April 15, 1941
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”
I want to bring before you this evening, with the Lord’s help, the different ways in which Abraham looked. He had wonderful eyes. He looked behind him, he looked in front of him, he looked above him, he looked around him, but he did not look within him. That is one place he did not look, though he did look in every other direction. You might call him Abraham the seer. You know Samuel the Prophet was called Samuel the seer.
A servant of the Lord was once asked: “What is a seer?” and he said: “He is a man who can see. He is a seer.” When I heard that, I thought: “Nobody can say that.” If I talk, I am a talker; if I walk, I am a walker. That is merely adding another syllable to it. Abraham was a seer. As I have already remarked, he looked in every direction. His son Isaac suffered from weak eyes. That is why Jacob deceived him. Isaac was governed by his feelings. He could not see very well; he had dim sight. His father, Abraham, had marvelous sight. He is called “the Father of the faithful.” If we could only get his vision, we should get something more of his character.
In the chapter we have been reading he was told by God to go and take his beloved son, Isaac, and offer him for a burnt-offering, and Abraham got up very early in the morning, and it says: “He lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Here is another looking. Those eyes of his were not only all over the place but in the right direction, as we see.
An unconverted man was robbing a cornfield, and his little boy was with him. Before the man could begin his operations he got very much frightened. He thought a policeman or a detective would be after him. He looked around about and all over the place. His little boy who was near at hand said: “Daddy, there is one way you did not look.” He said: “Which way?” The little boy said: “That way!” and pointed up. That frightened the life out of him and he got out of that place. He had forgotten God’s eyes were upon him. He had looked all about to see if any human eyes were upon him.
Abraham is not like him. He looked in front of him, above him, everywhere but inside. No wonder he is called the Father of the faithful. How much time do you spend looking at yourself. I do not mean at yourself physically, I mean morally and spiritually. You spend half your time at it, and when I say that, it is a very weak charge. Most people spend a lot of time in self-occupation. That will make you a spiritual dwarf. We do not grow by looking within and measuring ourselves, but we do grow by looking at Him. “We all with open face behold the glory of the Lord.”
Abraham takes his son to that mountain he saw in the distance to offer him there as a burnt offering. As they went up that hill together, Isaac said to his father: “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering? We have got the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb? And the answer came: “God will provide Himself a lamb for the burnt offering.” That is what really characterized this book of Genesis. It is God’s provision for Himself, not His provision for you. He provided Himself a lamb for the burnt-offering and He did not provide a sin offering for you. He does this in Exodus, but here He provides a lamb for a burnt-offering for Himself. I wish, dear friends, that we were more on God’s side of things. We should grow very much more than we do. Somehow it seems natural for us to say: “Where do I come in? What has God to say about me?” That is what makes us so dwarf like.
At last they get to the place, and that wonderful man of faith bound his son to the altar and took the knife to slay his son. I would like you to meditate for a moment or two on what were the father’s feelings as he raised that knife, and if he really meant to kill his son. He, of course, knew that God would raise him from the dead. What a pang! What piercing must have gone through his heart as he raised the knife to slay his beloved son! As the knife was uplifted, he heard a voice saying: “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.”
Abraham looked behind him, and there learned the truth of substitution. He saw a ram caught in the thicket by the horns, and the ram was offered up instead of Isaac. But when did he learn the truth of substitution? When he was broken-hearted; when he was smashed to pieces within. That is the time to teach people substitution. Do not teach them substitution till they know something of real sorrow, real grief.
