One evening I met an old man resting by the roadside. Though he was about eighty years of age he was still able to work daily, breaking stones for the highway. I stopped to speak with him and, to open the conversation, asked him his age.
"Nigh on to eighty year," he said.
"You cannot expect to be long in this life now," I said.
"No, sir, I cannot," he agreed.
"Then tell me what your hopes are for eternity."
Then came the story—the old, old story—of trusting self, poor self, hard-working self, suffering self, religious self—always self. There was no Christ in all his hopes.
We were close to the side of a canal and, after telling the old man that Christ and His work is the one way of salvation, I said to him: "Do you see that lock?"
"Yes, sir, I do."
"Well, suppose that you wanted to cross that canal. To do so you took two wooden boards—one sound and firm, the other rotten—and you placed them side by side. If you tried to cross on the weak, rotten plank what would happen? It would break under your weight and you would be plunged into the canal.
"That rotten board is self; if you attempt to get to heaven on or by self, you must perish forever.
"But suppose that you had put one foot on the good plank and one on the bad and tried to get across that way. The result would be the same. The good plank might and would bear you, but the bad would break. You would be plunged into the water as surely as in the first case.
"That would be like partly trusting Christ and partly trusting yourself. The end would be the same— death, eternal death."
The old man was listening with close attention, and I continued: "Now, suppose that you trusted to the good plank alone. You would get across in perfect safety. That good plank is like the Lord Jesus Christ; if you trust solely to Him—to His blood for pardon—to His work alone—you are safe, yes, and saved forever."
"I see, I see!" exclaimed the poor old man. His woe-begone eyes lit up with intelligence. "I see it all."
There are thousands like that old man—thousands who are trusting self for salvation rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. They are sure that they, alone and unaided, can gain salvation at last by their own efforts.
How terrible! They will be lost forever—lost as surely as if they trusted to an idol of wood or stone—if they continue to exclude Christ.
May we ask, are you trusting Christ, or yourself? Are you trusting Christ, for peace, forgiveness, life, righteousness, and eternal security? Can you say—
"On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand"?