"What Manner of Persons Ought We to Be?"
By H. L. Hastings
FROM THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, BY H. L. HASTINGS. We are looking forward. We have reviewed the prospects of the church, the doom of the ungodly, and the destiny of the world. We have glanced at the signs of the times, the tokens of approaching glory and impending wrath. Believing the Scriptures, we know from them what we may expect for days to come. And since such events are in prospect, should we not shape our lives with reference to them? If our times are most solemnly eventful, what do they demand of us? What must we do to prepare for these momentous scenes? Man of this world, I put this question to you. Are you prepared for that day? Are you preparing for it? Busy with your farms and with your merchandise, seeking for honor, wealth, or power, reveling in airy dreams, or building your sand-based mansions,—are you ready for the hour when the heavens shall depart as a scroll, when the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard? Do you comprehend your peril in these perilous times? Can you sleep while your bark is sailing in eddying circles around the vortex of perdition? Can you feel secure while you trample under foot the blood of Christ, and reject the only refuge of the perishing and the lost? Can you rest while the heaving tides of coming trouble convulse the deep foundations of the world? Can you slumber while volcanic forces seethe and surge beneath your feet? Can you play, and dally, and riot, and trifle on, while around you sound the mutterings of the distant storm, while beneath you swell the tremblings of the coming earthquake, while about you play the eddies of the approaching whirlwind, and while on the distant hights there grates the thunder of the rushing avalanche of wrath? Can you stand still while the deluge is preparing? Can you trifle while the fiery storm is gathering over your head? Can you linger while damnation lingereth not? Is it wise, is it prudent, is it manly, thus to jeopardize eternal life?186 Sinners, the day of the Lord will come. Doubt it though ye may, deny it though ye will, aye, scorn it if ye dare, nevertheless, it will come. And then, when dire dismay shall seize the gay, the godless, and the proud, where will you appear? When anguish shall stifle mirth, and weeping shall banish smiles, when wailing shall put an end to music, and jests shall fail from proud and impious lips, when skepticism, and infidelity, and presumption, and security shall wither at the presence of the REALITY which they derided, then where will you be found? No covert can conceal you. Gold cannot bribe the Judge of quick and dead, nor can silver buy deliverance in the day of his wrath. There shall be but one place of safety then—the Ark of God. Thank God, its inviting door is open now. In that you may be safe. Jesus has died for sinners—he has died for you; and those who humbly seek him now shall find him an unfailing refuge then. He is your safety from deserved wrath; in him you may be secure, and have boldness in the day of judgment. Man of the world, I pray you seek this place of safety. Your earthly riches will fly away; learn, then, to ‒sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven.” The world is like quicksand beneath you; will you not set your feet upon the everlasting Rock? You may thus be safe, and be assured of your safety. Come, then, to Christ, the Refuge of the perishing, to Jesus, the Saviour of the lost. Seek for mercy at his hands. Forsake the sins that offend him, cast away the thoughts that insult him, and believe in him as a Redeemer and Friend who loves you, and who has given his life to redeem you from ruin. Delay no longer. ‒Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Confess him as thy Ruler and thy Lord. Rom. x, 9, 10. Be buried with him by baptism into death, and rise to walk with him in holiness and newness of life. So shall you find salvation in the last great day. Wanderer from the fold of Christ, I have a word for you. Poor, wayward one, lost lamb, wandering prodigal, will you not return? You have wished yourself back again a thousand times—then come back. You stand upon the dark mountains. You tread on thorny and precipitous paths. You know not where you may stumble. Many around you have fallen to rise no more. Oh, will you not escape ere it is too late? Do you say, ‒I cannot return; I am faint, and weak, and famishing?” Lo, the good Shepherd leaveth ‒the ninety and nine” in the fold, and goeth to seek that one that is lost,—goeth to seek thee, thou poor wayward one. Amid the gloom and solitude of night, amid the dark and thorny thickets of the wilderness, the Shepherd seeketh thee. Listen, O lost one, to his voice of love: ‒Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. xi, 28. Come, poor wanderer, find refuge in his arms, and he shall bear you safely to his fold. Your heavenly Father waits to receive a returning prodigal; he invites you to come home once more. He will welcome you with music, and receive you with joy. God, who willeth not the death of the sinner, says, ‒Come.” Jesus, who died to save you, says, ‒Come.” The Holy Spirit, that convinces the world of sin, says, ‒Come.” Saints on earth say, ‒Come;” and angels, who minister to salvation’s heirs, wait and watch to receive you among their company. ‒Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.” Oh, come, and come to-day. Behold, now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation. But it is to Christians especially that I address my words. Seeing ye look for such things, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Should not the approaching glory inspire our hearts and the impending danger chasten our souls? Our times demand earnestness, activity, and zeal. We are passing beyond the period of scoffing and of sneers. We are going where witless jests will die away, and