Bear Vent

We are too disposed to forget that each action of our life shall at some moment be performed for the last time. It often seems as if we shall continue forever to fulfill certain routines of duties or enjoyments; but this shall never be. At length we are going to breathe our last, and then face God. How will it go for you, when your time comes, dear reader? Will you be numbered among those who, having repented of their sins and put their trust on the Savior, shall be given a grand entrance into heaven? or among those who, having failed to receive God's offer of salvation, shall suffer the torments of hell for all eternity? Think about it.

What a moment that was when the Lord, looking up to heaven, stood before Lazarus' open tomb! All was quiet inside the cave, for death was there; and all must have been quiet outside, while the Son of God prayed to His Father in heaven. The first sentence shows His faith. “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” ( John 11:41 ) The next showed His confidence in His Father's love — “I know that You always hear Me.” (v. 42 ) The last displayed His own love to sinful people — “Because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me.” He knew their unbelief, and He wanted to convince them that He and the Father were One. Who can conceive the breathless expectation that filled every heart when He uttered the words, “Lazarus, come out?” (v. 43 ) If that voice had not been obeyed, it would have been little wonder that the sisters had never again seen their brother; the hopes of all the dead, the hopes of all the living, the hopes of future generations, were ...