WE were in the train together, a stranger and myself. Our conversation had turned first on the state of the weather, and then on the way of salvation.
I had quoted that lovely verse: ―
“I have a home above,
From sin and sorrow free;
A mansion which eternal love
Designed and formed for me.”
To which quotation my fellow-passenger replied―
“So have I.”
“Indeed,” I rejoined; “have you a home in heaven? Are you really a converted man?”
“Oh! no; I have never thought much of these things,” said he; “but I hope, of course, to go to heaven.”
“But that is impossible,” I replied, “unless you are converted; for Christ said that ‘except ye be converted, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 18:33And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)); and it is in vain to say that you have a home, or that you hope to go there, except on the conditions laid down.”
“Well, I have not given much thought as yet to these things,” he said.
And yet he had given no little thought to the things of time. He had traveled in various foreign countries, and had seen much of the world for one who was still young. But the interests of the soul lay neglected! Oh, the criminality of such neglect! the downright folly of leaving for tomorrow, and tomorrow, the matter of salvation! Nothing can demonstrate more absolutely the stultifying effects of sin.
Who would not escape from danger when he sees it? who, but the sinner?
Dear reader, if you have never thought of the salvation of your soul, let me urge you to do so at once. Tomorrow has wrecked multitudes!
“I was listening to a long sermon,” said my companion, “and the thought struck me, that if I felt an hour in church wearisome, what would heaven be forever!”
“Fearful!” I replied. “Heaven would be a positive hell to a man who had not a nature capable of enjoying it. It would be no home to him. What could he do there? He would find himself a stranger to God, and to all the surroundings of heaven; he would be positively miserable there. If you find no pleasure in the things of God on earth, how could you enjoy them hereafter?”
“Quite true,” he said; “that has passed through my mind. I fully admit the truth of it.”
“And therefore you must have a nature that loves God. You must, in fact, ‘be born again,’ as the Lord said to Nicodemus, in order to be happy there,” I rejoined.
For evidently, dear reader, whilst sin cannot come into God’s ever-holy presence, but must be expiated by blood, so also must a change as radical as the “new birth” be effected by God ere the sinner is fit for that place.
Yes, I repeat, heaven―God’s own blessed home―would be a perfect hell to an unconverted man, and it is the height of folly to hope you may go there, with the view of being happy, unless you are a child of God. Of course, none but such can go there, that is certain; and no efforts on your own part, or on that of others on your behalf, can do for you what faith in the name of the Lord Jesus alone can accomplish. The legerdemain of a clever priestcraft can never make you a child of God. See John 1:12, 1312But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12‑13).
“But now,” I asked my companion, “if you feel that you would not be happy in heaven, would you be better off in hell?”
“No indeed,” said he.
“But that is the other alternative,” I remarked. “Hereafter we must be in either of these two places, for the Word of God alludes to no other. Live forever we must, in one or other; and let me beg of you to turn to the Lord, in order to your salvation.”
I gave him a book explaining the way, and then we had to part company.
Reader, ask yourself this question, “Would I be happy in the presence of God for all eternity?”
If you are obliged to admit that you would not, then ask yourself, “Am I resolved to sink in the lake of fire, and be tormented day and night forever and ever?”
One or other, friend, it must be.
People don’t like the truth of eternal judgment, and therefore they are doing all they can to deny the existence of a place of future punishment; but why do they not deny also the existence of heaven?
Hell is no less real than heaven; for God is no less “Light” than “Love,” and everything is based on that which God is.
“God is Love.” Blessed fact, proved at Calvary, where Jesus, His Son, died.
“God is Light.” Solemn truth, and soon forgotten, but shown at the same place, when the Holy One underwent the judgment of sin; and to be declared forever, when that same judgment falls on the guilty who have refused the open door, and the words of welcome, and the Saviour’s blood.
J. W. S.