Imagine yourself blind and standing near a precipice. One little step and you will be lost in the black depths below.
I see your danger and, in a calm, cool way, begin to remark, "Dear sir, permit me to point out that if you are not careful you stand a chance of suffering the inconvenience of an unpleasant fall.”
What would you call me if you took the fatal step and rushed through space? "Murderer," you say. Yes, and you would call me by a right name.
But if instead I darted forward, seized you with a firm hand, and dragged you from your threatened death, though perhaps bruising your flesh, what would you call me when you realized your escape? "Deliverer,” you say. Yes, and you would call me by a right name.
Reader, I speak as one whose eyes are opened. I see you standing on the brink of endless woe. I listen and I hear the waves of judgment breaking in thunder at the foot of the abyss on the edge of which you stand, unconscious of your danger. In trumpet tones I shout and warn you, but I cannot save you.
No, deliverance is not with me. Although I see your peril, and long for your salvation, I cannot help you. But I know of One who can, and will, if you will let Him.
I speak of Jesus Christ. Ah! You do not know Him? Well, thank God, I do, and I would introduce you to Him.
See Him, crowned with thorns and buffeted by the soldiers. On to Golgotha He journeys, this patient, blessed One, whose heart is filled with love for man. There He is crucified, and endures the ribald insults of the men He came to save. There He, the sinless, is made sin and bears the judgment of the God whose will He came to do.
And then, from out of the gloom, a cry bursts forth, the echoes of which shall live forever:
"It is finished.”
And in this Savior, in His work, is your salvation found, my friend your ransom paid in blood. Life, peace, and heaven, the blessed fruits of Jesus' finished work, are offered you, for He who died at Calvary that day was God's eternal Son. He visited us as man, and of His own free will took up the sinner's cause and suffered in his stead.
Would you see Jesus now? Then look beyond the vacant cross and empty tomb, through opened heavens up to the throne of God. There He sits, crowned with glory, His suffering over and His work all done.
Today the veil is rent, the darkness gone.
We have seen God's Son, full of grace and truth, here in this world. Jesus was the name He bore. He came from heaven to earth to make God known and to bring man nigh to God. In Jesus the wealth of God's great love to man shines forth. In heaven He dwells, image of the Invisible God. In His face God's glory shines. All that God is, is now made known in Jesus.
In His powerful hand He holds a gift, the gift of love divine, salvation for the lost, bought with His blood. He offers it to you. He says, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.” But hark! Another voice is heard. The world is speaking now and it, too, offers something. What is it? You hesitate to say. Then I will say it for you. "Come to my arms, and years of pleasure shall be thine.”
And then: what then? Ah, it is silent now! False world, thou dost not tell that all thou givest thy victim at the last is this: death, the grave, and then the anguish of the lost forever.
"In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.”