THE sands in the hour-glass of the departing year are swiftly running out; and, ‘ere they reach the vanishing point, it would be well for all who read these lines to ask themselves the solemn question, “How do I stand with God?” in view of the possibility that my eyes may never witness the dawning of the New Year.
Eternity, with all its tremendous realities of life or death, may well arrest my steps, as my soul looks onward to the unseen world that every moment draws nearer. The stream of Time is fast approaching the ocean of Eternity; and the great question, “Am I saved, or am I lost?” demands an immediate answer. Many unexpected things have happened during the present year of grace, which may well make us “Consider our ways,” in the light of the Omniscient eyes that read us through and through. Empires rise and fall; the schemes and ambitions of men lie silent in the dust; and crowds of faded leaves everywhere remind us that the groans of the sick and the anguish of the dying are now hushed in the presence of the “king of terrors.”
Is it not high time, dear reader, to awake out of sleep, and seriously to think of where you are going to spend “ETERNITY”? The passions of evil men, the unbroken self-will of countless millions, and the ever-increasing grasp after filthy lucre, that have characterized the now closing year, all tell their own sorrowful tale, not unmixed, alas! with a vast amount of mere lifeless religious profession; while the cry of the ante-diluvians still rings in our ears, who said unto God, “Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Yet, as in the days of Noah, so is it now; and the judgment of a doomed and God-rejecting world draws nearer every hour. Everything around us declares, in unmistakable tones, that “the end of all things is at hand”; hence, dear fellow-believer, it is good for us that we be “sober, and watch unto prayer.” Notwithstanding all this, and the “waxing worse and worse” of “evil men, and seducers,” yet God’s long-suffering grace still lingers over His guilty creatures; and Mercy’s door still stands open wide. The blood of His crucified Son still pleads for pardon for lost and ruined sinners.
But oh, dear reader, let me lovingly ask you, “Have you, for yourself, ever yet truly felt your own personal guilt, and your own deep need of salvation; or are you still content, as blinded by Satan, to go on living in sins, until you die in sins, and are for ever lost?” “If ye believe not that I am He,” saith the Son of God, “ye shall die in your sins”... and— “after this, the judgment.” Have you ever yet spent even ten minutes at the feet of Jesus, owning and confessing your sins, with the earnest cry going up from your soul to Him, “Lord save me”? Why not fly at once for mercy to that precious Saviour who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification; and whose loving entreaty still rings in your ears, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor, and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest”? But, if you still refuse to listen to that voice, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” Nothing in this world can ever satisfy the cravings—of your immortal soul; hence the awful danger of your being still further engulfed in the surging whirlpool of fleshly excitement and sinful pleasure, which will, ere long most surely drag you down to everlasting woe, and eternal burnings.
Delay no longer, I implore you, but come at once to Christ, just as you are, just where you are, and just now, for tomorrow may be too late! If you doubt His love, listen to His dying prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” As risen and glorified, He waits with open arms to receive and save you now; and the very moment you rest your guilty soul, in simple faith, on His atoning blood, you will be able, like thousands more, to sing from your heart,
“Oh! depth of Mercy, can it be,
That precious blood was shed for me,
For me, for me,
That blood was shed for me?”
“Behold! now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” S. T.