Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3.
We may think we understand something about the truth and the Bible, but the revelation of truth is much beyond anything that our finite vision can comprehend. Christ leads us. When we are caught up to meet Him, and enter through the pearly gates into the city of God, He leads us by the living waters, and all the time He is educating and talking with us about things that He would have opened to our understanding upon the earth if we could have borne it. But we do not walk fast enough. We take too many back steps. We do not advance heavenward; therefore the light that would have come in glorious rays, could not come to us because we were not prepared for it. We take a step back into the world, to the gratifications of earth, and then we take a step toward heaven, and then we take a step back, and then we take a step toward heaven.
If you follow on to know the Lord, you shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. You know the morning light first breaks upon us in a very dim light, and then increases and increases in brightness until the king of the day marches in the heavens in all his glory, in all his beauty…. Now if God’s glory were to shine first upon us as He wants to let it shine, we could not endure it…. That is just why Christ came in humanity. We could not have borne Him if He had come in all His glory….
Now if we will follow on, and if we will not backslide a step or two every now and then, and have to gather up our forces and go on—it is better to gather up our forces than to remain in a backslidden condition and keep on backsliding, but I wish that we did not lose so much time and so much strength—we may know more of God and more of heaven, and become better acquainted with the precious truth and the rich blessings that God has for us if we will only comprehend them. He has prepared wonderful things for us.53Manuscript 49, 1894.