THERE is a feeling pervading the nations that some great event is going to take place, which is not without foundation. Before Christ came into this world more than eighteen hundred years ago, there was a general feeling that something was going to happen; and now, just before He comes the second time, there is a similar feeling, in some more intelligent and definite than in others,—but there is the feeling something is going to happen, something unusual and striking, and something that will greatly affect the affairs of this world!
The above was the advertisement of a new 18c. book. It may be sensational in its character, but its title is wonderfully suggestive― “If Christ came to Chicago.” I have not read this book, but wish only to speak of the title. It suggests the fact that Christ―the earth―rejected One―is coming. He, who has been hidden in the heavens so long, is coming back, ―first to claim His people; and, at the close of the great tribulation that is to come upon all the world (Rev. 3:1010Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)), He will appear in righteous judgment upon the apostate nations, at which time He will find a remnant of Israel and of the nations ready to receive Him.
It is not merely a question of Christ coming to Chicago, and how He would be received, and what He would do if He came; but of the fact of His coming, ―first, to receive “His own”; and then in awful judgment, by which the millennial age will be introduced (Isa. 40:1-121Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. 3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 9O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isaiah 40:1‑12)).
Observe the event which is immediately before us, and which is so soon to happen (we know neither the day nor the hour), is the Lord’s descent into the air, 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.
This being the case, ―the undoubted fact revealed in the Word of God, ―the great question with us is, “Are we ready to meet Him?” Are we really amongst those designated “His own,” and a part of the “Church of God,” formed by calling out from the world a people redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and separated to God; who have been converted to God, to serve Him, and to wait for His Son from heaven, even Jesus, the deliverer from the wrath to come? (1 Thess. 1:9, 109For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9‑10).)
Now, while there may be other questions of great importance, yet this is the greatest of all― “Am I ready to go in with Him to the marriage when He comes?” There is to be a company that will be ready, and a company who will not be ready, and who will be shut out forever (Matt. 25:1-101Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. (Matthew 25:1‑10)). Oh, then, how great the importance of being ready! ―that is, being saved. If the reader has not been born again, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and sealed by God the Holy Ghost, he is not ready. An empty religion without a personal acquaintance with Christ is of no avail. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again;” “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:1-81There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:1‑8)).
Christ is coming―not to Chicago, ―but He will descend, and the saints, dead and living, will ascend to meet Him. What a moment for the Saviour, and for them; for the Redeemer, and the redeemed! He comes to claim those for whom He died; and they, by virtue of His blood, ascend with him to enjoy the unclouded light of the presence of God forever.
Dear reader, if that event were to take place today, would you be amongst the number that would be caught up to meet the Lord? or would you be left behind? What an awful thought―left behind! If unsaved, may the Spirit of God give you to feel the awfulness of what it would be to be left behind, and your doom sealed forever.
Now―today―you can have your happiness sealed forever, by turning to God, trusting in His blessed Son, and being saved. Then, what joy it would give you to wait for God’s Son from heaven.
E. A.