SUCH were the words which once fell upon the writer’s ears, as in breathless haste and with hurried steps he wished to enter a carriage on the Great Northern Railway. For several reasons he particularly desired to commence his journey by the first train; but a circumstance over which he had no control prevented his reaching the station till the office door was closed; and though by entering it another way he obtained a ticket, when he reached the platform it was only to hear from the porter’s lips the words which stand at the head of this paper, and to see the train go on without him.
As there was no alternative but to await the arrival of the next train, he entered the waiting room; and while sitting there, the thought of the unutterable anguish which will be realized by those who, “because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved,” will be left behind when the Lord shall descend into the air, so pressed upon his spirit that he sought to improve the occasion by writing to some he dearly loved, and whom he would fain have with him when the resurrection morn shall break, affectionately beseeching them to remember their precious souls in “the accepted time,” and to “strive to enter in at the strait gate,” before “the Master of the house” “rises up and shuts to the door.” And if you, dear readers, are unable to look up and say, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,” be entreated to ponder the same subject, and think of the things which belong to your peace before they are hid from your eyes. You may not be “far from the kingdom of God;” you may be almost persuaded “to be a Christian;” you may “observe days, and months, and times, and years,” and be taken up with all that is comprehended in the category of a religious life—in short, you may, in name and pression, be as near to Christ as the writer was to the carriage which left him behind; but if you rest in a “form of godliness,” till the door of mercy is shut, you, like him, will be found without, seeking for admission when it is too late. In his case, the suspense was soon over; but in that of those who are not ready to meet the Saviour when he comes for “his own,” it will be altogether different. For those who have heard the Goel, and yet have not really received Christ, there will be no hope. No; those who, notwithstanding an orthodox creed, a moral life, and a constant attendance upon all the externals of Christianity, were never renewed in the spirit of their minds, will cry in vain, “Lord, Lord, open to us:” they will “seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
Such is the solemn fact, and though there is no sign that “the Lord is at hand,” he may be “nigh, even at the doors.” Indeed, no sign need be looked for, because none will be given. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars,” before the Lord descends with his saints, in judgment on the living nations. But the moment when he will come for them waits for the accomplishment of no event, nor for the fulfillment of any prophecy; nor is it dependent upon anything save the “Father’s good pleasure.”
“Surely I come quickly,” has long been the word of the Lord Jesus; and though “scoffers, walking after their own lusts,” say, “Where is the promise of his coming” and “the evil servant” says in his heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” “yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” When he will make good his word, and fulfill his promise, none can tell; but “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” those who “are fallen asleep in Christ,” and believers who “are alive and remain,” may be caught up “to meet the Lord in the air,” but you, unless you now take refuge in him, will have no share in the rapture, no part in the glory. On the contrary, you will be left behind to wonder, it may be, what has become of the husband who had frequently wept, as he told you how much his heart desired your salvation; or the wife who had often mourned over you and prayed for your conversion; or the father or mother who, in a variety of ways, had put before you “the gospel of the grace of God,” and assured you that nothing gave Jesus such joy as receiving sinners; or the child who, brought to know the Lord in early days, had said, “Father, I am going to heaven; are you going too?” or, “Mother, I love the Saviour, and I want you to love him too;” or the brother or sister, whose gentle remonstrances, though unheeded lave never been forgotten: and as you realize the fact that they are gone from your midst, to be
“Forever with the Lord,”
and that you are exposed to “the wrath of the Lamb,” who can conceive the terrific anguish and despair which will everlastingly fill your bosoms, as you reflect on the madness and folly of which you have been guilty, in refusing to listen to those who put the truth before you, but which you would not believe until it was too late?
Oh, then, dear readers, while the door is open, and “yet there is room,” while Jesus sits in patient grace at the right hand of God, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” before “the day of salvation” is over, and it is too late to be saved; believe the message of God’s love, and the invitations of his grace, and flee at once to Jesus who alone can deliver you “from the wrath to come.” N.