Was He Christless?

 •  9 min. read  •  grade level: 8
WITH regard to his spiritual welfare, I think father was one of the best Christians I ever knew. He was very highly respected by all who knew him, and at home he was a most faithful husband, and loving father.”
The subject of the above remarks the writer first met at a hydropathic establishment in one of the midland counties. A robust, healthy-looking man (his wife told me), he had for thirty years walked five miles, night and morning, to and from work.
That rich farmer could say, " I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided.”
And, dear reader, let me pause here a moment to ask thee a most solemn question,—Hast thou ever considered seriously for one quarter of an hour where thou wilt spend eternity? Will it be in the realms of the blest, in the mansions of glory with Jesus or will it be in hell, the smoke of thy torment arising forever? It must be one or the other. Which? Thou mayest perhaps be building on some earthly prosperity, or be reckoning on some future happiness down here. But remember the solemn words, “Thou fool, THIS NIGHT thy soul shall be required of thee.”
But to return to my friend.
He was taken suddenly ill one day, but under medical treatment soon recovered sufficiently to visit the establishment where I met him. W—was a jovial man, and could sing a song, or recite pieces, for the amusement of the company at night.
My heart yearned over him, and I often longed to speak to him about Jesus, and ask him if he was saved.
After some days the opportunity presented itself.
I found him alone, and then spoke to him of the shortness of life, and the certainty of eternity, and how it could only be a few years, at the very outside, ere he and I must cross that boundary line that separates time, with all its privileges and opportunities, from that never-ending eternity, where our destiny must be fixed forever. If we made a mistake about our salvation here, or neglected it, we could never come back to rectify the mistake. If we would give a million worlds to come back, and have the opportunity we had at that moment, they would be valueless; the opportunity would be gone forever. To all this he assented.
To my inquiry, "Was he saved?" he replied, “No, I am not.”
I then spoke to W—of God's great love in the gift of His blessed Son; how He had left the Father's house, the dwelling-place of love, where He was always the Father's delight; how He had left that scene of brightest glory, which He had with the Father before the world was, and had come down here to this scene of sin and misery, of ruin and death; how He had come down to make God known to us, to reveal the heart of God to us, that God in His true character might be known; how in all His blessed life down here, in all His words or works of ways, He was ever expressing what God was; how He infinitely compassionated His poor creatures; how His great loving heart ever sympathized with them in all their sufferings and sorrows. He rejoiced with those that did rejoice, and wept with those that wept. How He ever went about doing good, feeding the hungry multitude, casting out devils, cleansing the leper, opening the eyes of the blind, healing all manner of diseases, raising the dead, and causing the poor widow's heart to rejoice; and although He only met with opposition at the hands of man, and at the end of His course had to say, "For my love they gave me hatred," yet it never changed the current of His love; He never did one act of kindness less.
And, further, when finally He was delivered into the hands of man, and they stripped Him of His raiment, and put a purple robe upon Him, and when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, and they spit on that blessed face, and smote Him with the reed; and when they had searched the dungeons of Jerusalem for the worst criminal they could find to set beside the blessed Son of God, men desired a murderer to be granted unto them, and "killed the Prince of life." And when they had nailed Him to the cross, and sat down to mock at His agony, " when he looked for some to take pity, and there was none, and for comforters, and found none," yet all this cruelty and hatred did not change His love. No, “many waters could not quench love, neither could the floods drown it." His final prayer was for them," Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
And here—O mystery of mysteries!—when all the scorn and cruelty and hatred of the heart of man had been heaped upon the blessed Son of God, when God might have righteously swept the whole scene into eternal judgment, it was at that moment that God unlocked, as it were, the secret chambers of His heart, and showed that there was one thing greater than man's sin, and that was the love of His own bosom. Instead of pouring His judgment upon man, He took our sins and laid them on the head of His blessed Son, who had ever glorified Him, and poured on Him all the righteous wrath and judgment that ought to have been our portion in hell forever,—" Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." But when those three hours of darkness had passed away, Jesus cried, “It is finished! " bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.
They laid Him in the grave, but God raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in glory, showing His satisfaction and delight in the work of His blessed Son. And from that glory God now declares, “That whosoever believes on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Such is a brief account of the truth set before W—, to all of which he assented. What the effect was upon his soul, eternity alone can unfold.
Three days later W—determined to go home, and as I stood on those front-door steps, and bade him "good-bye," I little thought how soon the truth which I had been telling him was to be verified. His wife promised to write and tell me how they got home; and a few days later a letter came to say he passed into eternity exactly thirty-six hours from the time he stood on that front-door step. It was in answer to some words of sympathy, I wrote to his wife, that I received a letter from his son, an extract from which stands at the head of this paper.
What passed between W—'s soul and God I know not. But, oh, dear reader! let me tell thee, if thou hast nothing better to go into God's presence with than the fact that thou hast been “highly respected, a faithful husband, and a loving father," thine must be an awful awakening in eternity. Yet it is to be feared there are thousands deceived by Satan, who are building for eternity on their prayers, or their tears, or their good works, or on ordinances. But, oh, dear reader! don't be deceived about this all-important matter.
Listen to the testimony of God Himself, “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)).
Abel's little lamb, Noah's sacrifice, Abraham's ram at Moriah, all the rivers of blood shed on Jewish altars,—all told out the same solemn fact, " Without shedding of blood is no remission." This is the universal testimony of Scripture. And, dear reader, there's no blood in thy prayers, no blood in thy tears, no blood in thy good works.
Let us look at Jesus a moment`. On one occasion we read, “He spent all night on the mountain in prayer;" and again, "He rose a great while before it was day, and went apart into a desert place to pray." His whole life was a life of prayer. Could those prayers save thee? Never. Could any tears be more precious to God than the tears of Jesus? No, never. But could those tears wash thy sins away? Never. Was there ever such a blessed, perfect life as the life of Jesus on earth?
Never, He could say, "I do always those things that please him." To man a life of wondrous grace, of faithfulness to God. But could not that blessed, perfect life of the Lord Jesus save thee? Never.
In conclusion, let me say, dear reader, if you reject or despise or neglect that precious blood, there is nothing else left for you. You must die a Christless death, be put in a Christless coffin, be buried in a Christless grave, be raised in a Christless body, and cast Christless into the lake of fire forever.
Oh! let me affectionately persuade you; do not be deceived; search the Word of God for yourself; accept God's testimony as to the value of the precious blood of Christ; and then you will join in that song of the redeemed in glory,—" And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy,... for thou vast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation "(Rev. 5:99And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9))