GOD never offers salvation tomorrow. Christ never says, “Come unto me tomorrow. The Holy Ghost never says, “Hear his voice” tomorrow. It is always “now”― “today,” never tomorrow.
“Tomorrow is only found in the calendar of fools.”
Your eternity depends upon the present moment. If Christ is chosen, then eternal bliss is yours; if sin and the world, eternal woe will be your portion.
How much then depends upon the present moment.
God’s “now,” and the Holy Spirit’s “today,” and His warning, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1111My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me. (Proverbs 27:11)), should awaken your heart to a solemn and deliberate decision for Christ, at once.
If your house was on fire, you would not say to the firemen, “Go away, and come again tomorrow.”
If your ship was sinking, you would not say to the captain of the lifeboat, “Not today, come back tomorrow.”
If your leg was broken, you would not say to the doctor, “Don’t attend my leg today, come again at some more convenient season.”
No, you would say no such thing. You would hasten the firemen, you would leap into the lifeboat, and you would beseech the doctor.
Ah, then, your soul is in danger of the “everlasting burning”; it is in imminent peril of sinking into eternal perdition, and of being cut of by the righteous judgment of God.
No doubt, then, that “today”― “now” ―this moment―which alone are yours, is the time to get saved.
God beseeches you to be reconciled; Christ says, come; the Holy Spirit urges you; the angels wait to rejoice at your coming; and the saints of God are ready to send up their Hallelujahs for your salvation.
Why not now? What reasonable excuse can you give for delay? What will it profit you to wait until tomorrow? You may die before tomorrow; the Lord may come this very day, and all the saints of God be gathered home, and you left behind, a poor halting, procrastinating sinner, a fit subject of the righteous judgment of God.
A man after hearing an old preacher preach on the prodigal son, arose and faced the congregation, and spoke as follows: “I am that prodigal son. I have spent my substance in riotous living. I am in want. I will arise and go to my Father—not next week, not tomorrow, but now!” And falling on his knees, he called on God for mercy. And his heavenly Father “ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
There is nothing like the present moment. The prodigal said, “I will arise and go to my father.” “And he arose, and came to his father.” There was no hesitation, no indecision, no procrastination. Starvation and death awaited him where he was; his need was desperate; there was abundance with the father; he would go to him, confess all, and cast himself upon his mercy.
He was not mistaken. The father saw him in the distance, had compassion on him, ran, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him.
Wonderful moment and place for the prodigal! That kiss of peace spoke his pardon, and assured him of his acceptance.
What could be the ground of such conduct on the part of God towards such vile sinners as we? The precious blood of Christ. We are “reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom. 5); “Without, shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)).
Wonderful story of love!
But “now” is a deeply important word. It speaks of the present moment, the opportunity you now have of being saved. To say tomorrow is to sin against God, who offers salvation today, and to imperil your soul forever.
A young man by the name of Knight was driving an ox team with a load of hay on the prairies of Manitoba. He was anxious about his soul. God spoke to him then, for he was in danger of procrastinating, and said to him by the Holy Spirit, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,” The word “now” rank down in his soul, and brought him to full decision there and then.
It was God’s “now” that delivered him from the devil’s “tomorrow.”
In the hour of death, what will you do, dear reader, without Christ. Without Him you will have no foundation for your soul.
One who had lived for self and the world, was heard to cry, when the hour of death had come, “Oh, for a foundation!”
Alas! reader, shall that be your experience, when your spirit leaves the body, and enters “the blackness of darkness forever”?
Once more I press upon you God’s “now.” Let not the eternal ages be a witness against your folly of putting off your salvation; and let not the bitter dregs of your cup of woe be, “I could have been saved, but I would not.”
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
“Haste! haste! haste!
Delay not from wrath to flee.
Oh, wherefore the moments in madness waste
Whilst mercy still waits for thee?
Now! now! now!
Tomorrow too late may be.
O sinner, acknowledge His glory now,
And know that He died for thee.”
E. A.