CHRISTMAS MEDITATION

It shall soon be Christmas again. The great wonder, “God revealed in the flesh,” shall be commemorated.

The world is very busy making preparations to celebrate Christmas in its way, which is not in accordance with the Word of God. Alas! the world does not know nor desire the true Christmas. The world and the church celebrate a feast, but it is a feast devoid of the great and living King, Who was born in Bethlehem’s stable. Instead of being honored, He is dishonored. The great Gift of the Father is darkened by all this worldly and superficial ado.

Already many years ago, one of our ministers wrote: “The world may celebrate a feast in her way, and even dedicate and adorn a chopped off fir tree with lights and presents, but a true Christmas feast she does not know. In the church as well as in the saloon we meet that outward and superficial shouting and feasting they call ‘Christmas,’ but it is not a real Christmas. When I see those so-called Christmas trees, I often think about the wreaths upon a grave. Just as they try to cover death with flowers, so is Christ obscured by the Christmas tree, Christmas lights, and Christmas happiness.”

How poor, how lamentable is the world and the professor, who cling to idolizing the dust. Their Christmas feast is only idolatry and image-service. 0, that many eyes would be opened, and that they, as miserable and needy creatures, might come with haste to Bethlehem’s stable as the shepherds to behold the born King in His beauty.

O, that the Lord’s people, be it in the midst of the rumors of war, might celebrate the true Christmas feast; that they may exclaim with holy wonder and admiration, looking by faith upon the Savior Who has come, “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” and with great happiness rejoice in Jacob’s Shiloh, singing,

“Our hope is on Jehovah stayed,
In Him our hearts are joyful made,
Our help and shield is He;
Our trust is in His holy name,
Thy mercy, Lord, in faith, we claim,
As we have hoped in Thee.”

“Shiloh cometh.”

These words were spoken by Jacob when he was about to leave this earth and to be taken into glory. His faithful Covenant God had been with him through life’s journey and shall also fulfill the following words: “Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Jacob had continually experienced the truth of this blessed promise: “I will not leave nor forsake thee.”

Although Jacob’s faith was often very weak on his pilgrimage, it was very strong on his deathbed. What a blessing! Through his strong faith there was no wavering or fear in his soul. It is an unspeakable mercy that, when the pilgrim must pass through the Jordan of death, he may behold the King in His beauty and by the telescope of faith may glance into the far-away land: the heavenly Canaan, his eternal habitation, the place of undisturbed rest.

Jacob is loosened from the earth and from this life. With liberty and cheerfulness he blesses and leaves his children. He commends them into the hand of his merciful and faithful Covenant God, Who has blessed him and delivered him out of all his distresses. In a prophetic prospect, much light is cast upon the events of many centuries for Jacob, and he discovers the coming of the promised Immanuel, his Redeemer, his Treasure, by Whom poor Jacob is made eternally rich. In God’s appointed time he was able to embrace Him by faith and to exclaim: I now possess all things that I need for this time and eternity to come.

Jacob had no desire to pass through all these events with his posterity. He longed for rest, the heavenly and eternal rest; for the perfect salvation in glory above. As he was blessing his twelve sons, he expressed his strong desire in these words: “I have waited for Thy salvation, 0 Lord!” His faithful Redeemer had delivered him continually when he cried to Him in distress, and Jacob, having enjoyed the firstfruits of salvation, now longs for a perfect deliverance and the full harvest of salvation.

Jacob is prepared for heaven; not in and through himself, but in and through Him, Whose coming in the flesh he now foretells. All sovereign grace for a poor and guilty Jacob! Out of the tribe of Judah shall come forth He Who shall tread upon the serpent. The exact time is stated; it is said Who He shall be and what His work shall be, yea, that the nations of the earth shall obey and honor Him: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”

It is very plain from this wonderful passage that Jacob refers here unto a glorious Person. Jacob had a glorious

sight of Christ in His fullness and glory as a Mediator. Those who learn to know Him thus will not be able to rest before they possess such a heavenly Treasure as their property. They will say, as did a certain poet:

“Give me Thyself, the only good,
And ever with me stay;
Whose faithful mercies are renew’d
With each returning day.
Ah, guide me with a Father’s eye,
Nor from my soul depart;
But let the Day-star from on high
Illuminate my heart.

