laborers with God. We give God the praise that he has made us to differ from our former selves, that he is making us thus to differ more every day, and that he will continue the good work as the days go by and as we seek to do his will. What have we of ourselves? Nothing! We were wholly dead through father Adam’s disobedience; we were born in this condition, having no right to everlasting life. But God has a plan which is world-wide in its scheme of blessing. He has proffered the blessings of the highest feature of this plan to us, and invited us to come to him in advance of the world. And this we receive through his grace.—Z 1913-232 (Hymn 324)
NOVEMBER 12
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.—Hebrews 12:14
NEVER was there a time when this statement of our Lord deserved more consideration than at present. We live at a time when envy and strife are in evidence on every hand, among all classes, among nations, in politics, in business, in homes and families, in nominal churches, and among the fully consecrated of the true church. The tendency toward strife is evidently somewhat associated with the strenuous times in which we live; but all the more those who are true members of the body of Christ are to remember the scriptural injunction, “Follow peace with all men”; and again, “Be at peace amongst yourselves.” Some of the best people in the world have the organ of combativeness large, but proportionately they need to have love control it, so that they shall think generously, Kindly, lovingly of all who take a different view of matters; and while standing always firm for principle, they should take note of the fact that principle enters into remarkably few of their conflicts, contentions, etc.—Z 1906-74 (Hymn 244)
NOVEMBER 13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.—Philippians 4:13
FAITH is an essential; but we must have crossed the Jordan; we must have been justified; must have partaken of the antitypical Passover; must have been sanctified before we could have of the Lord either a promise of victory over our Jericho, or before we could exercise such a faith as would result in that victory. If in the type faith could bring the fall of the strong walls of a city, how great must be the value of faith in the antitype! “This is the victory which overcometh the world, even your faith,” but only so long as we trust in the Lord and seek to do those things pleasing to him can we exercise this overcoming faith.—Z 1902-303 (Hymn 129)
NOVEMBER 14
Let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God, with reverence and awe.—Hebrews 12:28 (R.V.)
WE REALIZE that spiritual Israelites have conflicts with enemies too mighty for them without the Lord’s assistance. The world, the flesh, and the devil make common cause against all who are seeking the heavenly Canaan. We who are followers of Jesus have success in our warfare only as we have him as our Advocate—“We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” Through him we may come off conquerors, yea, more than merely conquerors, victors in the highest sense—“through him who loved us and bought us with his precious blood.”—Z 1913-233 (Hymn 219)
NOVEMBER 15
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.—John 14:27
HOW little the world knows of the peace of God which passeth all understanding, that rules in the hearts of the Lord’s people who have grown in his grace and heart likeness! How little can they appreciate the fact expressed by our Lord when he said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” And again, through the apostle, “We glory in tribulation, also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.” And these faithful servants of the Lord could rejoice in whatever experiences God permitted to come to them in the discharge of duty, so may we remember that ours is the same God, that he changes not; that he is equally able and equally willing today to grant the sunshine of his favor to those who trust him and seek to walk in his ways.—Z 1902-382 (Hymn 106)
NOVEMBER 16
It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, … if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.—Hebrews 6:4,6
WHOEVER has experienced this quickening to newness of life, this begetting of the Spirit, has come under so clear a demonstration of the divine power and goodness and wisdom and love operating through Jesus as to be without excuse “if they fall away.” Hence the apostle tells us that it would be impossible to renew them again unto repentance. He tells us that in their case such a falling away would be a willful act, not one of ignorance or weakness, and that to thus fall away would imply the same attitude of heart which the Jews entertained toward our Lord when he was with them—that it would be virtually crucifying the Lord in afresh and putting him to an open shame. But, dearly beloved, to use the apostle’s thought, we have more confidence in one another than to surmise such an unworthy ending to our call, such an unworthy response to the mercies and favors which we enjoy at the hands of him who loved us and bought us with his precious blood. Let us be faithful, let us remember that the resurrection work begun in us as new creatures is the one which is to be completed by the grace of God in the first resurrection, when in a moment of change we shall be like our Lord, see him as he is, and share his glory.—Z 1906-111 (Hymn Appendix D)
NOVEMBER 17
God be merciful to me a sinner.—Luke 18:13
THOSE who believe little of the Lord’s promises, who trust him little, will pray to him little, will exercise little faith, and will have little joy and blessing in consequence. Those, on the contrary, who have faith, and who go continually to the throne of grace and appreciate the Lord and trust in the glorious outcome of their prayers and labors, will have joy now and fullness of joy by and by.—Z 1906-265 (Hymn 242)
