"Five Hundred Such Men."

IMPLICIT obedience is a jewel of great value.
We read of a general in the ninth century who with a force of 500 men opposed a king having 20,000. The king sent word that for so small an army to resist his legions was the height of folly. The general listened to the messenger, and then, summoning one of his men, said, “Take this sword and drive it to your heart.” The man did so and fell dead. To another he said, “Leap into you chasm,” and instantly the man obeyed.
Turning to the astonished messenger, the general said, “Go, tell your king we have five hundred such men. We will die, but never surrender.”
The messenger departed, and his report filled the whole army of the king with terror.
Now God requires implicit obedience to His commands, but every command is a gracious one. He “Now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” (Acts 17:30, 3130And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30‑31)). Reader, hast thou obeyed this great universal command?
In His goodness God has made it the duty of every man to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Hence men perish through disobedience, and are without excuse.
God will give “eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,” but will inflict “vengeance on them... that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Reader, art thou obedient or disobedient? Art thou sheltered by the blood of Christ, or exposed to the wrath of God?
We would plead with the rebellious, as Jeremiah did of old, saying, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live” (Jer. 35:20).
M. L. B.