Be Ye Also Ready by T. E. Bowen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Nov 9, 1905

“Be Ye Also Ready”

By T. E. Bowen

T. E. BOWEN

At the close of that wonderful prophetic discourse recorded in Matthew 24, when Jesus briefly reviewed beforehand the history of the world and the church to the close of time, he said to his people who should then be living, “Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

We shall not attempt to say whether or not this exhortation applies to the actual appearing of the Son of God in the clouds of heaven with all his glory. It may refer to this occasion, but before this day of actual revealing will pass a day that will, if possible, be of greater consequence to the church than that day of the awful appearing of the great God and our Saviour in the clouds. This day is the day when the door of mercy shall close, the day when man’s probation ceases, and our Lord rises from his mediatorial work in the holy of holies on high.

Then even back of that last day that forever fixes the destiny of every soul, comes a day that to us as individuals, those who constitute the remnant,—believers in the third angel’s message,—will certainly be the day of all days. This will be that day when your name and mine come before that heavenly court (in which no mistakes are made) to determine the worth of character. When in the balances of the heavenly sanctuary our lives in their entirety are weighed by the standard of God’s Word, my brother, my sister, much will depend upon the decision of that solemn hour. Christ in foreseeing what it would mean to us, warned us beforehand by saying, “Be ye also ready.”

But that which makes this exhortation still more forcible is the truth that this important day may come and we know it not. There is no record that there will be a blowing of trumpets to warn us. No, the solemn message is, “Be ye also ready.” This denotes a condition of readiness. Not “say” ye are ready, but “be” ready; for this hour comes at a time “ye think not.” That day may be one when the common things, such as have before occupied us, shall engage our attention. Nothing particularly unusual may happen here, and yet our case may be decided for life or for death. This is certainly no idle pen-picture. That day to us will surely come.

Is it not, then, very important that we carefully study the motives of our hearts, the tenor of our lives, right now? These precious hours are golden. It is not the great events of the future which should engage our attention so much as the fact that we are now in the time of judgment. Probation’s hour gone, and the door of mercy shut, will reveal that many who have passed as sincere believers in this message have been so only in name. The oil of character found only in Jesus Christ had not been obtained, and the hour of trial having struck, their lamps begin to go out, and frantically they begin to knock upon a closed door, seeking in vain for admittance to the marriage feast.

Well does Satan know the worth of these days of probation to souls; therefrom he exerts himself with all his power to bewitch not only the world, but believers in the third angel’s message, with some allurement until the day of mercy is over. “The time in which we live is a time of intense excitement. Ambition and war, pleasure and money making, absorb the minds of men. Satan sees that his time is short, and he has set all his agencies at work, that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced, until probation shall be ended, and the door of mercy be forever shut.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 31.

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” If we are not overtaken and surprised, as one whom a thief visits, we must vigilantly “watch;” for with a muffled tread this solemn day is fast approaching, and it is important that we “be ready.”

It is no time now for becoming bewildered and lost in money-making schemes, in the drowsiness of excess in cares of this life, in foolishness and pleasure-seeking. It is high time that we awake; for our salvation is nigh at hand. The world soon will be appalled with the falling judgments of God, but should we?—Ah! no. Instead we must be prepared to give others the warning of these things coming on the earth, and as we do this, we shall keep ourselves alive to the responsibilities and perils of the hour.

When the last day of mercy dawned for the world in Noah’s day, the people heard from his lips the most solemn entreaty they ever heard to come into the ark and be saved. It was while he was thus engaged that God bade him go into the ark. “As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” “Be ye also ready.”

Rome, N. Y.