Missing!

 
FOR the last six weeks all England has been in wonderment at the sudden disappearance of a London lady. She was last seen walking down the Gray’s Inn Road early in the afternoon in perfect health. Nothing can account for the fact, but since that day not a trace has been found of her.1
Her portrait has been exhibited in almost every village in the land, a full description has been given of her appearance and dress when last seen, and substantial rewards have been offered, but without result. The whole police force of the country, as well as countless private individuals, have been following up every conceivable clue, but her disappearance remains to this day a mystery.
If, instead of one individual only, hundreds and thousands of persons had as suddenly disappeared, let the reader picture to himself, if he can, what would have been the consternation of the public. No earthquake to account for it, no disaster of any kind, but silently, suddenly, and unperceived by the rest, multitudes disappear, leaving no trace behind. If this were to happen, we can well believe that the whole civilized world would be as though stunned.
Reader, this will happen, and possibly very soon. Without the smallest doubt
Christ is Coming,
and in the twinkling of an eye He will remove from this earth all that are His; they will be caught up in a moment into the clouds, to be forever with the Lord. They will leave not a trace behind them, unless it be the words of warning that they had often addressed to friends and neighbors.
The story is told of a man who had often been spoken to of the coming of the Lord. It had been made clear to him that by the coming of the Lord was not meant death, and, moreover, that it did not mean the end of the world. The truth, so clearly revealed in Scripture, was understood by him. It had entered his head, but had not taken hold of his heart. One night this man sat up late; he was reading, and presently dropped off to sleep.
He had a Dream.
He dreamed that one morning he awoke, and to his surprise found himself alone in the room. He had not heard his wife moving, and thought it strange that she could have slipped downstairs without his being aware of it; so, somewhat uneasy in his mind, he hurriedly dressed and went down.
No trace of her could be found; he searched every corner of the house in vain, and what added to the mystery was the fact that the doors were locked from the inside, and every window securely fastened just as he had left them the previous night. He was standing in great perplexity; it was still very early, much earlier than the house was usually astir, when he heard on the stairs the footstep of his son, who had always been a wild and thoughtless youth.
“Where’s your mother?” asked the frightened father, scarcely daring to allow himself to think of what might really have taken place.
But the son did not know. They both started out to search for the missing woman, but to their surprise and consternation they found themselves confronted by large numbers of people, each one seeking some lost relative or friend.
The truth so often heard began at length to be believed, and, filled with dismay, crowds rushed to churches, chapels, and meeting-rooms to see if there might not still be an opportunity to accept the salvation so often refused, and to confess the Lord so sadly despised and rejected. But in vain. All hope was at an end; the day of grace had passed forever.
Reader, this was but a dream. But it was a dream of what is an intense reality. Christendom is continuing its careless way to eternity. Masses of the people live their lives in utter disregard of God. They never open the Bible from one week’s end to the other; they never bow the knee in prayer, and never enter a place where the gospel message is proclaimed.
But do not multitudes go to church? Are there not many who are most religious? Yes; but how many of these are ready for the coming of the Lord? Is it not a fact that the most intense worldliness prevails even amongst the professors of religion? Are not the ballrooms and the theaters thronged night after night by the very people who in solemn mockery partake of what they are pleased to call the “Holy Eucharist.”
God is a God of reality. It must be one thing or the other with Him. “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:2121And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21)). These words are as applicable in the midst of Christendom today as they were in Israel of old. It is not a day for indecision; the times are too serious. All things are fast heading towards the apostasy so clearly predicted. The faith of the rising generation is being undermined, if not already completely so, by the teachers in Christendom. Firm heart-belief in the inspiration of the Bible is almost entirely exploded, except amongst the few really converted preachers still to be found in the churches and chapels. And what does this halfhearted belief in the Bible on the part of preachers necessarily produce in the minds of their hearers? An utter indifference and undisguised contempt for what they call religion.
Nothing will arouse the mass of unconverted people around us — whether they be outwardly religious or hardened in unbelief and carelessness — nothing but the coming of the Lord.
When every truly converted person is suddenly removed; when multitudes are missing, and no trace left behind; when from every town and village, and from every quarter of the globe, comes the astounding intelligence that people in every rank of life are not to be found — then will the foolish virgins, the mere professors, the Christless and unconverted church and chapel goers, rush in frantic despair to the door that so long had stood open, but now is shut forever; then shall they call, but shall not be answered; then shall they seek, but shall not find. In vain to cry, “Lord, Lord, open to us;” in vain to plead, “We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence” —we have been baptized, confirmed, and taken the sacrament; in vain to urge, “Thou hast taught in our streets” —we have been regular attendants at our church, we have sat under the most polished and refined ministry, we have had the most up-to-date preachers, whose sermons it has been a positive intellectual treat to listen to.
Listen — “He shall say, I tell you,
I know you not
Oh, friend, the Lord is coming — the saints will be removed in a moment. We are nearing the end of 1903; before the last sands have fallen, this Stupendous crisis may be reached —
Are you ready?
If not, thank God the door is still open — salvation is within your reach today, a full and eternal salvation, a salvation worthy of God, a salvation wrought out by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Why not have it? You have nothing to do but to lay down the arms of your rebellion, to bow at the blessed Saviour’s’ feet, a captive in the chains of His love.
A. H. B.
 
1. Since the above was written, the body has been found after two months search.