“WOULD you kindly come nearer the front, please, and not sit there on the sinners’ seat.”
These words were addressed by an aged Christian to a young man and woman, who had just seated themselves in a back seat of a hall where the gospel was preached every Lord’s Day night.
The young woman was well known to the speaker as a Christian who had come regularly to the meetings for some time, and he naturally concluded her companion would be a Christian also.
To understand his strange remark, however, it is necessary to explain, that when unconverted strangers came to these meetings, they almost invariably tried to get a back seat; and if these were filled up, they would sometimes rather walk out than go too near the preacher. To prevent an occurrence of this kind, those who undertook the work of getting people seated, always endeavored to get those, whom they knew to be Christians to fill up the front seats, so as to leave as much room as possible in the back for those who had a special desire to sit there.
If the young man had been a Christian, as was thought, he would, no doubt, have complied with the request, but the old saint had mistaken this man: for not only was he unsaved, but was one who had a deep-seated hatred to all who professed conversion, and the above injudicious, though well-intentioned remark, instead of helping to remove the hatred, only intensified it.
He had come that night as the result of the incessant pleadings of his converted sister, then sitting at his side. Before be consented to come, however, he made her promise to take him into a seat near the door, which accounted for her being in the so-called “sinner’s seat” that night. Fain would she have gone forward if her brother had gone with her, but not a peg would he move.
The remark, too, had so filled him with indignation, that he could think of nothing else during the whole meeting―of course, he put the worst possible construction upon it. “What do they think they are?” he said to himself. “Surely they consider themselves awfully good and holy, that they cannot sit on the same seat as sinners, who are as good, if not better, than a lot of hypocrites like them. The sinner’s seat! the sinner’s seat!” he kept repeating to himself. “It will be a long time before they get me back to their meeting again to sit on their sinner’s seat.” What he said to himself inside he repeated with a vengeance to his sister when he got out. Neither did he fail to carry out his threat, for never again did he occupy the “sinner’s seat” in that hall.
A year or two after, however, he resolved to go and hear an evangelist from London, who was having great meetings in a large public hall, taken for the occasion of his visit to the town. In this instance he went along with a godless companion, and, true to his old plan, he made sure of a seat near the door―the “sinner’s seat” again.
Deeply earnest and soul-stirring as the preacher was, all his labor was spent in vain on R― M―and his Christless associate. As soon as they got to the door, they made fun of what they had heard, repeating the solemn statements, and going through the gesticulations of the preacher for the amusement of each other. In this state R―M―remained for a few years, during which time he could not be persuaded to go to another gospel meeting.
The day of reckoning, however, must come sooner or later for everyone, when that which has been the sport of the unregenerate heart becomes the bitterest gall to the awakened soul. If that day of reckoning takes place in “TIME,” it results in salvation. If it is deferred till the “day of judgment,” it issues in ETERNAL DAMNATION.
Has this day of reckoning taken place with you, dear, reader? Perhaps you say, “What do you mean by the day of reckoning in TIME? I thought there could be no day of reckoning for any one till the ‘great judgment day.’” Ah! my dear friend, you make a great mistake. The work of God’s Spirit NOW is to convict man of sin, and SHOW HIM UP under the EYE of a HOLY GOD, that he may see his SINS and his own sinful self in the LIGHT of the future “judgment seat of Christ,” and thus be made manifest unto God, and to his own awakened conscience NOW, so that he and God may be at one about his sins and his hopeless state as a sinner.
This, then, is the day of reckoning that takes place NOW with all who get saved. This is REPENTANCE in its true form, which is taking sides with God against yourself. Those who do so NOW, God pardons. Those who refuse to do so till they stand at the bar of God’s judgment seat, He will condemn, and have to send to an eternal hell.
His devoted sister had not ceased to pray for him, and seek opportunities to speak to him about his soul during these years of utter indifference as to God’s claims upon him.
She got him to promise to go and hear a Mr. M―, a well-known evangelist, who was expected to visit the city in a few weeks to hold a series of gospel meetings in a newly-built hall.
He wanted a special favor from his sister—one which he knew would be difficult to get. She showed great unwillingness to grant it for a time, then, taking advantage of his intense desire for it, she proposed to give it to him on one condition, viz., that he would promise to go and hear. Mr. M―when he came. Without any intention of fulfilling his promise, he at once assented, and got his deeply desired favor.
When Mr. M―came, he was accordingly reminded of his promise, but he managed, however, to find excuses night after night, till one Lord’s Day night his sister pressed him hard, and was also assisted in her effort by the mother, who urged him to be a man of his word and fulfill his promise. This brought him to the point, as he could see no way of getting out of it with honor. But if he went, he must have everything his own way. He would lay down his conditions, and his sister would have to promise that they were carried out to the very letter. The conditions were these—she would go with him into the back seat—the “sinner’s seat” again—and rise and come out with him as soon as the first meeting was over; and that nobody was to speak to him about his soul, at the door, as he was leaving. She promised that as far as lay in her power his instructions would be attended to, and off they went in good time—to get a back seat.
The hall was packed. The preacher chose for his subject three parties in Scripture who went in search of blessing, but were “TOO LATE.” The impotent man in John 5 was always too late to get healed after the angel troubled the waters. The Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) was “too late” to get blessing at Jerusalem in connection with its Jewish temple and worship, as the leaders of that religious system had just cast out and murdered God’s Son, thus leaving the whole nation, with its religion, under the threatening clouds of divine judgment. The third “too late” was the case of the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25.
