TODAY Jesus is saying, "Come"; tomorrow He will say, "Depart.”
Today is the day of salvation; tomorrow will be the day of judgment.
Today Jesus lets fall from His gracious, tender, loving lips, into the ear of faith, the invitation, "Come"; tomorrow He will thunder in the guilty ear of unbelief the terrible word "Depart.”
Today the three Persons of the ever-blessed Godhead are inviting poor sinners to come, and get cleansing, rest, and life. In Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18) ISA 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18) GOD says, " Come NOW, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
In this verse God Himself is inviting sin-stained sinners to come to Him, where they are, as they are, and just now; with the blessed promise that they shall be cleansed from all their scarlet and crimson-dyed stains, and be made as white as the pure snowflakes on a winter's day. But it is "NOW" that God invites.
In Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28), MAT 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) JESUS says, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." In this lovely verse, which is clustered with blessing, Jesus is inviting restless wanderers after rest to come to Himself, and get it. He does not invite you to come to so-called church, chapel, or meeting-room, to get rest; or what would become of the thousands of bed-ridden ones?
No; He invites you to come to Himself, a living, loving Person. And those whom He invites to come are those who are laboring to do the best that they can; such He would have know that He has labored in the fires of a holy God's wrath against sin, and said, ere He left the awful scene, "It is finished.”
Then let the laboring ones trust His finished work, and get rest.
But He also invites to Himself the “heavy-laden," with the guilty conscience of unforgiven sin. Such He would have know that He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and has put them away forever with His own precious blood; and He would fain give them rest from the intolerable load of a guilty, unpurged conscience.
What an unspeakable mercy, that in the midst of this scene of unrest, where there is naught on earth to rest upon, there is One who is inviting us in the most winning accents to come to Himself, and have rest! Poor anxious one, He desires that you should say at His feet what many thousands there can truthfully say—
“I heard the voice of Jesus say,
'Come unto Me, and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.'
“I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.”
But it is "Now" that Jesus invites.
And let him that is athirst come. And who-soever will, let him take the water of life freely." How exceedingly sweet and welcome it is to find that, just ere the canon of inspiration closes, the Holy Spirit joins in the cry of the Father and the Son, for sinners who are dead in trespasses and sins, to come and “take the water of life freely" He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price " (Isa. 4: 1). ISA 4:11And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. (Isaiah 4:1) The Holy Spirit's invitation is not only to the thirsty, but to "every one that thirsteth"; it is to whosoever, and whosoever means you, me, and anybody and everybody.
In Rev. 21:66And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6), REV 21:66And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6) God says, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Here we have God as a Giver, giving to the thirsty, giving the water of lite, and giving freely; but whilst the Holy Spirit invites and God gives, our responsibility is to '"take"; and if we do not take we must perish everlastingly in the lake of fire.
We have now seen in the scriptures that we have glanced at, that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, all join in inviting poor anxious souls to "COME," "Now,” “TODAY,” with the blessed assurance that whosoever comes will be sure to get present and everlasting cleansing, rest, and life.
Do you ask, "How am I to come?”
I answer, " The moment you own that you are a hopeless, helpless, and hell-deserving shiner in the presence of God, at the feet of Jesus bowing to the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, that moment you have come, and it is yours to know that you are cleansed, and that you have rest and life.”
Now, the devil will allow you to believe all that we have said, only he will say that “tomorrow " is time enough to come. Tomorrow is death, the grave, the judgment, eternity, too late, when, instead of hearing God {Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) say, "Come,” you must hear the awful word, "Depart.” Today Jesus is saying, "Come unto Me"; tomorrow He will say, "Depart from Me.” If He were to say, “Depart into the righteously deserved lake of fire," it would be intolerable enough; but when He shall say,
“Depart from Me," how inconceivably awful it will be to have to depart from the One who, once as a Saviour-God said, " Come unto, Me," but who will then as an inflexible Judge-God say, "Depart from Me"!
Today, as a Saviour-God, He is inviting you to Himself; tomorrow as a Judge-God He will be commanding you from Himself!
But not only will He say tomorrow, " Depart from Me," but He will add the terrible words "ye cursed"; and you will go away out of His presence with the curse branded indelibly upon your forehead.
Today He desires your blessing; but if you refuse to be blest, tomorrow He must curse you.
But He has yet more words to add to the already dreadful sentence, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (and everlasting fire, not prepared for us, but) “prepared for the devil and his angels," and to be shared with them by those who have deliberately preferred the lie of the devil to the truth of God.
Oh, come to Jesus now, today, and “eternal life" shall be your portion; but if you put it off until tomorrow “everlasting punishment” will be your portion.
Today you may have "rest" and” eternal' life” in Christ; but if you refuse to accept His invitation, then the awful tomorrow will find you in "everlasting fire" and " everlasting punishment.”
Today Jesus is saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Tomorrow He will say, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Which is it to be, "Come," or "DEPART"; “TODAY," or "TOMORROW "?
H. M. H.