Jacob called the Savior, Who was to come, “Shiloh”: the Redeemer, Who shall bring great joy to every soul to whom He appears unto salvation. “Shiloh” is one of the glorious names of Christ. It is a name which also is “an ointment that is poured forth,” for a soul that cannot find rest anywhere without Christ.

If we study the original meaning of the name, “Shiloh,” we are led to consider a person who has a fulness of rest, peace, and abundance in himself. This can be no other than the Given One of the Father, full of grace and truth. How much rest, peace, and abundance was He to receive and enjoy when, after deep and bitter humiliation, He would be exalted at the right hand of the Father, that He might from there communicate rest, peace, and abundance to His dear followers, who are so poor in themselves and so often disturbed and fearing on their pilgrimage here below. He says in John 10:10: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” O, how bountifully does Jesus bestow these blessings upon them here already in this life, so that at times their voices are raised in singing:

I am filled with spiritual riches;
O worldly creature, I have a Pearl;
My soul is bathed in spiritual luxury,
Far above earth and worldly treasures.

The name, “Shiloh,” understood as One that brings rest and peace, holds much attraction for troubled and burdened souls. Thus Jacob had learned to know his Shiloh. Already at Bethel, Jacob received a wonderful sight of Christ Jesus, Who would merit and give rest. In His great love and mercy, He that was standing on the heavenly ladder brought rest, comfort, and joy into the troubled and sorrowful heart of Jacob.

More especially at Peniel, Jacob learned to know Him as his Rest Giver. At that place he wrestled with the Angel and prevailed, and could say, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” O, this blessed and bountiful rest and peace, which was given to Jacob by his Shiloh at Peniel, drove away all restlessness and distress and caused him to go forth without any fear to meet his brother, Esau; yes, death and eternity also. Christ Himself was his Rest; was his Peace. And this Christ, this Shiloh, belonged to Jacob by faith.

Jacob was privileged to meet his Shiloh continually upon his journey heavenward … and, was this not necessary? Usually the sheep of the Good Shepherd are so filled with fear and anxiety (Psalm 30), but then Christ will appear as the Shiloh. He quiets the storm and brings rest into the wretched and troubled heart (Psalm 107). Enjoying some sweet rest in the midst of the turbulent waters of this life, they can then travel forward again with new courage.

Jacob now lies upon his deathbed, but his Shiloh is with him; what can disturb him and make him fear? Very sweetly his Redeemer serves him with a foretaste of the heavenly rest and peace. Blessedly he may rest by faith in Him Who is “Rest” Himself. He beholds his Shiloh come forth out of Judah according to the flesh. He foresees His appearance in the fulness of time as One that merits rest and gives rest in free grace. It is as if he hears Him say to poor and needy souls: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” From his deathbed he calls to the whole church of the Old Testament, to encourage her in all concerns and conflicts, in all her desires and expectations — Shiloh cometh!

After very many years had passed, in God’s time Shiloh came and appeared in the flesh. The Sun of Righteousness appeared with healing in His wings. He came, and was found in Bethlehem’s stable; the shepherds from Bethlehem’s fields, the old grey-haired Simeon, who was filled with heavenly desires, the widow, Anna, who wished to be a messenger of good tidings, and later many others, were jubilant over the coming of the Messiah: He is come! Jacob’s Shiloh has come!

After Jacob had spoken these words he soon mounted the heavenly ladder by faith, and his Shiloh gave him the eternal rest and peace of heaven. Unworthy Jacob, the struggling Israel, a child of God’s eternal pleasure, now in glory wearing the crown of victory. Saved in sovereign grace! A great sinner saved by a great Savior!

0, glorious undisturbed rest, often so attractive for the wrestling, sighing child of God in the midst of all miseries here below. Soul enemies give no rest by day or night at times. More than once we have stood at the grave, where the sweet rest for the body in the earthly bed and the comfortable rest for the soul in heaven, has made the soul active in holy longings and desires.

Shiloh cometh!

He comes to every unconverted person in the hour of death, but not as One that gives rest. All natural, false, and imaginary rest He shall then take away. All those who never came to Him laboring and heavy laden, (Matt. 11:28), shall go into that place of eternal distress and woe. The rich man (Luke 16) had rest and abundance upon the earth, but it was only for a very short period. He was soon in the eternal pain. Who shall be able to rest therein? Then the words shall be fulfilled: “Ye shall lie down in sorrow.” O, may God grant that sinners, so filled with this world and false rest, and those that are at ease in Zion (Amos 6:1), may be alarmed and purged by “the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning,” to the end that they may be prepared for that rest that remains for the people of God. Shiloh cometh!

