"Beware!" and "Behold!"

“Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.”―Acts 13:40, 4140Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (Acts 13:40‑41).)
THESE are intensely solemn words. When God says “Beware,” He is in deep earnest. When He says “Behold!” woe betide the man who does not look. Usually the “Behold!” relates to Christ. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!” (John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)). There He is the sin-bearer, and hence the Saviour. Again, “Behold the bridegroom; go ye out to meet him” (Matt. 25:66And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (Matthew 25:6)). There He is the returning Bridegroom, coming for His blood-bought Church. Again, “Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:77Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)). That will be a day of judgment.
That striking little word “Behold!” in relation to Christ, is full of import. Thank God that He turns the eye to Christ. But there comes a time in the history of the soul when God will turn your eye on to yourself. I think it is an awful moment. And I think the case is a desperate one when God ‘has to say, You take your eye off My Son, and look at yourself. If that man, woman, or child is reading this paper, I would not stand in your shoes for ten thousand worlds.
Listen. “Behold, ye despisers.” Ah, that is an awful name. That is an awful label for God’s Spirit to put upon a man that has been hearing the gospel again and again, from boyhood to old age. Very likely you have heard it from your childhood. And what has been the effect? It has gone off you, as we say, like water off a duck’s back. And here you are, friend, still unsaved.
Now just you take a good, steady, long, penetrating look at yourself, as God describes you and your future. Listen. “Beware!” and “Behold!” When God says “Behold!” depend upon it, beloved friend, you will sooner or later have to open your eyes and look. It will not be the day of grace when this scripture has its application. It does not hint at redemption. It does not turn your eye to the glory-crowned One. It does not indicate the Bridegroom coming in all the affection of His heart for His deeply-loved bride. But it is this. God lets you look and see what the fruit of your folly and madness has been, and in eternity you will perish. Why’? Because you have made light of Him whom God has made everything of. You love your sin. You love your lust. You love to gratify the passions of your body and mind. Even the devil knows perfectly you do not love Christ. Am I a false witness? You know better. Listen to this: “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha,” that is, “accursed when he comes” (1 Cor. 16:2222If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. (1 Corinthians 16:22)).
Friend, pause and listen, Behold, ye despisers.” If you have not been converted to God, my friend, you have despised the gospel. If your heart is not won to the Saviour, it is only because you have despised Him. I know you do not like to be called a despiser. But, man, it is true. God wake you up to the truth. Do you think I am going to tell people soft things about their souls? God forbid, No, no, it is the truth we want. Mark well, it is what God tells you by the lips of a man that is either the means of your salvation, or that which becomes the positive reason of your everlasting damnation. You have heard of God’s blessed salvation, and you have made light of it. I know you would not like to coldly and boldly proclaim,” I am a despiser.” But tell me, have you bowed to Christ? Has your heart been won for Him? Have you ever discerned the love that is in His heart, and that came out in His death? Have you ever yielded yourself to Him, surrendered yourself to Him? Never. Then hear God again,” Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.”
You may often have heard a servant of God, and said, “That was a nice discourse.” Did you believe it, and get converted? No. Then you will perish at the end of it. You hear all, but, alas I it goes in at one ear and out at the other. You are still unmoved. Your conscience is still unreached. What do you mean? Tell me, are you really determined to be damned? God forbid! “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish. I work a work in your days.” What work is that? It is the work of redemption: the work of Christ on the cross for us, and coupled with it the work of the Holy Ghost telling out the blessed gospel today. How sad then to hear, “I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in nowise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” Why? It is despised. The Lord said, in the gospels, when talking of the King’s Supper, “They made light of it.”
Now, my friend, if you have made light of it till this hour, may God help you to become a guest now.
Receive Christ today. I believe His coming is drawing near. I believe the moment of His return is at hand. He is coming. He has tarried, and the Church has gone to sleep. “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” But at midnight God woke them up with this, “Behold, the bridegroom; go ye out to meet him” (Matt. 25:5, 65While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (Matthew 25:5‑6)).
Christ is coming, but, alas, my unsaved reader, you are not ready. For your soul’s sake get ready at once. Whether you be young, old, rich, or poor, oh, let me implore you, get ready. I charge you by the joys of heaven; I charge you by the horrors of hell; I charge you by the infinite value of the Saviour’s blood; I charge you by the spot where the worm never dies, and the fire is not quenched; let not the closing month of 1901 pass away without having Christ as your own personal Saviour. Oh, my friend, you will yet see Him. You shall, you must. I love to think of seeing Him. Oh what joy it would be were I to see Him today. But what is the deepest joy to the heart of the Christian, will bring eternal despair to those who are not ready.
Friend, you have heard and read enough gospel to save or condemn you. If you believe it you receive salvation. If you decline, neglect, or make light of it, you really despise it, and condemnation is the only issue. I am not now going to again preach it to you. I am going now to press upon you the awful responsibility of the soul that has heard it and not believed it. Oh, my friend, be warned, be urged, ere it be forever too late. Be in time. Do not delay a single hour. For, mark you, Christ is coming, and “every eye shall see him.”
It will be a wonderful moment when the Christian sees Him. When will it be? I do not know. If you are the Lord’s, at the moment of His coming for His saints, with what gladness you will greet Him. If His you be not, He will judge you then. You will die and be buried, but you must come out of your grave, and you will come out of that grave in your sins. You have lived in your sins, and died in your sins, and you will pass through the whole range of the millennial day, and when that day has gone by, you must rise again, and rise in your sins, and you will see Him at the Great White Throne. The deceiver and the deceived will rise and stand side by side in that day. The murderer and his victim will rise and stand side by side in that day. “Every eye shall see him.”
Oh, friend, you have yet to see Him. And let me tell you this, if there be one thing more than another that will add to the sorrow of a lost soul in the everlasting hell, of which Scripture speaks, it is this, you will always remember that you have seen Him. When you have stood before Him, and when you have heard His sentence, and when at length you have to depart to be with Judas (think of spending eternity with Judas), and when, like Judas, you go to your “own place,” you will go down through the gates of hell with this picture everlastingly imprinted on the eye of your soul, yea, never to be forgotten. I have seen the One who might have saved me, but who has had to judge me instead. What an awful eternity is that of the Gospel-rejecter!
You will never forget that you have seen Him once, and that you will never see Him again. God save you now. Oh, let me urge you, let me implore you, let me beseech you, do not delay, do not put off believing on and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. All the devil wants now is to get you to continue as you are, without deciding for Christ. And if he gets you to continue indefinitely without Christ, I do not think I shall go too far if I say, you will be damned. Why? Because you have despised the Gospel of this blessed One.
Oh my friend, give in. Bow at his feet. Receive Him. Believe Him. Own Him. Confess Him. From this hour forth may you be able to say, “Lord, I believe.” But, more than that, confess Him. Take your stand. The effect when a man receives the gospel is that the lamp is lit. And the Lord says the danger is that you may put it under a bushel, or under the bed. What does putting it under a bushel mean? You go back to your business, and you do not confess Christ. Some, you know, put it under a bed. That is laziness and indifference.
Let me press on you that Jesus is worthy of the affection and confidence of your heart. If you have never found the Lord as your own Saviour till now, you have missed a wonderful blessing. But thank God there is still time. Where you are you may receive Him and be ready. And then, when He comes, you will meet Him in the air, and be with Him, and like Him forever. God help you to close this year by surrendering yourself to His blessed Son. You have often been besought to turn to the Lord. “Now then, do it.”
W. T. P. W.