IN one of the suburbs of London, on a June afternoon, a policeman was “on duty”; his attention was attracted by three men, who were going to a drinking saloon to indulge in the “pleasures of sin.” On their way they made up their minds for a “lark,” as they termed it, so seeing the policeman they judged he would be a fitting object to practice their cleverness upon. One of their company, addressing him, asked if he could “give them something to do.”
“Yes, I can,” he replied, “if you really want it.”
“Very well, we do; what is it?” they replied.
This policeman, through the grace of God, had learned in his soul the truth of the gospel, and it was his great delight to use opportunities like this to warn and entreat; so he told them solemnly that if they wanted something to do they should “prepare to meet thy God.”
Apparently unconcerned, they passed on to the saloon. Summer had mellowed into autumn; autumn had faded into winter, and the circumstances I have related had passed away from the policeman’s memory. He was again at his post of duty, when a young man accosted him, and offering a little book, asked if he would “read it.”
“What about your own soul, are you right with God?” said the policeman.
The young man replied, “Yes,” and asked if he recollected speaking to three young men, and recalled the incident above related, adding that the youngest of the three then stood before him. The words, “prepare to meet thy God,” had pierced his inmost soul. Wherever he went, for days, weeks, months, “prepare to meet thy God, prepare to meet thy God,” rang in his ears; they disturbed his conscience, and at length awoke the inquiry, “How am I to prepare?”
Then he heard the gospel preached, how that God had prepared a way for the sinner “to be made nigh” and delivered from the wrath to come, and now, in answer to the question, “Are you right with God?” he could say with a joyful heart, “Yes; all right,” through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross.
Whilst writing the above, memory recalls another fact in connection with these solemn words. The races at a certain town were advertised to take place, when it occurred to a Christian gentleman that placards placed in prominent parts of the racecourse and main thoroughfares leading thereto, with the words, “PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD,” on them, might be used of God to arrest the eye of some careless pleasure seeker.
Accordingly the placards were placed upon the ground. In due course the races took place, and the usual numbers flocked to witness them. Among them was a gentle man whose whole existence was spent is traveling from place to place to witness any take part in one race after another. As he passed along, intent only upon the issue of the race, his eye rested on one of the white placards, on which, in large black letters were the words, “Prepare to meet thy God.” They arrested him for a moment, but during the excitement of the scene the impression wore off. However, it returnee with increased power after the day was over In vain he tried to shake off the words; go where he would, “Prepare to meet thy God prepare to meet thy God,” followed him, accompanied by the deepening impression it his inmost soul that he was not prepared Whilst in this state of mind, ‘by chance,’ as men would say, by divine providence really, without which not a sparrow falls to the ground unheeded, it so happened that this gentleman was detained in a town on certain Sunday. As he strolled about unoccupied, he felt a great desire to go to some place to hear preaching.
He searched for some considerable time for a particular place, but without success, and was about to give it up in despair, when his eye caught sight of a building down a side street. He hastened to it, and took seat among the congregation, when imagine his surprise, upon looking up he discovered that the preacher was his own brother From that time his convictions of sin deepened, and before long he was rejoicing in the knowledge of forgiveness through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and now, having been taught of God, he has learned that all that is in the world— “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, are not of the Father;” and he seeks to walk in holy separation from the world, living to please Him who has called him “out of darkness into His marvelous light.” His desire—as expressed to me not long since—is, that he may be found characterized by the three things that should mark all saved souls, viz.: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Permit me to ask my reader, “Are you prepared to meet God?” Meet Him you must, whether you wish it or not, for it is written, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:1010For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)); and God has decreed that “every knee shall bow,” and every tongue “shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
To meet God unsaved is to ensure your eternal condemnation; to meet Him unprepared will be everlasting woe; to pass out of this world Christless, Godless, will certainly consign you to unending misery in the lake of fire, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Be warned, unsaved reader, ere it be too late, for “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 1:7-87And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (2 Thessalonians 1:7‑8).) Today He is sitting on His Father’s throne. Now we have to do with a throne of grace. Now grace is reigning through righteousness unto eternal life (Rom. 5:2121That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)); and now it can be said,
“Who is a pardoning God like Thee,
Or who has grace so rich, so free?”
Soon—very soon—Christ will sit upon His throne of judgment. Righteousness will reign then. The day of grace will be over. Use, then, I beseech you, this wonderful moment of God’s long-suffering to accept Christ, and be in earnest now before you lay this paper down, lest it should happen to you as it did to a young lady, whose father’s house adjoined the racecourse where the warning note was raised, “Prepare to meet thy God.”
It is more than probable that she had seen the very placards of which we have spoken; be that as it may, in a land of Bibles there is no excuse, but she preferred her own pleasures to anything else. She was looking forward with much pleasure to the opening of a new skating rink, where she anticipated considerable enjoyment. The eventful day arrived; a select company was present.
Skill, taste, and wealth had combined to make everything attractive. The merry laugh and careless jest were heard, when suddenly, without a moment’s warning, a pole connected with the building gave way. It struck the young lady a fatal blow, and her precious soul passed out of time into eternity. The summons from God had come so suddenly; “that night her soul was required of her,” and she was carried into her mansion a corpse.
The rink has since been closed, but not so her history, for Revelation 20. tells us that the dead, small and great, will stand before God, and the books will be opened, and another book, which is the book of life, and the dead will be judged out of the things written in the books; and death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. If the summons were to come for you reader, “are you prepared to meet God?” H. N.