ONE sunny morning, when walking down a pretty footpath, on both sides of which grew the red and white hawthorn, laburnum, rhododendron, cherry, and other beautiful trees in bloom, I met a young man, whom I knew, wiping his eyes with his handkerchief. On asking him what he was crying for, he answered, “Oh, I am not crying, sir, I have only got something into my eye!”
“Indeed,” I said, after a short pause, “do you never cry?”
“No, not much now; I have about given up that sort of thing.”
“Well, how often, do you think?”
“Oh, may be once in six months, or not quite so often!”
I enquired whether he had ever heard of the place where there is no crying, and where all tears are forever wiped away; or if he had ever heard of the other place, where people will be weeping forever, and their tears never wiped away.
He replied, “I think I know what you mean, sir.”
“Would you like to escape the one place and get to the other?” I asked.
“Yes, I would,” the young man readily answered.
“Then which place are you bound for?”
“I am trying to get to the better place.”
“Trying!” said I. “But Jesus finished the whole work on the cross long ago, and don’t you see your trying will only hinder instead of helping you. Jesus, when here on earth, did not say, ‘He that tries shall have everlasting life;’ but, ‘He that believeth, on ME hath everlasting life.’” (John 6:4747Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47).) I pointed out that sin was the first cause of tears, there being none till after Adam and Eve first sinned in Eden, and that there have been tears ever since.
So that when souls get “from sin and sorrow free” they are out of reach of tears, or clear of the cause, clear of the effect. That if people died in their sins they would have their sins upon them forever, and therefore tears forever in the lake of fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; and out of which eternal tears of repentance will never extricate souls; and mark, Jesus will never go there to wipe away one single tear, nor wash away one single sin. “Can you,” I asked, “trust the precious blood of Christ alone that cleanses from all sin?”
“Yes,” was his answer.
“Then do you receive Christ as your very Saviour?”
“I do,” was his emphatic reply.
“Then, if that be really true, I shall, ere long, meet you where all tears shall be forever wiped away; where all will be joy and gladness; and where there will be no more sorrow, nor any crying, around the blessed One who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.’” (Revelation 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).)
“And God has fixed the happy day,
When the last tear shall dim our eyes;
When He will wipe these tears away,
And fill our hearts with glad surprise;
To hear His voice, and see His face,
And know the fullness of His grace.”
Now, dear reader, what about your sins and your tears?
Is it to be all tears, or no tears? All sins and all tears, or no sins and no tears—which?
Have you, let me ask, never seen the need of the immediate settlement of this all-important, solemn question? Do you not perceive how absolutely necessary it is to have it settled NOW, in God’s time, and while you have health and opportunity before you, and ere it is forever too late? Oh, do, I beseech you, think about it, friend! Don’t shelve it once more to quiet your conscience, for you will, of a certainty, have to face the question sooner or later, and why not now? “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” and what does it matter whether you cry once in six months or otherwise? Like that young man, you may have “about given up that sort of thing.” But rest assured of this, that if you do not get clear of your sins, you will have to begin weeping again, and that forever, when this very gospel story will rise in judgment against you.
“The wages of sin is death;” and Jesus, the spotless and undefiled One, in the place of humiliation which He took, wept on account of man’s sin and death.
See Him weeping over Jerusalem, because of Israel’s sin (Luke 19:4141And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, (Luke 19:41)); and at the grave of Lazarus, on account of death. (John 11:3535Jesus wept. (John 11:35).) Wondrous sight indeed to see such an One thus weeping, for others, tears of sympathy! But, dear soul, tears do not put away sin.
“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
“It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
Have you trusted that blood? Are you by it sheltered from eternal judgment? Can you truly say, “The One whose precious blood was shed on Calvary is my Saviour”?
God is forever satisfied with the blood of Christ; nothing less was of sufficient value to satisfy God. He alone knows its full value.
Trust it, friend, and see your sins gone forever, and ere long your tears too. Be warned of that eternal weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth; for God is holy, and will not be mocked. Paul, the apostle, said, “Watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:3131Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:31).)
How many warnings have you had, dear soul? How many hearts have yearned, and how many tears have been shed, for your salvation? Yes, how many? GOD ONLY KNOWS.
J. N.