A man guilty of many crimes, and hardened in iniquity had been arrested, tried and sentenced to death. Having learned that this wretched being had refused to listen to the exhortations of the many who had besought him to think of his soul, a servant of God, Mr. R., requested permission from the authorities to pass the last night with him which he was to live, hoping to be an instrument in the hands of God to lead the condemned to Christ before he should be cut off from the earth.
The permission having been granted, Mr. R. was locked in the cell with him.
For several hours Mr. R. remained seated trying in vain to attract the attention of his companion, that he might enter into conversation with him. The prisoner, although he was evidently in a state of extreme agitation, retained a lowering and defiant reserve, walking up and down in his cell like a caged lion, rattling the chain which connected his hands and groaning loudly. Hour after hour he continued this without stopping, except to heave from time to time a deep sigh, seeming to wholly ignore the presence of another.
At length, Mr. R., fixing upon him a supplicating look, he suddenly stopped, shook his chain and fell heavily to the ground with fearful groans, which seemed to come from the depths of his being. Then raising himself and turning to Mr. R., he said, with a frightful accent, "Mr. R., do not think I am afraid to die!”
"What!" said Mr. R., "not afraid to die! What mean then this agitation, these groans, and these looks of terror?”
"No," replied the condemned man, "I am not afraid to die. I do not care for death more than that," said he, snapping his fingers. "But, Mr. R., the fearful thought which torments me is, that tomorrow morning, at eight o'clock, I go to meet God! To meet God!”
Eternity only can reveal what the result was of Mr. R.'s visit.
Dear reader, stop a moment, you have also to meet God; yes, you must one day be face to face with Him. How shall you endure His looks, the brightness of those eyes, too pure to behold iniquity, and which will search you through and through?
"But I am not at all like this criminal, I have never broken the laws of my country," you may say.
Granted, but it is no question here of human laws, it is a question of holiness and the rights of God; and as to this, listen to the sentence: "There is no difference for all have sinned"; and remember that a single sin makes a man a sinner, and brings him under the righteous judgment of God. You have not to compare yourself with this or that one; the question is: "Are you ready to meet God?”