I want to explain the difference between propitiation and substitution. Propitiation is the death of Christ Godwards—the blood on the Mercy-seat to meet the claims of His Majesty, to meet the claims of His glory: but Substitution is the blood put upon the Mercy-Seat for me. “Whom God has set forth to be the propitiation through faith in His blood.” The propitiation side, is for Him, but the substitution side is for me. Do not hurry people, dear friends, into a confession of Christ. Do not teach them substitution till they know some agony, some conviction, some grief, about their sins. I ask you again: “What was the condition of Abraham’s mind as he raised that knife?” He was a broken-hearted man when God said: “Look behind you. There is a ram. Offer that up instead of your son, and learn the blessed truth of substitution.” I say, especially to you who are dealing with souls, do not try to push them into it, coddle them into it, or what I call “chocolate-cream” them into it. Let them get some feelings of what hell is, some broken-heartedness, some grief, some Divine conviction. Any other kind of conversion is not worth having. I am afraid many times we press people into things when they are not ready for it. Show me the broken-hearted sinner, the man, boy, or girl who realizes he is guilty. Then say: “Look behind you. Gaze on the Crucified One. See Him dying in your room and stead, bearing your sins.” Then teach them substitution, but do not teach them substitution while they are light-hearted, thoughtless and unbelieving. It has done a lot of mischief.
The chrysalis, as you know, becomes a butterfly. If you want that change to take place it has to have a breaking-up. It would make a very poor butterfly if it did not. And so with many conversions, they are thoroughly artificial. I have heard people say sometimes to girls: “What a lovely voice you have If you used that for the Lord how much obliged we should be!” and all that stuff. Show me a sinner on the brink of hell who realizes his condition, thinking about his sins, and afraid of being damned. Then when he is in that condition of mind you say: “Look behind you at the cross of Christ. See Him crucified, dying in your room and stead, bearing your sins in His own body on the tree.” That is substitution.
“He died for me upon the tree,
His blood is accepted, the sinner goes free.
That sinner am I who on Jesus rely
And come for the pardon God cannot deny.”
I would lay this upon the hearts of my friends who preach, anywhere, in the Sunday School, or in the open-air. Do not try, dear friends, to persuade people into it. It is artificial, it is hollow, and it does not last; it is not real. But you say: “He is convicted.” Thank God, he is convicted. Thank the Lord he is anxious, but the more anxious, the better; the more strongly convicted, the better. The more clearly he sees his sins, the better. Then tell him that Christ died for him, if you will, that Christ died for the ungodly. Bring him close up to it and then he will look behind him and see that Lamb of God on the cross bearing his sins in His own body on the tree. Have you ever, dear friends, been divinely convicted? Have you realized your sinnership? Do you know you are sitting on the very brink of hell fire, and that the Lord may come at any moment? Realizing that you say: “I would like to be saved.” Then you do not think of what others may say of you. You look behind you. First of all, you look behind to see what you have done yourself. There are your footprints in the sands of time.
In fact, a man did it literally once. He walked along the seashore for some distance. Then he turned around and saw his footprints. Something said to him: “What about your footprints in the sands of time? What about those secret sins of yours?” The poor fellow saw his sins staring him in the face in those tracks. Then he saw the waves of the sea come up and wash out all his footprints. He applied that as the blood of Christ which cleanses from all sin.
Abraham looked behind, but I say again, when did he look behind? With that sword uplifted, his heart broken, all smashed to pieces! That is the time to learn substitution. If any one of you dear people who are here tonight realizes that you are lost, hell is open, and that your sins are fastened upon you, we turn you to that Blessed One on Calvary behind you 1900 years ago.
“He bore an the tree
The sentence for me,
And now both the Surety
And sinner are free.”
Those are the old-fashioned kind of conversions that people used to have in times that are past. I do not say there are none now, but there are many less than there used to be. Oh, for the tearful eye, the arrow of conviction! Oh, for the brokenness about sins! Because the more you realize, beloved friends, your sins before God, the brighter you will be when you have looked behind you and see the Lord Jesus bearing those sins away forever. You have looked behind you first of all to see your sins, and then to see Him dying in your room and stead, and you know they are all gone and gone forever. Look behind you, and gaze on the crucified Saviour and see Him bearing judgment. The whole thing is over, as far as sins are concerned.
