Some years ago I was talking with an old friend, and I asked him what assurance he had of going to heaven. His answer was a little vague and discouraging, so I asked him more pointedly: "Suppose that you were dying; you might think of yourself, 'In a little while I shall be in heaven or hell forever; the things of time are fast slipping from me: on what do I build my hopes for eternity? How can I make sure of heaven?'”
My friend answered that, strange to say, he had been in exactly the position which I had described. He said, "I was once very ill with inflammation of the lungs, and my condition became critical. The nurse was giving me a spoonful of brandy every two hours to sustain the action of the heart. I felt like a drowning man struggling desperately to keep afloat a little longer. Every breath seemed as if it would be my last. I thought to myself, 'The next time the nurse gives me that dose it will choke me, and I won't be able to swallow it—and I will be gone.'
"A mighty conflict with Satan ensued. My past life flashed before my mind. For a while I was tossed with doubts. But at last two words came before my heart. They were these: 'Abundantly pardon.' Then peace possessed my soul.
" 'But,' said Satan, 'your sins are too great.'
"I answered, 'I have a God who abundantly pardons.'
"But,' he said, 'You do not feel like a Christian; your life as a Christian has been marked as a failure.'
"To all these suggestions, and many more, I had but one reply, 'The Word of God says, "abundantly pardon." '
"The time came for me to receive the much-dreaded dose. I swallowed it safely, and my strength gradually returned. The sweetness of those two words to my soul was indescribable, and even now I never think of them nor hear them without feeling again a thrill of joy.”
Dear reader, if unsaved, "seek the Lord while He may be found" soon it will be too late. Make the experiment prove for yourself the abounding grace of God.