BY ELD. L. D. SANTEE.
“THE night cometh, when no man can work.” John 9: 4. The day of probation will soon cease forever. The night may be nearer than we imagine. As often as the heart beats, men and women are sinking down into darkness. With us the silver cord may soon be loosed, the golden bowl broken.
Wonderful things are transpiring around us. Nature is full of strange phenomena. The nations and kingdoms of the world are filled with a wild unrest. Changes are taking place among the people of God. Link by link, the grand chains of prophecy have run out, and we stand to-day virtually looking back over a completed dispensation. The signs of the times flash their solemn warning over the earth and up into the sky. The voice of God thrills with the solemnity of a
PRESENT TRUTH.
His last message has been for years before the people. It draws the line between mercy and despair,—between those who will be translated and those who will be lost. The third angel’s message calls for us to choose once for all between the worship of God and the worship of his enemy. Jesus is urged by the eternal interests at stake to add his counsel, Rev. 3:18 “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire.” We must not sleep on the enchanted ground. Even though we have reached the borders of Beulah, still there is danger. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
THE NIGHT COMETH !
It will be a darker night than this world has ever known; none of the wicked will survive it. Unholy hearts and disobedient hands will never see the morning. The shadows of evening are lengthening. Soon toil will cease forever. ” Awake ! thou that sleepest.”If you desire to lay your body on the altar a “living sacrifice,” do it now; soon the temple service will cease. If you desire to draw near to God, come now, when he will accept your allegiance. The night cometh! Then, though you should seek space for repentance carefully and with tears, you will not find it.
“Too late, too late! will be the cry,
Jesus of Nazareth has passed by.”
Perhaps you have a name to live; you are identified with some church; you have plighted your vows to your covenant Lord. This is good, and yet this is not enough. In the light of eternal interests, in the lurid light of a world in flames, let the investigation go still deeper. Have you crucified the old man of sin? Do daily supplies of heavenly grace keep the flame of love burning on the altar of your heart ? Are you bearing in your body the marks of the Lord Jesus? Is the separation between you and the world a decided thing? Are you bearing the fruit of the spirit,—the peaceable fruit of righteousness? Answer God in your closet, and do not wait until mercy is forever past. If you are not in close communion with God, seek for consecration now. If you are cumbered with evil habits and carnal desires, now is the time to cut loose from a sinking, perishing world. The bands binding you to death may now be sundered. If your robe is all spotted with sin, when are you going to cleanse it? The fountain for uncleanness will soon be sealed up. It may be said of you, “He which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” If such is your condition, you will be among that hopeless throng who are cast into outer darkness.
THE NIGHT COMETH !
My friend, where are you? Is your light burning? Does the oil of love fill your lamp? Can you meet the coming Bridegroom with joy? Is your mind imaging eternal things? ” Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Purity of heart, and a life in strict conformity to the law of God, are the passports that will open to us the pearly gates. Strong hands have set them ajar, and the righteous nation shall enter in. Oh! the price paid for our ransom. The Christ of God drank with quivering lips of the bitter cup,—that potion of agony, and humiliation, and shame, and death; and since that time his scarred hands have been extended to us in loving invitation. The car of time is rolling on, and mortal hands cannot reach the brakes, cannot stay its speed. The day of grace is closing; the sun is sinking; the night cometh, when no man can work.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING
while probation yet lasts,—while mercy still lingers? Perhaps you toil for yourself until the hands hang down in weariness. You labor until your tired limbs almost refuse to sustain your weight, and all for earthly treasure! This seems necessary, and yet it is all of perishing interest. What are you doing for God? Are your prayers, your influence, your life, building up the cause of God? You have earthly means. Are you as a faithful steward or tenant giving to the great Owner of all the just proceeds of your stewardship? He does not need them for himself, but he has poor children starving for the bread of life, and he sends you out to seek and to save that which was lost. The night cometh! Gather in the wanderers. Unless you work for Jesus, how can you meet him? There will be souls lost that your labor might have saved. There have been enterprises crippled for lack of means, because you were not just in your stewardship. There have been friends and neighbors lost that your godly living might have led to the Saviour. And while the toilers for the Master stand with the dawn of a brighter day on their foreheads, the King will say to you with unutterable sadness,
these, ye did it not to me.”
The Present Truth Vol. 1 Num. 1 May, 1884