Then God brought Abraham forth abroad, and said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Gen. 15:5). If I do not go to Calvary, I shall go to hell. Having seen the crucified One, God says: “Now look toward heaven. Do not stop there, move on to the Glorified One. Look now toward heaven.” God told Abraham He would give him a son. He was a hundred years old and his wife ninety, so it was a natural impossibility that Abraham should have a son. But, “He considered not his own body.” What a relief it is for the Christian not to look at himself! Take your eye off yourself. Nothing is more miserable, nothing is more dwarfing, nothing more grieving to the Spirit of God, than for a Christian to be spending his time in introspection—looking at himself. “He considered not his own body; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.” God had said, “Look now toward heaven. I will give you a son.” That is quoted, you remember, in Romans 4. We read about Abraham too in that same chapter. “For Christ was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.” So look now toward heaven. He is glorified now. He is enthroned; He is raised; and if you want to be satisfied here, gaze on the glorified One. Look now toward heaven, not to get your sins forgiven, but to get your heart satisfied. There are many Christians whose hearts are not satisfied. They are not happy Christians. When we are preaching the gospel to people we say: “If you trust the Lord, you will be characteristically happy.” There is a great measure of truth in it, but a great many of the Lord’s people are not satisfied because they do not know Christ glorified though their sins are forgiven. But we must move on from that, to what God says to Abraham: “Look now toward heaven.”
“Oh, fix our earnest gaze
So wholly, Lord, on Thee,
That with Thy beauty occupied,
We elsewhere none may see.”
If you read the contents of these verses carefully, you will find that Abraham was the most popular man in the world at that time. Everybody wanted to see him. He had been down to a battlefield (he was only a farmer). There were five kings fighting against four, and Abraham’s nephew, Lot, was taken prisoner. Abraham gets four hundred men together out of his own house and goes to battle with them. He comes back, and they play a tune to him, “The Conquering Hero Comes.” Here comes Abraham! He has overcome five kings. Think of that! Only a farmer who has been to the battlefield, and he conquered five kings! Of course, the world’s population was small at that time compared to what it is now, but Abraham was the most popular man on earth at that time. Two kings went out to meet him as he is coming along, the great hero, Abraham. The King of Sodom went out to meet him, and the King of Salem came out to bless him and brought forth bread and wine. Abraham tells the King of Sodom: “I do not want anything. Take your goods. I want no rewards, as long as I have freed my nephew, Lot.”
Lot had been taken prisoner and Abraham had to go a long way to get him. He went right across the land of Canaan as far north as Dan to bring him back. That is the only time Abraham went across the land. God had said to him: “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” But Abraham never went across the land till his nephew Lot was taken prisoner, and he had to bring him back. I learn in this, beloved friends, that Lot being taken prisoner was a great grief to Abraham, but that very grief was the means of blessing to him because it took him across the land.
Have you ever crossed the land? You say: “What do you mean?” Have you gone in your heart to heaven where Christ is now glorified?—walking the land in the length of it and the breadth of it? Abraham, I repeat, never did that till his nephew Lot was taken prisoner. Perhaps you have lost your money; perhaps you have lost your popularity; perhaps you have lost your health; perhaps you have lost your friends. Then God bids you go to heaven to see Christ glorified. I have heard many Christians say when such a thing happened: “My heart was broken, everything seemed desolate, but I would not have been without that for the world. It is the first time I ever came to know the Lord where He is. He satisfied my heart, the glorified Christ.” Look now toward heaven.
A man said to me one evening: “What are you going to preach from tonight?” I replied: “Where are you looking?” He said: “I am wondering what you are going to preach from.” I answered: “Here is where I am going to preach from tonight with the Lord’s help—Look now toward heaven.” Do not be self-occupied. There are many things in this world to break your heart, this awful war and the things that accompany it. There is enough to break everyone who has a heart, but do not dwell too much on it. Pray about it; look to God about it. “Look now toward heaven,” where Christ is glorified there on the Father’s throne.
