WILLIAM—was a very steady, pious young fellow. He attended church, read his Bible, and said his prayers, and there was not a person in the village that could point a finger at him, in fact he was looked up to as a religious young man. With these outward forms he went on some considerable time, and, like a good many more similarly deluded by Satan, thought he was all right.
But one day the Lord spoke to his conscience, and showed him that in all his doings there was nothing that could save him—they were all as “filthy rags.” He had left out the one thing needful to his soul’s salvation, and he suddenly awoke to the fact that there was distance between him and God. What a moment for the sinner when he becomes conscious of this! Adam and Eve found it out in the garden of Eden, and began to clothe themselves with garments of their own providing; but that would not do for the eye of God. We read in Genesis 3:21,21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21) “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” There had to be a victim slain, and blood shed, as “it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.”
Thank God, He has provided a ransom to meet the sinner’s need, as well as His own holy eye, and He says, “When I see the blood I will pass over you.’ You must be sheltered by the blood of Jesus, the Lunt of God’s own providing. It is not till the sinner comes to the end of himself, and sees that all his past life has been one great blank as far as God is concerned, and that he is hurrying on to judgment, that he turns to God, and seeks His salvation.
Such was the case of the young man referred to; he went on, as I have said before, with the outward garb of religion, though far away from God, and in his sins. He had never trusted that precious Saviour who hung on Calvary’s tree, therefore had never known the joy and happiness of having his sins forgiven he retired to rest one night, after having been to a gospel preaching, a little exercised about his soul. That same night he had a dream; he thought he had died, and was buried, and the time had come for him to stand before the great white throne to be judged for his sins by Him from whose face the earth and heavens fled away. (See Revelation 20:1111And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Revelation 20:11).) As he stood there, the Lord told him, though he had lived a moral, religious life, nevertheless he had to rank with the vilest sinner, as he had never trusted that precious blood that alone can wash away the blackest sin; therefore nothing remained for him but to be cast into the lake of fire, prepared only for the devil and his angels. It seemed in his dream, that as he had not been so outwardly wicked as some, he was allowed to stand on the edge of that vast abyss, as all those that passed from the great white throne were cast into it. As he stood there, he realized they were, receiving the righteous judgment of God, and stepped forward to see how they fared. Oh, the horror of the scene that met his eyes, and the awfulness of the wail that met his ear! It was such as no human creature could describe. At this point he awoke, and found it was a dream, and that the day of God’s grace was still going on, and that he, a sinner, could be saved; so falling on his knees, he thanked the Lord He had spared him from the awful torment he had just witnessed, and cried to Him for salvation. It was not long after this that he found peace for his troubled soul.
Now, my reader, though this was a dream in the young man’s case, it may be a deep, deep reality in yours. No matter how religious you are; you may attend church or chapel regularly, or go to meetings, where the Lord Jesus is held up as a Saviour; you may be a preacher, a Sacrament taker, a Sunday-school teacher, and a teetotaler: yet if you have never been exercised about your soul’s need, and have never trusted the Lord Jesus as your own personal Saviour, you will have to rank with the vilest sinner in hell. “It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.” That blessed wondrous Man, who is now at God’s right hand, waiting until His enemies be made His footstool, has been down here, where sin and death reigned, in order that He might go to the cross and shed His precious blood, so that sinners might be cleansed from their sins, delivered from Satan’s power, and be brought into the highest place of blessing, where He Himself is. Is not this good news, that Jesus has died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God? He is worthy of your heart’s deepest affection. Never was love like unto His. He came from those heights of glory, down to where sin was reigning, that He might pick up poor sinners out of the gutter of this world and save them for His eternal glory, that they might be with Him forever where He is.
Oh, my reader, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is a wondrous theme. Has His love never affected your sin-stained heart, or spoken to your conscience? I entreat you to flee to Jesus. This poor world is fast hurrying on to judgment, and that blessed One, who was cast out of this scene, will be the One who will soon come forth to execute judgment upon it. Again I say, flee to Him now while it is the day of God’s grace. Tomorrow may be too late. Do not think that your good doings and your religious observances will save you; they cannot cleanse one spot, and a single sin will land you forever in that awful lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I beseech you do not put off the question of your soul’s salvation any longer. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Tomorrow the Lord Jesus may have come and taken away His people, and you will then be left behind for judgment.
I pray God that this may not be your portion, but that you may wake up to the fact that you are a sinner, and away from God, and may come to Him now. The Lord Jesus said when He was down here, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out,” and blessed be His name, He has never refused the vilest sinner that has ever come to Him; He has saved the chief of sinners, for He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Take your true place as a lost, ruined sinner at His feet, and He will save you.
“Thousands have fled to His spear-pierced side,
Welcome they all have been, none are denied.”
C. B.