“What a marvelous building that is! How it stands unchallenged against the sky; how well-balanced it is in all its parts, and how perfect is the whole. It is a beautiful sight!”
“Well, I suppose it is, for many people say the same sort of thing as you do, and there is always someone painting it or taking a picture of it. But, you see, I was born here, and I spend most of my time under its shadow, as you might say. It is part of my usual surroundings and has no special interest for me-at least, not at the present. I haven’t time to spend studying it now; besides, it is always there, and I can always study and admire it when I want to.”
On the rocky cliffs that stand between Great Britain and the sea, thousands of seabirds make their nests in season. In egg-laying time their eggs are prized by professional egg-gatherers who climb down the cliffs by means of ropes, their friends lowering them down and hauling them up again when they have gathered all the eggs in reach.
The egg-gatherer grows accustomed to the dangers of his trade, and it is reported that some of the more venturesome will show their disregard of the danger by taking a running leap over the edge of the cliff, trusting in the strength of the rope and the faithfulness of their friends to prevent any accident.
All over the world there are innumerable places where men and women may regularly hear the Word of God read aloud and the often-told story of Christ. Haven’t you heard this many times, haven’t you grown up in such an atmosphere, and are you not familiar with the gospel?
Do you take it all for granted and think, like the man who was born near the castle, that it will be always there when you have time to pay attention to it? Has familiarity bred contempt and caused the story of the love of God to fall on deaf ears? Perhaps, too, many times over the years you have heard about the terrors of hell, and they no longer have any effect on you, since none of the awful but well-known predictions have happened yet. You listen to the story unmoved, for you have taken the risk so far without any serious results.
But the rope is wearing thin, its strands are weakening, and some unexpected day it will snap, and down-down-down into the depths you will fall beyond the reach of help, launched into eternity Christless, hopeless, irretrievably lost, with no prospect but one of unmitigated suffering and sorrow.
In spite of neglect, the old castle still stood on the hill, and the abyss still lay beneath the cliff, for neither contempt, disregard nor scorn make any impression on these facts, nor will your disregard of the danger to which you are exposing yourself avert it.
Heaven or hell still await all alike, in spite of repeated denials. To treat such realities as fiction or visions or negligible stories is the worst of all follies. Listen then to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, listen to the voice of the Savior, and “consider [your] latter end.”
The arguments of the atheist and the contempt of the careless will in no way alter the plain Word of the living God or change the words of the Lord Jesus, who declared, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)).
That long-promised though often-forgotten coming of the Lord is now near at hand, and when He shuts the door, all hope is gone for those who have neglected the invitation to enter that door during the day of God’s grace. Nothing is more certain than the fact that, if you decline to consider your eternal salvation now, your chances of doing so are rapidly becoming more and more remote and your inclination to turn to God less and less. Today is the only time God gives you in which to accept His gracious offer of peace, pardon and life.