x. 3. _And what will ye do in the day of visitation, &c._
These questions were addressed to men who were living lives of
ungodliness, and who were rich and strong in the results of their
iniquity. To such men I put the same questions. Do not resent them;
answer them, at least to yourselves. All the warnings of the Bible
are warnings of true and intelligent friendship, all its threatenings
"are but the hoarse voice of God's love, crying, Do thyself no harm!"
(H. E. I., 604, 605). Let self-love, which has been your governing
motive all through your life, move you to consider, before it is too
late, what you will do in "the day of visitation." It will not always
be with you as it is to-day.
I. There will probably come to you a "day of visitation" in the shape
of AFFLICTION. You have known little of it, but, if life be
prolonged, it will certainly come to you (Job v. 7; H. E. I., 47). In
how many forms it may come upon you! Broken health--blasted
reputation--poverty--bereavement: these things may come upon you
singly, or in various combinations, or all together. Men quite as
strong as you have been overtaken and overthrown by them (H. E. I.,
3991, 4403-4406, 4975-4989). What will you do in the day of
visitation and desolation? To whom will you flee for help? To man?
You will then find what worldly friendship is worth (H. E. I.,
2016-2112, 2131-2137). To God? But will He then hear you? He does not
necessarily listen to men merely because they are in trouble (Judg.
x. 14; Jer. vii. 16; Prov. i. 26-31). It is the penitent's suppliant
only that God will hear and answer, and your very pain and terror may
incapacitate you for the exercise of genuine repentance; _that_
consists, not in dread of the consequences of sin, but in disgust of
sin itself. As your friend I counsel you (Job xxii. 21-28). It is a
mean and miserable thing to have recourse to God only when in trouble
(H. E. I., 3877-3879).
II. But if your lot is different from that of all other men, and no
day of sorrow ever dawns upon you, there will come to you a "day of
visitation" in the shape of DEATH. _That_ is certain! What will you
do then? To whom and to what will you flee for help? Friends,
wealth--what will be their power or value then? And "to whom will you
leave your glory?" For you will have to leave it (Ps. xlix. 16, 17;
Eccles. v. 15; 1 Tim. vi. 7). And when you have left it, what will
become of _you?_ Prepare for what which is at once so inevitable and
so momentous (H. E. I., 1562-1566).
III. But that is not all. Beyond, there is a supreme "day of
visitation," the DAY OF JUDGMENT (H. E. I. 3045, 3055, 3061; P. D.
2100, 2103, 2106, 2107). _You_ will be in that countless multitude
which will stand before the "great white throne." And you will not be
overlooked or forgotten then; _you_ will be judged according to the
records in "the books" that will then be opened (Rom. xiv. 12).
Help--who can then render it to you? Your "glory"--it will have
disappeared, or it may reappear as your shame. None of the things
which secure for your consideration now will have a shadow of
importance then. Do I speak to you as a foe or as a friend when I
urge you to prepare for this inevitable meeting with God? (H. E. I.,
3062-3066). The time to prepare is _now._ The way to prepare, you
know; put into practice that which you have been taught. Then all
these days of visitation will be transformed and stripped of their
terrors. In the day of sorrow you will have a Friend who will know
how to comfort you; in the day of death that Friend will be with you,
upholding you in all that may be involved in that profound mystery;
in the day of judgment that Friend will be the occupant of the
throne, and He will speak to you, not words that will blast you for
ever, but words that will fill you with eternal joy.