ASCENDING one of the Yorkshire hills I noticed a woman, evidently in ill-health, seeking to benefit by the health-giving breezes.
I engaged in conversation with her, and as her opinions are, alas! shared by untold thousands, I venture to put down the gist of our conversation, trusting that it may meet the eves of many like her, and that God may be pleased to deliver some from such opinions, which, if persisted in, will prove as fatal in their consequences as a course of open-handed sin.
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I began—"I wonder what heaven is like, madam, when some parts of the lower world are so nice.”
“Ah! sir," she replied, "no one has ever come back to tell us.”
Quite true," I answered," but there is One, who has come down amongst men, who knew all about heaven, and He has testified to us. Did He not say that ' God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life '? (John 3:16.) What wonderful words for sinners like us!”
“Ah! well, sir, that is right enough. Still, we must do the best we can, do our duty to our neighbors, and after that we shall stand a good chance of getting to heaven. I am not quite so bad as some people. I have read nearly all the Bible in my time, and I think it will go all right with me when I die.”
I replied, “But, madam, do not be deceived. There is none of us good enough to go to such a holy place as heaven. You say you have read a good deal of God's Word. Hear what it says in Rom. 3:
There is none righteous, no, not one.' (Verse 10.)
They are all gone out of the way.' (Verse 12)
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.' (Verse 12.)
“That is very sweeping, madam, is it not? Then again it says, equally plainly: All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.' (Verse 23.)
"You see, madam, Scripture is very plain and decided as to man's state before God. It leaves the best man or woman on earth without a leg to stand upon.
“Besides, if we honestly look into our own hearts we can say from experience that what the Scriptures say is true. The heart of the most moral man would condemn him if he stood in God's holy presence. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.'
“So you see man is corrupt in the inmost springs of his being. Were he taken into heaven in such a state he would want to get out as fast as he could.”
“Ah! well, sir, I am trying to live as well as I can, and will trust to the mercy of God. As for that other place where people are going to be burned up, I do not believe there-is such a place. I do not think God will burn up any of His creatures.”
“But, madam, how do you know what He will and will not do? What authority have you for saying what you do?”
“I do not know much, though I have read the Bible a good deal; but I do not believe there is a hell.”
“Well, madam, by the Bible we will take our stand. In describing the final state of the impenitent, the Lord Jesus says three times over, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.'
“As I understand it, their worm' will be an accusing conscience, awakened forever into activity—a conscience that will say, You did it, and you cannot blame God for it, and you must reap the results everlastingly. YOU have sown, YOU must reap.' The fire that never shall be quenched ' is the just judgment of God on all who have despised His wonderful love, and that judgment will be forever.
“To come to the point. The Lord Jesus said, 'The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was LOST.' If you are not lost there is no Savior for you. ‘Christ died for the UNGODLY.' If you are not ungodly, then He did not die for you. I leave this final word with you, madam. We may never meet again, but I beseech you to take your true place before God as the only way of blessing. Your opinions will only land you the place you profess to believe does not exist. Moreover, if your way of looking at things were right, there would have been no need for Jesus to die, no need for all His untold sufferings on the cross.
“We may well work to show our gratitude to the One who has saved us, but working for salvation is to ignore and insult and set aside the work of redemption, His finished work upon the cross. 'To him that WORKETH NOT, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness ' (Rom. 4:5) is the testimony of Scripture.”
If my reader is among those who share opinions of the woman I conversed with, I pray God to open your eyes to the delusion of them before it is too late. Weigh over carefully what we have quoted from God's Holy Book. May the entrance of His words give you light.
P. W.