A Warning and a Prayer "Be ye Therefore Ready." Mat. 24-44.
place of a suppliant, pleading for the lost to come in while the door o £ mercy remains open. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as show; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."— Isa. 1:18. Jesus said: "Verily I say unto you, He t h at believeth on me h a th everlast- ing l i f e . "—J o hn 6:47. A £ Ri LORD JESUS, COME QUICKLY Richard Baxter, 1615-1691. O MY Saviour, hasten t he time of Thy r e t u r n! Delay not lest the earth should grow like hell, .and Thy church by division be all crumbled to dust; delay not, lest thin« enemies get advantage of Thy flock, and lest pride, hypocrisy, sensual- ity and unbelief prevail against Thy little remnant, and share among t h em Thy whole inheritance, and when Thou comest Thou find not faith on the e a r t h; delay not, lest the grave should boast of victory, and having learned rebellion of its guest, should refuse to deliver up unto Thee Thy due! Oh, hasten t h at great resurrection day, when Thy com- mand shall go forth and none shall dis- obey; when all that sleep in the grave shall awake and the dead in Christ shall rise first; when the seed which Thou sowedst corruptible shall come f o r th in- corruptible; and the graves t h at re- ceived rottenness and dust shall return Thee glorious stars and sunsf There- fore, dare I lay down my carcass in the dust, intrusting it, not to a grave but to Thee and, therefore, fny flesh shall rest in hope, till Thou shalt raise me to thQ possession of everlasting rest. Re- turn, O Lord, how long? Thy desolate bride saith, "Come," for Thy Spirit within her saith, "Come," and teacheth her thus to pray with groanings t h at cannot be uttered. Yea, the whole cre- ation saith, "Come." Thou thyself hast said, "Surely, I come quickly." Amen. Huber, th-e naturalist, says, "If a wasp discovers a deposit of honey or other food, he will return to his nest to impart the good news to his companions."
SUDDENLY DESTROYED By A. H. Gottschall H E THAT being often reproved, hardeneth his neck,' shall sud- denly be destroyed, and that without remedy."—Prov. 29:1. A woman known as Peggy, close on to a hundred years old, was pointed to Christ as her only hope, but she said, "No, no, I have lived so long without Him, and I will not have Him now." Soon after she was found dead in bed. One of the saddest sights upon earth is t h at of those people who, depending upon God for every breath of air they b r e a t he and for every mo u t h f ul of food they consume, are daily living in open rebellion against Him. Not only do they thus manifest base ingratitude to- ward a most merciful and gracious Sov- ereign, but they recklessly endanger the salvation of their precious, immortal souls, and live on day a f t er day as though it were all of life to live, and all of death to die, as though there was no Heaven to gain, no Hell to shun, ex- ercising what in worldly matters would be deemed the height of folly. To resist reproof, and put off the mat- x t e r of the soul's eternal salvation, seems to be deeply rooted in h uman nature, and men and women frequently, to all appearances, are less concerned as to whether they will spend the ceaseless ages of the great hereafter in Heaven or Hell than they are about the most trivial matters of everyday life. Oh, 'that people would be wise, and consider their latter end, for "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salva- tion ? "—He b r ews 2:3. The mass ignore reproof, and reject the gospel until their consciences become seared, and their hearts hardened. "There is wrath, be- ware lest He take thee away with His stroke; then a great ransom cannot de- liver t h e e . "—J ob 36:18. But a way of escape has been opened up, and none need be consigned to ban- ishment from the presence of God and t h at of just men made perfect, because "He was wounded for our transgres- sions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed."—Isa. 53:5. This is the sinner's day of grace, and, wonderful mercy, the Lord takes the
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