One day I was visiting in the hospital with a dear sister who was just about home. She could not speak above a whisper, and as I walked in, she, of course, could not sing. Instead she began to say with just a faint whisper, “So dear, so very dear to God, I cannot dearer be; the love wherewith He loves His Son, such is His love to me.” And then she whispered, “Brother, please sing that at my funeral.” Sure enough, in a matter of hours, she was with the Lord. But I will not forget the joy of that expression and the look on her face as she whispered those words. I walked out of her room and down the hall into the room of another. He also knew the Lord Jesus as his Savior. He also was at the very gate of eternity, but he had no joy whatever. No joy whatever. He had spent his life amassing idols, and he had plenty of them. He was a wealthy man. He was going to leave much behind him. Did I say “much”? He was going to leave everything behind him. Sad to say, the things that he had labored for he was about to leave behind. Now he knew where he was going. And I believe without any doubt in my soul that that dear man is with Christ.
As I compared those two last-minute visits, for they were both gone in such a short time, I thought of such verses as these. “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:3636And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! (John 1:36)). Oh beloved friends, without enlarging upon it, I want to repeat it with all my heart. May the result of your spending time with God’s Word be that you and I, young and old, may have before us the Person, the unchanging Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! His heart is so full of love toward you and me — a personal love. Remember a verse like this, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine” (Isa. 43:11But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. (Isaiah 43:1)). Does that do anything to your heart? If you heard the Lord Jesus speak those very words in your ear, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine,” what would it do to you? Would there be some response? I want to tell you something. If you do not feel some response, then please do not try to pretend any longer that you are a Christian.
A. C. Hayhoe