By:
Edited by Heyman Wreford
The Day of Mercy and the Day of Judgment.
SOME people are in the habit of looking at things upside down. Instead of letting God judge them, they put God on His trial to see whether He can justify His right to a place in the universe. Said Dr. Dale, of Birmingham, in a tone of dismay, “Nobody is afraid of God now.” Men think they can try conclusions with the Almighty with impunity because He does not step in openly in human affairs.
For nineteen hundred years God has been silent. It is true that during this time He has been at work in the lives of multitudes, bringing them back to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ, regenerating them by the power of the Holy Spirit, and giving them new experiences, desires, hopes and ambitions. But His operations have been largely hidden. For nineteen centuries God has not given this world any outward manifestation of His presence and power such as men’s senses can judge of. He has, as it were, withdrawn Himself. And why is God silent now? Because His every attribute has been vindicated and fully manifested in Christ. In giving His Son He did all that could be done for the salvation of men, and now He is waiting to see how men treat His message of pardon. In the gospel He has spoken His last word of mercy, and the day of wrath is not yet. He who is to come as Judge is now sitting on the throne as Saviour. The great amnesty is still in force. The day of mercy still runs its course.
But there is a day coming when the world will have to answer as to how it treated the Son of God. And YOU, reader, will have to answer the question, “What have YOU done with Christ? “It is no use for you to say, “I’ll be neutral,” for the Lord Jesus Christ says, “He that is not with me is against me.” There is no middle ground. CHRIST OR SELF; CHRIST OR THE WORLD — WHICH? Whatever others may do, may the language of your soul be,
“My heart is fixed, eternal God,
Fixed on Thee;
And my eternal choice is made,
CHRIST FOR ME.”