Do not fail to read every word of this paper, as it is an Appeal regarding your safety at that terrible day.
WILL YOU BE READY?
"IT Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (Psa. 110:11<<A Psalm of David.>> The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 110:1).) Thus spake the Father, as the Son entered heaven with the marks of the world's hatred upon His blessed person. (Rev. 5:66And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (Revelation 5:6).) Nigh two thousand years have come and gone since then, and time, with lightning wing, is speeding us toward that awful moment when the Son will rise up in resistless might to fulfill the Father's decree. Christ is coming to make His enemies His footstool. Art thou washed in His blood? If so, thou art His friend. If not, thou art Christ's enemy, and when He comes in power and great glory it will be to crush thee, as His enemy, beneath His feet (Matt. 25:31-4631When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46); Rev. 19:11-2111And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:11‑21).)
Oh, the terrors of the Christless at that coming! The coming of the Man whom the world once crucified, whose love it has not ceased to scorn, and whose blood it has even treated with proud indifference. Men who never prayed before will then, in their soul's deep terror, cry to the rocks and to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6:16, 1716And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:16‑17).)
Vain prayer! The Lamb's arm of judgment shall then reach all who would not take salvation from His hand of love.
Then will forever cease the gay song, the careless laugh and the mad whirl of gaiety, in which the poor victims of the devil are indulging, and an eternity of weeping and wailing will take their place.
Then will forever be suspended the world's pleasures and business, with the allurements of the one, and the wear, hurry and bustle of the other, which so often shut out God, and leave men no time to think of their soul's deep need.
Then will forever be arrested the world's boasted progress, and man in his mad career of proud indifference to the claims of God brought face to face with Him whom God has constituted Judge of quick and dead. (Acts 10:4242And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. (Acts 10:42).)
Christ is coming, and one of two things will happen to you when He comes: you will either be caught up to be forever with Him, or else left behind for judgment. Think of it, left behind for judgment!
How was it in the days of Noah? A world of sinners, heedless of God's warnings, and unprepared for His judgment, was in a moment swept away to eternal destruction by the terrible waters of wrath.
So shall it be when Christ comes. Multitudes will be unprepared, because unwashed in His blood, and hence will be damned throughout eternity.
Will you be one of them?
There will be terrible crying and waiting in that day, reader; men and women crying out for mercy, and wailing because no mercy can be can be found. Will your voice thus be heard?
The myriads who have listened to the gospel of God's grace, and turned carelessly away, will realize then that the day of grace is past, and that their doom is forever fixed.
Will you be one of them?
Oh! mad lingerer on the brink of that lake wherein dash and roar the flaming waves of eternal judgment, I warn you that Christ's coming is no mere fancy of a disordered mind. (Rev. 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15).) Already there are to be heard the muttering-s of the approaching tempest. How Barest thou, then, trifle with the solemn question of thy soul's salvation! I adjure thee by Christ's
dread appearing, by the love that thou hast for thy soul, by the fear of hell's eternal torment, to fly this moment for refuge to that Saviour who still cries, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37).)
Yes, Christ is coming again, coming as Judge, and yet there reaches us His voice of grace, borne along the centuries from the distant past, still pleading with the sinner in the tones of the tenderest love "Come unto Me,.. and I will give you rest." "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28); John 6:4747Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47).) But even as we listen the voice changes to a voice of sorrow, and we hear Him sadly say, "And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." (John 5:4040And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:40).)
Reader, are those words of grief prophetic of the doom of thy Christless soul? Or wilt thou this instant hasten through the shadows of impending judgment that even now gather round thy path, to the feet of Him who died that thou mightest live, and who, in patient grace, still lingers to receive thee and forgive thee through the virtue of His blood?