Hence, my dear wife, cease not to serve the Lord thy God with the whole heart, and to follow his footsteps; “For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven ... not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon ... for whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” Mark 12:30; 1 Pet. 2:21; 2 Cor. 5:1,2,4,6.
Therefore, my dear wife, give diligence that you pass the time of your sojourning here in fear and trembling (1 Pet. 1:17); not with such fear and trembling as that we should fear the world, and tremble before it, because they rage so against us; but we are to fear and tremble before the Lord, so that we shall keep his commandments and statutes, and thus pass the time of our sojourning here in the fear of the Lord, and receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls; then shall we rejoice forever with the Lord, and go to meet him in the resurrection of the dead. Is. 51:11; Philip. 3:11. Therefore do not fear the world; for the very hairs of your head are all numbered; they have no power, except it be given them from above. Matt. 10:30; John 19:11. And Christ says: Be not afraid of them that kill the body; but fear him, who after he has killed the body has power to cast the soul into hell; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and their worm shall not die, and they shall have no rest day nor night. Luke 13:28; Is. 66:24; Rev. 14:11. May the Almighty, eternal and strong God so strengthen and comfort you with his blessed word, that you will remain faithful unto the end, and you shall also come under the altar to all the dear children of God, where all tears shall be wiped from our eyes. Rev. 2:10; 6:9; 21:4. There all tribulation will have an end, and there shall our vile body be glorified, and be like unto the image of his glory. Philip. 3:21. Then shall our weeping be turned into laughter, and our sorrow into joy (John 16:20); then shall we, who for a little while have been despised and rejected, yea, persecuted and dispersed, and put to death with great ignominy, pain and reproach, for the testimony of Jesus Christ, triumph forever, and live eternally with the Lord. We shall be clothed with white robes, as John testifies in his Revelation concerning the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they lay under the altar, and they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Rev. 7:9; 20:4; 6:9–11.
O what a glorious people shall we be, when we shall be with that great multitude of which Esdras writes, and John in his Revelation, says: “I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Rev. 7:9,10, 14–17. Esdras also declares of the same multitude: “that they stood upon mount Sion, and were clothed in white, and that in the midst of them stood one taller than all the rest, who gave palms into the hands of every one, and set crowns upon every one of their heads.” 2 Esdras 2:42,43,46. And John says: “I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Rev. 15:2,3. Behold, my dear wife, what glorious promises we everywhere find, which God will give to all his dear and true children who here faithfully adhere to him, who have ended their lives to the praise of the Lord, and washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 1 Cor. 2:9.