REV, 20:15, 22:17.
BELOVED reader, if you depart out of this world unsaved, you will have to stand before the great white throne, the books will be opened and you will be judged out of those things written in the books according to your works. There will be no escape. “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” All those who have passed off this scene unsaved will be there, “small and great,” before God. All who have been buried on the land, all who have been hidden in the depths of the sea, will be there to receive their final and everlasting judgment from Him whom God hath ordained to be the judge of living and dead. (Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)).
If it be so solemn to die unsaved, is it not equally so to be living unsaved, with the whole weight of the sins you have committed still upon you, and not knowing the moment when you may be called away to stand in the presence of Him from whose face the earth and heaven will flee away! May God by His Spirit awaken you to a sense of your danger.
How blessed it is, however, to look at another “whosoever.” “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)). What a contrast to what we have just considered. There it was death, here it is life. All deserve to be among the first “whosoever,” yet millions have been enabled to rejoice that they are, by the grace of God, among those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Now you are just as welcome as those who have been already received, because the word is “whosoever will.” We do not obtain salvation because we deserve it, but because of God’s grace. Have you arrived at this conclusion, that you need a Saviour? If so, there is a Saviour for you. He waits to save you, sinner as you are, and having washed away your sins, He will take you where He is, to see His glory, to be perfectly like Him. Is not this marvelous news? Is there anything else to be compared to it? Nothing! And you can have all this without cost on your side; though at the cost of His precious blood on His. He died that you might “not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:1515That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)).
Jesus sends you, dear reader, a gracious invitation, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)). And again He says, “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). Is there anything difficult about this? There is nothing for the sinner to do, for the Saviour cried from the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:3030When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)). Come, then, to Jesus, and in coming you will have all the value of the work which He accomplished, when He shed His precious blood.
What an exchange! All your sins taken from you and laid on Jesus by God Himself (Isa. 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)), and you, once a sinner, and deserving eternal punishment, now, because of the value of that blessed work in God’s sight, brought to God Himself, cleansed from all sin by the precious blood of the Son of His love in the light as He is in the light, without a spot.
All this is made good to you in believing in Jesus, and His own blessed word assures you of it. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment or condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
Beloved reader, to which “whosoever” do you now belong? If you are resting in anything else but Christ, there is nothing but judgment, eternal judgment, before you. If you are resting simply in Christ alone, judgment is behind you and glory before you.
E. G. M.