DEAR READER, let me affectionately ask your serious attention to the question which is presented to you above. Though very short, yet the importance of it cannot be over-estimated. Under one or other of the terms you must certainly find yourself, and your eternal happiness or misery depends on which it is.
Believe me, there is no possible escape out of one or the other of these two conditions.
There is no neutral ground upon which you can place your feet. Either you are SAVED, and, therefore, waiting for that moment which shall usher you into a state of eternal blessedness; or (dreadful alternative!) you are in the condition of those who are fast hurrying on to that moment which must settle for eternity their destiny, and consign them beyond the reach of hope, to the region of outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. We would press upon you the word of God to Israel of old: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways" (Hag. 1:55Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:5)). HAG 1:1515In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. (Haggai 1:15)
Most surely you are rapidly advancing on the journey of life, and how near you may be to its close who can tell. Oh! that you, dear reader, if unprepared for the end of the journey, may indeed pause, and think seriously of that important future. The end may be near. But, near or remote, what can be more certain, what can be more solemn, what can be more thy immediate concern, than thine own eternity? Where is it to be spent, and with whom? Amidst the bright glories of heaven, or the dark miseries of hell? In the Father's house, at the Saviour's side, and with all the saved from every land, and with all the holy angels who never sinned? Or (awful thought!) in the prison-house of hell, with the devil and his angels, and all the impenitent wicked of every age? Oh, what an eternity of misery this must be! The very thought of it is overwhelming.
Nov, we may forget our sorrow, or even our misery, for a little while, in welcome sleep; but there will be no sleep in hell. Now, we may find a quiet corner, and weep alone, and find relief in solitude; but no quiet, no solitude, no relief, will ever be found there. The eyes that are distressed at every sight shall never be closed; the ear that is assailed with cries of remorse on every side shall never grow dull of hearing; the weary soul shall never find one moment's rest. All hope shall flee away, and dark despair shall complete its awful work.
But enough, enough; forbear. Bless God, the door of repentance and salvation is open, wide open, open for thee, my reader; yes, open for thyself. Wilt thou not turn to Jesus now?
Wilt thou not flee to Him now, while thy sad case is before thee, and while all the solemn realities of the future are pressing on thy mind? Yet do we again beseech thee. Stay not till thou hast finished this paper. As thou art, where thou art, lift up thy heart to Jesus.
Thou canst never be more fit to come, or more welcome to the Saviour than now; and never more welcome to the Father's arms, the Father's house, the Father's sweetest welcome there. His joy and delight in receiving the prodigal is a thousand times greater than the prodigal's in being received. What wondrous grace and love! What wondrous longsuffering and mercy! His name alone have all the praise!
It is difficult, more than difficult, for either writer or preacher fully to realize the force of these two words, "SAVED-LOST.”
All that is solemn, weighty, important, all that is blessed or miserable, both for time and eternity, to the immortal soul, is included in these words. Were every reader of these pages, and every hearer of the gospel, to be described according to truth, these two words would suffice for all. There is no third class, no middle ground, in Scripture. Hence we read that “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was LOST” (Luke 9:1919They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. (Luke 9:19)). Those who believe in Him are saved; those who believe not are lost.
Not finally, or everlastingly lost, of course, while here; but lost under the guilt and condemnation of sin, and too commonly, alas! lost to all proper sense of the consequences of sin. As one has forcibly said, “Young, brave, polite, intelligent, but LOST! Beautiful, amiable, honored, beloved, but LOST!
Wealthy, idolized, caressed, flattered, but LOST! Serious, courteous, moral, affectionate, but LOST! Discreet, benevolent, educated, a church-goer, but LOST!”
Remember then, O my reader, that although every qualification and advantage here mentioned most truthfully applied to thee, thou art still LOST, if not a believer in Christ Jesus.
Nothing short of His blood can cleanse thy sins away. We are saved through faith in the blood of Christ, which cleanses us from all sin. SAVED! yes, saved, saved with God's great salvation. All blessing is included in the one word SAVED. Eternal life, pardon, justification, sanctification, reconciliation, adoption into God's family, acceptance in the Beloved, the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, standing in grace, waiting for glory.
May this wealthy portion be thine, dear reader. Amen. A. M.