MY dear young readers, I wish I could pay each of you a short visit in your various homes, that we might have a little talk together about your precious soul, and the things which are unseen, and eternal. Perhaps you think, because you are young, and, it may be, in the full enjoyment of health and strength, that, therefore, death and judgment must needs be a long way off, but what if it should not be so? And what if God should say of thee, “This night shall thy soul be required”? For—
“On a narrow neck of land,
‘Twixt two unbounded seas you stand;
A moment’s time, a little space,
May launch you in yon blissful place,
Or shut you up in hell.”
No doubt you can think of some of your dear young friends who died when quite young; or, it may be, a little brother, or sister has been taken away from your loving circle; much younger than you are now, and has passed away into eternity. And, perhaps, as you looked upon the cold, still body, so soon to be laid in the grave, you have thought, Where is he now? or, Where is she now? And God has come and spoken to your heart about your own soul. O! my reader have you heard His voice? or have you closed your ears, and hardened your heart? Which?
Some time ago we were visiting in a village, and called to see Mrs. F—. She was out, and the only person in the house at the time was her youngest daughter, Alice, whom we had not met before. We had a very solemn talk with her about her soul, and about eternity. After some time she wept bitterly, for God had opened her eyes to see that her sins were Upon her and that she was unfit to meet Him. Then we repeated those precious Words to her in John 3:1616For 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), “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life;” but still she wept, and did not speak. Before leaving, we told her about the jailor at Philippi, who suddenly, at midnight, found out that he was lost, and called for a light and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” and how they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus’ Christ, and thou shalt be saved;” repeating those words again, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
The following week, being in the village Mrs. F—asked us to go and see a woman who was dying. Alice seemed greatly pleased to come and show us the way. Having paid our visit; we were walking back together, when she looked up earnestly, and asked, “Do you think Mrs.—is saved?
I told her that she said she was trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ; and remarked how solemn it was to leave the question of salvation till the very last hour. Then turning to her, I said, “But, Alice, what about your own soul?”
She looked straight up in my face, and her whole countenance beamed as she replied, “I am saved, for I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“How long have you been saved?” I asked.
She answered, “Since the first day that you and Mr. R—spoke to me about my soul, and asked me where I was going to spend eternity. That verse settled it— ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ And the little book you left helped me too, for there I read over again what you had been telling me.”
The last time we met was about seven weeks ago, when she sweetly and simply confessed the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fall assurance she enjoyed of being saved.
A few weeks after, one dark, foggy Saturday night in March, Alice was sent on an errand to a neighbor’s house. She had been there before, carrying a lantern, but this time begged to be allowed to go without it, as she knew the road quite well, saying she would be back in a few minutes. As she went out of the house, a dear Christian present made some remark about trusting in the Lord. With her hand on the handle of the door, Alice turned round, looked brightly up, and said, “I do trust Him.” And these sweet words were almost her last on earth, for, she went swiftly to the neighbor’s house, delivered her message, and was heard running quickly back; but the night was very dark, and she took the wrong path, running under the bridge, instead of over it, and fell right into the river. Her brother who was walking near the bridge at the time, heard one loud scream, and one splash, and he knew that someone had fallen into the river, but little thought that it was his own dear sister.
Then the people living near came with lights, and tried to find her, but the fog and darkness hindered them, so that, after some hours of fruitless search, they reluctantly returned to their various homes but not before they knew who the missing one was. When the light broke on the Lord’s Day morning, beginning their search again, they soon found the body, and carried it home to the bereaved ones there. But, long before that time, Alice herself was “with Christ,” for there, beneath the cold, dark water, her soul had passed away into eternity, and she found herself “absent from the body”, and “present with the Lord,” where there is fulness of joy, and pleasure for evermore.
Tell me, dear reader, do you think Alice ever regretted that day, when she took God at His word, and accepted His salvation? Never. Do you think she will ever regret it? No, never.
And now, my dear young reader, I turn to you, and ask, “If God were to call you thus suddenly into eternity, where would you spend it? Would you find yourself ‘with Christ,’ or would you lift up your eyes in hell? Would you spend eternity in the Father’s house, or in the lake of fire? Would you find yourself with those who will strike the harp, and wear the crown, and sing the song of joy and victory; or, would you pass into the regions of black despair, and there join in the weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; “where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched?” If you have never been anxious about your soul’s eternal destiny, may God make you so now; and may God give you to decide for Christ today, lest tomorrow find you in a lost eternity.
If you are unsaved, go alone into some quiet place, and there, in the presence of God, ask yourself this one question, “Where shall I spend eternity?” But if you are really anxious about your soul, and want to be saved, then God sends you this message today, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” God grant that you may let it into your heart as Alice did; and may you decide for Christ now, this very day; and may you too be able to say, “I do trust Him.”
No doubt many of my young readers have been “born again”, and are children of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I should like to turn to you and ask, “Have you confessed Christ? Do all in your home and at school know that you are saved?” If you have not yet confessed the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for you, and bore your sins in His own body on the tree, then go, and do so now, for God links confession with salvation: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9).) And the Lord Himself said, when down here, “Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 10:32, 3332Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32‑33).)
May nothing hinder you from confessing Christ, so that, if He should call you suddenly away to be with Himself, a, sweet fragrance may be left behind, and that your last words may not be those of some silly song, or foolish jest, but a simple, precious word of confidence and comfort to speak to many hearts, such as “I do trust Him.”
ML 02/10/1918