I had a class of little children in a Sunday school, whom I used to teach hymns and read Bible stories to. All the children in the class were very poor. I loved them much.
One little girl in my class was called Emily. She was a dear child, and very fond of me. One Sunday, Emily did not come to school, and when I asked why she was not in her place, a little girl said, “Please, teacher, Emily is very ill, and her mother’s gone to get the doctor.”
Before next Sunday came, little Emily was dead. I saw them lay her in the little grave dug out of the green churchyard, and then I went home to think about it. I had never had anything to do with death before. Nobody that I loved had ever died, so far as I could remember. It seemed a very terrible thing to be rosy and well like Emily one Sunday, and to be cold and dead before the next.
Suppose it had been you, dear children, instead of Emily, where should you have gone when you were dead? Where did Emily go? Now dear young friends, will you think about this,
“If I were to die tomorrow, where should I go?”
If you believe that Jesus died for you, and has washed away your sins in His own blood, then Jesus Himself tells you,
“I will receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 3. You shall be with Jesus, with love and peace, and everything that can make you happy—forever.
Now, let me tell you about a little girl called Amy, who did love Jesus, and who went to heaven only a few months ago. When she was dying, someone asked her if she felt much pain, or was very tired.
“Only very tired,” she said; “but Jesus is here, and I think He is going to take His little girl into His arms, because she is so tired.” Then a beautiful light came into her eyes, and she exclaimed joyfully,
“Yes, I see Him! I see Jesus—and there is a little place left for me at His feet!” So she died. She is quite happy now—all the tiredness gone forever!
But what a terrible thing it must be to die all alone without Jesus; to be shut out from heaven and happiness, into all the dreadful pain and darkness of hell, with Satan and His angels forever!
O dear young reader, see that you have Jesus for your Saviour now, that when the time comes for you to die, He will be with you. To those who love Jesus, death is only going home. All our play, all our work, everything of earth that we care for here, we will not want there. They will be of no use to us when we come to die. We can carry nothing with us. All must be left behind. But if we are Jesus’ little ones, He will surely stay with us then.
But we may not die, for the Lord Jesus is coming very soon to call away all of those who have accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour, to meet Him in the air, and He will take them to His Father’s home to be happy with Him Forever. Not one of His own redeemed ones shall be left behind.
“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians. 4: 16, 17.
“Surely I come quickly,” He says.
May we say from the depths of our hearts, “Amen, even so, COME, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22: 20.
ML 09/27/,1931