NOVEMBER 18
Blessed is the man that maketh Lord his trust.—Psalm 40:4
FAITH and trust in the Lord is the paramount essential for acceptance and blessing at his hand: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” If we leave the world to become the Lord’s people, and receive the lessons of experience at his hand with proper faith in him, the outcome will surely be a readiness and promptness to make a full consecration, a full submission of ourselves to do the Lord’s will; to follow his leadings; to inherit whatsoever he has for us. And if the faith be of the proper kind we will say with the prophet, “I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me;—Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” Such, and such alone, can be led of the Lord in this present Gospel age which we must walk by faith, not by sight. Such alone will have the confidence to go forward encountering the various oppositions within and without in the present time. Such will eventually be God’s representatives and leaders in the blessing of the world in the millennial age. Let us learn wail the lesson of faith, of trust; as God informs us of his appreciation of this quality, and that he can deal with us only in proportion as we possess it, so in our own experiences we find that we love most to assist and encourage those who manifest an abiding confidence in us.—Z 1902-260 (Hymn Appendix O)
NOVEMBER 19
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.—Philippians 2:12,13
THE power that works in us to do is the same power that works in us to will. Can we will perfectly? Yes. Can we do perfectly? No. Why can we will perfectly and not do perfectly? Because the will of God has become our will, our mind. The apostle says, “With the mind I myself serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” The flesh has inherited various weaknesses and f alien tendencies; therefore we are unable to do perfect works, and the flesh continually needs the robe of Christ’s righteousness.—Z 1913-264 (Hymn 114)
NOVEMBER 20
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.—Proverbs 4:23
WHAT we need is an occupant for our hearts—the Divine One. If Christ be enthroned in our hearts, if our wills be turned over to him in full submission, he is able to keep our hearts, to guard our hearts. Respecting such he says, the Father and myself will come in to them and abide with them. Oh, the security this implies! Let us not forget that the will is the doorkeeper of the heart and that the Lord’s presence will not remain except as we will to have it, and that if we admit to our hearts evil thoughts, evil surmising, the Lord will not hear us, will not abide with us, but will proportionately vacate and leave room for more and more of the evil influences to enter into us and to possess us.—Z 1908-364 (Hymn 153)
NOVEMBER 21
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.—Psalm 84:11
THE Father will not withhold anything necessary for the proper development of his children. He also promises that we shall not be tempted above that we are able to endure, lest some injury come to us. Thus we see that he is supplying all our needs, enabling us to lay down our earthly lives. And as we learn the proper lessons from our experiences, we find that perfect love casts out all servile fear of our Heavenly Father; for we love and trust him. We have no fear of the Adversary, because we know that the Lord will not permit the Adversary to injure us, if we keep close to him. And if God permits us to have experiences of trial from the Adversary and our fellowmen, he does so to the intent that these may work out good to us.—Z 1913-251 (Hymn 273)
NOVEMBER 22
Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart.—I Kings 3:9
LET us note that opportunities for good and for evil come to all of us at some time, and it is for us to decide which we will grasp. But before the opportunity comes the desire. If the desires be impure, an evil opportunity in harmony therewith will be found. If the desires be good, noble, true, loyal, opportunities in harmony with these will come to us. The thought to be impressed upon our minds, therefore, is that the desires of our hearts should be noble in every respect, and that all ignoble desires be studiously and promptly set aside, to the intent that only the good opportunities may come to us. But desire and opportunity are not enough. Many a man has had both and gotten nothing. When the good desires have been cultivated and developed and by and by a noble opportunity stands before us, then comes the responsibility of seizing it—decision.—Z 1908-363 (Hymn 256)
NOVEMBER 23
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.—Psalm 100:4
IT IS to the priestly class that our text is applicable. Their thankfulness to the Lord for his mercies and blessings leads them to count not their lives dear unto themselves, but to lay down their lives willingly in his service. Their hearts are filled with praise, because, having made consecration of themselves, and having entered thus the courts of the Lord to be seated with Christ in heavenly conditions, the heavenly light and food supplied them enables them to rejoice exceedingly even in tribulation, even in matters which otherwise, according to the flesh, without the strength and enlightenment of the truth, would discourage them and cause them fear. Because they have entered into this fellowship with the Lord in his sufferings, with his spirit of appreciation, they may be joyful even in the house of their pilgrimage—and when the pilgrimage of the present life is ended, and as new creatures they shall pass beyond the veil, there shall he fullness of joy for them as they enter into the joys of their Lord in the full and complete sense—made like him, seeing him as he is, and sharing his glory.—Z 1902-237 (Hymn 238)
NOVEMBER 24
Who is worthy?—Revelation 5:2
