Three young men had been drinking heavily in the taproom of a public-house, when angry words began to arise, and blows were exchanged. As it was getting late and time to close the house, they rushed forth into the street, determined to have it out there. Two of them were engaged in a desperate fight, when one of them, who was getting the worst of it, was urged by a companion to give his opponent the knife. He instantly drew from his pocket a sharp blade, and when next he closed with his adversary, he plunged it into his side. The wounded man fell heavily to the ground, and lay partly upon the kerb stone of the pavement, the blood streaming from his side. A doctor who lived near was hastily called, and in a few minutes was by the side of the wounded man, but it was “too late.” Seeing that there was no hope he stayed the blood for a moment by pressing his hand to the side of the dying man and in a low tone said that he could do nothing for him. He must die. It was “too late,” and in a few minutes the poor fellow passed into eternity.
A young girl has just been taken out of the water, the doctor is bending over her, and using the various means to restore animation. Long he tries this plan and that, alas; the spirit has fled, from whence it will never return; and the doctor, rising from his knees, declares it’s of no use, “She is dead.” It was “too late.”
The two foregoing incidents were well-known to the writer, being himself an eye-witness of the latter, and fully acquainted with the former, and the object in writing them is to warn the reader, if still unsaved, that a time is fast hastening, when the love and grace of God will cease to be preached, for not only is there “no repentance in the grave, or pardon offered to the dead,” but the Lord Himself says: “Behold, I come quickly,” and that event will be in an hour when the world is not aware, and when those who have refused the offer of salvation, through Christ Jesus, shall he crying: “Peace and safety.”
Reader, the coming of the Lord may occur at any moment, and should it be Now, and you a rejector of Christ, it would for you be “too late.”
But now (for the encouragement of any, who feel their guilt and know that they indeed come under that word, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” and, “there is none righteous, no, not one”) God has spoken, and in Isaiah 1:18,18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18) says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” And again, when the gospel of God’s grace is proclaimed, in all the freshness and fullness of His love, speaking by one of His servants, He says, “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man (i.e., Christ) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38, 3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
How gracious on the part of God to meet the sinner’s need, by giving them a Saviour! And how good of that Saviour to leave the glory and come down into a dark scene like this, and lay down His life, and give forth His precious blood, that the poor ruined and hell-deserving ones might not only be cleansed from “all sin” but by faith obtain eternal life through Him!
Unsaved one, accept Him now, and you will find to the joy of your soul, it will not be “too late.”
E. J. K.