It is indeed a word of encouragement and comfort for convicted, discovered, and stripped souls, who can find no rest in anything without Christ, and must supplicate at times:

With my burden and transgression
Heavy laden, overborne,
Humbled low I make confession
For my folly now I mourn.

Weak and wounded, I implore Thee;
Lord, to me Thy mercy show;
All my prayer is now before Thee,
All my trouble Thou dost know.

Shiloh calls unto you in this encouraging gospel word, saying: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” O, what a blessed rest for and in the soul through Christ, after so much restlessness, so many struggles and conflicts! O, blessed rest through Christ in God, being reconciled with Him; rest in the Fatherly heart so full of love, favor, and life, for the soul that can truly say:

“As pants the heart for streams of living waters,
So longs my soul, 0 living God for Thee.”

Shiloh cometh!

He has come to you, who have been established by faith in Christ and His finished work; and when He came, He freely and abundantly provided everything your poor soul needed and longed for, wiping your tears, and filling you with joy and gratitude. As the faithful Jehovah and Jesus He came at the right time, and not too late. No, He did not let you perish in eternal woe with your heavy burden! How glorious and precious was His rest and peace, which He has merited in His bitter suffering and death upon Calvary. May you be further blessed on your journey, through the howling wilderness of this world, to rest by faith in your Shiloh, because the true soul rest is a rest of faith, (Hebr. 3 and 4).

Shiloh cometh! “Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Rev. 1:7. John says: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Shiloh cometh! May all those who are true seekers be given to look upon Jacob’s Shiloh in all their conflicts and wrestlings, in all their pain and sorrow, in all their concerns, restlessness and distress, in all their dark nights and storms. “Ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us.” After a ten day tribulation and many storms upon the turbulent waters of this world, He shall give your soul rest in the heavenly Haven. Blessed and eternal rest in the heavenly Canaan! “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord (their Shiloh) from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do foUow them.” Rev. 14. “Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus!” Rev. 22:20.

AT THE END OF TWELVE MONTHS… (Dan. 4:29)

According to several Bible commentators, the phrase “at the end of twelve months” must be understood as meaning exactly twelve months after Nebuchadnezzar had had the dream of which mention is made at the beginning of this chapter. And the venerable marginal commentaries say that this period of time the punishment had been postponed to aUow him time for conversion.

It was at the end of twelve months that Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof or the balcony of his palace. If the man had only been lying prostrate in the dust before God, he would have been in a better place. But that is a secret only God can teach a person. Then Christ must personaUy address us as He did Zacchaeus one day: “Make haste, and come down.”

At this time, however, it is not my intention to say much about Nebuchadnezzar, but rather to contemplate on this portion of God’s Word in connection with the last day and last hour of the year that is almost past. We should always think about the certainty of death, but especially on the last day of the year. That God might cause us to pause and contemplate on the brevity of life and the immensity of eternity!

For us it is also “at the end of twelve months.” The twelve-month journey we were privileged to start and continue will soon be ending. Soon this past year, too, will be swaUowed up in the ocean of eternity. Many who started this year with us stumbled and fell by the wayside. Death found them, and for them it has become eternity — for some, after an extended sickbed, while others were all of a sudden called away from this life without even realizing that the end of their life had come.

There is nothing more uncertain than life, and nothing more certain than death. Death is something that was not created by God. He is the eternal Living One and the Source of all life; He is the living God. And Christ is the Son of the living God. We ourselves have brought death into the world. In Adam, our covenant head, we have chosen death instead of life; and now, by virtue of our sin and the maintenance of God’s justice, it is being fulfilled what we read in Genesis 2:17 — “… in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).