When he comes back from the war—I mean Abraham—back from that battlefield, he is covered with victory. Everybody wants to see him. I think I hear them say: “He is coming; here he is,” and the whole world goes out to meet him, when he gets back home. The Lord said to him, “Abraham, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward.” He says: “Lord, God, what will thou give me? Everybody thinks I am overflowing; everybody thinks I am supremely happy; everybody thinks I am at the very top height of everything, but I am not satisfied. Lord, God, what wilt thou give? I want a son to satisfy my heart.” He continues, as it were, “Everybody thinks I am a great hero. If ever there was a happy man on earth it must be Abraham—victorious, conqueror of the five kings, but you know better, Lord. You know that under my ribs there is an aching heart. I have a steward, but I want a son to satisfy my heart.”
God replies: “I will give him to you. Look now toward heaven.” He gives him the glorified Christ in figure, the Lord Jesus, the glorified Christ in heaven, to satisfy his longing heart. I verily believe, brethren, that there are many Christians’ hearts that are sad and desolate. The music is not going on; the joy is not there. Do you know what you want? You want Christ for your heart. He says: “I will give you a son and he will satisfy.” That is what the Blessed One does in glory yonder. Look now toward heaven. There is the general happiness, of course, that belongs to every believer in Christ, but there is another kind of happiness. “That Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length, and breadth, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God.” Let me ask you, Is yours a satisfied heart because Christ is your object yonder? Let us go in faith. “Look now toward heaven.” There are many things that are covered with veneer, but what we need more and more is the living reality of knowing Christ, where He is, glorified on high.
To see Abraham that day you would say: “If anybody should be happy, he should. You know what a wonderful warrior he is, not only Abraham the father, but Abraham the warrior, Abraham the victorious, Abraham the popular. Surely if any man is happy he must be.” But God knew he was not. He said: “Abraham, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. What would you like?” And the reply comes: “I want a son who will satisfy my every craving.”
Whatever people may say to the contrary, there are crowds of believers today who do not know the satisfying blessings of the indwelling Christ. I must see Him where He is; I must go to Him. The Holy Ghost will take you; He will take you where He is, where the river springs up into everlasting life. Am I a satisfied Christian? Would God say to me: “I am your shield and your exceeding great reward, I would like to give you something; I would like to make you supremely happy?”
The truth comes out. In spite of Abraham’s popularity, his victories, his earthly glory, there was something lacking, there was a void. I honestly believe among the Lord’s people there is this kind of thing. We are not as we should be. Gaze on Him who is at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ‘Look now toward heaven.’
I have looked behind me, and seen my sins taken away. I look now to Christ glorified and dwell upon Him and then my heart becomes satisfied.
“Satisfied with Thee, Lord Jesus, I am blessed,
Peace which passeth understanding on Thy breast
No more doubting, no more trembling, oh, what rest!”
There was only one man who lay on Jesus’ bosom—John the Apostle. That blessed Bosom was open to all of them, but only one took it, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” There is nothing in which He delights more than when we get to that place—“the disciple whom Jesus loved.” We would do well to get to the place of that forward disciple, and know John’s appreciation of His love. Every believer has reached His feet. You know the night you were converted and heard Him say: “Thy sins are forgiven.” Every believer should stand by His side but, beloved friends, how few comparatively know the blessedness of what the Apostle John knew. The devil will keep you from it if he can. If you get there you will understand what the Lord meant when He said to Abraham: “I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.”
Now turn to chapter 13:14: “And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to these will I give it, and to thy seed forever.”
Here they are again, those wonderful eyes. You know, dear friends, if the devil can get your eyes wandering over the universe, that is the way to get nothing. Our eyes are all over the place. They are not fixed.
“Oh, fix our earnest gaze
So wholly, Lord, on Thee.”
“And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him.” Lot was a worldly believer, and the worldly believer is the most dangerous person on earth. If I were working in an office, I would far rather have an unconverted man working with me. I could talk to him about forgiveness, but I could not talk to a worldly Christian. If I made him my companion I should get like him.
Do not think I am scolding but I know that worldly believers are most dangerous to a young Christian. They always compromise; they always have something to say in defence of worldliness.
