Prelude

“If one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow. … We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. … Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. … They looked … and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared. … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. … We have seen with our eyes … we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. … He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. … We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. … Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. … We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. … Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of … faith. … And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him. … They saw no man, save Jesus only. … For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. … And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain. … And they shall see His face. … As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. … He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.”
“Look up, and lift up your heads” (Luke 21:28).
How sad it would be for the Christian, if our only view was around and back. But we can rejoice as we realize that, for the people of God, our look is upward and ahead — upward into the opened heavens to see, with the eye of faith, that lovely Man seated at the right hand of God. And onward to that moment when we will be there, to gaze on Him, no longer by faith, but face to face. What a hope! What a comfort!
What precious truth the preceding Scriptures bring before us in this regard, and it is the prayer of the writer that as we think about these portions of the Word of God in a very simple way, our hearts would be touched and our gaze directed to Christ. He is the One of whom His Father could say, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). All God’s delight is centered in His only begotten Son, and we can find all our joy and delight in Him also. He alone can give strength and encouragement through the situations, trials and tests of life. David said in the sixty-first psalm and verse two, “I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”
When everything seems out of hand,
I on the firm foundation stand:
On Christ, the Rock, whose strength prevails,
Whose love and power never fails.