THE merry bells had rung out the old year, and announced the coming in of the new, as the old vicar lay upon his bed dying. He had listened to their peal, and his heart was yearning over his parishioners, who, light-hearted and gay, thought little of the tale that those old bells told afresh, that man’s days are like a shadow that declineth, and that the years come and go, rapidly bearing each one onward to eternity.
From his dying bed the old vicar sent a message to his parishioners, which was read in the church on the afternoon and evening of the same day. The words reach us now as a voice from the dead. May you, dear unsaved friend, give heed to their solemn and weighty exhortations.
“I wish to send you a few words as from the gate of heaven, I am deeply touched with your affectionate interest, and very grateful for your many kind inquiries. I would beseech you on this New Year’s Day to turn to God....
“My one great desire ever since I came among you has been to bring souls to Christ. But since I have been laid on this bed of sickness, I have realized more than ever I did before the fullness, beauty, glory, and grace of the gospel. Oh! how I want you to embrace it; never to rest till you know you are safe in Christ―one with Him by the power of the Holy Ghost.
“As the bells rang out the old year, this one thought (so precious to the believer) was very present with me, ‘All the past is covered, the blood of Jesus has washed away every sin.’ And now my desire is so strong that God would this day use these few words to bring some to Himself. Oh, do not be afraid to trust the Lord Jesus. He is waiting to receive you―waiting to bless you!”
Dear reader, can you say, as you enter upon another year, “All the past is covered”? No matter how dark and sinful it may have been, all covered with the precious blood of Christ. If not, trust in Him today, and know that “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” And then this will be truly a bright New Year’s Day for you.
“Nothing but the precious blood
Can give lasting peace with God
For the heart so dark, so stained with sin and guilt;
There is nothing can atone
But the blood of Christ alone,
Blood which Christ in love for guilty sinners spilt.”
E. E. N.