BELOVED reader, I ask your attention to a few thoughts suggested to me by the question at the head of this paper.
Can you appropriate these words in 1 Peter 1:3-53Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3‑5)? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” Have you been begotten unto a lively hope? Or the same thing— Are you born again? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Can you say, My Saviour? looking forward to that time when we who believe shall enjoy the now reserved inheritance. These are solemn questions, and if you cannot answer them with an honest Yes, oh think what is reserved for you!
If you are not yet “born again of the incorruptible seed of the word of God,” you are in a dreadful condition, and in the most dangerous position outside of hell.
Now I want you, before you read a bit further, to answer this question to yourself: Am I born again? If you are not, there is no middle state now; you are unsaved, away from God.
There is no middle state in eternity. If you die thus, there is nothing for you but the unmitigated wrath of God. Oh! the unutterable anguish of “the worm that dieth not, and the fire which is NOT quenched.”
But, perhaps you say, you are not going to put me on the same platform with drunkards, and thieves, and such like. No, my dear reader, I won’t do it, but the word of God does. It matters not how respectable outwardly you may be in the sight of men; if you are not born again, you are on the same platform with the most profane. Now if you have not applied to yourself what the word of God says about man as fallen, corrupt, undone, and ruined, you will not believe the above statement. But listen to the unerring word of God: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:1010As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)). Again, in verses 22, 23, we have the righteousness of God offered to all; “For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” You have come short of God’s standard.
To give an illustration of what has been said: suppose in the place where you dwell, notice is given that a recruiting sergeant is coming to get men to be Lifeguards, but none will be received unless they are six feet. Before he comes, those who wish to be Lifeguards begin and measure themselves. Well, there is one taller than all the rest; but when the sergeant comes, he does not come up to the standard six feet, by one inch. So you see he would be just as ineligible as the one who was six inches less, Now, my dear reader, this is what plenty of people are doing as regards spiritual things. They are measuring themselves by standards of their own making; and taking for granted they will not be lost at the last, having never learned this solemn truth—that every soul is responsible to learn that it is lost at the first.
Now what God wants you to do is simply to believe what He says about you as a sinner, and then you will be sure to appreciate what He says about Christ as the Saviour, the One who took the sinner’s place on the cross—who bore what he deserved, who declared before He died, “IT IS FINISHED.” What was finished? The work of redemption. God has been satisfied and glorified about the question of sin, because the infinite wrath of God was poured out upon the Spotless Victim as He hung on the cross a sacrifice for sin. But the cross is vacant, the tomb is empty, and now amidst the glories of the throne of God, sits Jesus, the One who can save you, and not only can, but is willing and waiting to save all on the ground of what He did on the cross. Oh, look to Him now and be saved. If you do not, you will perish, and that forever. Oh! consider what your condition is now if you reject Christ— “Without Christ, having no hope, and without car the world” (Eph. 2:1212That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)). Consider, too, what is RESERVED for you if you remain Christless.
If you die, your soul will go to hell. And finally you will be in the lake of fire, “Prepared for the devil and his angels,” —not for man.
On the other hand, consider what you get now if you accept Christ. You get forgiveness of sins, and are justified from all things. “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all who believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38, 3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)). Eternal life is received. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”
Peace with God is known. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God.” All this we have now, and far more. And oh! the blessedness of being like and with Christ in the glory of God, who may come at any moment and take His blood-bought people home. Reader, which is your portion?
OLIVER S.