WHEN traveling by coach from Edinburgh to the "Forth Bridge," which spans the Firth of Forth, and now unites the Lothians to Fifeshire, and is one of the most marvelous achievements ever known in railway engineering skill, a fellow-passenger, who was quite a stranger to me, remarked that " This structure, built at such enormous cost, will be of immense benefit to people who avail themselves of it.”
Getting interested in my friend, I felt desirous of knowing whether he had availed himself of the Bridge that spans the distance between earth and heaven, and took the liberty of asking him the plain question. His reply was, “Yes! I had a praying mother,' who is now in heaven, whose prayers I used to hear, when a boy. Then, as she mentioned my name aloud to God, and when she little knew, I was listening at her door. These prayers, "said he," followed me through all my sad course; but some years ago I was awakened to a sense of my need of a Saviour, and I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and got my soul saved.”
“Then," I remarked," you and I have, through God's grace, availed ourselves of that divine wondrous Bridge, and, blessed be His name, it will never fail us." At the close of a happy and profitable conversation, I was sorry to have to part company with my fellow-traveler to glory; but, as I said to him, our "Good-bye" was temporary, and, at the most, only till we meet on the other shore.
This Forth Bridge seems proof against all storms above, and waves below, yet who knows, after all, whether it might, under some unforeseen pressure, succumb—as did its companion, the “Tay Bridge," a few miles farther north, not many years ago, with such well-remembered disaster. But mark, not all the combined forces of God's wrath, man's sin, and Satan's power, could ever shake one hair's-breadth what the blessed Savior accomplished on Calvary's cross for those who avail themselves of it. So don't be afraid to trust Him, friend. There is no risk, and you cannot lose by it; you are sure to gain.
Of course there are other means of crossing the Firth of Forth apart from the "Forth Bridge,” but there are no possible means of getting from earth to heaven except and entirely through the finished work of Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)). But think of the wisdom and skill in devising such a salvation, as has met God's holy claims, and man's guilty needs, and provided eternal blessing.
“O God, the thought was Thine
(Thine only it could be,)
Fruit of Thy wisdom, love divine,
Peculiar unto Thee.”
Think of such love as could lead the Lord Jesus to leave the heights of glory, and descend to the depths of Calvary's woe to form a bridge, so to speak, for lost and helpless sinners to pass from endless ruin to eternal glory. Think of the stupendous cost, even His own precious life's blood, which cleanses from all sin, brings nigh to God, and gives peace. Think of the sovereign grace, too, that lets us have it all “without money and without price "! But there is no benefit to you, my reader, from that skill, that love, that cost, and that grace, unless YOU avail yourself of them.
Mark well, no bridge of good works, prayers, and the like—good as they are in their place—will ever avail you anything for one moment. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)).
You may not have following you the prayers of a mother who has reached the golden shores of glory, like our Edinburgh friend, but do let us ask, Will you avail yourself of this heavenly Bridge, and receive the full benefit? In short, as knowing your need, Will you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved? Dear soul, do not, we beseech you, allow your soul to drift into that place, where you will see what the rich man saw, when he lifted up his eyes, being in torment—namely, A GREAT GULF FIXED, between hell and heaven. Awful reality!
No bridging that gulf! No hope there!
Once this privileged day of God's gracious opportunities is over, there is no bridge forever for you. Then no eye can pity, nor arm save. Wake up, therefore, we pray you, and make sure work of your soul's salvation before it be forever too late.
May you not lay down this paper without true exercise of conscience and heart, for by the horrors of hell we warn you, and by the joys of glory we encourage you. Accept Christ now, and ere long writer and reader, with all who avail themselves of that Savior and His work, will meet on you thrice happy shore, to praise forever the worthy One, sin had made, bridged the gulf by His death, and carried us over into eternal life. J. N.