THE Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, was a scene of unsurpassed splendor on 11TH June 1907. Filled with the elite of society, fifty guineas was not considered too much to pay for the distinction of being numbered amongst the select audience. Their Majesties King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra were present, accompanied by their illustrious guests, the King and Queen of Denmark.
Just before the Royal Party arrived, and the curtain was raised, an unrehearsed incident was enacted. Another king—more powerful than any monarch that sits on earthly throne—the King of Terrors, and the terror of kings, unbidden and unwanted, without form or ceremony, entered, and conveyed the soul of an honored military veteran from that center of gaiety to the great beyond.
Often had the noble warrior faced death upon the field of battle; but just when least expected, not amid warring cannon and flashing sword, in defense of king and country, but in repose and pleasure the summons came, which no man can disregard or disobey.
“But why remind us of this?” inquires the reader of these lines. “We read it in our newspaper with a shudder, felt thankful that we were still alive, and were only too glad to dismiss the subject from our mind.” We recall the incident to remind you that You, strong man of thirty-five, are as liable to be called away as the man of threescore years and ten; and you, young lady of one-and-twenty, are not exempt from his inexorable claims; and you, dear child, who may read these pages, may also die. We are told now that
DEATH IS A MISTAKE.
To argue thus is like sitting down before a burning house and contending that fire is a mistake, while all the time the building is being reduced to ashes, and its occupants are perishing.
We have to face the fact that death is here, and who that scans these lines has not had the fact brought home in a painful way at one time or another? The words uttered to King David by the wise woman of Tekoah, and recorded in 2 Samuel 14:14,14For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. (2 Samuel 14:14) are, regarding the unsaved, as true today as ever: —
“WE MUST ALL NEEDS DIE.”
These words are confirmed by the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 9:27,27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27) where we read, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Reader, hast thou thought of this? “This night thy soul may be required of thee.”
ART THOU READY TO DIE?
Now let us examine this momentous matter a little more closely. In Romans 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12) we read, “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
This throws light upon the all-important subject. As certainly as night succeeds day, as surely as effect follows cause, so death is “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Adam sinned (modern criticism notwithstanding), and Adam died. Genesis 5 supplies a weird list of men who, early in the world’s history, lived and died. The holy Scriptures record the history of all sorts and conditions of people, and, with two exceptions—Enoch and Elijah—they all died. Today, in every corner of the land, old and young die. Medical science makes rapid strides; fresh discoveries are of frequent occurrence, and the skill with which physicians combat disease, and contest every inch of ground as their patient’s life hangs in the balance, excites our profound admiration; but still death pursues his course, undaunted and undeterred. Nor is it only death, for we read just now,
“AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT.”
“Whence then are we to derive hope, and how may we prepare for the great change?” is the query, uttered or unexpressed, of many hearts. If such a question is on your lips, dear friend, will you kindly open your Bible at Hebrews 9, and in verse 27 and 28 read, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Observe, please, the three words in italics, “as,” “so,” “and.” We have already noticed that death is the result of sin; therefore to get rid of death we must get rid of sin. Herein lies the riddle of the universe, the problem of the ages, the question that God alone could settle; and only in Christ could He find the solution.
“Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” Faith says, “He bore my sins.” “How may I be sure,” asks some person, “that I am one of the many?” You may be quite sure you are a sinner, therefore claim your place amongst the “many”; and we have the authority of the Word of God, confirmed by our own memorable experience, for stating that your sins will be forgiven. How much this opens up. The love of God that led Him to give His only Son to die; the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that caused Him to taste death for everything; the efficacy of the finished work accomplished at Calvary; the message of full and free forgiveness which the Holy Spirit now proclaims to every child of Adam’s race.
Now consider; Christ bore my sins—so says faith—therefore they are gone, from the sight of God, from me, and from the ken of the enemy of God and man. Christ died—I live. Christ is risen—I am justified. Christ is at the right hand of God—I am in Him before God in all His acceptance, and in all the value of what He has accomplished. Look again at our text. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die.” I was under sentence of death; “but after this the judgment.” I deserved nothing but judgment, and was hastening on thereto. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” Hallelujah!
The question of sin is settled, and a risen and glorified Christ at God’s right hand is the witness that death is annulled and judgment exhausted; therefore I am free. My sins are gone, cleansed by the precious blood of Christ; God has said He will remember them no more; death I shall never taste in its bitterness, and may not even undergo physically; judgment I shall never have to face.
“There is no condemnation,
There is no hell for me,
The judgment and the fire
Mine eyes shall never see.”
“And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” If, ere Christ returns, the believer is summoned away, perhaps, like the subject of our narrative, suddenly, he or she is put to sleep by Jesus and taken home. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord,” observes the beloved apostle Paul in one epistle: “Far better,” he remarks in another. We look not even for this, however, we “look for Him”; we are on the tip-toe of expectation, just waiting for the return of our precious Lord. He has saved us for eternity; He is saving us all along the road; He will then save us, spirit, soul, and body, and having changed us into His own likeness, will present us “before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”
Do you wonder that we are happy? Heaven, for us, has commenced, because we know the One who makes heaven what it is. And now in closing, permit us, dear friend, to ask you once again, should your exit from this world be as speedy and as unexpected as was his to whom we have referred, ARE YOU READY? To die in your sins is to spend eternity in your sins, away from God, where no ray of hope can ever enter. Hell is as great a reality as death, and thither you are hastening with appalling rapidity if still out of Christ. It is with the object of telling you not of death but of life that we pen these lines. Like one of old our cry would be―
“LIFE, LIFE, ETERNAL LIFE.”
“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). We beseech you, while God’s mercy lingers, accept His grand and glorious gift.
“We are healed by His stripes! Wouldst thou
add to the word?
And He is our righteousness made;
The best robe of heaven He bids thee put on:
Oh couldst thou be better arrayed?
Oh take with rejoicing from Jesus at once,
The life everlasting He gives,
And know, with assurance, thou never cant die,
Since Jesus thy Righteousness lives.”
W. B. D.