THE awnings were spread over the white decks of the Aspasia, as she lay in the harbor at Malta, awaiting the mails for India.
Her passengers, making themselves as comfortable as the heat of the midday sun permitted, lounged in their canvas chairs, their languor making the maintenance of the desultory conversation a laborious and irksome task.
“A telegram for Captain G―,” was the first intimation that the mails were on board, and the announcement sufficed to infuse a little energy into the listless and tired travelers.
Captain G― held out his hand for the telegram, and his manner betokened an eagerness which made his fellow-passengers surmise that news of importance was expected.
The captain was an officer in the British army, and was returning from a brief furlough in England to rejoin his regiment in India. A few days previously he had bidden farewell to his only remaining relative, an aunt, a lady possessed of considerable fortune, whose heir Captain G― took for granted that he would be. She was lying dangerously ill when he had taken leave of her, and the doctor had shaken his head very decidedly when asked if any hope of her recovery remained.
The telegram that reached Captain G— at Malta announced her death. It stated, however, that the will had not yet been read, but that another telegram should be despatched to reach the Aspasia at Suez with news as to the disposition of the property.
Can my readers imagine the state of the captain’s mind between Malta and Suez? Was he, or was he not, the possessor of a great fortune? That was the question that held him in suspense, impairing his appetite, and causing him to pace the steamer’s decks with nervous energy. How much those few lines that were to reach him at Suez would mean to him! Which would it be, fortune or disappointment? The suspense was dreadful. Even the certainty of disappointment would have been more tolerable than the uncertainty of hope.
But, reader, there is a possibility of your securing a far larger fortune than that which Captain G― expected to receive. Eternal possessions, a heavenly inheritance, riches beyond the power of tongue to tell, may be yours. If you fail to obtain them, your failure will mean to you infinitely more than the loss of anything earthly. It will mean disgrace and everlasting despair, hopeless sorrow and irrevocable doom.
The question of questions for you is this: Are these great and wonderful things to be yours, or are they not? Let me ask you, as a sincere well-wisher, How can you remain in suspense as to the final answer to such a momentous question? With such tremendous issues at stake, how can you give yourself a minute’s rest? Does not the thought of your soul trembling in the balance of life and death, glory or despair, eternal joy or everlasting woe, fill you with anxiety?
We need not return to Captain G―, for surely you are far more interested in your own case than in his. Let me press the matter upon your attention, at the risk of being thought intrusive: Why not at once seek a settlement of the great question of where you will spend your eternity?
“Where shall I spend my eternity? How can I tell? I don’t see how any mortal man can answer that question!”
So said young Robert M’C― in reply to a loving and faithful inquiry by a Christian friend. And Robert’s words find an echo in thousands of souls today.
“Yes,” they say, “we would like to know where we are going; we would like to be sure that heaven will be our home, but how can we know? How can it be possible for anyone to be certain of his salvation?”
Some even go so far as to say it is impossible, utterly impossible, for anyone in this life to know for certain that he is going to heaven.
But is this so? Are pilgrims to the better land to pursue their way in ignorance as to whether they are traveling in the right direction or not? Are the children of God never to be sure that they have a true title to look up into His face and say, “Father”? Are we all doomed to remain in terrible and unbearable suspense as to our eternal future as long as we are on earth? Is there no such thing as the assurance of salvation?
Dr Thomson, in his well-known work, “The Land and the Book,” tells us that it has been denied, again and again, that the island of Cyprus could be seen from Lebanon he adds, however, that he himself has viewed it from many a standpoint among those lofty heights, that it is clearly visible, owing to the intense transparency of the atmosphere.
In the same way, though it is repeatedly asserted that it is impossible to behold the gleaming of you celestial city from our present position in this world of sin and temptation, and that no one can be certain that heaven is to be his eternal dwelling place, yet there are thousands who can bear testimony to the fact they have seen it with the eye of faith, and can read their title clear to mansions in the skies. And their testimony is confirmed by the words of Scripture.
With Dr Thomson, the great point was to get high enough to catch a view of the distant island, whose visibility was denied. With us, the great point is to get low enough. Like all other rivers, the river of God’s grace flows in the valley, and they who seek to reach heaven by climbing the mountains of morality, Christless religion, and lifeless profession, will remain in uncertainty and suspense all their days, and meet with bitter disappointment at the last. They who come down into the valley of repentance, and take the low place as lost and hell-deserving sinners, are the ones that obtain the assurance of salvation.
Reader, have you ever got down low at the Saviour’s feet, as a repentant sinner, convicted of guilt, and owning your utter unworthiness? That is the place where divine blessing is received and where salvation is known.
One of our greatest poets has said―
“Who by repentance is not satisfied,
Is nor of heaven nor earth,”
meaning that if an offender repents, his repentance is enough to satisfy any reasonable person.
But is it so? Repentance is certainly what God looks for in those who seek His favor, and it is over the repentant sinner that He rejoices. But is there anything in a sinner’s repentance to satisfy God with regard to his sins?
Let me put the question in this way. If anyone owed you ten pounds, and was quite unable to pay it, would it satisfy you if he came to you and expressed his regret? He might be very sincere in his repentance; he might be truly sorry for having got into your debt without the ability to pay, but would his sorrow satisfy you?
No. You would say: “Sir, your expressions of regret are all very well. It is quite right that you should be sorry for the way you have treated me. But that is not enough. You cannot expect me to be satisfied with anything short of the payment of the debt.”
Now we are in the position of the debtor with regard to God. He has claims upon us which we have not fulfilled. Repentance is surely the attitude that becomes us in our insolvency, and sin, and helplessness, but something further is needed to meet God’s claims, and satisfy Him. And that “something” is altogether beyond our power to produce.
Nothing short of full payment of the debt can enable God to righteously forgive and bless unholy sinners. Thank God, this is just what has been achieved by the atoning work of Christ. That mighty work of propitiation has paid the debt of all who trust in the Saviour; and to that work the believer can point as that which has completely satisfied God on his behalf.
Reader, is that where you build your hopes? Is the work of Christ the foundation on which you base your expectations of eternal bliss? “All other ground is sinking sand.”
“The sinner who believes is free,
Can say, ‘The Saviour died for me;’
Can point to the atoning blood,
And say, ‘This made my peace with God.’”
Can you say it?
“It seems to me that to believe that Jesus has done it all, and left us nothing to do, is dangerous doctrine. It must have the effect of making people careless as to their ways.”
“Indeed, madam,” replied Mrs. M―’s visitor, “it has the very opposite effect. In Psalms 130:4,4But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. (Psalm 130:4) we read, ‘There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.’ The effect of free forgiveness is that the forgiven one delights to walk in the fear of God, and do things that are pleasing in His sight.”
When King Edward VI. was young, a lad was kept in the palace called the “whipping boy.” If the little prince was naughty and deserved punishment, he was not punished himself, but the boy was whipped in his place.
It is said that the young king was so affected at the sight of another being made to suffer for his faults that he strove earnestly to please his tutors and behave well.
So with the believer in Jesus. In view of Calvary, and all that his Saviour endured there, it will be his earnest desire to live for His honor and glory. Thus practical holiness, as well as eternal salvation, is a result of believing that Jesus did all the work, and that His blood is sufficient to cleanse us from all sin.
H. P. B.