WHILST driving past the famous Kilmainham Jail, in Dublin, the other day, I was informed by the carman that, within its walls, the murderers of the two ill-fated Irish Secretaries had met their doom. He pointed out the flag-post in the center of the mass of buildings, that form the prison; and told me that, from the top of that post a black flag was floated on the day of punishment, to proclaim, at large, the execution of the righteous verdict of the law.
For a period of twelve months, these miscreants had succeeded in escaping the vigilant eye and powerful hand of retribution; but, as though “murder must out,” and sin carry in its bosom the fatuity of detection, so, at last, betrayed and discovered, they had to atone for their dastardly crime by meeting a felon’s fate. Whatever excuse they might have urged for their action, they were reckoned as murderers by law, and being tracked out, caught, tried, and condemned, they had to suffer its extremity. Black, indeed, was the flag that overhung the gallows; dark the crime that made capital punishment necessary; and mysterious the circumstances that forbade the social blot from being covered, or the sin concealed.
Does it not seem as though some principle were at work-unexpected and inexplicable―whereby such deeds of darkness are forced into light―some strange disclosing power, some tell-tale or “king’s evidence,” some informant or traitor that cannot allow sin to lie dormant? Is it conscience? Is it that which caused Cain to wince beneath the words, “Where is Abel, thy brother?” or David to quail under Nathan’s charge, “Thou art the man!” or Ananias and Sapphira to drop dead at Peter’s accusation, “Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.”
Whatever it be called, the words of Moses to the people, in Numbers 32:2323But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23), “Be sure your sin will find you out,” are a declaration of divine certainty. “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after,” said the apostle Paul (1 Tim. 5:2424Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. (1 Timothy 5:24)); “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; nor hid that shall not be known,” said the Lord Himself (Luke 12:22For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. (Luke 12:2)). Do you say “When,” my reader? Well, perhaps, they may be concealed successfully for a twelvemonth, and the guilty perpetrators may dodge the eye of the detective—perhaps sins may not be open to all beforehand, yet assuredly they will follow with faithful tread, and dog like the bloodhound, until, run to death―nay, to judgment―the dread pursuers overtake the would-be fugitive—and there before the judgment seat the very “secrets of men” will be judged by Jesus Christ (Rom. 2). Fatal encounter―awful trysting-place—yes, hidden up, covered over in time, all must become patent there. Sins of youth, manhood, and maturity, never divulged to human ear, and, if possible, forgotten by the sinner himself, all must, perforce, start into direful and overwhelming prominence on that day.
Rocks and mountains will be sued in vain―the refuge of lies which formed so good a covert on earth—the cloak of simulated sanctity that deceived the eye of man the religious veneering that polished the corruption beneath―all this will fail on that day; things, then, will appear as they are, and the keen detective that follows you day by day, and moment by moment, unseen and disregarded, will be acknowledged when escape is impossible.
Ah! sinner, black the flag that will notify your eternal doom―dark, dark the day when the hidden crimes of every shade and dye must come out. For notice, God bids you “be sure” of one thing―be certified in the most positive way that God Himself can certify any one― “be sure your sin will find you out.” Could words be plainer? Your sins and yourself must come into collision one day, that is absolutely certain. Now, if this collision be in time, if your soul be crushed under its conscious load of guilt, what should be done? There is but one course open. It was adopted by the publican of old, who cried with bowed head and smitten bosom, “God be merciful to me the sinner”―opportune and exquisite prayer! “He went down to his house justified”―quick and gracious answer! But, when the greatest sinner comes in contact with the grace of God, a full free perfect salvation is the immediate consequence, and the thousands of sins known and unknown, confessed or unconfessed (but covered by the acknowledgment, “me the sinner”), all these are pardoned, and the sinner now believing is justified from all things, made a child of God, and placed in the full and welcome favor of that very God against whom he had sinned. All glory be to Jesus who, by His blood, has paid the price of redemption and who now brings the believer into His “banqueting house,” waving over him love’s fair banner, whose infinite folds unfurl all the rich treasures of God’s salvation; and, the guilty one, blessed and accepted, finds his pleasure now in celebrating the Redeemer’s praise, as he awaits the consummation in glory.
But, on the other hand, if the sinner come into contact with God’s judgment, if he fail to act, as did the publican, in repentance and faith, then, alas, there remains nothing but condemnation. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
And, therefore, dear reader, if you have never yet “fled for refuge,” be persuaded to do so now―who can tell but that the next moment may be too late? ―and then your doom would not be temporal death, but that second death that knows no hope nor ending.