INVOLUNTARILY this question forces itself upon every thoughtful person as the year 1906, which has passed so quickly, ends, and he is face to face with a new year with all its uncertainties and possibilities.
None can peer into the future and know what 1907 will bring nor where its end will find any one of us. Not even its second day is a certainty to the one who has reached the first, for God has said, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”
Yet it is possible, in the light of the Gospel of the Grace of God, to have every fear removed as to the eternal future and to rest with complacency in the glorified Savior, Who has, secured it for every believer in Him.
A few weeks since a gentlemanly stranger entered a London restaurant and took his seat at a small table where the writer was sitting. The conversation turned upon railway accidents, in which he remarked quietly “I was in the Grantham disaster!”
In a moment we regarded him with unusual interest, knowing the terrible facts of that awful catastrophe. It happened on the night of September 19th, 1906. The Great Northern Scotch Express, dashing through Grantham Station at high speed, left the rails at the curve and was completely wrecked. The tender and four coaches rolling down a steep embankment caught fire, and almost instantaneously twelve souls were in Eternity, while many other passengers were fearfully injured.
“I escaped with a severe shaking," he continued, "notwithstanding that I was in a compartment of the carriage which lodged on the very brink of the embankment.”
“How wonderful was your escape! But are you able to recognize the good hand of God in your merciful deliverance?" we inquired.
There was a look of deep gratitude on his face as he replied unhesitatingly, "Indeed I am! for between the time that the train left Peterborough and the terrible moment of disaster I had committed myself to His care.”
“Then you know God!" we exclaimed, with a thrill of joy at the thought that, though he little knew what was before him, he knew God, and that was the stay of his soul.
“I do!" was his hearty response; "and what has so greatly impressed me is that had I not known Him— had I been unprepared—I could not have given a moment's thought to Eternity when the shock came. I can recall my thoughts during the series of jerks which first indicated that the train had left the rails, but I am assured that there could have been no opportunity then of thinking of my soul.”
“Doubtless, since your awful experience, as never before, the uncertainty and brevity of life have been impressed upon you.”
“Yes, and that has been intensified this week in a remarkable way. The Railway Company's doctor saw me on Monday evening last, and arranged for an interview at ten o'clock the next morning. I presented myself at the time, but he failed to keep his appointment—he had died in the night!”
Now, dear reader, WHAT IS BEFORE YOU? As to time you cannot possibly answer. Scripture declares, "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." But there is another tomorrow—an Eternal one. What of that?
Face the question now. You admit that DEATH is before you, for "It is appointed unto men once to die." But that is not all— "after this the judgment." "Death is a leap in the dark," cries the skeptic. "A vast unfathomable mystery," adds the agnostic. "The gateway into life," sings the dying believer, for he can take up the triumphant words of the apostle, "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:11For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)).
Fain would the evil heart of man persuade him that there is nothing beyond death—nothing but eternal oblivion; but this neither God's Word nor man's own conscience will allow. Life with all its vicissitudes is too brief to leave our question unanswered; for either eternal bliss or eternal woe is before YOU.
On the authority of the Word of the Living God, we positively affirm that a Christian is entitled to rest in absolute certainty as to his eternal future. The work of Christ in the past has laid an immovable foundation by which the future of every believer in Him is secured. Consider the words of the Son of God words which are possibly so familiar to you that their grandeur has been overlooked—" He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death into life" (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).. There is the positive statement, "Hath everlasting life," and a negative one, "Shall not come into condemnation"; and both in regard to the Christian's future.
Will you not take the Son of God at His word and honor Him by trusting Him? It is an insult to Him to doubt either the certainty of His Word or the efficacy of His work.
God entrusted His beloved Son with the mighty work of redemption. He has proved Himself worthy of that trust by accomplishing the work to God's entire satisfaction, and by bringing infinite glory to God as a result. God has now exalted Him to the supreme place and is inviting YOU to trust Him too.
Christian! what is before you? From the hearts of the thousands of God's redeemed rises the glorious reply, "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but WE KNOW that when He shall appear WE SHALL be like Him, for WE SHALL see Him as He is" (1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)).
Calmly ask yourself, dear unsaved reader, What is before me? This year may decide it, whether you do so or not. Be wise and look this matter in the face at once. The Lord is coming! That great event which Christians are so eagerly expecting, but which will involve the eternal ruin of every unbeliever, is at hand. He is coming for His own- waking or sleeping. Are you one of them? If not, you will do well to inquire seriously—What is before me? And never rest again without a satisfactory answer. F. S. M.