By nature, however, we are unconcerned; we live on as though we are to stay here forever. Even the godly King Hezekiah had to be confronted with this fact in order to realize something of it and to be reconciled with death. We are of the dust of the earth and cleave unto the earth, and the separation between soul and body is contrary to our nature. In John 11 we read of the Lord Jesus that, when He arrived at the burial site of Lazarus, He was troubled and groaned in the spirit. And when He personally faced death in Gethsemane, His sweat became as great drops of blood that fell down to the ground, and He said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt. 26:38). Because He was truly and eternally God, He passed through and out of death; otherwise He, too, would have sunk away into eternal death. His divine nature supported His human nature when bearing the eternal wrath of God, which was evident from His victory over death. Death is the king of horror. According to Hebrews 2:15, Christ by His death had to destroy him that had the power of death, namely, the devil. And Paul speaks of death as the last enemy that must be destroyed. Death was threatened as the result of sin, and this death is swallowed up in victory only by Christ (I Cor. 15:54).

Besides all the grace God’s children receive during their lifetime, they need grace to die. To die means to face God, and of ourselves we cannot meet Him, not even on the basis of what we have experienced.

We are living in a time when there seems to be no fear of death any more. Already for years we seem to be lying under the judgment of a hardening heart, and from one year to the next this seems to get worse and worse. To be sure, we have retained some of the forms of religion, even though these, too, become more and more like unto those of the world; but the practice of godliness seems to be disappearing more and more. And the worst part is that we are satisfied with what we have instead of mourning the lack of what we need. We are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, as we read in Revelation 3.

I hardly dare write it down, but generally speaking death seems no longer to speak to us. In former days, when there was a dead body in a house, people were afraid to pass such a house; but today death has become such a common thing that it no longer makes any impression. All religious people are going to heaven anyway, so it is thought. That has been told them from their early youth, and that is what they believe. They do not doubt that for one minute, and hence the devil does not bother them. And so with confidence they face death.

And those who cannot go along with this superficial, empty, and dead religion, but confess that man must be converted, are equally unconcerned and live on as though death has nothing to say to them either. A spirit of a deep sleep is noticeable everywhere. Out of form and custom people go to church, but the truth meets with stiffened and hardened consciences. In Ezekiel 47 we read: “They shall be given to salt,” and that is what we see in our day.

0, when we receive some impressions in our hearts and an insight into the times we are living in, we should tremble and quake. The judgment of hardening is about the most severe judgment that can befall mankind. This means - and we say it reverently - that God apparently no longer wants to have anything to do with us and lets us go our own way; and that we are getting ripe for the approaching judgment of God.

It is a rare thing indeed if you come across a child, a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, who is not at ease; on whose face you can read that there is something that troubles them. And since this is such a rare thing, when we see some stirring, we think: Maybe the Lord is still at work. But even then we are often disappointed. God’s Word speaks of a morning cloud and an early dew that goes away (Hos. 6:4).

There is only one conversion that is true, but how seldom do we hear of it any more! What we do see is that people convert themselves or each other, but a conversion the Lord knows about is an exception. In Luke 1 we read that Elisabeth hid herself for five months, but afterward she freely moved among other people; the work of God became manifest and so there was not any doubt left. David in Psalm 116:10 says: “I believed, therefore have I spoken.” Sooner or later God’s work becomes manifest, for it cannot remain hidden. “If these should remain silent, the stones would cry out.” Everything that proceeds from God makes a deep impression and is convincing, for the Lord Himself sees to that.

When we, at the end of these twelve months, may pause for a moment and look back upon them, we should observe two things: In the first place, on the part of God, He showered nothing but great blessings upon us. God has allowed us to remain in the present day of grace. He has as yet not taken away His Word from us, that Word that can make us wise unto salvation. From day to day He has showered us with His blessings. Rightly the Lord could ask of us: “Is there anything more I can do to My vineyard than I have done to it?” We lacked nothing outwardly. We received food, clothing, and shelter, and the Lord gave us far more than merely our daily bread. Just think of the thousands upon thousands who languish in prisons and of other thousands who have been put into institutes, deprived of normal minds, and most of whom are as living dead unto the world. How you and I live on unconcernedly! How little do we realize that we have deserved death and forfeited life! The Lord owes us nothing, since we have sinned away everything.

The Lord has followed us with His blessings, and again He calls out to us: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Rom. 2:4).

And in the second place, on our part this journey of twelve months was characterized by nothing but sin and guilt, ingratitude, indifference, and hardness of heart. There is absolutely nothing of which we can boast as far as our conduct is concerned. If we had ears to listen, we would hear: “Do ye thus requite the Lord, 0 foolish people and unwise?” (Deut. 32:6). What is the difference between us and Nebuchadnezzar? Instead of this king crying out in amazement: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not!” (Lam. 3:21), he was walking on the roof of his palace. What is our attitude? What is our life from one day to the next? When do we truly and uprightly realize that we have forfeited the least of God’s blessings and have deserved nothing but hell? At times we confess this with the lips, but when do we do so in the actual experience of the soul? Shame should cover our faces.

