In
the consummation of the ages
There
came - for One who was God -
A
predicted, foreseen, time
To
be born.
God’s
Man, having shown perfectly
Man
according to God, moved
Inexorably,
and devotedly, to a time
To
die.
The
days of a desert life
Were,
as He spread His grace
In
oases of His love, a time
To
plant.
Among
the rebellious Jews,
Satisfied
in themselves,
With
sadness, He found it a time
To
pluck up that which is planted.
While,
when grace is rejected,
And
repentance disdained,
He
will institute a time
To
kill.
Now
in the day of grace
He,
from the Father’s throne,
Presides
with joy over a time
To
heal.
When
Paul advance on Damascus
Against
the name of the Lord,
And
His people, it was a time
To
break down.
When
Paul invaded Europe
In
all the power of the Lord
And
His Spirit, it was a time
To
build up.
If
at the Bethany tomb,
Surrounded
by those he loved,
Death’s
influence made it a time
To
weep
Yet
He now sees, joyfully,
A
wife who works for His will
Who
sees in the dawn a time
To
laugh.
As
He came to the holy city,
Amid
the apparent triumph,
He
alone knew it a time
To
mourn,
While
as He looks on His spouse,
In
character like Himself,
He
knows that it is a time
To
dance.
And
the rejecting city,
Stout
against the government of God,
Came,
in government , to a time
To
cast away stones.
But
among the faithful saints
The
Lord’s hand worked in might
Initiating
a time
To
gather stones together.
Souls
who turn to Him,
Repenting
from their sins,
Are
welcomed in a time
To
embrace,
But
those who reject God’s grace
And
the value of Christ’s death
Bring
on themselves a time
To
refrain from embracing.
He,
in His shepherd love,
Uses
this dispensation,
In
tenderness, as a time
To
seek
While
those who have known that love,
Seeing
their selfish wills,
Learn
to come to a time
To
lose.
He,
in His shepherd love,
Uses
the days of storm and trial,
In
faithfulness, as a time
To
keep.
While
those who have known His love,
Seeing
in their flesh the works of darkness,
Learn
that it is a time
To
cast away.
Seeing
the ascending Man,
His
fresh, and our old, garments
This
has become a time
To
rend.
Having
our treasures with Him
It
is, since we need purses
Which
do not grow old, a time
To
sew.
Led
as a lamb to the slaughter
The
Lord, in wisdom and grace,
Showed
when it was a time
To
keep silent.
Risen,
and come to His own,
Christ,
as Revealer of secrets,
Came
with joy to a time
To
speak.
Seeing
His faithful saints
Who
keep His word and Name
He
rejoices to tell of a time
To
love
But
as He views the deeds
Of
those who despise His claim
Against
these deeds is a time
To
hate.
When
He will come in power,
Conquering
and to conquer,
Then
it will be a time
Of
war,
That
He may establish in judgment,
In
righteousness, and grace,
Forever
and ever a time
Of
peace.
