THERE is every possible reason why the sinner should accept salvation now, at once; and innumerable reasons why he should not put it off another day. What! put off the salvation of the soul, when the consequences are so appalling. What! defer that which is of the utmost possible consequence to the sinner in time and eternity. What! remain indifferent to that when the issues are so mighty. Mad folly, or blinding unbelief, or hardened indifference it must be, that prompts any soul to put off salvation.
Is not man a sinner, and lost? and is not that argument enough to urge him to long for deliverance from his present condition, and the awful and eternal consequences of that condition? Surely it is. Has not man by his sin plunged himself into a pit of ruin, and has he not by the same placed himself at an infinite moral distance from God? And what must be the just consequences of that sin? Oh, the very thought only urges the absolute necessity of the sinner getting saved at once, — yes, at once. Is not the God against whom man has sinned a holy God, a just God, a mighty God, an eternal God, —One who has power to execute the full and just reward of the sinner's sins upon him? Is He not that God “who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and who cannot look on iniquity?” Is He not that God who must, because He is holy, execute judgment upon sin to the full? His nature and character demand it; His moral government demands it; yea, the very throne upon which He sits, the establishments of which are justice and judgment, demands it. And can the sinner resist God? Is he stronger than God? Can he compel a compromise on the part of divine holiness with his sin? Can he cause that thrice Holy One to have fellowship with the throne of iniquity? Can he convert the moral government of God into a chaos, by causing his sin to go unpunished? I say, can lie ward off the stroke of judgment, and live forever, in defiance of the living God? Impossible! Impossible! God must be God, and He must, and will, at as God. What arguments, then, are these to lead the sinner to seek and know salvation? Yes, they are arguments which must stand forever; they are words of truth and soberness.
But more! Has not man to spend an eternity somewhere? Are there not three solemn facts before him,— his accountability; his having to do with God; and the eternity that he has to spend? The conscience of man, as well as the Word of God, declare his accountability; everything around, as well as the Word of God, declare His eternal power and Godhead; and the Scriptures of truth make known-yea, unveil to us— the solemn facts of eternity. O Eternity! how solemn art thou. O thou wide and boundless Eternity, thou must receive all! Who can tell out thy mysteries, or measure thy fullness? Only God. Thou art infinite, undying, and eternal Thou must receive all; thou must consign to glory, the redeemed; and to an eternal hell, the lost! O sinner, what a mighty argument is here, to move thee to repentance because of thy sins, and to lead thee to accept salvation for thy precious and immortal soul. It is as a mighty lever, to move thee from thy seat of indifference to living earnestness about the salvation of thy precious soul.
Again, God loves the sinner, and has met his deep need, and procured salvation for him. The love of God's heart led Him to give up His only and precious Son, His delight from all eternity.
Yes, He gave Him up. What a thought I Had it come to this, that nothing could remedy the desperate ruin of the sinner, or save him from hell, but the giving up of the Son of God? Ah, yes; the Son of Man must be lifted up. If the love of the Father gave the Son, the love of the Son led Him, as freely, to come to accomplish the Father's will. And, pray, what was that will? It was this, that salvation might be wrought for the sinner. Yes; when the sinner looks at the cross, he sees God's love in all its infinite fullness expressed to him, an individual sinner; love which he did not deserve, ask for, or even desire. Love was there expressed, and which could only adequately be expressed, by the gift and death of the Son of God. It is past all human thought. Well wrote one who knew it, though an inmate of an asylum: —
“Could I with ink the ocean fill,
Were every blade of grass a quill,
Were the whole world of parchment made,
And every man a scribe by trade, —
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor would the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
If, then, God loves the sinner, and the blessed Son of God has died and risen again, and has procured salvation for the lost, there can be no possible reason why the sinner should remain unsaved. Why should he not be saved now? “Behold, now is the accepted timer behold, now is the day of salvation!" If salvation is a procured thing, if it is a free gift, and if God offers it to the sinner; yea, if He presses the sinner to receive it; yea, beseeches him to accept it,—what hinders him from readily embracing it? Shall I say it is the greatest folly?
I appeal to you, beloved reader,—if you are un-saved, if you are yet away from God, if you are not pardoned,—and ask, Why do you defer the great and important matter of salvation? a matter which takes in the length and breadth of eternity, which involves the question of heaven or hell, the glory of God or the outer darkness, the joys and peace of the former or the unutterable woe of the latter. You have heard of the value of your precious soul, that it must live forever; of the fact that you are a sinner before God, of the love of God and the dying love of the Saviour; you have heard of death, judgment, and eternity; you have heard that salvation is procured and offered you, that it is as free as the air you breathe, or the water you drain from the well, yea, without money and without price, then, O my friend, why not accept it? You verily need it; you cannot be saved without it; and, alas! how shall you escape if you neglect it? I tremble for thee, lest thou should turn away and refuse it, and seal thine own doom forever; lest thy persistent unbelief should crown thy many sins, and shut thee up in impenetrable darkness for eternity.
May God interpose, and, giving you to see your imminent danger, lead you to trust in Jesus, to accept salvation, and to be saved forever and ever.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved "(Acts 16).
“Look to Jesus, look and live,
Mercy from His hands receive.”
E. A.