DOES the Word of God give a person to know divine certainty of going to heaven? If it did not, it would not be a perfect revelation from God to meet the need of our souls. But, blessed be God, it does, and my reader may be a happy possessor of that certainty. Peace with God, and certainty of going to heaven, may be possessed by believing the testimony of God.
Let us now turn to Scripture. “And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight” (Col. 1:20-2220And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:20‑22)).
Peace through the blood of His cross―peace made by Christ Himself by the shedding of His precious blood―is now preached to every one―to you, my reader. Do you believe such glad tidings? No language could be plainer or more simple, or more comforting. No surer ground could be given, nor could faith desire to rest on aught more solid. Believing in the precious blood of Christ gives perfect peace, and certainty of heaven.
I remember some forty years ago asking an aged Christian, nearing the end of her life, if she was “sure of going to heaven.” Quickly, and without any hesitation, was the reply, “As sure as the blood of Christ can make me.” Reader, could you give the same answer, not resting on anything but the precious blood of Christ? How one longs to see souls simply resting there, and at peace with God, with a divine certainty of heaven.
I once had the great pleasure of seeing a poor woman, whom I was asked to visit, pass from unrest and uncertainty into rest and certainty. Never shall I forget the change on her countenance. It was clouded and miserable when I entered her cottage, bright and beaming with peace―expressive of perfect peace― before I left! She was in real trouble and anguish of soul. She greatly desired and longed for peace with God. She had heard again and again of the precious blood of Christ which cleanses from all sin, but there was no peace; and the simple reason of her not having peace, arose from her looking within, and wondering if it was shed for her, if she valued it enough, and such-like reasonings. This was her state for some considerable time, and these thoughts kept her from the peace which her exercised conscience desired, and which came like a flood of light when she for the first time saw that God did not say, “When I see your feelings are right, or that you have a right estimate of the blood, I will pass over,” but “When I see the blood, I will pass over,”―for “the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I SEE the blood, I will pass over you” (Ex. 12:1313And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)). “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:1111For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)).
The soul is not free in life, and in adoring worship, where the value of the blood is not known. The more I dwell upon the blood―the shed blood of Christ, God’s dear Son―the more is my soul called out in praise to God.
The blood of the cross, beloved reader, came from a spotless victim. The Son of God, who suffered on the cross, can alone atone for our sins; and not only is there peace and joy in believing in reference to the forgiveness of our sins, but there is joy and peace in the holiest with God, when the soul perceives that it is God’s delight to have us there, as it is ours to be there with God.
Fellow-traveler to eternity, where will that eternity be spent? God’s Word settles that question. Under the shelter of the precious blood of Christ we are safe for heaven, and our eternal home will be with Christ—where Christ is, and we shall be like Him. Not under the shelter of that blood, eternity will be spent where Christ is not, in that place prepared for the devil and his angels.
My reader, think of this, and remember peace is made. You have not to make it. Christ alone could, and did make it, by the blood of His cross. Joy and peace come by believing what He has done. Oh, that you may be able to say, “I am sure of heaven, as sure as the blood of Christ can make me.” And consider, it is not only “sure of heaven,” but God has reconciled us unto Himself now by the death and blood of Christ,— therefore, before we get to heaven, “we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Rom. 5:1111And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:11)).
That the God of peace may bless this short, simple, and blessed message of peace to your soul, my reader, is the earnest desire of the writer.
J. M. R.