MAKE HASTE!

Some years ago, when travelling through Palestine, we were nearly overtaken by darkness. We had left Hebron in the morning, and had come leisurely along, passing through Bethlehem, and visiting the gardens of Solomon on the way. The sun began to get low before we caught our first glimpse of Jerusalem, and on reaching the plain of Rephaim we had to increase our speed. In a little the sun set, and we saw a man come out from the Jaffa gate and stand upon a small hill, shouting with all his might, as if forewarning of danger, and waving wildly, in order to call our attention to what he was announcing.

“What is the man saying?” we asked our guide.
“He is shouting ‘Yellah! Yellah!’”
“What does that mean?”
“Come along! Come along!”

We now found we were likely to be shut out, and this messenger had come out to warn us that the gate was about to be closed. We made haste, as we did not at all relish the thought of being kept all night outside the walls. We entered, and the gate closed behind us. “The door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).

The lesson we learned was, “Make haste!” — a lesson which some of us never forgot. So nearly being shut out of the earthly Jerusalem! What if we were to be not almost but altogether shut out of the Heavenly City! No time to lose! Too much lost already!

A few days after, a similar incident occurred, which furnished another lesson.

We had been wandering all afternoon on the Mount of Olives, not heeding the time. But at last we saw the sun going down. We hastened to the nearest gate, on the east side of the city. It was closed. There was no admittance. We hastened ‘round the walls to the other gate, which we knew to be kept open a little longer. When we reached it we found ourselves excluded. The gate was shut. We were told, however, that possibly the gatekeeper might relent and let us in. Alas ! the keys had gone to the governor.

What were we to do? It was suggested that a piece of silver might soften the guard’s heart, and bring-the keys back again. So we thrust a suitable coin in at the key-hole, and waited. In a few minutes the gate opened, and we passed in. The bribe had prevailed. But our admission was against law.

The lesson for us was, “Be in time”. The gate stands open. The entrance is free. The way is plain. Lose not a moment. Upon one lost moment eternity hinges; and

IT IS NO TRIFLE TO LOSE ETERNITY!

Eternal joy, eternal sorrow—such is the alternative.

Another lesson no less solemn was forced upon us —we may bribe an earthly gate-keeper, but we cannot bribe the Heavenly one. Neither silver nor gold, neither prayers nor tears, will prevail to get that gate opened when once it has been shut.

ONCE CLOSED, THEN CLOSED FOREVER.

You may see afar off the light and the glory of the city, but you shalt never enter; and the bitterest thought throughout a woeful eternity will be that it was all your own doing. You might have been a dweller in that home of blessedness, but you lingered by the way; and when thou came to the gate, the only words you heard were these melancholy ones, “Too late! Too late!”

One lesson more came forcibly upon us — WHAT MUST IT BE TO BE SHUT OUT?

To be excluded from the poor earthly city called Jerusalem would only have been a night’s discomfort, for with the rising sun the gate would open, and we should enter. But the eternal exclusion from the Heavenly Jerusalem, especially when we were so near it, was something inconceivably sad. The darkness outside the earthly city would be unpleasant enough, but the darkness outside the Heavenly City would be terrible — “the blackness of darkness forever” — for “upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” (Psalm 11:6).

Yonder, then, is the gate, O man! and this is the way to it — the one way, through Him Who said, “I am the way.”

If you have already entered on that way, and if your face is set towards the Heavenly City, all is well. Keep the gate in view, and

PRESS FORWARD WITH REDOUBLED SPEED; all “the more as ye see the day approaching.” For the time is short, and Satan is on the alert to trip up your feet at some unwary moment; and storms are gathering over earth, and we know not the day when the Son of man comes. Go upon your way rejoicing, having this as the burden of your daily song, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”

If you are still a wanderer, having no interest in the city, or the gate, or the way, then do we urge you to make haste. This wilderness in which you are wandering will not do for eternity. You must have something better — some fairer, happier habitation than it can furnish. It may do for your threescore years and ten ; but is not the thought of the eternal wilderness infinitely gloomy?

MAKE HASTE, then, for the world is growing old. MAKE HASTE, for the last trumpet may sound sooner than you think, and

THE SUMMONS TO JUDGMENT

may burst upon your ear with unexpected and awful terror in the midst of your worldliness and vanity, your gaiety and lust, your madness and mirth. MAKE HASTE, for you have but one life to live, and it is short; you have but one soul to risk, and “what is a man, profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” MAKE HASTE, for Christ is in earnest, and the holy angels are in earnest, and Christ’s ambassadors are in earnest. They know the joy of the saved, and the sorrow of the lost, and they urge you to make haste.

MAKE HASTE, for all is free. No money, no merit. All is absolutely and unconditionally free. Believe and live; this is our message. Is it possible that eternal life can be made freer, or salvation brought nearer than this? The gate stands wide open,

AS WIDE AS GOD CAN OPEN IT; the welcome is as wide and loving as it is possible for God to make it. There is no hindrance, no bar, no possibility of rejection, for over the shining portals is inscribed in letters of glowing gold, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

MAKE HASTE, for all things are ready. To these you are bidden. To these you are welcome. The provision is most ample, for it is made by the God of heaven and earth. The fatted calf is there. The best robe is awaiting you. The servants stand ready to put on the ring and the shoes, to give you the festal garment, and to bring you to the prepared seat at the table. Is there not enough in this to quicken you? Wilt you not make haste lest, before you reach the city, the door is shut?

So much to gain by haste, and so much to lose by delay; will you not gird up your loins and set out this very hour? To trifle time away — to trifle life away — to trifle opportunities away — to trifle the soul away — how inconceivably foolish! To refuse the Gospel — to slight the Cross — to trample on the blood — to scorn the righteousness — to quench the Spirit — to fling away the eternal inheritance — how awfully criminal, how unaccountably insane!

And then, what of

THE EVERLASTING REMORSE?

When all hope is gone, and the gate of the dark prison-house closes upon you? What of the worm that never dies, and the fire that is never quenched?

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

— John 3:16.

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