IN Ward No. 3 of a large county hospital a young woman lay very ill. We were strangers to each other, but the moment I sat beside her, she began chatting freely, telling me of the precious baby boy she had been obliged to leave behind at home, and of the tidings she had received that morning telling her he was getting on so well.
Her condition was very serious indeed. She told me that on the previous Saturday the doctors had despaired of her life, and thought she could not possibly live through the night.
“Supposing you had died that night, where would you have gone? “I asked her.
“Oh! that is all right,” she replied;” I was not a bit afraid to die.”
“It is a great mercy to be prepared to meet death, but what about your sins? Were you ready to meet God?”
“Yes, I had not a fear,” she said.
“Tell me then what kept you so peaceful,” I inquired, and never shall I forget the horror that seemed to chill me through and through as she replied: — “I’ve always lived such a good life, I knew it would be all right.”
“But could you dare to meet a holy God with nothing to bring Him but your good life?”
“Yes,” she said; “I knew no fear, for I’ve been brought up to read my Bible, and I never forget my prayers every day.”
It was so solemn. Perhaps there is no sadder sight on earth than to see an immortal soul on the verge of eternity lulled by the soothing words of the devil, crying to them, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” She had listened to his voice, and believed it, until all terror of death, and “after death the judgment,” had left her.
It is easy enough to talk flippantly of death when one is in perfect health, but this young woman had consciously faced it in all its terror, and was not afraid. But it was a false peace. Even when she referred again to that dread moment when her life hung in the balance, and none but her Creator knew whether it was to be spared, she was quiet, and calm, and peaceful. But it was a false peace. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace” (Luke 11:2121When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: (Luke 11:21)). Satan is that strong man, and he was keeping that young woman as his goods in “peace,” But it was a false peace.
Scripture says of the wicked, “There are no bands in their death” (Psa. 73:44For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. (Psalm 73:4)). But after death they find how false has their peace been that has soothed them into everlasting destruction.
Perhaps, you did not know the power Satan has over you, even deceiving you as to your imminent peril. May God in His mercy open your eyes, because there is a real peace — a deep, solid, and eternal peace — and you may be the happy possessor of it. It is not found, as the young woman deceived herself into believing, through the merits of her own good life, or her good feelings either. Reading the Bible will not take you to heaven, nor prayers either. The Pharisees did both. They searched the Scriptures, thinking in them they had eternal life, but they crucified the very One of whom the Scriptures testified. It is faith in Christ that saves us. He has “made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)). “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)). Christ made it, faith believes it, and the believing soul enjoys it.
“Lord, while our souls in faith repose
Upon Thy precious blood,
Peace like an even river flows,
And mercy like a flood.”
F. R. M.