SOONER or later every child of Adam must meet God on one or other of two grounds, the ground of righteousness or the ground of grace. No one can escape, or pass unnoticed in a crowd. Each one must individually and for himself appear before God. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:12.) ROM 14:12 Most solemn thought, surely! But if on the ground of RIGHTEOUSNESS, everybody must be lost, forever lost. Who could answer to God for one of a thousand of his many thousand sins? Hence the psalmist prays, "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man lip ing be justified." (Psa. 143:2.) PSA 143:2 Human reasoning would not avail there. But no man, even now, ever reasons in the presence of God.
Clearly then, on the ground of righteousness, the soul must be hopelessly lost. God grant that my dear reader, through faith in Christ, may pass from death unto life now, and so never come into judgment. (John 5:24.) JOH 5:24
GRACE, pure grace, is the only other ground.
There is no middle ground in Scripture. And he who stands before God on this ground is safe for ever. He is saved with God's great salvation.
What he previously was is not thought of. He is now a true believer in Christ Jesus. He honors the Saviour with the confidence of his heart; and in God's sight there is nothing too good for him.
He honors him in the fullest and most public way. In short, he is blessed according to the riches of divine grace, and the value of the work of Christ. He fares well; yes, as well as Christ Himself! As the bride ranks with the bridegroom, as the wife ranks with the husband, so does the Christian rank with Christ in heaven. He is joined unto the Lord, and is one spirit with Him. Happy they who are thus done with their own works, and trust only in the finished work of Christ.
What is the difference to-day between a soul that is on the ground of grace and one that is on the ground of righteousness?
Practically, the one trusts in Christ, the other trusts in himself. This is really the great difference between the saved and the unsaved, the Christian and the worldling it is connection by faith with the Person of Christ that makes the difference. The one may be as full of outward religious observances as the other; but unless the heart be connected with the Person of Christ, these go for nothing. Were a schoolboy to cover his slate with ciphers, not one of them could be reckoned until he had connected them with a figure. Then they would all count. Even so, a cup of cold water given in connection with the name of Christ shall have its eternal reward.
He who has felt his need and helplessness, and TRUSTS IN CHRIST ALONE, is on the ground of the pure favor of God; but he who is still a stranger to this-state, however full of good works, charities, and religious duties, is on the ground of inflexible righteousness. The tree must first be made good before the fruit can be good. We must be engrafted into the living Vine, and drink of the fatness of its roots, before we can bear fruit to God. Christ only can bear fruit to God; but as the tree bears fruit through its branches, so Christ bears fruit to God through His members. Awful indeed must be the meeting between God and the sinner on the ground of righteousness.
When the plumb-line is laid to a crooked wall, it does not make it straight, but it shows out its crookedness. The judgment-seat will prove the sinner's condition, but it can show him no favor.
The day of grace is past. It is too late to cry for mercy. Too late when the sentence “Depart from me “is uttered. Too late when the gates of heaven are closed. Too late when the gates of hell are opened. Too late when engulfed in that fiery lake whence none ever escape! (Rev. 20:10, 15.) REV 20:10-15 Oh! what an end for an immortal soul!
The very thought of it is overwhelming. One shudders in writing it. Oh! what can be done now to prevent it? is the first feeling of the heart.
And yet what can we say? The only thing that can prevent it is done already. Redemption is accomplished. Christ died, and rose again. The sure foundation of grace and glory has been laid in Zion, and whosoever believeth thereon shall never be confounded. (1 Pet. 2, 6.) 1PE 2-6 Christ “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," are plain words. Who can misunderstand their meaning?
The Philippian jailor believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; he trusted in Him according to the word of the apostle, and was saved, as well as others of his household who believed. The gospel is the same to-day as it was then; whosoever believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life. (Rom. 4:25; Acts 16:31; John 3:16.) ROM 4:25 ACT 16:31 JOH 3:16
Lord of the harvest, send more laborers into the gospel field; and grant, Lord, that Thy preachers may never lose sight of the solemn results of their preaching! Surely, if preachers themselves were more alive to the awful future of a Christless soul, they would be more in earnest, and more would be awakened by their warning voice. The end is near; the time is short; "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh"; and souls, many souls, are perishing daily.
Let Thy word, O Lord, be clothed with power from on high, that it may be more effectual in them that hear it; and fill Thine evangelists, blessed Lord, with a burning desire, a consuming passion, for the salvation of sinners. With the fearful end of their unawakened hearers in view, may they speak plainly, pointedly, boldly, earnestly, and affectionately: and may their constant prayer be, " Lord, suffer not even one precious soul to depart unimpressed, unawakened, unsaved." A. M.
Oh! speak of Jesus, of that love
Passing all bounds of human thought,
Which made Him quit His throne above,
With God-like, deep compassion fraught;
To save from death our ruined race,
Our guilt to purge, our path to trace.
Oh! speak of Jesus, of His grace,
Receiving, pardoning, blessing all;
His holy, spotless life retrace;
His words, His miracles, recall:
The words He spoke, the truths He taught,
With life, eternal life, are fraught.
Oh! speak of Jesus, of His death:
For sinners such as me He died.
"'Tis finished," with His latest breath,
The Lord, Jehovah-Jesus, cried:
That death of shame and agony
Opened the way of life to me.