The Lord spoke to Abraham after that Lot was separated from him. He wanted to show Abraham something spiritual, opening up things to him, but Lot was there, looking toward a worldly object, his tent pitched toward Sodom. He nearly died in Sodom, just saved by the skin of his teeth—a worldly believer.
You may ask: “What is worldliness?” “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world.” I warn you, young or old believer, if you form continuous companionship with one who is worldly, he will eat your soul’s vitality out of you. He will not be burned in hell but he will be just saved by the skin of his teeth.
“After that Lot was separated from him.” You say: “Do you believe in separation?” I do not believe in sanctimoniousness, but I do believe in separation from this present evil world. That is what we need very much. “Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth.” “For their sakes I sanctify Myself.” That is, if I go to heaven, I am separating Myself from them so that when I get there, they will have Me for their Object. “For their sakes I sanctify Myself.” The Glorified Christ in heaven will engage your heart’s affections and will make you a separated man on earth. It will not make you a maniac; it will not make you an unhappy critic; it will not make you a fault-finder. It will make you unworldly, and give you a satisfied heart.
Here it is. “And the Lord said… Look from the place where thou art.” Where was he? In Canaan. Did he get to heaven? Canaan does not mean heaven. What does it mean? What else will you tell us? I will tell you all that I know from the Word of God. Canaan is the heavenly places in Christ where the believer is now in the glorified One.
When they got to Canaan they had to fight. Do you think you will fight when you get to heaven? Certainly not. All your fighting is down here. Canaan is a figure of the heavenly places in Christ. The believer is now “blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.” Put your foot down there. That is where Abraham was when God said this to him. He said: “Look from the place where thou art.” I have got to get there. How do you get there? My spirit goes there in the power of the Holy Ghost. I am blessed in the glorified One “with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.” You know that is where the devil’s power is. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.” That is the devil’s sphere. That is not heaven, the Father’s House, where we are going when the Lord comes or when death takes us away, but this is Canaan, the heavenly country in which the Christian is blessed now with every spiritual blessing.” Have you put your foot down there in the power of the Holy Ghost? If you do, the devil will assail you. If you are sleeping, a worldly Christian, he will leave you alone, but the moment you put your foot down and say: “I am going in for this; I am going to put my foot down; I do not mind what the critics say,” the devil will assail you.
Now comes verse 17: “Arise, walk through the land.” When I read that verse two or three years ago I thought on this word, “Arise.” In other words, it means “Get into business; get out of lethargy; get some spiritual vigor about you; walk through the land.” You say: “You are a pedestrian?” Well, I would like to be one of these pedestrians and take a good walk.
Supposing some multi-millionaire said to you: “I am the head of a firm. We have an immense amount of property here in Toronto. You may have every bit of land that you put your foot upon in the next twenty-four hours.” If that were so, I wonder what time you would get up the next morning. You would think: “Every place where I put my foot today is mine.” You would walk till evening.
Arise! This is worth ten thousand times more than all the millionaire’s property and I am not sky-rocketing when I say that. “Arise, and walk through the land.” You say: “Of course I am going to heaven when I die,” but you are to go there when you live. It is living people who are “blessed with all spiritual blessings.” That is not a dream; that is not tight-rope-walking. All this is yours which they will try to argue you out of if they can; but, brother, get out of indifference and walk through the land in the length and breadth of it. Every place where you put your foot down, that is yours. O God, give us the blessed gift of appropriation that we may appropriate that!
“After that Lot was separated from him,” Lot who was after the well-watered plains of Jordan. He saw Sodom, a lovely place like the Garden of Eden, a mixture of those two things. That is how it presented itself to Lot’s eyes. The world mixed up with religious things growing around, like the Garden of Eden. What a mixture that is! Poor Lot! Saved by the skin of his teeth!
Let us get spiritual vigor. There is nothing wrong in that, but there is something wrong in going to sleep. “Arise! Arise and walk through the land.” Take a good walk. Walking is good for you physically, unless you are lame. It is a still better thing spiritually. Arise, get out of indifference, lethargy, self-complacency. Walk through the land. You say: “Am I dreaming?” This is the very opposite of dreaming. You are appropriating in the power of the Holy Ghost some of the blessings in the heavenly places. “Count your blessings one by one,” but you must get them before you count them; appropriate them, make them your own, go in for them. We need spiritual determination, spiritual vigor. “Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it and the breadth of it.” Everywhere you put your foot, that is yours.
