“I’LL be away soon enough.”
“Where to?” was the question asked of a man who was on his death-bed sonic time ago.
“Oh, to heaven or hell, for, after all, ‘tis only a risk.”
“There need be no risk,” was the reply, and then did the servant of God seek to present to the dying man the value of Christ and His work, being in deep anxiety for the eternal welfare of the one whose life was fast ebbing away.
“It is beautiful; I’ve read the story many a time; aye, beautiful,” said he, and that was all. One or two more remarks finished the conversation, which concluded with the servant of God appealing to the man to trust Christ who alone could save.
To leave the question of salvation to one’s deathbed is not only selfish, but extremely dangerous, for sudden deaths are no unusual occurrence in our midst.
We have many cases of peace through believing recorded in God’s Word, but only one of conversion at the eleventh hour, namely, the thief on the cross. He made no mistake, nor ran any risk. He confessed Jesus as Lord, and what was the result: Jesus said unto him, “Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:4343And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)). One such ease is there in Scripture that none should despair, one only, that none should presume. There are, and have been conversions at the eleventh hour, but how selfish, how mean, how cowardly it is for one to cry to God in the eve of life, when perhaps the idea of judgment or hell is looming in the distance.
Generally speaking such are death-beds where trouble and pain have racked both body and mind to such an extent that prayerful communion with God is rarely possible, and often out of the question. Rowland Hill called such death-bed conversions, “Death-bed fear of hell and damnation.” He was right.
If unsaved, dear reader, be persuaded to come to Jesus now, and learn, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10,1110For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans 10:10‑11)). Do not risk a lost eternity. P.