Seek Now by M. W. H.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 8, 1875

Seek Now.

By M. W. H.

“WHEN once the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door.”

Perhaps no doctrine of the Bible is less clearly understood, or yet more plainly taught, than that there is a time coming in the destiny of our race in which the door of salvation shall be forever closed. The bare mention of the fact will at times cause the heart to stand still as we think of our loved ones who are out of the ark of safety; loved ones for whom our hearts go out yearningly, and because of whom I am now penning these lines.

That our Scripture arrangement of verse and chapter, as well as the method of punctuation, came by its translation from the original, all doubtless are aware, yet few perhaps bear it in mind as they read, and therefore judge of the meaning of passages far too much by this arbitrary adjustment. And so the words of our Lord are frequently wrested from their true import, and he himself is hereby made to teach theories not in accordance with the tenor of other Bible teachings. Thus, for example, his words to the thief on the cross, so often quoted to prove the immediate entrance of the soul into bliss at death: “I say unto thee to-day [present circumstances notwithstanding,] thou shalt be with me in Paradise,”—not this day, on which we die, alike ignominiously, but on that day of my coming kingdom, when I shall sit upon the throne of my father, David.

But I would particularly call attention to the passage a part of which heads this article, Luke 13:24, 25: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able, when once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door.” The words are unchanged, and the true sense is given by removing a mark of punctuation. Until that door is shut, thanks to our interceding High Priest, all who will, may come; for he is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by him.

I have cited the words of Jesus, even the loving Jesus himself, regarding this closed door, to startle conscience, and awaken thought, that the judgment may be convinced; and this done, some delaying one may be led to earnest, speedy endeavor to enter into the way of life, ere it be forever too late.

In the antediluvian epoch, for one hundred and twenty years, Noah preached righteousness and the way of escape from the coming destruction, in the ark he was building. During these years, doubtless, accessions could have been made to the little band to be saved; but the time came when the people of God had entered in, and the ungodly multitude were left out. The door performed its three-fold office;—by it the eight had entered in, and God had shut them in, and in shutting them in, had shut out all those who entered not while there was opportunity to heed the admonitions of the preacher. And we are not left in doubt whether this Scripture record is to find a parallel in future time; for our Saviour cites it as a warning: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.”

But we need not confine ourselves to our Lord’s teachings; for the prophets strike the note of alarm of a day of darkness and trouble, so that we are led to believe that they beheld the time spoken of in Revelation as “the wrath of the Lamb,” as future events moved on in panoramic vision before their prophetic eyes. It was this that caused Isaiah to cry out, “Truth faileth, and he that departeth from iniquity maketh himself a prey, . . . . and wondered that there was no intercessor.” Isa. 59:15, 16. Hosea also speaks of a time when “they shall go with their flocks and their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; for he has withdrawn himself from them.”

Startling as are the inferences coming legitimately from these passages, we do well to ponder them and obtain entrance, before a closed door forever precludes all availing endeavor. That we cannot definitely locate the time that excludes all hope, lessens not, but rather enhances, the danger, and should stimulate to greater vigilance. For from the parable of the virgins, we learn that neither the wise nor the foolish knew definitely. The wise sent the foolish to buy, and they went, only proving that they both had misjudged the time; for the great event transpired, and the ready, waiting, wise ones entered with the Bridegroom, while the seeking ones were shut out by the closed door; “for the Master of the house had risen up and shut to the door.”

M. W. H.

Malone, N. Y.