So the man gets up sharp at twelve and says: “Every place where I put my foot today, that is mine. I think I will take a run. I am not going to walk often now.” At the end of the day he sees what he has appropriated. This may be a very poor illustration but that is why some people grow. They get rid of Lot, and then they take a walk around the land. The latest fashion, the latest expression, that is what Lot delights in. He was a great man for real estate. But God says: “Walk through the land, in the length and breadth of it.” How little, comparatively speaking, have I put my foot down in the heavenlies!
Someone said to a dear old man one day: “Are you going to heaven when you die?”
Whereupon he replied: “I live there.” They thought he was a little deaf, so they repeated it. He answered: “I am not deaf; that is where I live; that is my Home.” I presume the dear old man meant what he said.
“Arise!” How much do I walk through the land, in the length and breadth of it? Some people will think you a fanatic, and others will say you are trying to be extra-religious. Run the risk of that. It is worth it. And the Lord did not show this to His friend, Abraham, till Lot was separated from him.
Now let us look at John 8:56: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it and was glad.”
When did he see His day? Well, God spoke to Abraham the second time. The first time He spoke to him He said: “Look behind you.” The second time He said to him. “I will bless thee and multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand upon the sea shore. Thy seed shall posses the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed My voice.” (Gen. 22:17, 18.) That is what is called the coming Kingdom, Christ’s day. Abraham saw it. What wonderful eyes he had! “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day.” His day has not yet come. This is man’s day. We are living in man’s day. The day of Christ will soon be here. First He will come for us in the air, and we will go to reign with Him over the earth, and in that Seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Now Abraham looks in front of him. He began by looking behind him; he looked around about, north, south, east and west. Now he looks ahead in spite of all the wars. The day of Christ is coming. ‘Thy kingdom come.” That is the Father’s kingdom. As you know, the Lord began that prayer with, “Our Father which art in heaven.” “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” There will be no difference between the two as far as the corresponding joy is concerned—joy in heaven, and joy on earth. The Lord Jesus sits on the throne of the Universe, King everywhere, Monarch everywhere; His blessed sceptre wielded over the five continents, and Abraham rejoiced to see that day.
That day will be ushered in by tremendous judgments. That is called “the day of the Lord,” but “the day of Christ” is another idea. The day of the Lord is thundering judgment clearing out the ungodly for His coming kingdom; putting the sheep into His kingdom; and putting the goats into hell-fire. He clears out of His kingdom everything that does not suit it, and reigns over the earth. Then the bells all ring, the birds all sing, and all creation rejoices. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day.”
I know you cannot help being considerably occupied with the war. It is enough to break everyone’s heart. Do not lose heart. Do not always have a tear in the eye. Do not always be looking at the terrible condition of things. “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
The whole creation too will rejoice when the blessed Son of God appears as the Universal King, His glory everywhere.
“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moans shall wax and wane no more.”
Hallelujah! This is the last look. Do you look at that day? Heaven will hear the earth, and the earth will hear heaven and there will be corn and wine. These are poetical words. Poetical of what? Poetical of universal joy, gladness and blessing and fruit for one thousand years—a blessed, glorious reign. His day, that is, Christ’s day, Abraham saw it and was glad. If you look at that day a little bit more you will look less at the war. I must confess I pray about it. I do not want to be indifferent to the conflict but I do not want to be everlastingly looking at it, dwelling on it.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day,” when all the unjust will perish and the Blessed Man survives everything and spreads His sceptre over the earth. One Universal Monarch! One glorious Kingdom! Our Blessed Lord the Centre and Sun in that day! All bliss! All happiness! Then all passes away after a thousand years, and the eternal state in which God shall be all and in all is ushered in.