A WELL-TO-DO solicitor, personally known to the writer, had just retired from his practice in one of the eastern counties. After spending the greater part of his life amid the daily claims of a busy professional life, he was anxious to settle down in some agreeable spot, and there enjoy, for the remainder of his declining years, the longed-for rest and quiet which possibly he had often pictured to himself in earlier days.
In view of finding the situation he coveted, he visited many and various localities, but none seemed to his taste until he hit upon a place in South Devon―a charming spot overlooking moorland and sea. There were interesting associations with this particular situation, which, however, we need not dwell on here, save to mention that in a house in a beautiful cluster of trees close by, the poet Tennyson had composed his poem, “The Moaning at the Harbor Bar.”
When this retired solicitor found that on that very spot a suitable residence was available, he exclaimed, with evident satisfaction, “I shan’t go any further!”
Let us leave all that the speaker’s words meant to him who uttered them, and consider them in relation to men generally―to man as a being left here responsible to the God Who gave him being.
In such connection no man on earth can say, “I shall not go any further.” It is certain that the Poet Laureate did not so regard his stay in that carefully selected spot. He looked further―much further. The in-rushing waves, as they were forced by the tide over the harbor bar in the estuary, sounded to the poet’s ear very much like moaning. At such times the water was shallow, and the navigation consequently dangerous. Hence the words in the poem, penned, it is said, in that very place―
“May there be no moaning at the bar
When I put out to sea.”
He evidently realized that beyond the fairest “harbor” in this world extends a boundless, fathomless ocean―ETERNITY.
It is vain to settle down amid delightful surroundings and say, “I shan’t go any further.” Only a little way beyond the most attractive residence in this world is the graveyard Man with some measure of resignation would even regard being forced by the king of terrors out of his mansion to occupy a dark, narrow, and solitary dwelling, with no window and only one door―and that door at the top―if he could only to his own satisfaction persuade himself, “I shall not go any further.” But another Voice has been heard in this world―and to those who know Him not there is a strange, unaccountable, inevitable authority in that Voice.
The one special utterance we now refer to makes it clear that “the grave is not the goal” of man’s existence. Listen to that utterance. Jesus had just told them that the power of life and death and the authority to execute judgment had been given to Himself―Son of God and Son of Man. “Marvel not at this,” He said, “for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28, 29). Years after this the, same writer is inspired to say, respecting the second resurrection, “I saw a great white throne... and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before ‘God” (Rev. 20:11, 12). But not a single individual in that vast company will be able to say, “I shall not go any further.” For all that are there judged will be cast into the lake of fire―the “second death.”
It is a common question when friend meets friend in traveling, How far are you going? We need not ask you that question, dear reader, we know; and you know how far you are going. ETERNITY is the destination of all―with Christ or without Him. The truly converted can sing together―
“Alleluia! we are on our way to God.”
But, to use our figure, we do ask, Are you prepared for passing the “harbor bar” safely? Would there be no sense of danger, no “moaning at the bar”? No bemoaning of your wasted opportunities? Are you now prepared for what is beyond the “bar,” when “the spirit will return to God that gave it?”
To be prepared, is to be cleansed from the defilement of our sins by the precious blood of Jesus, and to have holy boldness through the knowledge of God’s love―the love of God shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost that indwells us (Rom. 5:5). But all who believe the Gospel of God’s salvation, through Christ, receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit of promise is the seal of their security to the end― “sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 1:13; 6:30). The day that will find us far, far beyond the “harbor bar.”
Consider a moment. You are constantly traveling. You are nearer to some destination than when you started reading this. The room where you take your dinner is, in reality, a traveling “diner.” Your bedroom, a sort of sleeping car. You are ever on the move to the end. What will the end be? We beg you to give that question very serious thought.
The mission of God’s Son to this world, His precious death, His present patience, all, all declare God’s deep interest in you. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life”―life “abundantly.” The Spirit is now dwelling on earth, and He also asks, “What shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). Face that question at once.
Today the risk of delay is all at your own door, A lost tomorrow would hold your wasted today in everlasting remembrance. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isa. 55:6).
“It is not too late to Jesus to flee,
His mercy is great, His pardon is free;
His blood has such virtue for all who believe,
That nothing can hurt you if Him you receive.”
GEO. C.