The Morning Is Dawning for Some—The Night Is Coming for Others—Which Class Will We Be In?
By T. E. Bowen
The Morning Is Dawning for Some—The Night Is Coming for Others—Which Class Will We Be In? By T. E. BOWEN
"The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come." Isa. 21: 12.
This answer of the watchman seems to be a contradiction, but it is not. The morning is coming, and also the night. And what is still further significant is that the one and same event brings both the morning and the night simultaneously.
The difference is not in the event itself. It is rather the two conditions of the people on earth that herald the coming morning or the terrible night. To one class, suddenly there comes a glorious morning, radiant with future prospects; while upon the other, the black night of eternal despair settles down, with no prospect of a future day.
This being true, this statement of the prophet at once becomes bristling with interest to every one of us, and no wonder he suggests that a spirit of inquiry will be aroused. The invitation is cordially extended to every sincere inquirer at that time to "come"—come to Jesus Christ for cleansing from sin, for refuge from the coming storm.
"THE MORNING COMETH"
To whom, then, is the watchman's word addressed when he answers, "The morning cometh"?
Evidently to the Christian. Not the hollow, cymbal-like sounding Christian, such in name only, but the genuine Christian. The true Christian has his eyes on his Lord. His Lord is now in heaven, and not on this earth, save by the influence of His Holy Spirit. That which is of the greatest interest to him is the movements of his Lord. He loves Him. He loves to do His bidding. As the eyes of the maid follow her mistress, and often all that is needed is a glance of the eye, or a movement of her hand to direct her, so the Christian is guided by his Lord. His heart yearns to be in close and still closer association with Jesus. No greater joy comes to him than the thought that the coming Saviour is near at hand. He prepares to meet Him by becoming like Him in life and character. He studies his Guide-Book, the Bible, to learn his Master's will. Knowing it, he loves to obey. To such the coming of Jesus as King of kings is as the breaking of the morning after a long, wearisome night of watching. To the Christian, then, events on earth, heralding the near advent of Christ, bring the morning.
THE NIGHT ALSO COMES
There are but two classes in the world—the Christian and he who in life is not. One has life, the other is without it. "He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5: 12. The worldling seeks for and obtains his pleasure in and from this world. His interests are centered here. He loves this present evil world. Here he thinks he finds his highest joy in permitting his passions to run riot as he gives to them loose rein. He sees little in a future life that attracts him. He is not anxious to have this present world pass away. To him the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and great glory is the very climax of all calamities.
To such a one, that event, which brings to the Christian the glorious morning, ushering in eternal day, becomes the ushering in of an awful night, the blackness of which can now be only faintly comprehended.
THE DAY OF THE LORD
This day of the Lord, this time of calamity for the world, is mentioned by many prophets. They speak of it as "the day of the Lord." It is a time when God Himself arises out of His place and for a short time reveals His wrath against sin. He thus will justify those who have kept His law, while making known to all earth's inhabitants that the ruthless setting aside of God's holy precepts shall not go unpunished.
"And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem [the judgments visited upon Jerusalem being typical of what will come at the end of the world] with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good; neither will He do evil. . . . The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced [fortified] cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men. . . . [Why? What for?]
"Because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Zeph. 1: 12-18.
"Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord! . . . the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light: As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him: or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?" Amos 5: 18-20.
THE PERTINENT QUESTION
Therefore the question, "Watchman, what of the night?" becomes a very pertinent one. Is the night truly about over? Is the morning at hand?—Yes, the morning is near, and also the night.
Jesus made it clear that some people were having their good time now; that the selfish lovers of themselves, seeking for glory, honor, and praise of men, were getting all the reward they ever should have. Such had made the foolish choice of shutting their eyes to the home promised by the Lord in the world to come, and abandoning themselves to having a good time now. "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." Matt. 6: 2.8
It all depends, then, on the sort of life each individual is living, to determine the answer to the question, "Watchman, what of the night?" It may be the morning that comes, or it may be the night.
PREPARED OR UNPREPARED, THE EVENT HASTENS UPON THE WORLD
The actual "day of the Lord" will eventually come suddenly to the whole world, as unexpectedly as the appearance of a thief in your house at night. Despite repeated warnings by messengers sent from God, in the face of repeated disasters, one following another with increasing horror, the world sleeps on. But some day the voice of mercy will become silent. Some day God's Spirit shall cease its warning entreaty, no more to invite the sinner to hide in Jesus. Sin's enormous total will finally reach that figure set by the Infinite Himself in the eternity of the past — and then the end shall come.
HOW USHERED IN
The end to earth's long day of gospel opportunity will come unobserved by mortal eye, alike to believers and unbelievers. After the door of mercy is shut, and the end of the world has come, in that the time of salvation is past, then the "day of the Lord" brings the terrible judgments of God foretold in Revelation 16. All this comes prior to the personal appearance of Jesus in the clouds of heaven.
How long it takes for these judgments to do their work in the earth, no one knows. This is not so important as is the fact that night will soon be on. Then there will be thousands upon thousands who will wake up to realize that they are lost. Eternal life will then take on aspects such as they never dreamed it could to them. What would they not now give for just one day to go to Jesus and repent of their sins! No, those days of opportunity are forever past. They have squandered them all in careless living or in absolute unconcern as to their eternal welfare. Jesus has now ceased His work as Redeemer. He pleads the merits of His blood no more. Thus it will be when the night comes to the finally lost.
THE WAIL OF THE LOST
The prophet foretells this night, and the wail that will then escape many lips. He records the words of those without God, without hope: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Jer. 8: 20. These are among the saddest words found in the Bible.
Picture the crowds in Noah's day who have heard his warnings and entreaties, and who stand about the ark as a mighty angel descends and slowly swings together that ponderous ark door. The opportunity for going in is now forever gone. "Are we lost?" "Was Noah right after all, and we all wrong?" "Can it be possible that an actual flood is coming?" These questions no doubt passed from lip to lip as they looked anxiously into one another's pale face.
Brother, sister, the flood did come. Noah was right. A world was wrong. And a world perished, just as God said it would. Noah, by his faith and obedience, condemned the world. Jesus' faithful word is, "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
The terrible war of Europe furnishes some idea of what will take place when earth's night comes on. Already God is withdrawing His Spirit from impenitent men. When it shall be fully removed, then earth's inhabitants will know how much they were indebted to Christ because of His loving endeavor to win them from the destruction to come.
Are you ready? Have you hidden in Christ, the sure refuge? Are you inquiring what mean the terrible things coming on the earth? This is well, but it will avail nothing unless you go to Jesus now, while mercy lingers, and confess your sins to Him, falling helpless into His loving arms, and there abiding. There only are you safe. But if there, you are safe. No power is able to pluck you out of those wound-marked hands. Him who thus "cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out," is Jesus' sure promise. Are you ready for the morning? "The morning cometh, and also the night."
