IN a comfortable room, in a large house in the West End of London, were seated several young girls with their governess, all busily engaged over their morning studies.
The Bible lesson was just over, when Emily, the eldest, a girl of sixteen, was called upon to repeat some poetry, and when she had finished, she said, “There, Miss P..., have I not said it well today?” It was a thing she particularly disliked doing, and one which she usually did very badly.
Immediately after making the above remark, she complained of a severe pain in her head; her mother was called, a doctor sent for, and a warm hath (all in the course of a few minutes), and every remedy likely to prove helpful was tried, but it was all of no avail — Emily never regained consciousness. In less than half an hour after making that remark her soul had returned to God who gave it.
Who can describe the distress and consternation in that house? And above all, the anguish of that mother’s heart? She made no profession of being a child of God herself, but she knew her governess to be a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus, and to her she turned for comfort, saying, again and again, “Oh, tell me, where is my child now?” but Miss P... could give no decided answer to that sorrowful question; she could but say that Emily had “always been attentive during the Bible lessons, and obedient at all times.”
In such cases the heart must fall back upon God Himself and His immutable justice: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” We dare not affirm that a soul has gone to be with the Lord when there has been a lack of the two things needful, viz., believing on the Lord Jesus in the heart, and confessing with the mouth (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)); but we know that God looketh on the heart, and judgeth not as man judgeth. Moreover, He makes no mistakes.
We will not dwell on this sorrowful scene, but would affectionately ask you, dear reader, whether you are ready to be called away suddenly? We would especially appeal to the young readers of this little paper. You may have been accustomed to think of sudden death as a thing likely to come to people far advanced in years, or even to the middle aged, but not to the young. Here we have a true instance of a young girl being called to meet God without a moment’s warning being allowed in which she could even “call upon the name of the Lord,” if she had not already done so. It may be the same with you, and it may be the case before you have finished reading this paper. Death, in Emily’s case, was due to the sudden bursting of a blood-vessel in the brain which was followed by almost instantaneous death. It may be the same with you. Should it be so, are you prepared to meet God? If in your heart you are afraid to meet Him because of your many sins, may we beseech you to be reconciled to Him through the death of His beloved Son, who was “made sin for us [He] who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”? “God is just, and the justifier of Him that believeth in Jesus.”
God says, “Is there not an appointed time unto man upon earth?” Yes, an appointed time, — it may be eighty years, it may be fifty, it may be thirty, or even so few as sixteen years; and, dear young reader, perhaps you have seen the last sun set, and your appointed time be TODAY.
Oh, turn not from these pointed questions, for after death comes judgment. If you die in your sins, you will go to the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Perhaps you think all this warning is very unnecessary for the young, for they cannot be such great sinners. You are not hardened in sin, I trust, but you have sinned in one way or another every day since you have had sufficient understanding to comprehend the meaning of obedience and disobedience, and God says, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in ONE point, he is guilty of all” (Jas. 2:1010For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)). ONE act of disobedience constitutes you a lost sinner. Now you see you are not too young to sin, not too young to be lost, and not too young to die. But I have something better than all to tell you — you are not too young to be saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, for He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” and, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Oh, come to Him today, and let Him give you rest. He desires to bless you and make you happy here, and have you with Himself throughout eternity.
Another suggestion Satan is likely to make to your mind is, that it is a miserable thing to be a Christian. Remember, the devil “is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:4444Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)). God’s Word says, “At Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore,” and God cannot lie.
A young boy of sixteen was converted lately, and he wrote to a Christian, saying, “I used to think Christians must be unhappy, but now I think none save believers know what real happiness is.” All God’s children can say, “He is good and doeth good”; and we say to you, dear reader, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psa. 34:88O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)). R. M. W. B.