LIKE many others, I was going on the broad road which leads to destruction, not heeding nor taking any notice of what God says in His Word as to salvation. All of our family went to church, and, though I often had serious thoughts about God, I used to pass them off by thinking that all must die and be in the grave till the last day, and then that all will be judged, when the good will go to heaven, and the bad to hell. The good, I thought, were those who attended church, and did not swear, or do evil things, and my heart would reason, “God is very good, and merciful, and will let all in when He hears them ask Him, and He would not be so hard-hearted as to turn and shut the door on me.” I had never heard nor read that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again, and so I used to try and content myself with such foolish thoughts.
One day a neighbor asked me to go to Sunday School with her, and after promising several Sundays, I made up my mind to go. All seemed very nice, I thought, till the third Sunday came, when we read, “There shall be two grinding at a mill, one shall be taken and the other left.”
I felt very anxious to understand what that meant. When we were going home, I heard the teacher say to some in the class, “Is it Christ for me?” and all seemed to answer “Yes.”
I was greatly afraid lest I should be asked, indeed, quite dreaded it, as I knew I had never been to Christ and confessed my sins, but all at once the teacher came, and taking hold of my hand, said “Is it ‘Christ for me’ with you?” I knew it was not, and so did not reply.
My teacher then spoke to me about the Lord Jesus Christ coming again, which troubled me greatly; and presently another of the teachers came to me and began talking to me, and then quoted the Scripture we had been reading, “One shall be taken and the other left.”
There were several standing round, and he asked them if when the Lord came they would go? They all said, “Yes,” and he said “I shall go,” and looking towards me, inquired, “What will become of you?”
These words made such an impression on my mind, that I could do nothing but think of them all the way home. “What will become of you? what will become of you?” kept ringing in my ears. I pictured myself in the school, and Jesus Christ come and all gone with Him but me. All the class gone, and the teacher, too, and myself left. I thought it would be better if one or two were left with me, but they all seemed to say, “Yes, they should go when He came.”
On reaching my home, I went upstairs alone, and at first I declared I would never go to the school again. “That is how I expected it would be,” said I. “Why can’t they let me alone?” Surely it was Satan putting thoughts into my mind! But all at once, I thought if the Lord Jesus were to come that night, I should be left, and then what would this world’s pleasure be worth?
Like most young people, I was fond of worldly pleasures, but I longed not to miss everlasting joy. The conflict went on as I thought, “I shall not enjoy myself, or be able to go to places of worldly amusement,” and in the midst of my distress I knelt down before the Lord, and poured out my wants and thoughts to Him. I told Him I was a sinner, and craved for the unspeakable joy that God gives to all who truly repent, and, thank the Lord, He gave it to me, and I have lived rejoicing ever since. I have never wanted the worldly amusements I used so to enjoy since that happy day; no, the Sunday School and the Gospel Service have been my greatest “place of amusement” ever since.
I have written these simple lines for young persons like myself, thinking that the account of what passed in my mind and heart may be of some service to them. May every young reader of these lines find in the Lord Jesus as precious a Saviour and as dear a Friend as I have found.
While God used that verse to arouse the conscience of the writer, it does not refer to the coming of the Lord to take His own to be with Himself in heaven, but when He comes in judgment. The following verses tell us how He will come for those who are His:
“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:
ML 11/17/1918