By the Editor
An Appeal for Christ
MY readers come one and all of you to Christ. Come with your weary hearts, and He will give you rest; come with your troubled, burdened consciences, and He will give you peace. There is no rest to be found on earth; friends fail us, the world cannot satisfy; the flowers of pleasure, plucked by the eager hand, fade almost at the touch; the harp of life has broken strings upon it. Then come to Jesus, and come now. You want a home; you do not want to be an outcast for all eternity. You must come home as a sinner to the Saviour; as a needy one to the One who can help you; as a bankrupt sinner to a rich and giving Christ, as having nothing to One who possesses all; as guilty and undone to One who pardons and forgives. You must come with eyes of faith to see the living Saviour at God’s right hand; with ears of faith to hear His welcome to you; with a heart of faith to believe unto righteousness, and with lips of faith to confess His blessed name. Now will you come in this way? You are weak, He wants you to lean on His strength; you can do nothing. He wants you to trust His finished work; will you do this?
I read today of one who refused to come home. She was dying of consumption, but she did not believe she was near eternity; she was expecting to get better, and would not give up hopes of life. When pressed to come home as a sinner to Christ, she said, “I must think about it.”
A Christian determined to tell her she had only a few days to live. He came, and found her reading a novel; the Bible had been thrown aside, and although she was gasping for breath as she lay dying, she was seeking to drown the voice of conscience in this way. The Christian said: “Can you read a novel at such a time as this?” She answered him angrily: “I can’t always be reading my Bible.” “Oh! do you know that you are on the very point of death? Has no one told you that the doctor has pronounced your case utterly hopeless? You will be before God in a few hours.” A despairing look came into her eyes as she heard the Christian speak. “Can it be true?” she cried as she cast the novel aside. “Yes it is true,” was the answer, “and I am come with a message of grace for the last time. Do believe in Jesus.” He went on pleading, “Will you accept Christ now?” Her answer was given, “Not tonight.” The Christian took up the Bible and placed it near her, saying: “May God have mercy on your soul.” He rose to go: when he reached the door, he looked back for a moment, and he saw her hand upon the novel; her choice was made. In a day or two she was gone; she died with bitter curses against God and herself; with cries for mercy choked with imprecations. “Lost!” she exclaimed, “Too late, I have thrown it away!”
Dear reader, eternity is very near. Eternity, with all its deep and overwhelming realities. Do you feel it? Oh! dread yourself and believe in Christ. I seem to see the shadowing arms of eternity outstretched towards you. You are going on to its embrace, and you cannot stop yourself. The rivers flow silently and surely to the sea; and the river of your life is flowing onward, onward to the ocean of eternity. Yes, it is close. And I see the old men, standing with eyes fixed, gazing on the future. They shake their gray heads, saying, as they feel the shadows round them: “We are going, we are going.” And the echo comes as an answer from eternity, “Going, going.”
And I watch the strong and the resolute; and as they grasp the realities of the present with a man’s purpose to do and dare, they try and face the darkness in the light of the present, crying, “We are here.” And the echo comes as a voice from beyond, “Here, here.”
And hark! I hear the trip of little feet, and the children come pressing on upon the paths of time. They come laughing, with the sunshine on their foreheads. They cry as they bound onward, with radiant eyes and expectant hearts, “We are coming,” and the future echoes back solemnly, “Coming, coming.” Yes, the world is moving on in darkness and in light. The saved and the lost mingle on the fields of life. But to the eyes of heaven the children of God are manifest. It is known in heaven to whom you belong, and where you are going. Oh, hear the voice that bids you repent. Harden not your heart against the love of God. May you believe and find life in Christ, and your life bear fruit for eternity, lest justice smite you with its awful sword, saying, “Cut him down; why cumbereth he the ground?” Think of the days of despair that are coming. When heaven’s door will be shut against the lost, and the cry will pierce the awful gloom: “Lord, Lord, open unto us.” Unbeliever, there is nothing but darkness in front of you. Do you not dread it? If I were not saved, I should tremble to take another step in the shadows of sin. You love darkness rather than light. But why? Because your deeds are evil; you are under the power of the prince of darkness. Christ is his conqueror, and will receive you if you come now. Christ will make your life bright, and your heart happy, with a purged conscience before a God of love.