ONE hundred years ago today Lord Nelson died. Just in the moment of his supremest triumph he was mortally wounded in the breast by a sharpshooter in the rigging of a French ship. Covering his face and decorations with his handkerchief that the crew might not be disheartened, he was borne into the cockpit. Life was fast ebbing. Strength was going. He was past medical aid.
One hundred years ago to-day his last words to the chaplain were:
“I have not been a great sinner. Thank God, I have done my duty.”
Let us take these two sentences, and see what they mean. "I have not been a great sinner." There is little comfort in saying this on a deathbed. For, reflect! It is not a question of being a great sinner or a little sinner, but—A SINNER. The Scriptures do not say, "The soul that sinneth greatly it shall die"; but "The soul that sinneth it shall die." The law does not say, "The man that committeth many murders shall be hanged"; but "The man that commits murder shall be hanged." One leak may as effectually sink a ship as many. One sin led to the expulsion of our first parents from the Garden of Eden.
Do you think then that little sinners go to heaven and great sinners go to hell? Who is to draw the line? Who is to adjust the sliding scale that separates between what is too good to go to hell and too bad to go to heaven?
Nelson said feebly with his dying breath, "I have not been a great sinner." A few more beats of the heart, and all was over so far as this world was concerned. His ears heard not the thanks of the nation. His was no triumphal home-coming. But his was the solemn entrance into eternity, the meeting God to whom the triumphs of war are as nothing. How did he stand with GOD? Was he right with HIM? Alas! we have no satisfactory answer to give; but of this we are sure that just as Nelson entered into eternity a hundred years ago to-day, so he is—to-day—and FOR ETERNITY.
Reader, where will you be one hundred years to-day? I write these lines to warn you. Face the matter—the most important and far-reaching question you can ever settle. Whether you be a great sinner or a little. Sinner, you need Christ. The vessel sinking with one leak needs the lifeboat just as much as the one who has several holes knocked in her bottom. You cannot do without the death of Christ. The precious blood alone can cleanse you from all sin. If you are ever to sing the glories of the Lamb in heaven you must enter not as a great sinner or a little sinner, but as a sinner saved, a sinner cleansed, a sinner redeemed.
One look to Christ will assuredly secure all this and more for you. He died for all-therefore you. He calls upon your trust. He invites your faith. He says, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28).)
A Christian employer of labor, who took a deep interest in the souls of his workmen, knew that one of them was anxious to be saved.
He wrote a note to him, saying, “Dear James,— Please come to the office at 6 o'clock —I want to see you. Yours truly,
At the specified hour James knocked at the door of his master's office. "Come in," said his employer, and in he stepped. Taking no notice of him for some time, he at last said, “Why have you come?”
The man, in astonishment, said, “Why, this letter, sir, told me to come.”
The master bent over his desk, and, writing on a piece of paper, handed it to the anxious man, saying, "Attend to that letter, James.”
The workman read the beautiful, familiar words: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
A few moments of silence passed; then, with a sob and a catch in his voice, he said to his master, “Do you mean to say, sir, that I have to attend to this message just as attended to yours?”
“Exactly," was the answer.
“Then, I’ll come," was the response; and on the office floor, there and then, the anxious man trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, and experienced the rest that He promised to those who should come. Coining simply means believing or trusting.
Lord Nelson's last words to the chaplain were, "Thank God! I have done my duty." Doubtless he was thinking of the glorious victory he had just won, and that king and countrymen would say that he had done his duty. "England expects every man to do his duty" was the well-known signal, and he felt he had done his. But what of his duty to GOD? That is the important point. Miss that, and you miss all.
“Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole DUTY of man." This was the text inscribed on the coffin of an aged Unitarian years ago—a man who had stoutly derided the atoning value of the precious blood. Alas he thought that he had feared God and kept His commandments. Now none have fully done that; hence the necessity of the work of Christ.
Why the most outwardly blameless man that ever lived, Saul of Tarsus, had to write of the law that it had convicted him inwardly. The law possesses more than Röntgen rays of research. Outward blamelessness is not sufficient: inward purity is what the law demands. The very struggles men make to stifle their passions, and walk correctly, affords abundant proof of their sinner ship. The Apostle Paul wrote: "I had not known sin, but by the law for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”
Ah! just because I have not done my duty I have cast myself upon God's mercy and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be warned, dear reader, of the uncertainty of life. Nelson died in the moment of his victory; Sir Henry Irving died half-an-hour after one of his triumphs on the stage. You may die before this day closes.
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2.)
“Through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43.)
If I died to-night my last words might well be, "I have been a great sinner; alas! I have not done my duty; but, thank God, Jesus died for me, and God forgives and saves me on the ground of what He has done.”
As a rich south country squire wrote:
“I am a poor sinner, and nothing at all,
But Jesus Christ is my all in all.”
Thank God, that is sufficient. Can you say it?
A. J. P.