The first two, though “too late” for blessing where they sought it, got it in a more blessed way from Him who is the source of eternal blessing for poor, helpless, and seeking sinners―the “Christ of God”― the “sinner’s Saviour.” The third were “too late” for everything, and had the door of blessing shut against them forever.
When dwelling on the last “too late,” the preacher was deeply solemn. He showed that the five foolish virgins were not “heathens” who never heard the gospel They were those who went to church, chapel, and gospel meetings, but had never been converted. There had never been a work of God’s Spirit in their souls producing “new birth” (John 3:77Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:7)). They had thus “no oil in their vessels,” though they had the lamp of Christian profession to show they were neither heathens nor infidels. Then applying his solemn subject to his hearers, he said, “If the Lord were to come just now, that old man sitting there, who has been a member of a church for fifty years, and has sat down at the communion table hundreds of times, if he is not CONVERTED, would be left out for judgment.” Then pointing his finger to the back of the hall, said, “Also that young man, who has heard the gospel before now, and gone away MOCKING, would be ‘too late,’ and would therefore be left behind for eternal DAMNATION.” And many others of his hearers did he picture out as those represented by the foolish virgins, who would have the gates of heaven shut against them when Christ came to take His own to Himself.
A deep solemnity prevailed while these dread realities were brought before that assembly. It was felt, both by the preacher and the Christians present, that God’s Spirit was dealing with souls in the meeting.
At the finish, the usual invitation for anxious souls to remain to a second meeting was given. R― M―’s sister, true to her promise, rose to go out with him; but to her glad surprise, he kept his seat, and would not go, till the question of his soul’s salvation was settled.
His own words to the writer some time afterward will best describe how the Lord dealt with him that night.
“I cannot remember one word the preacher said that night, except those, when he pointed to where I was sitting― ‘That unconverted YOUNG MAN sitting on that seat, who has heard the gospel preached before now, and gone away MOCKING, would be “TOO LATE,” and therefore left behind for eternal DAMNATION.’
“These words came home to my soul in such a way that I trembled from head to foot. It looked as if God had told him all about my mockery on a former occasion. When the meeting was over, I tried to rise and go with my sister, but felt powerless to move from my seat. All this made me conclude that God wanted me saved that night, or I might never get another chance. A Christian, who helped in the second or anxious meeting, came and asked if I would like to be saved, and on being assured I would, he sat down beside me, and pointed me to several passages of God’s Word; but not until Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9) was turned to did I find peace for my trembling soul. Those words, ‘If thou shalt CONFESS with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt BELIEVE in thine HEART that God hath raised him from the dead, thou SHALT BE SAVED,’ made the way of salvation so simple, that there and then I confessed Him as My Lord and Saviour, believing also that God had raised Him from the dead for my justification (Rom. 4:2525Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25)). At once the awful dread of God and judgment was dispelled from my heart by the joy and peace that now filled it; thus did the rich mercy and grace of God meet me and save rive, in all my vileness, on that back, or ‘sinner’s seat,’ that never-to-be-forgotten night. Next day I felt greatly tested at work. I knew I should confess the Lord to my fellow-workmen, but somehow the devil deterred me, which made me very unhappy. That night, however, I got some printed notices for the meetings to give away, and the Lord gave me courage to give them to my comrades the day following, which soon brought out that I was converted. This at first surprised them. Then they began to laugh at me. All this, however, only made me the happier, as God gave me the grace to bear it, and speak more freely to them of my precious Saviour.”
Now, my dear reader, bear with me while I affectionately ask you a plain question. You, no doubt, have been at a meeting where the gospel was preached. Now, what seat did you occupy? Was it the “sinner’s” or the “saint’s”? The one or the other you must fill, as there are no middle-class seats. Don’t misunderstand my question. I don’t ask if you occupy a “back” or “front” seat. You may be one of those who go right to the front, and sit under the very gaze of the preacher, and yet occupy the “sinner’s seat.” To speak in plain language, if you have never been “born again,” never been truly “converted,” and therefore SAVED, you cannot have sat on any other than the “sinner’s seat.” Perhaps you have sat hundreds of times at the “communion table,” and partaken, as a professed believer in Christ, of those sacred memorials of His broken body and shed blood—yea, you may be one of those ordained church officials, who receive these emblems from the hand of the officiating clergyman to give to his flock—more, the reader may be even a minister, a priest, or the highest religious dignitary in all the wide range of Christendom—yet your elevated seat of religious power is nothing more than the “SINNER’S SEAT,” if you, its occupant, are still unconverted (John 3:6, 76That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:6‑7); Matt. 18:33And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3); Mark 16:15, 1615And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:15‑16); Rom. 3:19, 2019Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:19‑20); Matt. 22:11-1411And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:11‑14)).
Not only do such occupy the “sinner’s seat” now, but to die in that state will ensure a plan in the SINNER’S HELL for all eternity.
If, on the other hand, the reader be one who has, like R― M―, discovered that he has been-but a sitter on the “sinner’s seat,” but fled to the Saviour of sinners for refuge, then, thank God! you no longer occupy the “sinner’s seat,” but the “saint’s.” No matter whether you have only trusted Him today, or fifty years ago, the saint’s seat is yours now, and the day may be near when the blessed Lord Himself shall come, and give you a seat along with Himself and all His redeemed ones in His everlasting kingdom (Eph. 2:66And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6); Rev. 3:2121To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Revelation 3:21)).
“What soul is more happy than I,
Who am for eternity saved?
Made nigh to my God,
Through Christ’s precious blood,
In whom, through His grace, I’ve believed.
In Christ, then, I stand all complete,
Whose name be forever adored;
And now, while I live,
All glory I’ll give
To Jesus my Saviour and Lord.”
J. M.