where lying lips will be hushed in utter silence. We are passing toward that hour when, amid the tumult of battle and the clash of arms, amid confused noise and garments rolled in blood, men shall have done with sneering and shall expire with fear. The stern, grim, terrible realities of blood await the world. The war of the great day rolls in upon mankind, and when God shall give the wicked to the sword and bestrow the world with the slain, alas! who shall be able to stand? Now is our time to sever our connection with the governments of this world, and to see that our citizenship is in the Heavens. What manner of persons ought we to be? Shall we dance, and dally, and riot, and play? Shall we drown our senses in indulgence, and stupefy our souls with lust? Shall we cling to our idols while the true God is so soon to come? Shall we heap up treasures to perish in the day of wrath? Shall we yield to fleshly lusts that war against the soul? Shall we build our hopes upon a fleeting world, which will soon reel to and fro like a drunkard and fall in utter ruin? Or shall we, who are of the day, be sober, and diligent, and earnest, and sincere? Have we work to do among the perishing around us? Let us do it with our might. Do we fear their rebuffs? We may meet instead with welcomes from sad and aching hearts. And we need not cower nor quail at the reproaches of a doomed and godless world. We need not stand abashed at the sneers and mockeries of those for whom wrath is treasured up. We must faithfully warn the ungodly; peradventure God may give repentance to some. The long-suffering of God is salvation to the guilty. He waits to save them; let us labor that they may be saved. And let us bear with meekness and with patience the rebukes of a sinful world, or an erring, formal church. Since we have entered into the sanctuaries of God, and understood the end of sinful men, we cannot be envious at the workers of iniquity. We know their doom, and can only pity those who remain unsaved. For there are moments now when conscience and memory torment them as with scorpion stings, when conscience assaults the soul with reproaches, and memory pierces it with vain regrets. But what is the remorse of today compared with the miseries of that hour when fear shall come like a desolation, and destruction shall fly as on the whirlwind’s wing? What, compared with the bitterness of that day when the wicked shall be cast out from all the loves and hopes and glories of the blessed, into outer darkness and consuming flames? What, compared with the anguish of the guilty in the presence of the Judge, and the despairing groans of those who die the second death? It is time that the sinful begin to pray, and it is time that we, who know the mercy that is manifest and the wrath that is impending, entreat the guilty to accept the present favor, and escape the coming doom. We have no time nor room for worldly trifling now. Our interests are too great,—our responsibilities too momentous. The Judge standeth before the door. The temple of eternity echoes with the advancing tread of him who is Lord of all. Is it a time for petty strifes and contemptible bickerings? Is it a time for vain wranglings and perverse disputations? Is it a time for plucking out motes, and tithing mint, and straining at gnats,—and doing nothing? Is it a time for seeking honors, and hoarding wealth, while the church wears her sackcloth, and the rich can scarcely be saved? Is it a time for play and mirth and music and delight, when the day of wailing is so near, and the multitudes around are so secure? Is it not rather a day for putting on the whole armor, and girding up the loins for the final conflict? Is it not a day for fasting and praying and tears? Is it not a time for men to seek the Lord, and seek righteousness, and seek meekness, that they may be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger? The time is short—the Lord is at hand. Can we not discern the signs of the times? Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Watch and be sober. Away with empty pomps and worldly gains. Lay up your treasures beyond the reach of nature’s final fires. There the thief cometh not, there moth and rust corrupt no more. Away with the honors and glories of this perishing world,—they are but the garlands that deck the victims which are led forth to the slaughter. Well may we defer our honors, our pleasures, and our ease till he comes who shall crown us with eternal joy. Let us then be diligent. Let us do good to all as we have opportunity, and thus manifest the grace which reigns in us to eternal life. So may God give us boldness in the day of judgment, and enable us to render up our accounts with joy, and not with grief, in that day when he shall come. Brethren in Christ, let us awake. The Master cometh quickly; let us be found watching when he appears. The signs of the times portend the dawning of eternal day. And while from afar there rises up the cry, ‒Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” let us so discern the tokens of this coming glory that we may cry out, ‒The morning cometh, and also the night.” Isa. xxi, 12. The morning cometh to the saint, and the night to the sinner; the morning of unfading glory, and the night of endless, starless gloom; the morning that breaks in blessing, and the night that closes in despair. May God prepare us to hail that day with gladness, and to see our Saviour’s face in peace. Be it our lot with those that are holy, and that fear God and love the truth; with the humble, the meek, and the merciful, and those who endure in faith and patience and obedience to the end; to say in that day, ‒Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is Jehovah, we have waited for him, we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. xxv, 9. May we then hear from his lips those words of joy, ‒Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”