“I was taken suddenly ill, and lay unconscious for two days,” said a man to me, with whom I had a conversation a few days ago.
He had been at death’s door, as people say, but, through mercy, had recovered again. He freely admitted that it was a very serious thing to be called to meet God, that life was very uncertain, and that eternity was a solemn reality indeed.
“And can you tell me now how a man can have his sins forgiven—what can take away all our sins and make us fit for the presence of God?” I said.
“I believe it is by going to church.”
“Where do you find that in the Bible?” I asked.
To this question he made no reply. Taking out a Testament I read for him the words,
“The blood of Jesus Christ His (God’s) Son cleanseth us from all sin,” and sought to impress upon him the fact that the only thing which could cleanse from sin, and give peace with God, was the blood: not our doing or righteousness, but what Christ has done for us upon the cross. Yet this very man had been present at meetings held in a house not far from where he lived, at which the word of the well-known hymn were sung:
“What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
So little did he appear to have taken in the truth contained in those words, which I suppose he had sung himself, or at least heard others sing.
O, fellow-traveler to eternity, be in earnest! Your immortal soul’s destiny hangs in the balance. The sands of time are sinking; eternity with all its great realities is coming. How many of your friends and acquaintances can you not recount who have already passed the confines of time, and have entered eternity; and you too must pass also! Time is but like a dewdrop, a speck, compared to eternity, which is like a boundless ocean. Are you ready for it? If not, listen to the Word of God: