THE closing hours of the year call us to think of the last moments of our sojourn on earth, and appeal to us to consider our latter end. Let, then, all other matters be banished from our minds as we each one ask ourselves, “Am I fit and ready for eternity?” Many a friend has passed away from our side this year; time, this life, and this world are to them now things of the past; for them eternity has begun. “How would it be with me” ―let each inquire “should I be now in eternity?” The way the tree falls, it lies; there is no repentance beyond the tomb―at least no repentance to salvation; for though men may lament misspent lives and neglected opportunities in eternity, never again can life be lived, and never again will the opportunity for salvation be given. “Now” ―not in a future state “now is the day of salvation.”
In the solemn exhortation of the second chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are shown, how great a thing the word of salvation is, spoken first by no less a Messenger from God than His own Son, and confirmed by God to the hearers by miracles and wonders wrought by the Holy Ghost. This word of salvation comes again this day to each reader of these pages; hereby he is reminded of what God has done through His Son to save men. Shall this word slip out of your mind, dear reader, as water escapes from a leaky vessel? Drop by drop it runs away, until all is gone! So, sentence by sentence, little by little, does the gracious word of salvation vanish from the heart, mind, and memory of many of those who hear it! But what is the end of these thoughtless souls? Let this divinely asked question be the answer: “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” Mark, it is not to the infidel or the apostate that this solemn exhortation comes, but to the trifler with God’s word―the neglecter.
To neglect so great salvation is to perish forever.
Let us place together, as a final word to our readers who have not yet decided for Christ, these two texts “Now is the day of salvation.”
“How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation?”
See, dear friend, on the one hand the favor of God extended to you this day. Now is the accepted time. Now you may have all the blessings of salvation. Now the precious things purchased by the blood of Jesus may be yours. Will you repent and turn to God, and receive His salvation? On the other hand, if you will still delay and put off the reception of His Christ, how shall you escape?