Even the Little Ones.
(Concluded)
You know what Jesus came into the world for the first time, and how he came; it was as a poor little baby, to grow up into a despised and rejected man, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and it was to save sinners by giving up his life for them on the cross, so that every person, old or young, that believed on him might have their sins forgiven, and go to heaven to be with him, and to be happy forever. And before he died, he said to his disciples, who loved him, and were sorry to part with him, “If I go away, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am ye may be also.” But he has not come yet, and so we are looking out every day for him to come as he promised. And as we are sure he loves us very much, we love him too, and we long to see him, because we love him, and because he is our best and dearest friend. I daresay you know what it is to be longing for a friend whom you love, and who is absent from you. Perhaps sometimes your father or your mother is away for a few hours or a few days, and you do want to see them back. Jesus is our best friend, and as he is still absent we cannot be fully happy until he comes, and we see him, and look on his dear face that once was so “marred more than any man.” We want to see that face, and he knows we do. Ah! that will be better than seeing the queen. I was very glad to see her, and perhaps if I had been her son, or even known her as a friend, and had not seen her for a long time, my heart might have rejoiced, but she had never seen me before, and then she did not speak to me. Of course she did not, but Jesus will, and my “heart will rejoice;” and yours will, too, my dear little ones, if you love Jesus as your Saviour, and obey him as your Lord. If you do not love and believe in Jesus before he comes, you will not be glad to see him. You will think, “I have been a naughty child, and Jesus knows all about it.” As though you had done something wrong while your father or your mother was away, and you knew that when they came home they would find it out, and be obliged to punish you. When they returned, you would tremble and think, “Oh dear, I wish I had not been so naughty, I should like to run up to my mother and kiss her, but I must not. She has not told me that I must not, but I know she will soon find out what I have done, and then she will be displeased with me.” And so I want you to be quite sure that if Jesus should come directly, you would have nothing on your mind that would hinder your being glad to see him. But perhaps you will say you have been naughty many times already, and so you can never be prepared to see Jesus; and it is quite true that every day since you can remember, you have said, or done, or thought, something that was sinful, and we all have sinned — the Bible says so, and it must be true, even if we had never found it out for ourselves. But that blessed book tells us something else too, and that is, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin. Your mother might tell you that she could not nurse a child with a dirty face; but you would not run about and cry, and say, “My face is dirty, and so mamma will never nurse me any more,” but you would go to the water, and get your face washed. And so Jesus, when he comes, will not fetch any one whose sins are not washed away by his blood; but if you will go to him, if you will believe in his blessed name, if you will take him at his word, and trust in him as your own dear Saviour, his blood will wash your sins away, and you will be “clean every whit;” and then you will be ready to see him, and glad to see him whenever he comes. And you must ask him every day to help you to keep yourself clean in your walk and ways. People in this town spent a vast amount of money to make themselves and the town look nice enough for the queen to visit; but Jesus does not want your money but your heart; and if you believe on him with your heart, and love him with your heart, you will find out that you have his heart, that is, you will find he loves you, and has always loved you, and he cares for you, and will be glad to see you, and have you in his home forever.
But I was to tell you something about the way Jesus will come. Did you ever see lightning? I have no doubt you have; a very bright flash of light shoots right across the sky, so suddenly, that it nearly frightens you. Well, when Jesus comes, it will be as suddenly as that, and even more suddenly, for some people know when there is likely to be a thunderstorm, but when Jesus comes into the air, no one in the world will know of it, till it has taken place. All who sleep in Jesus will, at that moment, be raised; all who believe in him, and are living in the earth, will then be changed, and both together will be caught up in the clouds to meet him in the air. But all those who do not love him will be left behind. He will not take them. O no! as they would not have him, he will not have them, and so they will be left in the world to suffer the sad consequences of their wicked dislike to the blessed Jesus. Then, after a short space of time, he will appear with all his saints, and not only a great many persons will see him, but every eye shall see him. These are his own words, and he did himself compare his appearing to the lightning: for he said, “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
And now as to whether people in general will be glad to see him. I have already told you how those who love him will feel about it. They know that for him to come and take them to himself, will put an end forever to all their sorrow and trouble, and at the thought of seeing him they cannot help being glad. But as to those who have not believed on him, and so are not saved, we learn from God’s book that they all will be terribly frightened. You know it says, “all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” Those who are left on the earth, when Jesus has taken away his own people, will be so sorry that they did not themselves believe on that blessed Jesus, that they will cry bitterly about it, and wish they could have back again the opportunities of being saved, that they once had, but in wickedness and folly they had neglected. And we read that many who pretend not to be at all afraid of Jesus now, will then be so afraid of him that they will “call to the mountains to fall on them, and to the hills to cover them,” that they may be hidden from his wrath and vengeance. But you know it will be no use, for Jesus has said that every eye shall see him, and what he says always comes true. Yes, dear little ones, and your eyes will see Jesus; you will not have to come to W―to see him, for he will come in the clouds and not in a carriage; and. I trust and pray, that before he comes, you may know for certain that you are his little ones, washed from your sins in his precious blood, and made fit to meet him, and dwell with him forever. Then, and only then, will you be caught up to meet him; then and only then, can you be ready and longing for that fast coming moment when “EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM,” EVEN THE LITTLE ONES.
R. T.