A young man was walking along the street one evening when his attention was arrested by a crowd that was congregated in front of a hall. A number of Christian workers were having an open-air meeting, and were engaged in singing the well-known Gospel Hymn,
"I am so glad that Jesus loves me."
The hearty singing had a striking effect upon the bystanders. This young man found himself joining in the song. The words,
"I am so glad! I am so glad!" stuck to him. He began to ask himself the question,
"Am I glad that Jesus loves me? I am not a bit glad," was the conclusion he came to. "I don't think anything about it, and am singing what is not true. I won't sing a lie," and he ceased singing,
"I Am So Glad That Jesus Loves Me"
At the close of the open-air meeting, along with others, he entered the hall, and heard an earnest Gospel address, but was not particularly impressed with the preaching. As he was leaving the building, the evangelist laid his hand on his shoulder, and said,
"Where will you spend eternity?" The question stuck to him like a leech. Where was he going to spend eternity?
"In Hell, if I continue going on as I am," he said to himself.
Have you ever seriously pondered the question, or have you been trying to forget it? Eternity must be spent somewhere—in weal or in woe; in joy or despair; in Heaven or in Hell. Where? Where? Where?
On reaching the street he imagined that the words were inscribed in letters of fire on the pavement. He returned to his room, and became terribly troubled about his state. Where will you spend eternity? rang in his ears, and vibrated through his inmost being. He did not know God. He had not as yet learned that the Lord Jesus had done everything that was needful to set him free. He was brought to the end of his tether. The thunders of Sinai appalled him. Before him was the day of reckoning, and beneath him the abode of despair. What was he to do to be saved?
Putting on his cap, he left the house and paced up and down the street, the longing desire of his heart finding expression in the words of the Philippian jailer,
"What must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30. No peace could he find to his troubled soul.
Returning to his room, he opened his Bible and began to search its sacred pages as for hidden treasures. When turning over the leaves his eye caught the precious words of 1 John 1:7:
"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
In a moment the soul-saving truth that Christ by His blood-shedding had paid sin's penalty and borne sin's judgment was laid hold, of by him. Christ had done it all and paid it all, and by believing on Him he was saved from everlasting woe. Now he understood what was meant by being "washed in the blood of the Lamb."
Has the reader been washed in that sin-cleansing blood? Many are whitewashed with "religion" who have never been washed white in the crimson tide that flowed at Calvary's Cross. Whitewashed or washed white—which? Where will you spend eternity?
"Eternity! but Jesus died;
Yes, Jesus died on Calvary;
Behold Him, thorn-crowned, crucified,
The spotless One made sin for thee:
O, sinner, haste, for refuge flee;
He saves—and for eternity!
Eternity! Eternity!
Where wilt you spend eternity?"
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36.
Ascertain whether you are in the first or second part of this passage. Consider your whereabouts in relation to Eternity, and if you have not closed in with God's offered mercy, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His work of redemption on the cross, have not accepted His "Unspeakable Gift", do so now.