THE careless world asks this question; sleeping, sleeping on; arousing itself, it may be, at the cry of warning for a moment, and then sinking back into its dark death slumber.
The Tay Bridge disaster, with its 70 souls launched into eternity, is God's voice speaking at the end of the year to this guilty nation, exalted, like Capernaum and Jerusalem, with privileges; but alas! one fears, as deaf to the voice of Jesus as they.
Watchman, what of the night? Perhaps an answer from the Word at this time may be seasonable to any that have ears to hear.
The Lord divided the present dispensation, that is the period between His rejection by the Jews as the Messiah, and His coming again to take His Kingdom, into four watches of the night. He said to His disciples before His crucifixion (Mark 13:34, 3534For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: (Mark 13:34‑35)), " For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the Master cometh, at even, at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.”
He takes the figure of the night, divided by the Jews into four watches (the first the even, from 6 to 9; the second the midnight, from 9 to 12; the third the cock-crowing, from 12 to 3; and the fourth the morning, froth 3 to 6 a.m.), to figure the present dispensation.
Jesus was the light of the world come into it, but cast out of it. That was the beginning of the night. The disciples were not to know the hour of the Lord's return, but were to watch. Reader, if this be so, and they were commanded to watch, how much more you and I, who live after more than 1800 years of the night are past.
But is there any part of the Word of God whereby we may find out what the hour of the night is now? I believe there is. In the parable of the virgins (Matt. 25), we find that at midnight there was a cry made: " Behold the Bridegroom; go ye out to meet him.”
Reader, have you heard of late years the cry of the Lord's coming sounding in your ears? Then be sure the midnight watch is past, and there remains but the cock-crowing and the morning when the Lord may come I At the beginning of this century the cry began, and it has sounded louder and louder ever since. The wise and foolish virgins, i.e. the professors of Christendom, are waking up, to see if they are ready for the approaching Bridegroom!
Reader, when does the morning star arise? I answer: Before the sun. We find, by astronomical calculations, that the morning star sometimes rises before the sun as much as 4 hours and 20 minutes, so that, say the sun rises at 6 a.m.—the end of the morning watch— the star would then rise at 1:40 a.m.
Now, my reader, if we have sure proof that the midnight hour is past, oh, how close are we to the coming of the Lord! It may be delayed, just like the morning star might rise three hours, two hours, or one hour before the sun; but come it will,—and I ask, my reader, are you ready?
Jesus is also the Sun of righteousness, and He will display Himself in that character when He returns to the earth, burning up the wicked like stubble, and rising with healing on His wings to restore the remnant of Israel: (see Mal. 4) But before that day, when He shall judge the world in righteousness, He will rise as the morning star, for His Bride, the heavenly church. He will descend into the air, the dead in Christ will be raised, the living saints changed, and all caught away to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:16, 1716For 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: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17)).
Reader, before another year is out, this wonderful event may have taken place And O how wonderful! If it was wonderful for the Lord to rise as man out from among the dead, whilst the rest of the dead were left behind how wonderful for all the saints, from Abel downwards, to be raised in a moment—in the twinkling of an eye. “The rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were expired. This is the first resurrection" (Rev. 20:4, 54And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:4‑5)).
But if this be so wonderful and blessed for the saved, oh how dreadful to be left behind, unsaved, for judgment when the Lord comes.
We read, “They that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut” (Matt. 25:1010And 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 25:10)). The foolish virgins, the mere professors, were left outside for judgment, to hear the withering words, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not!” In Egypt's land, on the Passover night, there was not a house amongst the Egyptians where there was not one dead. But oh how dreadful for the unsaved to find, on some morning, that the saved husband had been taken away to glory from the unsaved wife or child, and they left behind to a strong delusion to believe a lie.
Yes, dear unsaved reader, if you reject Christ now, and resist the Holy Spirit, when Christ comes it will be all over with you! What is the dark picture after that, during the short interval between the rising of the morning star and the Sun of righteousness? Listen!
“Then shall that Wicked One be revealed, whom the Lord shall destroy with the Spirit of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming; whose coming (Antichrist) is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion to believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thetis. 2:8-12).
Thus all hope is over for the wicked rejecter of Christ in that day; he is handed over to these strong delusions, to be destroyed with Antichrist, at the time of the rising of the Sun of righteousness. Oh, reader, flee to Christ now; whilst His blood cries for mercy! for then it will be unmitigated judgment. A. P. C.