Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/245

Rh even the righteous suffer! Why is this?' I asked. And the Spirit of Truth made answer: 'This too shalt thou know, when all things be made manifest; but I tell thee that the present suffering is as naught compared with the glory that shall be revealed.'

"Then he took me to where I longed to be, to Ephraim; but when I would fain have spoken to the Lord, he said: 'Thine hour is not yet come.'

"And I wept to think that I might not go to my Lord. Then the Spirit of Truth went on: 'So weep all in Hades that have loved the Lord. They sigh and long for Him; but 't is worse for those in hell, for they sigh and long in vain.' Then I said to the Spirit of Truth: 'I would see hell.'

"And the Spirit of Truth looked very stern and answered: 'Dost know that by the blood of the Lamb alone thou art saved from hell?' 'Verily,' I answered, 'I know that it is by the mercy of God and the love of Jesus that I too am not in the innermost hell.'

"And even while I spoke the Spirit answered: 'Yea, thou shalt see hell also, for two days are past, and in two days thou shalt see earth once more.' Then I said to the Spirit: 'Must this thing be, that I live again?' 'Yea, thou must live again and also die,' the Spirit answered; and my soul did faint within me at these words.

"Then the Spirit took me hither and thither, and I now saw every man did seek his own, and no other's glory, and how they who believed not sought to fashion their own destiny and straighten their own paths; and then I saw how some great judgment overtook them, such as they had never recked of.