A CHRISTIAN woman living at the village of D—, in Lincolnshire, had a confirmed drunkard for her husband.
Perhaps none but those who have found themselves in like circumstances can have any conception of the bitter trial and sorrow of such a position. Yet the grace of God is equal to anything, and this dear woman proved it to be so. The gentle forbearance she showed toward her husband, the patience she manifested under the most outrageous provocations, made her an astonishment to her neighbors.
One day the woman who lived next door almost upbraided her for the gracious way she treated such a selfish sot. “How ever you can bear his goings on,” she said, “I can’t imagine. I would never do as you do. Let him make as much of a beast of himself as he may, you wait upon him hand and foot, cook little tempting bits for him, and indeed give him the very best you have in the house.”
“Well, yes, I confess I do. But then, you see, I think of it in this way: I know that while there is an eternal heaven for me, there is no such thing for him, poor fellow, in his present state. He is having all the heaven here that ever he will have, and I would not spoil it for him for the world!”
What she meant was, no doubt, that all the happiness he was likely to get was in the natural enjoyment of the things of this world. He had nothing for the next.
Not long after this conversation he came home intoxicated, and a few hours later was found dead in his bed. His so-called “heaven” was over!
Now if such is a drunkard’s only heaven, what must A DRUNKARD’S HELL be?
Should this fall into the hands of any poor slave to the intoxicating cup, let me entreat you to stop and consider what the end of such a course must inevitably be. Left to your own efforts your case is utterly hopeless. You lash yourself when sober, perhaps almost hate yourself. You make resolutions by the hundred, but go on still in your old course. The chains that bind you get tighter, and the old habits a deeper root. God alone is able to deliver you from such fetters, and the sooner you discover this the better. In your present state you are lost, absolutely beyond recovery on man’s side. If man could make a total abstainer of you today, how are you going to meet the past? “God requireth that which is past” (Eccl. 3:1515That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. (Ecclesiastes 3:15)); and if you meet Him in judgment, you will certainly find that His requirements are inexorable. There is no getting out of them. But here is tidings for you, tidings which may well be welcomed by all. “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme.” (Mark 3:2828Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: (Mark 3:28)). How widely does Mercy spread out her arms! How far-reaching is the grace of God! Even a blaspheming drunkard will get a welcoming embrace if he will but come. “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme.” Surely we may say to Him who uttered such words, “Grace is poured into Thy lips.”
Would you then have pardon for the past and power for the future, turn to the Lord at once, for, be assured—
“There are no pardons in the tomb,
And brief is mercy’s day.”
“Now is the accepted time.” “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
The precious blood of God’s beloved Son is of such infinite efficacy that the vilest, hell-going sinner upon earth, washed “in that blest flood,” is cleansed from every spot of defilement. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isa. 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
With what blessed suitability does the gospel message adapt itself to every state and condition?
Does the sense of your grievous offenses in the past make you hesitate about coming to Him?
“ALL SINS shall be forgiven unto the sons of men” ought to encourage your heart to bring your guilty all and spread it before Him at once.
Would you know the ground upon which a God so holy can righteously make such an offer to one so sinful, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from ALL SIN” is enough to set your mind at perfect rest about it.
Would you be assured that even your weakness of faith does not exclude you from the blessing, “Be it known unto you... that by Him ALL THAT BELIEVE are justified from all things” ought to remove every shadow of doubt from your mind.
But perhaps my reader may outwardly belong to a very different class. You are a rigid teetotaler, but not saved.
Remember, then, that as long as you remain without Christ, you, too, are having here below all the heaven you ever will have. Your earthly enjoyments may be of a vastly different character to those of the poor drunkard. For social comfort, for commercial capacity, for outward respectability you may tower very far above him. You may be as much praised and envied by your fellowmen as he is blamed and pitied. But if you have never experienced the new birth, if your soul has never been cleansed from sin’s foul stain by the blood of Jesus, you will end your so-called heaven where the drunkard ends his, and you will share your hell together. Don’t quarrel with plain honest dealing. It is true. Be not deceived in this matter. There is a Saviour for every sinner out of hell, let him be ever so bad, and a hell for every sinner out of Christ, let him be ever so good.
Out of Christ both the degraded drunkard and the respectable teetotaler are alike under the judgment of God. “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Dear reader, where art thou?
GEO. C.