[Songs in the Night - April 19]
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29
WHEN the kingdom shall come all the sufferings
and trials of the present time will be past, the treading
of the winepress, the wine making, will all be over,
and instead the wine shall be that of joy and exhilaration,
representing the joys and the blessings beyond
imagination or expression that will be the portion of
all those who truly have fellowship with our Redeemer
in the sufferings of this present time and also in the
glories that shall follow.
The kingdom time is very
close at hand now—certainly 1,800 years and more
nearer than it was when our Lord spoke these words—and
the evidences of its steady inauguration are
multiplying on every hand.
Our hearts should be
proportionately rejoicing in anticipation, and we should
proportionately be faithful in the present time in the
drinking of the cup of sorrow, suffering, shame, and
contumely, and thus testifying of our love and our
loyalty. Z'04-143 R3365:1 (Hymn 225)