SOME time after the writer had taken up his abode in the place in which he now resides, he was obliged to leave home one winter’s afternoon to see a relative who lived at a village a few miles distant. Part of the way was by a footpath, across an open country, to the town of K―, and the remainder of his journey was by the highway.
As soon as the object of his visit was accomplished, he turned his steps homeward; and though it was dark when he re-entered. K —, he hesitated not to return by the footpath. For some time he had no difficulty in keeping the narrow track; but at length the darkness so increased that the path became invisible, and every attempt to regain it was unsuccessful. Getting no reply to his frequent cry of “Lost,” and supposing that a village he was acquainted with lay not far to his left, he determined to make for it, and, after crossing hedges and ditches as well as he could, came out upon a road which he doubted not would presently take him thither. He soon found, however, that such was not the case: no village was to be seen; and when, after walking a considerable distance, he reached a gate which crossed the road, his worst fears were confirmed, and he knew that he was indeed lost on strange ground altogether. Proceeding a little farther, he came to a place where two ways met, and was thus brought to a dead stand, and to his wits’ end. What was to be done? A fingerpost stood before him, but so great was the darkness that the words thereon were illegible. While vainly trying to decipher them, the heavens became suddenly illumined by a large fire, which at that moment broke out somewhere in the distance, and he read, “To E―, To K― to G―,” All his fears were now removed; for E―was a village he knew well, and once there he would have no further difficulty. Towards E― therefore the way-farer hastened, and by-and-by, to his own joy and the joy of those who were wondering what had become of him, arrived at home.
“He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” Such was the condition of the traveler in the story you have just read; and if you, dear readers, as travelers from this world to the next, are not in Christ, it is your actual state now. You may indeed be unconscious of it; nay, more, you may be as certain you are on the road to heaven as the wayfarer, when he came upon the strange road, was persuaded that he should soon reach the village he knew. But what if, like him whose back, as it afterward proved, was towards his home instead of his face, you have started in the wrong direction? And such, dear readers, is the case. You went astray from the womb; and should you continue to follow the imaginations of your own hearts, you will find, at the close of your career, that you have made a greater mistake than the writer, and that its consequences are much more fearful. His error caused him a few stumbling’s and scratches, many needless steps, and, for the time being, much alarm; yours, if persisted in, will involve you in eternal ruin! Oh, then, “hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not;” but before it is too late, “turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for why will ye die?”
There may be however some dear readers who though
“Long in error’s path benighted,”
are wearied of walking in the moral darkness of their unconverted state, and desirous of being taught “the good and the right way.” What a mercy it is that you need not grope in the dark, nor stumble for want of light, since the word of God, like “the fingerpost,” gives plain and simple directions to guide anxious souls into “the way of peace.” There you may find the record of “the Lamb of God,” who, by the shedding of “his own blood,” Hath rent the veil, and opened “a new and living way” into the presence of the Father, where there “is fullness of joy;” there you may read those sweet and encouraging words which, in thousands of instances, have given rest to weary souls. It was when the Bereans “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily,” that “many of them believed;” and it was to the eunuch reading, though not understanding, “the prophet Esaias,” that “the Spirit sent Philip.” And what was the result? “Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus;” and believing, he was baptized, and “went on his way rejoicing.” Now, beloved readers, would you enjoy the like blessing, and possess the same assurance, look not into your hearts for anything to encourage you; think not that something must be done by you or in you before you can “receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified;” build not upon your exercises and experiences, your convictions and impressions; for, as long as you do so, you will be dark and dreary, doubts and fears will perplex your souls, and you will be strangers to confidence and peace. But pore over the sacred pages of the unchangeable and eternal word of “the living and true God,” till, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,” and “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” shining in your hearts, you can read your title clear
“To mansions in the skies,”
and enjoy that settled peace which will follow the reception of the truth in the power and by the operation of the Holy Ghost.
You can understand this in the case of the writer after he had read “the fingerpost.” Had he any doubts or fears remaining as to whether he was right or wrong No, not one. And so, dear readers, when the Bible pointing, as it were, with extended arm to Jesus, plainly declares that the work which God gave his Son to do has been accomplished and accepted; that the Holy Ghost has been sent down to bear witness of it; and that “all that believe are justified from all things;” can it be otherwise than that those who make that word the only ground of their confidence, and “believe on him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,” should lose their fears, and become peaceful and happy? On the other hand, how fearful must be the sin, and how dreadful the guilt of making God a liar by not believing the record that he hath given of his Son!
Oh that from this moment your hearts may be opened to receive the truth with simple, childlike faith! Nothing more is needed, nothing less will suffice. You may toil ever so hard, wait ever so long, and try what means you please; but before you can obtain deliverance you must submit yourselves “unto the righteousness of God,” that “which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” This is God’s way of receiving sinners, and no soul ever found solid rest or abiding peace in any other. It matters not whether it is through the word read or the word preached, it is “the belief of the truth” which saves the soul; and as soon, dear readers, as you bow to God’s word, and believe it just because HE says it, light, liberty, and joy will break in upon your souls, and naught will remain but for you to journey homewards, and in “a little while” you will reach the rest that remaineth “to the people of God.”