God had postponed the judgment on Nebuchadnezzar for a year; He had given him a whole year to cry out to God. But, alas! he had forgotten everything and in the hardness and wantonness of his heart he went on living as though nothing had happened. He had become prouder and prouder until he, satisfied and happy with himself, took pleasure in all he had done. There was found no acknowledgment of God with him, no desire to cry out: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” (Ps. 116:12). There was not the least realization with him of his unworthiness and of the fact that all that man receives above hell and damnation is because of the mercies of God. How is the man to be pitied who is never privileged to bow before the Most High and who is ignorant of the true brokenness of heart, of which David sang:

No greater blessing that Thou canst afford
Than that Thou deeply humblest me, O Lord!

How many reasons there were for Nebuchadnezzar to humble himself deeply in his unworthiness before the Most High — but he lacked this sense of unworthiness; instead of this there was pride, vain self-glory, and satisfaction with himself. He took pleasure in what he had accomplished.

But what about us, at the end of these twelve months? What about us personally and what about us domestically? How shall we spend the last day? Where will we be found on the last night of the year? How did we set out on our journey the first day of the year? The Lord says in His Word: “Acknowledge me in all thy ways, and I shall direct thy paths.” Was this our constant prayer on our journey: “Let Thy commandments on my journey guide me”? How was our life during the last months, days, and hours? Was there any time to seek the Lord? Did we feel a need at

times to meet the Lord? Was there a fleeing and a sighing to Christ, to the blood of reconciliation, on account of our sins of commission and omission? Did we say with Hezekiah: “Be Thou my Undertaker”?

O, I know, it is all free, sovereign grace from Heaven if something of it may be experienced. Not only that — we have been conceived in sin and born in iniquity. We are objects of His wrath from the moment of our conception. We entered the world with the imputed guilt of Adam, and God cannot relinquish His justice. The question for you and me is whether we have received a divine debenture, and whether we ever owned up to our debt and learned to accept God’s verdict.

Did we ever say with Hezekiah: “Undertake thou for me”? O, I know, it is all free and sovereign grace from Heaven if something of this may be experienced. Of ourselves we think about none of these things. We are occupied with the cares and vicissitudes of life. Our natural inclination is to forsake and to forget God. It did not seem good to us to acknowledge God, and we show in everything that we are heirs to. Adam’s fall. We manifest that in our life, if we are and remain strangers of the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit.

By virtue of God’s common grace this inclination to all manner of unrighteousness is somewhat bridled and limited, for otherwise life on earth would simply be impossible. The full manifestation will be seen in hell, where man shall curse and blaspheme God on account of his grievous pain and affliction. There man will manifest his absolute enmity against God without any restraint.

Something of this is experienced by the people whose hearts are filled with a different desire, but who to their utmost grief must observe how deep their fall in Adam was, and who must constantly experience that their flesh does not subject itself to the law of God and that it never can do so. If you should ask these people whether they are happy with the fact that they spend their days and years so purposelessly and uselessly, they will honestly and uprightly say: No! More than they can ever reveal to other people they are burdened by an inward grief and self-condemnation that they are living so far from their goal. They know what kind of people they ought to be in regard to a godly walk of life, but they find how much their souls cleave unto the dust. They often exclaim: “Why am I uselessly occupying this earth! Yet with David in Psalm 38:9 they exclaim: “Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.” God’s Spirit has wrought in their heart a true desire to live in holiness and uprightness before Him all the days of their lives (Luke 1:75). The new life within desires to walk in holy freedom — but not on the rooftop as did Nebuchadnezzar. It is their constant prayer not to be floating high above the trees but to be humbled by God in the valley of humility, and there to lie at His feet. They can never bow too deeply and too lowly before God. That new life within desires nothing else but to lie in humility before God, to acknowledge that He is righteous and just, and to give Him all the glory and honor.

This is the great difference between the true people of God and the worldlings and hypocrites. The latter know nothing of these things. But God’s people, who are very poor in and of themselves, and who must often condemn themselves, are rich in God through Christ because they have been made partakers of the Divine nature, and in principle the Divine image has been restored in them. This is an incomprehensible wonder of God.

