SOME years ago an incident occurred at an English seaport, which made a lasting impression on the writer’s mind.
A young couple not long married were standing upon the pier, the husband engaged in conversation with a third party. During the conversation he gradually, but unconsciously, backed towards the edge of the pier until his wife, alarmed at his dangerous position, put forth her hand to draw him into a place of safety; whereupon, resenting the act (presumably because it seemed to imply that he was unable to take care of himself), he jerked himself free, and, instantly losing his balance, fell into the waters beneath, where he was drowned.
Beloved fellow-traveler to eternity, has this sad and awful occurrence no voice for thee? Art thou a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus? If not, how dreadful is thy danger; for the wrath of God abides on thee, and at thy feet yawns the gulf of hell!
That thy mind is easy upon this question―that thou art self-complacent, self-confident, instead of making thy situation less dangerous―is itself the chief source of danger. Thou hast to do with a holy sin-hating God, whose word tells thee that thou art beyond question a sinner; for “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God? It further declares that, from the character of His being what He is, He can by no means clear the guilty; that the wages of sin is death, and that in accordance with this just estimate of sin He has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by that man (the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ now in heaven) whom He hath ordained. An arrest of thy soul for this judgment may be made at any moment by death, or the Lord may come while the breath is still in thy nostrils. If thou passest on in thy sins to judgment, thy terrible doom is certain and everlasting.
But, blessed be the God of all grace, help has been laid upon One that is mighty. The arm of redeeming love is extended towards thee that thou mayest be saved. Who shall tell what it cost the precious Saviour ere He could stretch forth that loving hand? See Him in dark Gethsemane’s awful hour. The rugged pathway of rejection of sorrow, suffering, shame, and death― from the stable birthplace to the borrowed grave―is well-nigh ended, and “the cup of” (divine) “wrath for sin overflowing” is before Him, and the prospect bows His holy soul with deep unutterable anguish, while the bloody sweat suffuses that wondrous face as He prays: “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” And then, when that dread prospect is realized, hear the awful cry from amid the darkness that in daytime shut in that perfect sufferer―the Son of God, when on Calvary’s cross He bore sin’s heavy load: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Then later the victor shout, “It is finished!”
The young man, of whom mention was made in the beginning of this appeal, spurned the aid love offered, and he perished. The love underwent no change, but he passed from the sphere within which it could operate. Can you spurn the matchless redeeming love of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, and endured the shame, the death, and the deeper woes of Calvary that He might thereby open the way of life and glory to us guilty rebels? Do not, I beseech you, thus choose death. Soon the opportunity will be forever fled. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His love shall know no change; but thou, if a rejecter of His grace, now offered to thee without money and without price, shalt pass out of the sphere wherein His blood cleanseth from all unrighteousness, to a region of woe and despair, where the arm of omnipotence cannot save thee, and where consequently hope is unknown.
Own then thy danger, thy urgent need; pass judgment on thyself as a guilty, lost, undone, helpless sinner, unable to move hand or foot to save thyself, and at once trust the Saviour who testifies thus:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life.”
A. G.