Be Ye Also Ready by Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 4, 1883

Be Ye Also Ready.

By Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle

BY MRS. L. D. A. STUTTLE.

ROLLING over the dim centuries of the past, like peals of loudest thunder, we hear those solemn, those earnest words of warning and entreaty, "Be ye also ready." Ready for what? The coming of the Blessed One. Yes, he is coming—coming to judgment. Then shall my name be read before the assembled hosts of Heaven, and I must stand for myself. Woe is me if I be not ready; if the stain of sin be found upon me in that trying hour; if I be not prepared when the Judge of all the earth is about to render a decision in my case.

Thanks be to God, it is my privilege to be ready—yea, even to be waiting and watching. If we are not ready, it will be on account of our own neglect. Christ speaks to us daily, by the wars and commotion of the nations; by fearful signs and great sights from heaven; by floods, famine, and perplexity; by increasing disaster on land and sea; by the signs of the times—he speaks to us, "Be ye also ready." We hear his voice mid the din and bustle of a careless, busy world; mid the scoffing of the unbeliever, and the curses of the blasphemer; mid the insincere prayers of the bigoted Pharisee, and the increasing worldliness of his professed church—we hear him speaking, yea, pleading and entreating, knocking at the door of our doubting hearts, and whispering, "Be ye also ready."

Life is uncertain; wealth and prosperity are uncertain; earthly pleasure and joy are uncertain; fame and popularity are but the fleeting baubles of an hour. The Judgment is certain; Christ's coming is certain; the punishment of the wicked is certain, and the reward of the righteous sure.

Oh! my soul, make ready for the future. Make not half-way work. Be thorough. Be earnest. Be ready. "For in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

And oh! when he cometh to Judgment, Who then may the day abide, When our names shall be called by the Master, And our trembling souls be tried?

Vernon, Mich., Dec. 20, 1882.