"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"--
"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find
watching."--Luke xii. 37.
The Closing Benediction.
Child of God! is this thine attitude, as the expectant of thy Lord's
appearing? Are thy loins girded, and thy lights burning? If the cry were
to break upon thine ears this day, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh,"
couldst thou joyfully respond--"Lo, this is my God, I have waited for
him?" WHEN He may come, we cannot tell;--ages may elapse before _then_.
It may be centuries before our graves are gilded with the beams of a
Millennial sun; but while He _may_ or may _not_ come _soon_, He _must_
come at some time--ay, and the day of our death is virtually to all of
us the day of His coming.
Reader! put not off the solemn preparation. Be not deceived or deluded
with the mocker's presumptuous challenge, "Where is the promise of His
coming?" See to it that the calls of an engrossing world without, do not
foster this procrastinating spirit within. It may be now or never with
thee. Put not off thy sowing time till harvest time. Leave nothing for a
dying hour, _but to die_, and calmly to resign thy spirit into the hands
of Jesus. Of all times, _that_ is the least suitable to have the vessel
plenished--to attend to the great business of life when life is
ebbing--to trim the lamp when the oil is done and it is flickering in
its socket--to begin to watch, when the summons is heard to leave the
watch-tower to meet our God!
Were you never struck how often, amid the many _gentle_ words of Jesus,
the summons "to watch," is over and over repeated, like a succession of
alarum-bells breaking ever and anon, amid chimes of heavenly music, to
rouse a sleeping Church and a slumbering world?
Let this last "word" of thy Lord's send thee to thy knees with the
question,--"Am I indeed a servant of Christ?" Have I fled to Him, and am
I reposing in Him, as my only Saviour?--or am I still lingering, like
Lot, when I should be escaping--sleeping, when I should be
waking--neglecting and trifling, when "a long eternity is lying at my
door?" He is my last and only refuge; neglect Him--_all is lost_!
Believer! thou who art standing on thy watch-tower, be more faithful
than ever at thy post. Remember what is implied in watching. It is no
dreamy state of inactive torpor: it is a holy jealousy over the
heart--wakeful vigilance regarding sin--every avenue and loophole of the
soul carefully guarded. _Holy living_ is the best, the _only_,
preparative for _holy dying_. "Persuade yourself," says Rutherford,
"the King is coming. Read His letter sent before Him, 'Behold I come
quickly;' wait with the wearied night-watch for the breaking of the
Eastern sky."
Let these "_Words of Jesus_" we have now been meditating upon in this
little volume, be as the Golden Bells of old, hung on the vestments of
the officiating High Priest, emitting sweet sounds to His spiritual
Israel--telling that the _true High Priest_ is still living and pleading
in "the Holiest of all;" and that soon He will come forth to pour His
blessing on His waiting Church. We have been pleasingly employed in
gathering up a few "crumbs" falling from "the Master's table." Soon we
shall have, not the "_Words_" but the _presence_ of Jesus--not the
crumbs falling from His table, but everlasting fellowship with the
Master Himself.
"AMEN, EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS."
"Wherefore