THIS worthiness is inquired for not only at the beginning, but all along the path of light. If we are not found worthy by the various tests applied from time to time, we cannot proceed in the path of light; and unless the unfaithful ones arouse themselves to greater diligence and watchfulness, the light that already is in them will become darkness. And how great, how intense must be the darkness of one cast out of light! To find the glorious hope that once inspired our hearts slipping away and the truth whereon we built that hope beginning to seem like an old song or an idle tale, or as relics of the past to be displaced at any time by any plausible subterfuge or error which our wily Adversary may be pleased to palm off as advanced divine truth, are indications that should arouse anyone who discovers them to a realization of the fact that he is going into darkness—a darkness that will only become the more intense as he slips and slides along the backward track. All along the way, as we have said, we will find tests applied to prove our worthiness to proceed from knowledge to knowledge and from grace to grace. Who is worthy?—worthy to receive the truth, worthy to continue in the truth, worthy to suffer and to endure hardness as a good soldier for the truth, and finally to be exalted to power and great glory when truth and righteousness shall be exalted in the earth and their glorious triumph begun?—Z 1902-332 (Hymn 124)
NOVEMBER 25
Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.—Ephesians 2:20,21
AS LIVING stones of the spiritual temple requiring much chiseling and polishing to prepare us for places in the heavenly temple, let us thankfully welcome whatever experiences the Heavenly One shall see fit to permit us to have. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Our present disciplines are intended to develop in us the character necessary to the great service for which our Creator intends us. The good works, the great works of God to some extent, are most abundantly manifested in his new creation, the church, and some of our good works are as co-laborers with God and Christ in shaping and upbuilding one another in the most holy faith. The great good work of God to which he has called us is that mentioned in the oath-bound covenant to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”—Z 1908-376 (Hymn 67)
NOVEMBER 26
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.—Luke 10:27
WHILE only Christians are credited by the Lord with fulfilling the requirements of the Law—and they only because of the allowance made for their weaknesses on account of their relationship with Christ—nevertheless, the Jews and many others have obtained partial blessings in proportion as they have endeavored to fulfill the divine law. The natural man, not Spirit-begotten, and therefore not a son of God, but still in alienation, receives a blessing of character development in proportion as he recognizes the principles of righteousness and seeks to conform to them. Hence it is wise and proper at all times and before all people to lift high the divine standards.—Z 1913-215 (Hymn 165)
NOVEMBER 27
Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.—Mark 5:19
OH, THAT we all might be diligent to be thus faithful stewards of the grace of God, and faithful representatives of our great Redeemer—not only witnessing with our lips, but in all the departments of life testifying that we are now sane, that we have now the spirit of a sound mind, that we love the things that are right and true and noble and good, that we hate and are living in opposition to the things which are sinful and contrary to the mind of the Lord and the ways of righteousness!—Z 1906-147 (Hymn 15)
NOVEMBER 28
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!—Isaiah 52:7
THERE is a beauty, a grace, peculiar to our Lord, the Head; and each member of his body has some peculiar grace or quality of character likeness to him. And so, when in the end of this age the last members of the Lord’s body, the church, announce in its due season the parousia of the Lord and that his kingdom is at hand to be established, there is a beauty attaching to that in connection with this service, this message, in the sight of each other, in the sight of all who are of the household of faith, but not in the sight of the world, for, as the apostle declares, “The world knoweth us not, even as it knew him not.”—Z 1906-123 (Hymn 333)
NOVEMBER 29
Let brotherly love continue.—Hebrews 13:1
LET us avail ourselves of the privileges day by day of anointing the feet members of the body, realizing that whatsoever is done unto one of the least of these his brethren is done unto the Lord himself, and is a perfume of sweet odor to him. Let us be more gentle, more tender, more careful in our honoring and dealing with the feet members. Let us remember that they have trials and difficulties enough in their conflict with the tiresome journey of life, and that there must be no neglect of them on our part, for the opportunity of thus manifesting our love and devotion to the Lord is too great a privilege to be overlooked or slighted. Nor need we wait for opportunities to do great things: kind words and looks, a little assistance, may be the tears or the perfume as circumstances may permit.—Z 1906-123 (Hymn 166)
NOVEMBER 30
Be kindly affectionate one to another.—Romans 12:10
LET us with increasing light and knowledge and privilege make still further progress in all the fruits of the spirit of love. It is unsafe to neglect to have the Lord for our God, and to neglect to make his people our people. Acceptance of the Lord means ultimately a change in all of life’s interests and affairs if we would abide in his love and favor. The sacrifice of earthly things may cost us tears and heartaches at first; but eventually we will be more than compensated—as was Ruth, only in higher, spiritual blessings.—Z 1902-351 (Hymn 113)