Things Which Might Have Been
By William Covert
MANY blessings hoped for fail to reach our possession because we do not prepare the way to receive them. Missing these, we mourn over blighted hopes when it is too late to change the results. When the rounds of providence provide us with multiplied chances to mend our ways, we still say, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Adam and Eve might have lived in Eden until now if they had continued in the way of obedience. Now their posterity cast blame upon them because they yielded to the tempter; but who has not made for himself a cause to mourn over what might have been? The Lord provided excellent things for patriarchs of olden times, which they did not receive because they missed the road in which these things were to be found. When Israel came out of Egypt, the Lord wished to make them a shining light to all the people of earth; but they became a derision to the nations, instead of a blessing. The Lord said to them, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured forever.” Ps. 81: 10-15. The following scriptures tell us what blessings might have come to Israel had they received the message of John the Baptist: “This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. . . . For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come.” Matt. 11: 10, 13, 14, A. R. V. “And he [John the Baptist] shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:17. But John was beheaded because of the righteous reproof he gave; and after he was dead, Jesus gave the following explanation relative to the prophecies which he was to have fulfilled had the people accepted him as a prophet sent of God: “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. . . . Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” Matt. 17: 9-13. When the long-expected Messiah came to be made an offering for transgressions, his own nation refused to receive him. The apostle says, “He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not.” John 1:11, A. R. V. He gave every essential evidence of his anointing, but they still refused to receive him. After he was rejected by those for whom he had labored, he wept over their doomed city, saying, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke 19:42-44. When he saw the fearful calamities which were coming upon that people, instead of the joy which they might have had, his sorrow became too great to smother in his own bosom, and so expressed itself in bitter wailing. Following the ascension and coronation of Jesus, the people of Israel were invited by the apostles to receive him as their personal Saviour, and of course to unite with them in giving the glad tidings of salvation through him to all the world. The apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost said, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. . . . Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. . . . Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2: 32, 33, 36-39. On another occasion he testified, saying, “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts 3:25, 26. And again, “Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, . . . to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead: and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. . . . Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” Acts 13:26-33, 40, 41. But the Jews eventually rejected the gospel as presented to them by the apostles, and so the Gentiles were called upon to accept Christ, and presumably to assist in the work of giving the gospel to the world. “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46. And again, “The heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” Acts 28: 27, 28. Brethren and sisters, there are lessons in these things for us. These things were written for the admonition of those who live in the closing up of this dispensation. The Lord desires that we shall be kept from making mistakes similar to those referred to in the preceding quotations. There is great need of watching at every step. Much study and earnest prayer will be required. Are we doing all the good possible with the truth which God has committed to our trust? Are we constantly leading sinners to Christ? Do we make the right use of the means which the Lord puts into our hands? Had all been wholly faithful to the truth committed to them in giving the third angel’s message to the world, our work might have been completed long ago. But shall we now be faithful? Will our people now consecrate themselves and their means to the Lord? Why can not those who have thousands of dollars on interest donate it to the most needy fields, so that many more souls may be brought to Christ soon? It would be a wonderful day of rejoicing among the Lord’s worn servants if one million dollars were offered this winter for the advancement of this cause. This doubtless seems like a large sum to mention, but it is not beyond that which might be done if all were as willing to invest their money in this cause as many will be when it is too late. It seems to me that the time has come when something of a decided character should be done.