THE subject of the soul’s welfare has, for every responsible being, a depth of importance very far beyond any other. Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? “It is a subject of such magnitude that you might as well expect a man to measure the ocean in an egg-cup as to duly set forth its eternal importance. God alone is equal to it. But the comfort is, that in His holy Word, He has plainly opened to us His mind about it; and it is in the light of this record that we desire to draw the reader’s attention to one who was brought, not only to realize his soul’s deep necessity, but to rejoice in the truth that God has shown His Own way of meeting it.
This young man was born in London. Under the influence of a Christian mother he was taught the Scriptures; and as he grew up, he passed among his friends as a Christian.
At the age of twenty-two he left home for the far west of America. In coming in contact with the world, he found tastes within himself which gladly responded to the temptations without, and from which he had no desire to refrain. Indeed, in the midst of worldly amusements he was, to use a common expression, in his native element. Like a fish sporting in water, he positively reveled in sin. The fact of the matter was this: he had never been brought to see himself in his true state before God; had never been born again; and without this, as Jesus said to the Pharisee, a man “cannot see the kingdom of God”; he is in the dominion of the wicked one in whom “the whole world lieth” (1 John 5:1919And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. (1 John 5:19)). Again and again, he had, years before, tried to break off bad habits, and turn over new leaves. Again and again he had listened to the advice of good men. Again and again had he felt the threatenings of that old ‘preacher’ death, as with solemn voice he bade him prepare! But neither good home training, solemn preaching, wise advice, nor turning over ‘new leaves’ had taken away his taste for sin; nor had all put together proved sufficient to make him “a new creature in Christ Jesus.”
But the awakening time came at last. Worldly circumstances, which for some months had been smiling upon him, suddenly began to frown. Prosperity was displaced by adversity; and a long purse dwindled to no purse at all. Friendless and penniless he found himself not only a sinner in his sins, but hopeless. In this state he was counselled to turn to the Lord, and this he felt constrained to do. From a broken heart he poured out his deep need to God; and proved, as all such have done, that “like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him” (Psa. 103:1313Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. (Psalm 103:13)). He learned that, instead of God being Nero-like for cruel hardness, as Satan would picture Him, He is “rich in mercy” toward men, yea, the giver of every good and perfect gift; that He had even given His beloved Son to secure eternal salvation for sinful creatures. He learned that God who created the world; who gave the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night; who called the stars by their names, and arranged the seasons for man’s benefit, had also made provision for man’s soul in the blood-shedding of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and that He had placed this redemption within the reach of every sinner. Man cannot by any means redeem his brother, or “give to God a ransom for him” (Psa. 49:77None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (Psalm 49:7)). But in Christ there is the needed Ransom, the Ransom that meets God’s requirements, and suits the poorest sinner also, seeing it can be obtained “without money and without price.” Hence it is written: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:2424Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)).
When this troubled seeker was brought to see his soul’s deep necessity in the light of this gracious Redeemer’s work, his distress was at an end; and in the words of the hymn he could say: ―
“I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad.
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.”
Since making a personal discovery of his real state as a guilty sinner, and the way Christ has answered to God for it, he has compared his former perilous position to that of a man who really thinks he can swim because he is able to float by the help of so-called ‘water-wings.’ His religious observances, such as going to church on Sunday, giving to home and foreign missions, and all the rest, had been the ‘water-wings’ which he had mistakenly trusted, taking it for granted that they would be sufficient to rely upon for the safety of his soul. True it is that such so-called good things trusted may keep a man floating on the surface of religious profession before death, but they leave a serious matter for God to deal with after death. What our sins justly deserve at the hands of God must be faced, either before death or after. Mark it well, reader, this must be faced sooner or later, and no goodness of ours can answer for our sins. Suppose a man, well accustomed to the use of ‘water-wings,’ finds that on a certain day he will have to cross a deep river. This at first does not disturb his peace of mind; for he has his ‘water-wings’ to depend on. A little later, however, he finds that he will not only have to cross the river, but to bear a heavy weight to the other side; and this discovery shatters his peace of mind instantly. To apply the figure, we may have peaceful satisfaction as to what our good deeds will do for us, until we wake up to the fact that God claims just satisfaction for our evil deeds. And after that, there can be no peace for a guilty conscience, except in Him “Who bore our sins in His own body on the tree”; Who “suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 2:24; 3:1824Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
18For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)). When these precious truths are really brought home to us, we can, with adoring hearts, thankfully sing: ―
“O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head!
Our load was laid on Thee;
Thou stoodest in the sinner’s stead―
To bear all ill for me.
A Victim led, Thy blood was shed;
Now there’s no load for me.”
But let every reader who has not yet fled to the Saviour remember that every moment brings him nearer to the day of reckoning. “Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke; then a great ransom cannot deliver thee” (Job 36:1818Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. (Job 36:18)). O “FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME”; and do it at once. God is waiting to be gracious.
S. D.