MADAME HARGAULT, a lady of sixty years of age, resided with her son, a lace manufacturer, in Paris. Not feeling well, she sent for a doctor, who found that her heart was affected, and prescribed sulphate of sparteine pills for her. The prescription was sent to a chemist to be made up.
When she received the pills, the old lady took one, and died half an hour later in terrible agony. The doctor, examining the pills, found that they were composed of strychnine, a deadly poison. The chemist had made a mistake, owing to the similarity of two jars, thoughtlessly making the pills of strychnine while chatting with a customer.
A serious occurrence was this, serious for the lady, serious for the chemist, serious for all concerned. But not so serious as something that is going on all around us, namely, the poisoning of souls.
There are thousands of people who depend largely upon others for guidance as to the most important of all matters, their eternal destiny. They listen to sermons, they read books, they converse with friends.
Those who preach, who write in the religious papers, or who in any way offer advice on this great subject are like the chemist of my story. There are two jars, as it were, from which they may dispense their physic for the soul. There is the jar of truth and the jar of falsehood. What is dispensed from the first jar is wholesome and helpful; what comes from the second jar is poisonous, pernicious, and ruinous to souls.
I earnestly warn you, reader, against taking any pills, even if they are sugar-coated, that come from the wrong jar.
You say, perhaps, "How can I tell whether what I hear and read is right or wrong? Surely the responsibility lies with the preachers arid writers." Yes, a very grave responsibility lies with them, just as a very grave responsibility lay with the chemist who dispensed the poisonous pills. But the fact of the chemist's liability to punishment would have been a poor consolation to the old lady as she lay dying. Her agony was not one whit the less on that account; the chemist's culpable carelessness did not lessen her sufferings in the least degree, nor avert her death for a single moment.
The chemist was guilty, but the lady had to suffer in consequence as well as he.
Now listen! One, who was the Truth itself, declared that if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. If people with never-dying souls blindly imbibe the poison which others blindly administer both shall assuredly suffer, the poisoned as well as the poisoner. Is not this most evident?
The writer's earnest desire is that your soul should not be hurt with Satan's poison. The object of this paper is to point out to you the true and wholesome remedy for your sin, to hand out to you as it were, medicine from the jar of eternal truth. First, however, some of the pills from the other jar must be branded as poisonous and pernicious.
Here is one. "Christ is not so different from other men after all. The story of His being born of a virgin is a fairy tale. As to His being God, the Creator of heaven and earth,— well, we know better now-a-days.”
“Poison!" I cry, "Deadly, murderous poison! Imbibe it at your peril. To believe this is to fling your soul away into utter darkness.”
Here is another. "The death of Christ was merely that of a martyr. There was no such thing as atonement in it. How could One man be punished for the sins of thousands?”
“Poison!" again I cry. “Swallow this, and you do deadly damage to your soul. You shut heaven's door in your own face.”
I might continue my warnings. I might warn you against the deadly poison of the statement, That the Bible is not altogether true, that there are some things in it not to be believed." I might raise a warning note against the poison that lies in the teaching that affirms" There is no hell; or if there is such a place, it will not last forever.”
All such teachings will have terrible consequences for your soul, friend, if you put yourself in the way of listening to them.
But, not to dwell further on this, I offer for your acceptance some true and wholesome medicine from the sure word of God Himself. If you receive this medicine, your soul shall be cured of its dire disease.
Before reading any further, close your eyes for a few seconds. Lift up your heart in prayer to God. Say, "O living God, I am about to read some of Thy words. Make their meaning clear to me. Help me to believe them,”
Now read the following words carefully. They are taken, every one of them, from the Holy Scriptures.
"We must needs die, and are as water spilled upon the ground. But after this, the judgment. Every idle word that men speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. The wicked shall he turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ died for the ungodly; came into the world to save sinners; came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; came to seek and to save that which is lost.
“Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth from all sin. It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
“Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There is none other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. He lifteth up the beggar front the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory. By Him, all that believe are justified from all things.”
These are the words of truth. They point out the only way of salvation, through faith in Christ.
Let no one entertain the notion that it does not matter what he believes if only he is sincere. Poor old Madame Hargault was thoroughly sincere when she swallowed the strychnine pill. She thought it would do her good. But her sincerity did not save her from an agonizing death.
Neither will your sincerity save you. Something further is needed. There is a holy, gracious Savior in heaven. Draw near to Him as a sinner. Close your ears to all that would belittle Him. And take Him as the ground of your soul's confidence. H. P. B.