I LATELY knocked at the door of a cottage Ireland, and it was opened by a tidily-dressed woman, who evidently could not expect to be much longer in this world, for her gray hair and general appearance told of old age, and showed that the moment could not be very far distant when she would have to exchange time for eternity, and begin a new life, either of endless bliss or endless woe. I asked her, after a few words of greeting, how old she was? “Upward of threescore and ten,” she answered. “Then,” I said, “you are very near either heaven or hell, and getting nearer every day. Which is it?” “Oh, heaven,” she answered, without a moment’s delay. “Are you sure of that?” I said. “Oh, quite sure,” she said, with a happy smile. “And what makes you so sure?” I asked. “Christ has made it sure for me,” was the unhesitating reply.
I needed not to ask any more. She meant what she said and knew that her soul’s salvation rested on that sure foundation―the finished work of a risen and glorified Savior; and He had made it sure for her by going down into the death and judgment she deserved, and bearing all the penalty Himself. Not a word about herself. She did not say, as so many do, “I have done the best I can, and hope God will have mercy on me.” No, she rested simply on what Christ had done, and that was enough―enough for God, and enough for her; enough to meet every claim of a holy God, enough to meet every need of a lost sinner.
She was saved, and knew it.
And now, reader, let me ask you one question. Can you say what this dear old woman said? Is your future as bright as hers was? She had little enough in this world; but her future was as bright and as cure as a glorified Savior could make it. The light of the knowledge of a Savior-God had shone into her heart, and, be her present what it might, her future was clear and bright. Is yours?
The question is, Are you saved or not?
If you had to close your eyes on this world, on what would they upon in another? In one moment the whole scene changes, and it is either departing to be with Christ, as it was to the poor thief on the cross, whose only hope was in the One the world had cast out; or departing to be in misery till you have to appear before the great white throne of Revelation 20:1111And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Revelation 20:11), to be judged and then banished forever to the lake of fire.
It is recorded of the rich man in the sixteenth of Luke, that “he died and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.” That was the next thing. He had had all the heart could wish for in this world; purple, and fine linen, and sumptuous fare; there was the outward expression of his wealth to others, and the inward gratification of himself by it. Nothing is said about his character, whether he was good or bad, moral or immoral; all that we are told of him is that practically he lived for himself in this world, and spent eternity in torment.
Oh, dear reader, think for one moment, I beseech you, what an eternity of torment must be.
“No rest day or night,” nothing but torment forever and ever. What a prospect. And yet if you are unsaved it is the only prospect before you.
Look for a moment at the other side of the picture, as I have given it in the little incident recorded in the beginning of this paper. One who had nothing in this world to boast of, had before her the certainty (not the hope only) of eternal glory with the Savior who had died for her, and had said, “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:1919Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. (John 14:19)); her every hope was resting in that cure foundation, the finished work of Christ; and her simple faith was in that Word which “endureth forever” (1 Peter 1:2525But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1 Peter 1:25)). Well might she be bright and happy with such a future as that before her.
And that may be yours, dear reader, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; not, as many think, a thing to be hoped for, struggled for, prayed for all your life; but a present possession, consciously enjoyed, for “He that hath the Son, hath life” ―and, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:12, 1312He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:12‑13)). That is what God says in His Word; and what all who believe Him know to be true.
There is One in God’s presence, who more than 1800 years ago, hung upon a shameful cross for poor lost ruined sinners― crucified and slain by the very ones He came to save; and to Him faith looks for salvation, and finds its answer in the wondrous fact, that the very same One who cried on that cross “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,” is now the brightest object in all the brightness of the glory of God. Oh, the blessed reality of having, and knowing that I have, a Savior in glory; and of rejoicing in the bright hope of seeing Him, and being forever with Him! For Jesus will have with Himself in that glory every one that has been washed in His precious blood, every one that believes in Him. Not one will be left behind of those who are His, bought at such a price, on that bright morning when He will call them up, dead and living saints, to meet Him in the air, and to be “forever with the Lord.”
Is that your hope, dear reader? Or are all your prospects for this world only? What is the end of it all as far as this world is concerned? “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away” (1 Peter 1:2424For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (1 Peter 1:24)). Yes, the brightest flower fades and dies; the brightest hopes and prospects that the world can give are gone forever when death lays his ruthless hand upon you, and then―ETERNITY.
Which is it with you, as you read this? Christ or the world? Do you hesitate? What, will you barter away an eternity of glory for a few years of pleasure? the golden reality of a glory made good and cure by His precious blood (and yours by faith in that blood), for the wretched varnish and tinsel of this world’s pleasure? “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” is the pleading of a Savior-God to you today. Today mark you, not tomorrow. Today eternal life may be yours by faith in Christ Jesus. Tomorrow and the hand of death may be on you, and your opportunity gone forever.
A young friend of mine, a bright young Christian, recently fell asleep in Jesus. He was not seventeen years old, and his sufferings were great during the last few days of his illness. He knew to whom he was going, and a few hours before he passed away his father said to him, “It is all peace and joy, dear F., is it not?” “Oh,” he replied, “it has been peace and joy all along, but now overflowing.” Think of that! overflowing peace and joy in the midst of suffering, and with the certainty of death close at hand. A scene such as that makes the possession of Christ a wonderful reality.
One meets with numbers of unsaved people who are not “afraid to die,” as they say; and one expects to find such, for the Word of God says of the wicked, “There are no bands in their death.” Their consciences are hardened because they do not believe that after death comes judgment. But you never heard of one who even pretended to peace and joy at the prospect of death, still less to “overflowing” peace and joy. Nothing but the knowledge of a Savior-God, and of His love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit can give that. You never heard of an infidel “longing to go,” as many and many a child of God has longed. How could they when they don’t know where they are going, and have no hope beyond this poor world of sin and death? But to the child of God, the sinner washed in the blood of Jesus, all is indeed peace and joy, for he is going to be with the Savior who loved him and gave Himself for him. As my dear old friend said, “Christ has made it sure.”
Once more, dear reader, I ask you― Is your future bright should death come upon you? Is your soul saved? Don’t cast aside this little paper as if it were a matter of no importance; but before you lay your head on your pillow tonight ask yourself if the great question of eternity is a settled one for you. And if all is yet dark before you, remember that the door will soon be shut, and the question will be settled then, and you lost forever. The long-suffering of God is truly salvation, but soon the day of long-suffering will be over, and the great day of His wrath will have come, and “Who shall be able to stand?”
That is the way in which God gives―freely.
A. P. G.