A man came to this country laboring under an extraordinary depression of spirits, which he could not get rid of. He came to consult an eminent physician, who devoted himself especially to treatment of diseases of the mind.
He was a man of wealth as well as of rank, surrounded by everything that could make life enjoyable. Beloved in his family, and esteemed by his friends, his cup seemed to run over. But was he happy? No, for, strange as it may appear, a deep gloom hung over his spirits, which neither the charms of a happy family circle, nor the important duties of public life, could dispel.
His friends became much alarmed on his account, and by their advice he consulted various medical men. They recommended him change of air and scene, baths, music, company. He tried all, but in vain. His melancholy increased rather than diminished, and serious fears were entertained that his reason would give way, and that he would have to exchange his home for a lunatic asylum.
Just at this juncture an intimate friend advised him to consult the above-mentioned physician. To this he willingly assented, and before many days had passed he was seated with the doctor in his office. Having put the usual questions to him, the doctor, after a most careful and patient examination, said, "There is nothing wrong with you, sir. I can find nothing in the state of your system to account for the melancholy of which you complain.”
"That is strange," said the patient. "This depression of spirits endangers my reason. Do, doctor, help me if you can.”
"Perhaps an inordinate ambition may have something to do with it?”
"No, I have no desire for great things. I am in the position just suited to my taste and wishes.”
"Some family trouble or bereavement?”
"No, doctor; peace and love reign in my family, and my circle is unbroken.”
"Have you any enemies?"
"Not that I am aware of.”
"What subject most frequently occupies your thoughts?”
"You are approaching a matter which I hardly like to speak of, doctor. I am a skeptic, and the ceremonies of religion are in my view as repugnant to common-sense as its mysteries are to reason. I do not believe in revelation, and yet, I must confess, one of its dogmas haunts me like a specter. I try to persuade myself that it is the result of a disordered state of the brain; but yet my mind is continually occupied with it.”
"Will you tell me what it is?”
"A vision of the last judgment is constantly present to my mind. The end of all things seem to have come, and the Great White Throne is set up. There is One seated on the throne whose look of stern justice and majesty terrifies me. I hear Him call me in a voice like thunder. I try to escape from His penetrating glance, but heaven and earth have disappeared, and I am left alone. Doctor, can you understand what that means—alone—alone in the presence of perfect purity—alone under the scrutinizing eye of One who reads me through and through? Every moment I expect to hear the awful words, "'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.'”
"What makes you fear such a sentence?”
"Well, in the eyes of men my life is deemed irreproachable, and not without reason. I have less to accuse myself of than most of my acquaintances; but in the presence of such dazzling glory—such spotless purity—my very best actions appear black and hideous. That eye searches out the thoughts and intents of my heart; so that not a single act of my life is pure in His sight. I feel guilty and condemned, and long to find some spot where I can hide from His presence.”
"Is that what causes the melancholy of which you complain?”
"I suppose so. This terrible vision is always before me. I cannot get rid of it. Sometimes I think it is only imagination, the effect of a depressed state of the nervous system, and that when I get strong, it will pass away. But then again the thought forces itself upon me,—What if, after all, it should be a Divine truth—a scene in which I must in reality someday appear? My mind gets bewildered with these conflicting thoughts, and I look and long in vain for deliverance. This is a humbling confession for a man of my views, doctor.”
"I have by me an old book which contains a remedy for your disease," said the doctor with confidence, as he turned to his book-case and took down a book, which bore the marks of frequent use. He turned over a few pages, and then handing the book to his patient, he requested him to read aloud the lines to which he pointed,
"He read as follows:—
"'Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”
Doctor—"The unbelief, which the prophet complained of over two thousand years ago, exists in our own day. Who among the millions in our so-called Christian countries believes this report?”
“Tor He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we shall desire Him.'
"Of whom do these verses speak?”
"Of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, whom He sent into the world, that by His propitiatory death He might make atonement for sin.”
"'He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”
"This is indeed true: we have not esteemed Him.”
"'Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.'”
"Here again the prophecy has been fulfilled.”
“‘But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'
"What does that mean, doctor?”
"That the Son' of God took the sinner's place, and bore the punishment due to the sinner. He became the willing victim, and God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all, and with His stripes we are healed.”
"What! did the Son of God take my place, and die for me?”
"'The Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.'”
"If that is so, there is no punishment for me.”
"'The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.”
"Is it possible, doctor? What Divine beauty and simplicity! The guiltless dies for the guilty!”
"Read on a little farther.”
"'He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.”
"Because He stood there as the willing substitute.”
"'He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.”
"He gave up His life as a ransom for me.”
"'He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.'”
"Praise the Lord. He took the sinner's place.”
"'And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief.”
"O! what great love to sinners!”
"When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.'
"There it is again, doctor. I see it as clearly as possible! justified by the death of another! O, why did I never know this before? `Justified'—what a word for a guilty sinner!”
"'Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.'" Isa. 53.
"Doctor, such a salvation could never have originated in the heart of man; none but God could plan such a salvation; none but God could carry it out. What love in God! what love in His Son! What grandeur! what beauty! Doctor, my load is gone. I no longer fear the judgment. Christ has been judged for me. I believe in Him; I trust in the value of His death on the cross.”
"If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He Himself tells you, you have everlasting life. Read it for yourself.”
"'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
The man received this glorious truth then and there, and left the doctor's office a different man—his dreadful forebodings were gone. The future he no longer feared; but, like the Ethiopian of old (see Acts 8), to whom Philip, the evangelist, opened out the same Scripture, he received Jesus as his Savior and "went on his way rejoicing." Returning home with a heart filled with gratitude and praise, he desired henceforth to live to the glory of Him who loved him, and gave Himself for him.
Dear reader, that which troubled this man was no mere illusion of a fevered brain. No, the judgment of the Great White Throne is declared in God's Word to be a solemn reality. It lies in the future of everyone who does not receive the salvation which is provided for him by the death of Christ upon the cross. Our sins deserved the judgment of God; Christ bore that dreadful judgment for sinners. If we receive Him as our Substitute and Savior, the judgment which has fallen upon Him will never be repeated. It has fallen upon our Substitute, and therefore cannot fall on us. We are thereby free—eternally free. O, what a glorious salvation! and all are welcome to receive it, without money and without price.
Come, then, dear reader, to this Savior. Come now while still there is time. He will save you, and take away all fear of future judgment, and by and by He will present you faultless before the throne of His glory with exceeding joy. Come then and accept Him as your Savior, and God will make you His child, and by His Spirit He will teach you and help you on your journey through life, until you reach that happy land where sickness and sorrow are unknown.
O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head,
Our load was laid on Thee;
Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead—
To bare all my ill for me.
A victim led, Thy blood was shed;
Now there's no load for me.
Death and the curse were in my cup—
O Christ! 'twas full for Thee.
But Thou hast drained the last dark drop—
'Tis empty now for me.
That bitter cup—love drank it up;
Left but the love for me.
For me, Lord Jesus, Thou hast died,
And I have died in Thee;
Thou'rt risen; my bands are all untied;
And now Thou liv'st in me.
And when Thou com'st to take
Thy bride, Thy glory then for me.