The LAST Prayer Meeting
And the Kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the
mountains and rocks,
"Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come, and who
shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:15-17.
This is a description of the most dread prayer meeting that will ever be held
- and the largest. It announces a time when vast multitudes will come
together. Kings of nations, princes, lords, governors and sheriffs will be
there. Senators and representatives, mighty millionaires and popular
professors, men of strength and men of renown, the high and the low, the rich
and the poor, the black and the white - all classes will assemble at one great
prayer meeting.
Prayer meetings today are about the smallest meetings that are held. It is a
rare thing if a king ever comes; but there will be kings at the last one.
Presidents and governors do not often frequent the prayer room, but they will
be present on that occasion. It will be a great day!
All infidels, all Universalists and every one who propagates heresy -
theosophy, Christian Science or anything contrary to Bible truth - will be
there. Scholarly men from Yale, Harvard, Amherst and other great institutions
of learning, often considered above criticism, will be at the last prayer
meeting.
At that vast assembly men will pray. Not many people know how to pray today.
Many say they do not believe in prayer, but everyone will believe in it then.
Everyone will be engaged in it then. All will drop on their knees and call for
help.
Friend, do you know that there are times when infidels and the most God-hating
men will pray? They may be loathe to confess it, but they do. When men's
hearts fail them for fear, they pray.
Walking along the streets of Chicago one morning, I heard two elevated trains
crash just over my head. Pieces of the wreckage fell on the street about me. I
heard screams and cries and groans. Running upstairs, I found them carrying
out the wounded and dying. In a few moments policemen were there, with tearful
eyes and white faces. Patrols and ambulances came. Everyone was screaming and
crying and praying. It was a time to pray.
I have seen many unsaved people die. From their dying testimony I know that
hell must be awful. Hell is real. Ordinarily you believe what people say when
they are dying. You expect them to tell the truth in such an hour as that. I
have seen enough people die, testifying with their last breath that they were
damned in hell. I do not want to be present any more when people die without
God, without hope.
I saw a man die who had once been rich. He had been looked up to, had held the
respect of many, far and near.
A few months before, I had seen this man in a great meeting where many were
seeking God. I saw him under conviction.
I heard preachers talk to him, heard his pious wife plead with him to turn to
God. But no! He had money, influence, friends. This present evil world seemed
to be his god. He turned away from that great outpouring of Grace - unsaved.
Now, the man's money was gone and his friends had failed him. One night the
doctor drove by to say,
"Mr. Rees, our friend is dying. Won't you go over and see him?" Unsaved
himself, the doctor was not willing to see that man go into eternity
unprepared and with nobody to pray for him. I bent over the dying man and
asked,
"My brother, can you pray?"
"When I attempt to pray, hell is . . . pressing . . . me . . . down," he
whispered back. His hand dropped upon his chest and in a short time he was
gone.
I saw a merchant die - a successful man who apparently had accomplished his
purpose in the world. But he was godless. He had heard the gospel message
again and again. He had been invited to come to Christ, but had rejected Him.
I remember the day the merchant dropped into hell. A saintly friend had felt
divinely impressed to call on him, warning him to flee from the wrath to come.
He was not disrespectful to her. He merely treated the warning with
indifference and turned away to his merchandise.
The friend left and walked perhaps no more than five blocks, when someone came
running after her, begging her to return. But it was too late. In the mean
time, I was sitting at my table only half a block distant, when I heard an
unearthly cry. It came from the direction of the merchant's place of business.
I rushed there and found him alone, suffering intensely. He dropped on the
floor, In less than two minutes he was dead.
I have seen a formal church member die - a woman eighty years old. Formal
church members will be at the last prayer meeting in great numbers. For church
membership will never save you. It will take the blood of Jesus Christ to save
you from all sin.
This woman's daughter sent for me. I hurried to their beautiful home. The
mother looked at me as she walked the floor, wringing her hands and saying,
"I am lost, I am lost !"
I thought the Holy Spirit was awakening her and told her that she was just the
kind of person whom Jesus came to save.
"No," she answered, "It is too late. I might have been saved but now I am
lost."
She was then in good health, in good use of her mental powers, but as she
walked the house, day and night, wringing her hands, she grew weaker. She took
to an armchair, then to her bed. I visited her, but I could not stay. Her
relatives said they could not stay and listen to her screams. Hired helpers
would not stay. They could not endure the dying screams and cries of a good
church member, wailing that she was going to hell.
If one despairing soul can make a place so unendurable, what will it be like
when the multiplied millions are assembled together to pray at the last great
prayer meeting?
Because no sudden calamity overtakes them, some people may not pray today nor
tomorrow, nor for ten years. But sometime they will pray. They may pray when
it is too late. Such are not going to pray to God. They will pray for the
rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him who
sits upon the throne.
A mere profession of Christianity will not keep us out of hell. We must have
the real thing. There are people who say,
"If I go to hell, I will have lots of company." Don't believe it. Each man in
hell will be so miserable with regret and rebellion of heart and anguish of
suffering that he will be no company for you nor you for him.
A day is coming (Rev. 20:12-15) when all around this world the dead will get
up out of their graves. The sea will give up her dead. All the unsaved will be
present on the great Judgment Day. Read it for yourself : "Whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
NOW is the time to pray. Repent of your sins and get right with God. Will you
make this your prayer today?
"God be merciful to me a sinner. I come now to take refuge in Christ Jesus,
Who suffered for my sins on the cross and rose again to open Heaven for me."
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