At the end of twelve months, God’s children take no pleasure in killing oxen and sheep, in eating meat and drinking wine, and in spending their time with and in the world. Rather, they wish to remember God’s mercies in the midst of His temple, and to find a place in their own house where they, in deep humility and holy amazement, may adore God, the God who, besides life, has given them mercy and whose protection has kept their spirit. With the psalmist they sing:

Come, all ye people, bless our God
And tell His glorious praise abroad,
Who holds our soul in life,
Who never lets our feet be moved
And, though our faith He oft has proved,
Upholds us in the strife.

Also in this respect God’s people must learn two things: First, “Without me ye can do nothing”; and, second, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (John 15:5, Phil. 4:13). And what lies in between? A constant reminder of what they have lost in their deep fall. A constant experiencing of their utmost dependence upon the God of their life. An experiencing of their deadly misery, poverty, emptiness, ignorance, and fruitlessness; and this teaches them to condemn themselves and to despise themselves. But this is the one side of the coin, for this not only constantly humbles their soul, but it also drives them to the throne of grace in prayer and supplication, to cry to and beseech this God with whom there is deliverance even from death. God’s people may, by the faith that is wrought in them by the Holy Spirit, put their trust in the God who will, from His fullness, fill all their needs in glory. “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps. 81:10).

Then there will be a rejoicing in Christ, the unspeakable Gift of God, who is the fulfillment of all and in all. God’s people can no longer be satisfied with the world, neither can they boast about themselves. For Heaven has taught them to abhor themselves, and that will remain so even though often the Pharisee within them comes to the fore. Their true joy is in God. And the more Christ is revealed in them and by the Holy Spirit is declared to them, the greater their joy becomes. Christ is the cause of their eternal salvation.

At the end of twelve months we are reminded: “I, the Lord, change not, therefore are ye, O children of Jacob, not consumed.” God’s children may rejoice in the fact that there is a Mediator who intercedes, and who assumes, reconciles, and removes their guilt, and who ever lives to pray for His people. It strengthens their soul that the Spirit, who quickened them, comforts them in all their grief, lone-• liness, and self-condemnation. But He also abides with them forever. Of them it can be said that they are nothing but corrupters; but Christ has made all things straight because by one sacrifice He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. How precious, necessary, and desirable Christ becomes to such souls! Hou unspeakably precious becomes His Mediatorial suffering and work! They magnify Him as the utmost object of their joy. And in principle they learn to end with the Gift of the Father in God the Father. That is why they say with David: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (Ps. 115:1). Even with one crumb of it, they are happier than they could be with thousands of worlds and with all the gold of Ophir. Indeed, if they have something of this in their heart, in spite of all they still lack, they may say at the end of twelve months:

The closer I come to the end of the road
The stronger I yearn for my Father’s abode.

There they will receive the golden crown of victory upon their heads, but they will cast their crown at the feet of the Lamb who bought and saved them with His precious blood.

But what will it be to come to the end of twelve months without being born again and without having been quickened by the Holy Spirit? What will it be to be walking on the roof of our house without giving God all the glory? O, if we never have been cast from our imagined heights, if we never have learned to bow before God, and if we never have been joined with Christ by faith, then our end will be as Asaph sang in Psalm 73:

I saw in what peril ungodly men stand
With sudden destruction and ruin at hand.

O, my unconverted and hardened fellow traveler to eternity, may you learn to consider what is needful to obtain eternal peace. The time is getting short. We are fast approaching the end. The coming of the Lord is at hand. The world is getting worn out with age. Everything points to the end. We are living in a doomed world. The signs of the coming of the Lord are all around us. We might say: it is five minutes before twelve o’clock! And as far as our lives are concerned, maybe it is even two minutes or one minute before twelve o’clock. Therefore make haste for your life’s sake! Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near! Seek a place of shelter and rest in the caves of the rock - in the righteousness of Christ. In His wounds there are manifold comforts for a soul that mourns his sin and yearns for God. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little” (Ps. 2:12).

While it is yet the last hour, an unconverted person can still be converted to God. It is still being told us that God has no desire in the death of the wicked but that he be converted and live.

And, people of God, while you are begging, you are on your way to receive the inheritance that God has prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.

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