Story behind the song
The following by J.C. Ryle also gave me a lot of food for thought on this song:
There is a time coming when seeking God will be useless. Oh, that men
would remember that! Too many seem to believe that the hour will never
arrive when they will seek and not find: but they are sadly mistaken.
They will discover their mistake one day to their own confusion, except
they repent. When Christ comes "many will try to enter in, and will 'not
be able to.'"
There is a time coming when many will be shut out from heaven forever.
It will not be the lot of a few, but of a great multitude; it will not
happen to one or two in this area, and one or two in another: it will be
the miserable end of a immense crowd. "'Many' will try to enter in, and
will not be able to."
Knowledge will come to many too late. They will see at last the value of
an immortal soul, and the happiness of having it saved. They will
understand at last their own sinfulness and God's holiness, and the
glorious fitness of the Gospel of Christ. They will comprehend at last
why ministers seemed so anxious, and preached so long, and implored them
so earnestly to be converted. But, to their grief, they will know all
this "too late!"
Repentance will come to many too late. They will discover their own
surpassing wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed of their past folly.
They will be full of bitter regret and hopeless wailings, of keen
convictions and of piercing sorrows. They will weep, and wail, and
mourn, when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance of their lives
will be grievous to them; the burden of their guilt will seem
intolerable. But, to their grief, like Judas Iscariot, they will repent
"too late!"
Faith will come to many too late. They will no longer be able to deny
that there is a God, and a devil, a heaven, and a hell. False religion,
and skepticism, and unfaithfulness will be laid aside forever; scoffing,
and joking, and free-thinking will cease. They will see with their own
eyes and feel in their own bodies, that the things of which ministers
spoke were not cleverly devised fables, but great real truths. They will
find out to their cost that evangelical religion was not lip service,
extravagance, fanaticism, and enthusiasm: they will discover that it was
the one thing they needed, and that the lack of it will cause them to be
lost forever. Like the devil, they will finally believe and tremble, but
"too late!"
A desire of salvation will come to many too late. They will long after
forgiveness, and peace, and the favor of God, when they can no more be
had. They will wish they might have one more Sunday over again, have one
more offer of forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. But it will
matter nothing what they think, or feel, or desire then: the day of grace
will be over; the door of salvation will be bolted and barred. It will
be "too late!"
I often think what a change there will be one day in the price and
estimation at which things are valued. I look around this world in which
my lot is cast; I note the current price of everything this world
contains; I look forward to the coming of Christ, and the great day of
God. I think of the new order of things, which that day will bring in; I
read the words of the Lord Jesus, when He describes the master of the
house rising up and shutting the door; and as I read, I say to myself,
"There will be a great change soon."
What are the "dear things" now? Gold, silver, precious stones, bank
notes, mines, ships, lands, houses, horses, cars, furniture, food, drink,
clothes, and the like. These are the things that are thought valuable;
these are the things that command a ready market; these are the things
which you can never get below a certain price. He that has a lot of
these things is counted a wealthy man. Such is the world!
And what are the "cheap things" now? The knowl
